Gear Review: Intitiv Bigs+Freerides

[awf170]

Item and Brand Name: Intitive bigs 168+ Fritchi Freerides

Date Purchased: Dont remember

Retail Outlet: Ebay and Mountain gear

Purchase Price (optional): Skis $150, bindings $340

MSRP: Skis $900, I think :-? Bindings $420

Overall Rating (1-5 with 1 being "horrible" and 5 being "outstanding"):
Skis 5, bindings 5.

Freakin awsome setup Everyone knows about fritchis freerides preformance and durabilty(if you dont do a search)

Skis: Awsome ski truly blows Pocket Rockets out of the water in every possible way. I actually mounted them at the line(by mistake) instead of the suggested 1.5 cm back. Seem really awsome at the line, probably would be a little more stable back more but Im only 130 pounds So it seems fine. I think the little loss of stabilty is well worth how quick they are on short turns. All I really got to say is there great on everything. Suprisingly good on groomers, sure they dont have a great turn radius but if you get them to rebound out of corner(which is really easy) then there fine. If I could only have one ski this would probably be it.

 

[JD]

How do they skin?

 

[awf170]

How do they skin?

seems okay... only ski with an AT binding I have ever used though, so i cant really compare it with anything. But its probably not that greatest skinning because freerides are kinda heavy and so are bigs. Obviously there are heavier setups but there are also a lot lighter ones.

 

[riverc0il]

austin, you also have the disadvantage of alpine boots if i remember correctly? touring boots really help on the skin up, especially AT bootings that are not really alpine boots crossing over into the AT market such as the adreneline and tornado and what not. i have the same setup and enjoy skinning up just fine. light weight is too much of a compromise wtih a rig like this that just rips it up.

 

[awf170]

austin, you also have the disadvantage of alpine boots if i remember correctly?

Yeah, there pretty comfortable for alpine boots though(many because there so crappy and soft). Not too sure what boots Im going to get though, might get a AT boot with interchangable sole, wont be until next year though. Right now my boots are horrible but I want to wait a year before Im sure my feet stopped growing to get a nice boot.

 

[bigbog]

...

So where'dya ski em' Austin? What terrain/conditions did you ski?
Have you tried Elan's m666? If so...differences between the two...?
I'd really like to try that IBig...can handle any amount of powder/heavy stuff....
8)

 

[riverc0il]

i have tried the m666 and own both a pair of dynastar legend 8000s (more in comparison with the 666) and intuitiv bigs. really not much comparison between the 666 and the bigs (same as the 8800s), two completely different skis. between the 666 and the 8000, i think they are very similar skis. the 666 seemed slightly more damp and better at ripping big arcs on the hard pack, they were nimble but not as nimble and quick as the slightly lighter 8000. both great skis though. the bigs are just plain big mountain powder boards, not meant for anything groomed and definitely not meant for quick and lively turns which the other two skis do well.

 

[awf170]

Re: ...

So where'dya ski em' Austin? What terrain/conditions did you ski?
Have you tried Elan's m666? If so...differences between the two...?
I'd really like to try that IBig...can handle any amount of powder/heavy stuff....
8)

I skied them at wildcat on about half groomed with an inch of new snow on top of extremely softed groomed snow, and half in 6-8 deep crud.

Never tried m666 those are a lot skinnier if Im correct?
I'd think it would handle deep/heavy stuff well but I didnt get to try any. Steve skied these skis a lot more than me and can probably give better explanations. We also have the same exact setup except mine are 168's.

 

[awf170]

the bigs are just plain big mountain powder boards, not meant for anything groomed and definitely not meant for quick and lively turns which the other two skis do well.

I think they are actually pretty quick and are good on groomers. Granted I don't really experiance with many carving skis though. I have only skied one carving ski before which was the 4 star(which is now my mother ski) and after not liking that at all I havent skiied a carver since. So what seems good to me on groomers might seem crappy to others. Also another thing to consider is that I dont really like to take short turns when I carve. Another point could be that I have skied on pocket rockets every day so far this season(the reason behide this is I am always optimistic for really deep snow so I bring the fat skis, but usually ends up not snowing) and after those anything will carve good. Also a final point is in a 168 these skis will have a good amount shorter turn radius then the 178's or 168's.

As far as quick turns go. I think it depends on what you are talking about, quick short radius turns on a groomer=bad, but quick, jump/skid turns in crud/trees/spread out moguls=good But this could also be related to mine being mounted centerline and steves being mounted -1.5cm back.

 

[riverc0il]

I think they are actually pretty quick and are good on groomers.

gotta completely disagree with ya on this one. that waist is a dog and compared to many other skis, these just don't fly on the groomers and definitely aren't quick in the turn. fantastic skid turn on the steep stuff though! i don't really see a difference between being quick to turn on the groomers vs skid turns (jump turns are irrelevent, that has nothing to do with the ski). the skis don't have a huge amount of pop, but do sport a really nice sweet spot. if i was looking for precision, these skis would not be the ones i would grab, that's for sure.

 

[awf170]

I think they are actually pretty quick and are good on groomers.

gotta completely disagree with ya on this one. that waist is a dog and compared to many other skis, these just don't fly on the groomers and definitely aren't quick in the turn. fantastic skid turn on the steep stuff though! i don't really see a difference between being quick to turn on the groomers vs skid turns (jump turns are irrelevent, that has nothing to do with the ski). the skis don't have a huge amount of pop, but do sport a really nice sweet spot. if i was looking for precision, these skis would not be the ones i would grab, that's for sure.

Oh, I meant they are quick, as in they are quick in the woods and while doing jump turns and skid turns.
I also think they are pretty good on groomers, but not good at quick turns on groomers. Quick turns on groomers they stink...