Goode Nano One XT Review

[Horton]

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/2016/xt/xt-5.jpg

The Goode Nano One XT is already a classic. The XT, along with the original Nano One, have been reissued by Goode because skiers demanded it. Both of the Nano One models are not only hugely successful in terms of skis sold but also in terms of tournaments won.

General Feel: Considering the small size of the ski, you might expect the XT to feel quirky. It is just the opposite. At 180 pounds, I find the 65.25 XT to be extremely stable and predictable.

The ski’s relatively small size means that the skier has the ability to manipulate the ski more than on traditionally sized skis.Perhaps a better way to explain this is that the ski goes where the skier's feet naturally go much more readily than with most other high end skis. The skier has more leverage over the ski. When the rope get short and the skier starts to panic is where this attribute becomes most apparent. The result is that the ski is supremely forgiving when the skier is at their limit.

Toe Side (Off Side) Turn: Off side turns on the XT feel more like a fast pivot than an arc. The front of the ski offers noticeable support before and after the apex of the turn. This gives the skier confidence to move forward approaching the ball and provides stability exiting the turn.

Heel Side (On Side) Turn: On side turns on the XT are nearly foolproof. The skier can approach onside in any number of ways and exit the ball with angle. As with the off side turns, the on side turn is fast and sharp. If a skier is in trouble, he or she can throw caution to the wind and make up a lot of ground on this side.

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/2016/xt/xt-2.jpg

From Ball to Second Wake: The XT holds substantial angle from the ball to the second wake. While many other high end skis will punish skiers for adding too much load between the ball and the wakes, the XT will allow the skier to push hard if needed.

One of the perceived negatives of this ski is that it requires more strength from the ball to the wakes than many other high end skis. The XT makes plenty of speed but the skier has to work for it. This is partly do to how fast the ski turns. More arcing turns will put less load on the skier and sharper turns will require a more strength.

From Second Wake to Ball: Typically skis that require more strength also require the skier to have superior technical skills to get wide at the ball. The XT does not fit this stereotype. The ski easily makes space and width on both side of the course even with less than perfect skier technique. This is yet another example of the ski’s extremely forgiving performance attributes.

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/2016/xt/xt.jpg

Quirk: The XT is more setting and water temperature sensitive than most high end skis on the market. At the beginning of the test period the test ski was set exactly to stock and worked extremely well. As the water cooled off by 10 -15 degrees the performance of the ski dropped off noticeably and the fin had to be adjusted.

Conclusion:
This ski was especially hard to review. Because the XT is unusually forgiving it was challenging to define what the ski does and does not do. I owe thanks to a number of skiers who took my calls last month and talked to me about what I was feeling.

I increased my all time tournament BP by one ball on my third ride on the XT. Clearly, I am a fan of the XT.

 

[Horton]

Photos by Muffin. Images are B/W because it was cold and cloudy the last time I rode the ski.

[Horton]

Final note on how I feel about this ski

 

Ride one - three 32s and three 35s

Ride two- three 32s and three 35s

Ride Three - in a tournament - 28,32,35,38 and 3 at 39 a new all time PB (Tournament and Practice).

 

I had never legitimately turned 2 at 39 before ever

 

Yea I guess the ski is pretty good : )

[Horton]

@OB1 here is the west the boats go straight and the balls are in RC tolerance.

[skiboyny]

Can you elaborate on the "quirk" what needed to be done as far as adjustments?

[Horton]

I went longer shallower

[skiboyny]

Didn't feel it was turning as well on both sides? (longer shallower)

[lakeaustinskier]

Were there any changes when they reissued the ski? or is it just the same ski?

 

 

[jcamp]

@lakeaustinskier According to the GOODE website, the changes are "new graphics and an enhanced sidewall design that enlarges the sweet spot under the skier’s feet and improves tip-to-tail balance."

[Horton]

@skiboyny I have confess this is one of those skis I really don't understand as well as I would like. As the water temp changes so does the balance. When the balance is right the ski is crazy good. The stock settings are perfect with 80 degree water. As the temps dropped I was less able to flow through the turn. I think it is because the tail of the ski had too much traction but am not really sure.

 

Really wish I had a more concise answer.

[lakeaustinskier]

@jcamp Maybe I'm jaded about marketing language (I am) but I was hoping for more feedback from people who have tried both skis. I've been on an XT for about three years and Horton's review is spot on. He especially nails the XT's characteristic of having different speeds coming off the ball based on whether the turn is an arc or a pivot.

 

Other skis that I've ridden (notably the VTX and Vapor) might be faster in some areas but when I'm at my limit or I really screw something up the XT always makes me feel like I'm still in the pass.

[jhughes]

 

Did I miss an Rev6 review or what's the deal there?

 

FWIW I felt the Rev6 change substantially in the fall water temps as well, though I'm skiing at a much lower level (into 32 off/34mph).

[Horton]

@jhughes I have not yet done a Rev6 review. Next year?

[Than_Bogan]

Another excellent review. I really appreciate the meticulous process you go through and how you write about skis.

 

Fwiw, @MikeT has been moving his bindings forward a touch on his "old" XT as the water has gotten colder, and even now that we're facing freezing cold water, his scores have been close to mid-season form. He played around with some fin settings during the year, but the most success seemed to come from going bindings back for very warm water and forward for very cold water. (He can correct me if I've misstated any of that.)

 

I am not trying to claim that's a general tuning concept, but it appears to work for him on the "old" XT.

[Horton]

@Than_Bogan I think there may be some wisdom in that approach. That might be my next adjustment if I were going to tweak more.

[DW]

@Horton : thanks for the review, nice work. I have found Goode skis seem to respond well to 'tuning' for temperature changes aligning with your review.

[TallSkinnyGuy]

Is it just me or is Horton's spray bigger on this ski than on other skis? Perhaps because of the smaller size of the ski?

I am good at noticing the really important things (big spray!).

[Hockdog]

Big spray is important.....because chicks dig big spray.

[ForrestGump]

size matters!

[wawaskr]

Been on the XT for three years now - every fall when the water cools, I notice what @Horton is talking about. Ski turns different, but faster ball to ball. It sort of grips more in cool water and loses its "smear" ability.

[gmut]

cooler water equals higher viscosity, deeper fin is affected more than a shallower fin. ski feels way faster but actually might be slower side to side forcing you to ski narrower and turn more down course.......just a thought.

[303Skier]

@Horton can you share some of your fin/boot settings you tried?

[Zman]

@Horton I would also be curious what changes helped as water temps dropped. Just now trying late model Nano One XT to see how I like it compared to my older Nano One. For now, my on side turns are a little too slow and rounded, but I'msure that is all on me tending to give up the handle too soon, and shutting down the ski some. Bad habit I need to fix.

[Horton]

Warm Water

28.75

6.830 (tips)

2.495

.703

9

 

Cold water settings - same as warm except

6.88 (tips)

2.485

 

 

[wtrskior]

@Horton do you usually make this type of adjustment when going to cold water?

 

[Horton]

No

[303Skier]

@Horton Thanks for the settings.

 

You were getting tip rise out of your off-side I'm guessing?

[Horton]

@303Skier No not really. Not that I recall.

[Ralph Lee]

Interesting... That's a huge adjustment in my book.

[303Skier]

Anyone running different settings for 36 mph? Interesting how this ski has such a small DFT and Length compared to others.

 

Also why is the NANO 1 able to support larger skiers being small in comparison?

 

[Zman]

@Horton Thanks for the cold water settings. Will try them on Friday.

[Zman]

Ran the "cold water" settings from @Horton today. Ski was better from where it had been, but was too much tip. Too much ski in the water out of turns on both sides. Took 0.030 back out of length and ski felt much better. Thanks to some great help from @Chad_Scott

[303Skier]

@Zman What were you final numbers after adjusting? What size ski? Did you leave your binders stock?

[Zman]

65.25

28.75

6.769 jaws, slot 2, or 6.857 tips

2.485

0.708 slot 2, or 0.700 with my standard caliper

 

[MikeT]

I did allot of experimenting this summer with the settings of my XT. I won't get into what I discovered in the warm water but for sure this fall, somewhere around first week of October in the Boston area, suddenly the ski was not settling into the turn and slowing down as before. During the summer I discovered an eighth inch binding forward movement helped my skiing. With that and going with the philosophy that the viscosity of water is higher in colder temperatures and the water is denser and that the water is actually slower. Slower and making you feel like your skiing faster because it's harder to get wide and early. So my thought was to go from 9 degrees to 8.5 degrees with the wing to get more speed and moving the binding another eight inch forward to 29 1/4 inches to get the tip in the water a little more. It worked great. The ski felt the same up into the end of October until the second to the last ski the first week in November. The last ski was on 11/3. The water was getting even harder by then and it was much more difficult. All in all a good fall of skiing.

As I said above I did allot of minor tweaking with the adjustments this summer and learned more about chasing performance with the ski. My plan is to take the fall settings into next spring. Start with that. 8 degree wing from 9. Binding at 29 1/4" vs 29". My goal is a faster ski that turns as well. This summer at most sites other than my own the ski would just stall into the turn with the binding at 29 1/8" and stock settings including 9 degrees. I had a home setting and a setting for other sites. It really worked that way.

I took my home settings to both Regionals and Nationals and set up two practice sets. In each of the first practice sets the ski stalled and grabbed badly into the turn. This with stock fin, 9 degrees and only the binding forward and eighth to 29 1/8". Second set I moved the binding back to 29" and it was fine. My water at home, Boston area, must be a little quicker than most sites. My settings worked good however at two NH sites during the year. I'm typically a mid 38 skier and did run 38 this fall for the first time in awhile.

[skibug]

I am on a 2017 XT and found the same thing with the binding movement. I was running the bindings at 29" all summer with a 7.5 or 8 degree wing. This fall once the water hit 68 degrees or so; I left the wing at 8 and moved the bindings forward to 29 3/16". This actually settled the ski and actually allowed me to get more width more easily, like I was used to in the warmer water at 29". I think this is the best Goode I have been on, and I had a Rev6 for a month.

[skiboyny]

@skibug could you describe your perceived differences between XT and Rev?

[skibug]

@skiboyny for me it was consistency and more forgiving for my technique flaws. Both added up to more consistent scores at a higher buoy count. I went from the N1 to the Rev6. I sort of struggled to run 35 consistently on the Rev6 which meant less shots at 38. This was a step back from what I was used to on the N1. When I went to the XT my consistency at 35 went back up and even surpassed my performance on the N1. I think the Rev6 rewards a skier with a little more technical prowess. I think it is a little more sensitive to skier input, especially at the finish of the turn. What that meant for me was when I was in scramble mode, in poor body position, pushing on the ski more than I should at the finish of the turn, I wound up in the water especially on my toe side turn (RFF). The XT seems to be a little more forgiving in these situations and it allows me to stay in the pass even if I am in a little bit of trouble. It is definitely less effort than the N1, has more cross course speed; but, still has very consistent turns on both sides of the course like the N1. At the end of the day, if anyone is trying to decide between the two skis and has the opportunity to ride both they should.

 

FWIW, I have two ski partners that moved from a N1 to the Rev6 and love it. Their consistency and buoy counts went up. It has been the best ski, for them, that they have been on. With that said, neither one of them have rode the 2017 XT yet.

[Fehlindra]

@skibug whats your weight and ski length on the xt

 

[skibug]

@Fehlindra 195 lbs, 66"

[jbwann]

Not sure if I should post this in the Short/Deep vs Long/Shallow forum...but I am ski specific and have felt a change since the water warmed up a bit. Leaning towards going shorter and deeper....maybe not quite THIS much but @Horton was nice enough to recommend:

 

Warm Water

28.75

6.830 (tips)

2.495

.703

9

 

Anyone having a similar feels or making similar changes?? i'm pretty close to stock. I went from being stunned by my off side turn (was LOVING it) to not quite burying the tip but definitely not finishing the turn. Much less comfortable/confident. I'm currently 28.75, 6.848, 2.491 deep side, .707 9degree. thx