HO Carbon Omni Wide???

[Guest]

Anybody out there skiing on one of these? Pondering a move from an 8 year old Connelly Carbon V in hopes of reducing drag [primarily on deepwater starts but also once up]. A new hip on the same side as my front foot is making deepwater starts a real hit and miss effort for my old V as well as my brother's new Senate Alloy [both in 69" length]. I was going to tough it out this season on my V while my hip continues to strengthen, but started thinking an upgrade to newer tech probably wouldn't hurt so if the Omni Wide is likely to offer a noticeable improvement in drag while upgrading tech features and performance I'll probably pull the trigger. [i've yet to talk with anyone that's actually skied one of these things.]

[S1Pitts]

It's a great ski. Demo one at the least. My buddy has a 69 and it rebooted his once dead skiing and now skis better than ever.

[Garn]

I can't speak from experience on the Omni Wide, but I can speak from experience on the Omni. It is really an amazing ski. It's such an effortless ski to ski. It just pops out of the water. So little drag on your body. Easy to get width. Turns without thinking. Fast. So easy on your body to ski because of how little drag it has. I think it is one of the best skis out there now. I think its a game changer. I have a Syndicate Omni that I let people use who go skiing with me and don't have their own ski. I can't tell you how many times somebody, after skiing on my Omni, have immediately purchased one for themselves.

 

Starting this year, HO isn't making the Syndicate Omni anymore. But an HO dealer here in Utah, Taylor's Boats, still have a few in stock that they are selling for I believe $750. And they will ship it.

[BraceMaker]

@savaiusini is there an omni wide?

 

I see when you Google it some companies listing that online but I am not aware of this as a different ski model, is this just retailers listing an omni as a wide ski?

[mike_mapple]

@BraceMaker they do the Omni as well as the Carbon Omni, is a 67 and 69 Wide.

[BraceMaker]

Interesting - didn't see any news about that launch.

 

Fun in that there was the coefficient X, Co-X, CDX, CX, TX, Superlite versions of both, then the Omni is supposedly a blend of the CX and TX with the new tail, and then they Discontinued the narrower CX and the wider TX.

 

 

So how does a Omni and the Wide Omni compare to the CX and TX, wider and wider?

[OldboyII]

"For 2022 it’s also offered in a Wide Edition, providing additional lift for easier getups and stable turns."

From here: https://www.perfski.com/ski/slaloms/slalom-skis/ho-2022-carbon-omni.html

[208maverick]

So, here's what I've learned to date. The omni wide is about 3/8 of an inch wider than the standard omni at it's widest point. (It's also about an 1/8 " wider than Connelly's V and 1/4" wider than the Senate.) The omni "wide" is also the widest of the three at the tail by the same amounts.

 

A carbon omni wide is gonna show up on my doorstep next week so will figure things out on the water next weekend.

[Ski_Dad]

@208maverick - that Omni wide is wider than my old 69" TX and my 69" Radar Theory - should be the ticket.

[Frank_MA]

As I understand and compare the Ski specs and the images on the HO Website, the Omni Wide is nothing else or quite similar than the renamed last 2020/2021 Freeride version.

[MitchellM]

1/8" wider than your Carbon V may not make much difference. If you want to upgrade to a new ski you should go for an omni wide, but be prepared that your results may be the same. I bought a Carbon V because it has a reputation as fairly easy up.

[208maverick]

@MitchellM -- yeah, I'm expecting a subtle difference in the deepwater starts instead of something dramatic. (And it's the "wide" model that I've got coming and is the one marginally wider than the V in the forebody.) I think this ski is actually 1/4" wider in the tail than the V, which is probably what I'll feel on the starts more than anything. (That and the crash tonnage reduction program I'm on -- dropped 12# in July to make August more enjoyable to ski, and am targeting another 8.)

 

Gonna find out I guess. But not today apparently. Checked Fed Ex tracking this am to see where the ski was in it's 300 mile journey from Wiley's to here, expecting delivery this afternoon. Apparently Fed Ex is sending the ski on an all expense paid trip to California, because it's currently in Oakland. Kind of a deflating start to my day. Lol.

[MitchellM]

@208maverick Keep us posted with your impressions.

[Ski_Dad]

@208maverick so how is the ski? I'm sure it feels different but I always give myself 2 or 3 days before I judge a new ski.

[Rw3]

Does anyone use the Syndicate Omni in shorter line lengths (relatively speaking) such as 35?

[208maverick]

Work blew up this week so just got my hands on the ski today. No water time until next week.

[208maverick]

Can finally report back. Got the Carbon Omni Wide in hand and had it side by side with the Connelly V last night as I swapped bindings over. The Omni Wide is about 5/16" wider than the V from the tip of the front boot all the way thru the tail. Difference in width is a little larger than I expected which is what I was hoping for.

 

Skied it a couple times this am. It definitely has less drag on the deepwater starts than my V (not huge difference but noticeable) but the reduction in drag after up was VERY noticeable. I skied it enough to know i'm gonna like this ski. Looking forward to getting it on nice water and learning its ins and outs. 2 runs on marginal water aren't enough for me to tell differences between the two skis. (Honestly I think the rest of my skiing this summer is going to be more about learning to ski with a new hip than it is about learning a new ski.)

 

Thanks to All on the feedback on skis.

[MitchellM]

@208maverick Great news. Thanks for reporting back. I like my CarbonV, but I've been eyeing the Omni wide and also the Goode Wide ride as a potential next ski.

[Jerry44]

I just bought a 67 Wide Carbon Omni and have skied on it twice. For reference I weigh 190 and the ski is designed for 200-250 lbs. Turns incredibly and turns are really smooth. It will turn way quicker than I need it to. Skiing 30 mph, 15 off.It is the easiest ski to get up on I've ever used and I've had quite a few. So much so I had to get the driver to back off on the throttle. If there's a downside it does seem to bounce a little more across the wakes and I really have to keep it on edge. It may be due to being under the weight rating.I had a 69 Carbon Omni 2 years ago and really loved that ski. Probably should have kept it. Also rated 200-250 and I weighed 200 at the time.

 

[208maverick]

I've got a little more water time under my belt on the Omni Wide so will chime back in with some observations. (FWIW, I'm 6'2" and 245#, am an open water skier, and am on the 69" Carbon Omni Wide.) I'm very much enjoying this ski -- would

definitely

make this purchase again. Deepwater starts are noticeably easier on me than on my previous Carbon V, but the biggest difference I'm seeing is in the reduced drag once up. With my Carbon V (and pretty much all previous skis) I'm used to shoulder and arm fatigue letting me know when to end any particular run (or the ski ends it for me when I get sloppy from fatigue) and

really

feeling it in my shoulders at night while trying to get to sleep. With the Omni Wide, my runs are noticeably longer, my quads and cardio are now the limiting factor which ends my run, and there is

no pain

at night in my shoulders. (Feeling fatigue in my quads after a weekend of skiing instead of in my shoulders and lats is a new experience for me... LOL.) It's more difficult for me to draw comparisons from a performance standpoint because I'm not sure how much of what I'm feeling on the water this summer (and good runs vs bad runs) is ski related versus new hip related, but my sense is that the Carbon Omni Wide may be a little more forgiving than the Carbon V (which is saying something because I loved the V for that trait) and that like the Carbon V, I'm very unlikely to find the limits to this ski as an open water skier. If I was chasing balls, my sense is that the Carbon V is probably the better ski, but as a guy that skis open water all the time, I'll choose the Omni Wide over the Carbon V for it's forgiveness and huge advantage in reduced drag. Both are great skis. The Omni Wide is going to let me ski more, with no limiting factors that affect how I ski.