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The Never-Ending Faction Discussion

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GregK

GregK

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Had my 183cm CT 1.0 and 183cm CT 2.0 out on Wednesday and they were lots of fun in the Spring like conditions. CT 2.0 a bit slower edge to edge of course but with their slightly softer flex and a bit more weight, they suck up the vibrations a hair better.

Saw a guy in the lift line with 21 CT 1.0 with yellow Attacks and asked how he liked them. “They are fucking awesome! I just tried them for the first time last night and it didn’t matter how bumpy it was, they just went through it. Amazing edge grip too!”

Mentioned I have 6 pairs of CT skis and he said “Are you Greg? Because you’re the reason I bought them!”
Turns out we chatted 2 weeks ago on the chairlift after he asked “Aren’t Faction skis the ones with that guy who jumps into Audis?”
He said he got “the 183cm length and mounted them -3cm like you recommended” and they are perfect. Checked his Attacks and of course the AFD not set up properly so I adjusted them for him at the hills tool rack

Another happy customer!

Pic of my new Deacon 72 Masters and his Candide skis.

F3995CF0-6B79-403A-8FEF-7B809C18E735.jpeg
 
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GregK

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Candide just dropped a new video and was wondering if the rumours of him leaving Faction were true as the skis look new in this video.
I paused his shifty at the very end of the video and they have Faction logo and name on the bases and can just see a bit of the top sheet and they look like a typical Candide design. 23 CT maybe?
 
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GregK

GregK

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Skied all day yesterday(40k vert on a small Eastern hill in Ontario) on my 21 CT 1.0. Such a great one ski quiver for the East if someone wanted a powerful yet playful high 80s/low 90s ski. Sure doesn’t feel like it’s underfoot width as it’s quick edge to edge yet stable enough to ski 40mph plus all day in it’s sleep.

Had the usually “who is Faction”, “Haven’t seen those skis before” etc conversions on the chair and at one point had 3 people off a chairlift asking about them with a conversation continuing off the lift. Even had other random people overhearing the conversation and also asking questions about them and think at least 2 will be buying them now. Lol

Also saw one skier ripping nice carves at high speed down the hill and then noticed he was on twin tips. Chuckled when I realized it was the guy who bought 21 CT 1.0 last week off my recommendation. :golfclap:
 

Rdputnam515

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Heck yeah man. I need to put an apple tag on these for skiing deep pow lol.

my wife told me after a pow day last year (waist deep in places) “I was afraid I was going to lose my husband today”. This was after an epic tomahawk after a terrain misread and I came up short trying to clear a gap. Well, I was hauling ass and I came up just a bit short trying to clear a gully,haha. Bang double heel ejection, over the handle bars.

she told me a 45yo man has no business skiing like this. I laughed.

anyway, I have been known to go all out, especially in deep stuff and sometime going big has consequences. I just want to be able to find my skis, ha. The green should help! Plus it looks cool!

When I pick them up last night one of the lat teen to 20 something techs walked by stopped, fondled my skis and said “This set up is sick”. My wife laughed at me
 
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GregK

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Glad you posted close ups of the green bindings so I could see the AFD were low. Did you end up checking the mount points on your new lines before removing the tape?

Find it funny how much the younger people respect Faction skis and how many of the older master racers frown as they are wider until they see you ski them and then they ask about them!
Daily get “like your waterskis” to 5 mins later “wow, you get those on edge and fly through the crud” to “I’ve been looking for wider skis to compliment my carvers….”

I bet you could have not only made it over the gully in those new CT 3.0x, you’d even throw a smooth 360 in while doing it……:roflmao:
 

Rdputnam515

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I did check the mount point, it was good and as marked

thank you for letting me know to check the AFD, the guy adjusted them right in front of me but still got it wrong. Didn’t follow the Tyrolia procedure.

i gotta admit that spill slowed me down a bit for the day lol

i came over a rise near the bottom where everything flattened out then i saw this gully lol. Too flat to clear it. It was snowing like mad.

I just hope these are long enough, I prefer 180 and up in wider skis. 178 is right on the line here
 
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GregK

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just hope these are long enough, I prefer 180 and up in wider skis. 178 is right on the line here
That’s why you’re at the -3cm mount to make them “ski longer” and float better. My Whistler buddy who is a hair bigger than you is loving his 178cm at the same mount point. He skis lots of trees so wanted the smaller size and they have had 2-3’ of snow many weekends this season and he’s loving them! Yet to ski his 180cm Rustler 10 this year as the CT 3.0 is so much better.

The fronts on my CT 1.0 look super short with the very forward mount when I ski those and yet they are stable like a much longer ski.
 

Rdputnam515

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First day out on them. All in all I like them,

can’t push them as hard as the kores. Long tails were awkward at first

conditions ranged from wind blown, pow, soft groomed to ice

I skied groomers,bumps, steep bumps, chop, pow bumps, trees

I love them in chop and pow/pow bumps. Only first day out, first time ever on this type ski

groomers and steep bumps I’d pick my Kores. My Kores have zero speed limit I feel if I had 180+ 3.0 it would be a better comparison

only first day out first time ever on a ski this wide and I really dig them. I’ll be on them tomorrow again and update
 
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GregK

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First day out on them. All in all I like them,

can’t push them as hard as the kores. Long tails were awkward at first

conditions ranged from wind blown, pow, soft groomed to ice

I skied groomers,bumps, steep bumps, chop, pow bumps, trees

I love them in chop and pow/pow bumps. Only first day out, first time ever on this type ski

groomers and steep bumps I’d pick my Kores. My Kores have zero speed limit I feel if I had 180+ 3.0 it would be a better comparison

only first day out first time ever on a ski this wide and I really dig them. I’ll be on them tomorrow again and update
Find it’s common for those newer to twin tip skis to feel the looser feel of them when flat and then to feel less secure and more cautious at first on them. Being timid may cause the skier to get out of balance or backseat which compounds things.

You have to tip skis like this a bit more to fully engage the whole sidecut so this may take a bit of getting used. You’ll find if you drive the ski like a traditional flat tailed and trust the edges will be there, the CT line will feel more stable. The effective edge on the 178cm CT 3.0 is longer than your 180cm Kore 99 and it’s turn radius is even longer than even the 189cm Kore 99. Much higher top end on the CT 3.0 even in the 178cm length.

Once you get used to trusting the edges and really DRIVING the CT 3.0x, you will see their greatness. Trust me! :crossfingers:

Good luck tomorrow with them!

Taking my 190cm 3.0 (and 183cm CT 2.0/183cm CT 1.0) out this week as we are supposed to get a decent amount of snow to start the week. Anxious to get more time on the longer length.
 

Tony Storaro

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Man, at this rate our @GregK here will soon be a bigger Faction legend than Candide.

I am looking forward to his 2024 GK collection. I am buying the GK 1.0 no matter what.
Just put some astronauts and fire goddesses and stuff on the topsheets.
 

anders_nor

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190 ct 3 speed limit is 55-60 easy all day. Do you feel the shovel is folding on you while carving or flappy when your flat? or just haven tried yet? you need a more centerd stance than-10 mount skis though

btw GK 2.5 is where the R&D is at mr Storaro ;)
 
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GregK

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Find that you can’t be as lazy and non committed on twin tip skis on firmer groomers like you can most flatter tailed skis.

The other week when skiing the previous day on my eTitans which engage the edge fully much quicker, I lazy skied the first run of the day on my firmer snow on my CT 2.0 and it didn’t feel as stable or confidence inspiring. Knew I wasn’t following my own advice and the 2nd run fully committed to driving the ski like I would a more traditional one and putting the ski on solidly on edge. It was like it a different ski and was felt totally solid at very high speeds.

@Tony Storaro Both @anders_nor and I have already discussed that we want a similar shape and build to the 21 CT 3.0 but in a narrower width. Doesn’t need to be as heavy as the CT 2.0 build so it’s more playful yet still can charge.
Have already promised @anders_nor that the GK 2.5 will have flat bases from the factory and self sharpening edges with his recent tuning issues on all his Volkls…… :roflmao:
 

Rdputnam515

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190 ct 3 speed limit is 55-60 easy all day. Do you feel the shovel is folding on you while carving or flappy when your flat? or just haven tried yet? you need a more centerd stance than-10 mount skis though

btw GK 2.5 is where the R&D is at mr Storaro ;)
I feel like the 178 might be a bit short for me to really open them up high speed.

I feel like I can’t drive the tips as hard as I can with the Heads.

I suppose that is natural. I have never skied anything like the Factions.

don’t get me wrong they feel great and I really like them more on that later…
 
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Thread Starter
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GregK

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The 21 CT 3.0x is stiffer and 200gr heavier(300gr heavier than the 180cm Kore 99) than the 22 version but the 21 is not in their system to compare.

Think/know something must be up with the tune and betting the base is slightly base high causing issues. The CT 3.0 should be easily embarrassing the kores so something is definitely up here.
 

Rdputnam515

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The 3.0s stayed on the rack today. The conditions were a bit firmer and I wanted to compare them to my Kores.

So here it is…

I skied all the same runs today as yesterday all day on the heads.

I think most of my issues with the Factions yesterday were from the optics and my need to really power my tips through my boots. I need to learn to trust those big fat boards lol.

the 3.0s definitely pivot more readily, and float infinitely better in windblown chunks, light pow and turn easier in chopped up pow and wind blow chunks. Pow bumps they rock. My issue in the trees, when it gets tight I am not used to the long tails.

I was able to carve on the 3.0s reasonably well, but I felt I had a speed limit.

today I opened up the heads to 51mph (skitracks app) and I felt I could have easily skied much much faster on them before even thinking about it. I didn’t because I ran out of room lol. The wind was blowing uphill or cross wind and slowed me down a little. @ski otter 2 knows how the wind blows at LL and he can verify the wind. Today was mild probably only blowing 20 ha

so this is how I feel about the Kores. In bumps and steep bumps I can crash and bang the stiff tips into bumps all day and scrub some speed and keep in control. They are easier for me to throw around and go edge to edge. No surprise here they are 13mm skinnier at the waist. I feel like I can find that magic groove on the Kores. that groove where you feel like they are part of your feet. I, not there yet on the Factions. I need more time on them.
so to the whole carving issue…

i skied a run I love and opened the throttle up all the way both yesterday and today. yesterday on the factions, today on the Kores. Today the conditions were soft sun baked groomers, absolutely perfect for high speed carving, the heads did not disappoint, I love them..

Yesterday the run was chopped up pow and sun baked windblown, I was at full throttle. I mean wide open. The skis flat out rolled over everything like it wasn’t there and carved it up like a groomer. No kidding. I commented to my wife, I have never felt anything like that. Then I headed to a nice chunky bump run and stepped an my tails and ate it lol. i feel more of my issues with 3.0s are because of lack of time on them.

Verdict.. I need more time on the 3.0s. I really do like them and after skiing my Kores all day today, appreciate them more. I bought them for a very specific type of skiing, Skiing the ridge at Loveland Basin. I believe they will excel at that. I am trying something new and totally foreign to me, I expect some ramp up time.

I am giving this the most honest opinion I can, and will do my best not to exaggerate lol.

I am not disappointed I bought the 3.0s, not at all.
 
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