Head Skis - Why no love?

[Puck it]

What is the deal with Head skis. They have signed three of the top skiers(Maier on the way down but a big draw still)in the world and had two all ready. But no one is carrying their products. I love their skis. I have always used Tyrolia bindings. Their boot are a must for me since they are high volume. Their skis are the best skis for racing and the Monster series was a great all mountain ski in various width. I won 6 pairs and 5 of the 6 are Head.

Ski and Skiing are showing no love. One ski listed in their rankings. Payola not there?

They seem more prominent out West but not overwhelming.

Any thoughts?

 

[Philpug]

Regarding the reviews, they had less ad space..coincidence? I think not. They dumb downed the great Monster series from last year when they came out with the Peak 82 & 88, the 78 is the same though. Rumor is, the real Monsters will be back in the future.

 

[Puck it]

Regarding the reviews, they had less ad space..coincidence? I think not. They dumb downed the great Monster series from last year when they came out with the Peak 82 & 88, the 78 is the same though. Rumor is, the real Monsters will be back in the future.

I heard they removed the metal out of the 88. What a mistake! I very rarely see any skiing on them on the East Coast.

 

[powbmps]

I just picked up a pair of mojo 90's ('07 model I believe). Hardly used, so they should have plenty of life left. Seemed to get some pretty good reviews.

 

[skidmarks]

We don't sell them anymore for 2 reasons

1) They changed their Sales Rep that put them on the map in NE a few years back.

2) Each year more and more of their skis were out-sourced to the cheap factory and were crap

 

[Hawkshot99]

I will never be a fan until they drop the Tyrolia bindings......

 

[skidmarks]

I will never be a fan until they drop the Tyrolia bindings......

Flat skis are making a comeback anyway

 

[Hawkshot99]

Flat skis are making a comeback anyway

This is true, but working in a shop you get access to the companies you carry. If you carry the flat, you probably carry the systems too...

 

[RootDKJ]

I have a pair of 02/03 Head Monster iM 70's. Good ski, but I should have demo'd more as it tends to chatter at high speeds.

 

[deadheadskier]

Flat skis are making a comeback anyway

never skied a system ski. Almost all of my bindings over the past 15 years have seen use on at least two pairs of boards. Wonder if the movement towards more flat skis is a recession based decision.

 

[Hawkshot99]

Wonder if the movement towards more flat skis is a recession based decision.

I dont think so. I have sold and mounted many pairs of flat skis this year. So far none, have been with anything but a new binding.

 

[Puck it]

I will never be a fan until they drop the Tyrolia bindings......

Why? I have always used Tyrolia.

 

[riverc0il]

never skied a system ski. Almost all of my bindings over the past 15 years have seen use on at least two pairs of boards. Wonder if the movement towards more flat skis is a recession based decision.

Better skiers (and budget conscious skiers) don't buy systems (generally) unless they are groomer rippers which is where the systems skis really pay off. If you are knowledgeable about gear, you realize you pay extra for the system and then you can't recycle the binding when you get a new pair of skis. Then you pay the premium again on the next pair of system skis. So I suspect skiers voted with their wallets in terms of wanting flat instead of system. The systems are indeed great and work as advertised. But you don't really need them unless you are railing turns on groomers all day every day and you use the same ski forever and don't need to recycle bindings.

 

[Glenn]

One pair of my skis has a system, the other is flat. The system setup rips on the groomers; I think it has to do with being a bit higher off the ski. The system setup is a big "heavy" though. The ski still feels light underfoot however.

I can feel the terrain better with the flat mount. I can feel the ski flex and whatnot.

That's too bad Head went downhill (excuse the pun). I know the Monster series was getting a lot of love 2-3 season ago. I was actually looking into the IM78 when I got my Hotrods.

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

Wonder if the movement towards more flat skis is a recession based decision.

There isn't really a movement towards flat skis, its based more on the category the ski is in. All mountain, carving, and "package skis" ($299/399/499) are typically systems while twins, freeride and powder skis are typically offered flat. When systems first arrived on the scenes they were on the upper end and carried a price premium while the flat skis that were sold were less expensive and tended to be on the lower range of the performance spectrum. Systems and freeride skis started to take off at the same time...and while the price offerings on systems kept going lower and lower into the first price points the opposite was happening with flat skis...more models were offered on the high end and the average price started going up. All of this was going on long before we had any idea what would happen to the economy last year.

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

I will never be a fan until they drop the Tyrolia bindings......

why the tyrolia hate? Did you have a pair of 190D's get recalled on you back in the 80's? There are a lot of racers and race dealers out there who swear by tyrolia. I've had every major binding out there...and I've had all of them break on me...Salomon, Marker, Tyrolia, Rossi/Look and Atomic...but I've never pre-released more than I have on Markers.

 

[Puck it]

There isn't really a movement towards flat skis, its based more on the category the ski is in. All mountain, carving, and "package skis" ($299/399/499) are typically systems while twins, freeride and powder skis are typically offered flat. When systems first arrived on the scenes they were on the upper end and carried a price premium while the flat skis that were sold were less expensive and tended to be on the lower range of the performance spectrum. Systems and freeride skis started to take off at the same time...and while the price offerings on systems kept going lower and lower into the first price points the opposite was happening with flat skis...more models were offered on the high end and the average price started going up. All of this was going on long before we had any idea what would happen to the economy last year.

What I have heard, is that higher level skiers were not buying the systems as well as flat skis. So this forced the manufacturers cut back on the number of the systems skis at the high, because they were not selling. Higher levels tend to reuse their bindings more. It was also a way to get more monet out of begining skiers as they advnaced to better products.

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

What I have heard, is that higher level skiers were not buying the systems as well as flat skis. So this forced the manufacturers cut back on the number of the systems skis at the high, because they were not selling. Higher levels tend to reuse their bindings more. It was also a way to get more monet out of begining skiers as they advnaced to better products.

Not really the case...as I said, its more category dependant than anything. Want a Volkl Grizzly...its only available with a Marker motion system...12' Tigershark, same story. Nordica Helldiver, system only. Salomon Tornadoo Ti, system only. The Volkl AC50 was the #1 mens model sold in specialty shops last year and its only available in a system. There are a few ala carte options like the Fury and the Tornado (not the Ti) from Salomon, the Fuel and HR Pro Burner from Nordica, but only K2 is offering their full line of all mtn skis in both system or flat options. On the other hand, there are very few systems available in a twin tip or a ski wider than 90mm.

 

[Hawkshot99]

why the tyrolia hate? Did you have a pair of 190D's get recalled on you back in the 80's? There are a lot of racers and race dealers out there who swear by tyrolia. I've had every major binding out there...and I've had all of them break on me...Salomon, Marker, Tyrolia, Rossi/Look and Atomic...but I've never pre-released more than I have on Markers.

They are the highest percentage of all bindings that I fail on a function test. My shop does not sell them, or any ski that has a re badged version, but we will work on them if a customer brings them in. They are also horrible to deal with over the phone, when you need to get parts, or warranty taken care of.

 

[Grassi21]

Once you go flat you never go back... at least I didn't. I skied a Head and Nordica with a system. After I busted a piece on the Nordica binding I had to ski my powder ski with flat mounted Barons. When I switched back to the Nordica I didn't like the feel of the binding, the extra height (at least I perceived a change in height), and or the weight. The Nordicas are going to the ski swap to help pay for the Watea 84s I had mounted with a Solomon binding. The Watea with the Solys are longer and fatter than the Nordica but are noticeably lighter.