Men on womans skis

[chowe3]

Hello, can anyone tell me if a guy can ski on skis that are labeled womans skis. They are rossignol bandit b1w and I can really see a whole lot of difference besides radius and some weight.......is this not a good idea?

 

[Hawkshot99]

I have demoed many of the womens skis. I really liked them. Rossi, does not make many chnanges to the womens skis besides moving the binding up 2 cm. This makes the ski a bit more responsive.

 

[snowconehead]

It's not cross-dressing.

A few years ago I bought a pair of Vokl women's skiis. I forget the model, but I had to work around the salesman to buy them. It wasn't that he had good intentions, but he was young and had a serious racing background. Women's skiis can be discounted dramatically and offer a good bargain. These were the first Volkl skiis with a foam core. I find them very light and quick which is how I like skiis. I weigh 220 to 230 and know I will eventually break down this ski with 40 days of hard skiing. However, I have only used the pair a few times a year.

 

[bvibert]

Someone asked the same question in the latest issue of Skiing magazine. The answer they got was that the bindings are mounted a bit forward, as mentioned above, and that some skis come with a ramped binding platform to keep a woman's lower center of gravity out of the backseat.

 

[snowconehead]

I doubt if my binding was mounted that way. Perhaps they designed the ski for mounting forward, but it wasn't put in any of the literature that came with the ski. There's a lot of hype behind women's skiis. Basically, they are lighter and have some internal differences that make for little changes in the actual skiing. Women tend to sit back a little more than men while skiing. However, it's similar to the way they sell Intermediate skiis as an alternative to racing. The skiis definitely are softer than a full blown racing ski. However, they make perfectly good recreational skiis.

 

[Hawkshot99]

The differences in mens skis to womens skis vary greatly depending on the company. I will list some of the differences on the companys that I sell.

Rossi:
-Binding moved foward 2 cm
-Different graphics.
(they feel that the women want to have the same skis as men, not a lesser ski.)

Atomic:
-Different cores are used to make the ski 20% lighter, and softer
-Binding moved foward 2 cm
-Different graphics

K2:
Entirely different ski from the men. They are designed by 5 women who vary in their expierence. They go out and decide exactly what is wanted in a womens ski, and then test them out.

 

[chowe3]

thanks

Thanks to you all for your input.......I am just getting back into it after 25 years and had some old salomon x-screams. I now am asking the question because I have a pair of Rossignol bandit1 w's wich seam like a much nicer ski. From what I have gathered from you all, I should be fine with these and now intend to use them.......thanks again.

 

[snowconehead]

You got the right idea, chowe3. Try them and see if you like 'em.

 

[NYDrew]

I was on an old pair of rossi viper womens for the longest time. actually took my level 1 on them while my atomics were out of comission. poor things burn up in a fire otherwise I would still play on them once in a while.