Individual Review Long-Term Test: 2017 Renoun Z-77 Proto

[Philpug]

Backstory: If you reference the other Renoun reviews, the Z-90 and Endurance 98 V2 and the first incarnation of the Endurance 98, you will see that we are very impressed with what Cyrus Schenk is building. To reiterate, Renoun is using a proprietary material called Hyper Damping Technology™ (HDT) in its skis; this award-winning ... ok, award-winning? Yes, we are talking major international award: a Gold at ISPO! ISPO just does not give these out at the door, we are talking serious accreditations here.

​

Now, when we got on the Z-90, not only was I blown away but pretty much everyone we put on the ski was also duly impressed with what this 20-something prodigy has accomplished in his first go-round as a ski builder. So what was our second thought about the Z-90? Well, it can be better. What Renoun is doing with HDT, we really believe is best used in narrow, hard-snow skis. So we suggested to Cyrus that he consider building a narrower version of the Z-90; Cyrus replied, ”I thought 90 was narrow?!?” Ahhh, youth. We explained that not too far in the past, 90mm underfoot was mind-blowingly wide. We talk about how his HDT is the perfect ingredient for a hard-snow ski and that if he took the Z-90’s shape down to around 80 mm, he could have a world-class hard-snow ski. What does Cyrus do? The guy actually gets us a prototype 77mm ski within a month to test. Kids these days, don’t they understand how this is supposed to work? Well, Cyrus is one to buck the rules, to the point that this is what is printed on the skis:

RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN. This ski was built with RENOUN’s Hyper Damping Technology (HDT). It has been engineered to provide an unmatched snow experience by not only breaking the rules but breaking the laws of physics. ​

So, Cyrus listened, and reacted by building us a 180cm 77mm proto version of the world-class Z-90. I immediately wondered, "What binding should I put on this?" My first thought was a Pivot 15 or 18. "Damn, if I do that, not too many people can try the ski … is that a bad thing?" "Yes, Phil, think of the community, these are test skis." "Ok, fine."

Now, a 77mm frontside ski needs what? Leverage! So, I have some Rossignol lifter plates from some SL skis; these have multiple holes for different boot sole lengths. I could kill a couple of birds with one drill bit by mounting race plates: a lifter plate to enhance the snow feel, a metal Pivot for maximized performance and adjustability so other members can try the Z-77. A win-win-win.

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Stay tuned for reviews on this all-new Z-77 Proto.

 

[Tom K.]

Interesting!

Dimensions?

 

[Philpug]

Interesting!

Dimensions?

117-76-106 in 180cm

 

[Philpug]

OK, I had the Z-77 out at A-Basin on Saturday. Temps were in the low teens and conditions were firm groomers in the morning. For the first couple of runs off of the Black Mountain Express the Z-77 was very predictable as I rolled it un on edge from turn to turn. Where the Z-90 in the 16 meter feels and skis shorter, the Z-77 feels longer. The radius feels more like an 18 meter in the 180cm length that I skied. I skied the Z-77 for 3 runs off of BME lift then I took it up Lenawee for another 3 runs where I could open it up. One word...BUTTAHHHH. Like it's wider brother the Z-90, the Z-77 stayed glued to the snow.

Intermission:
With the East wall opening up, I switched over to the Enforcer 93, and took that out in the heavy slop and it performed as expected, after lunch I switched back to the Renoun.

After lunch the conditions changed, more wind and to took the off piste from cut-up mank to beautiful wind buff especially in Montezuma, both on the skier's left and in Montezuma Bowl. In these conditions, the Z-77 showed its versatility; where I would normally want to be on something a bit wider, the Renoun was smooth as silk and fun fun fun. I plan on getting on these again at Deer Valley tomorrow and report back some more but at this point the Z-77 is living up to its promise of being the skinnier and highly competent frontside brother to the Z-90.

 

[Ron]

That will be my go to ski for next season for sure. I wish he did the 77 in a 177 along the lines of a Stockli. The 174 seems more of a "fun-size" ski. The 180 seems a bit long for a 77. . I look forward to your findings in skiing more short radius and getting into some bumped out stuff.

Didn't you have a 90 in a 174? Did you feel that was too short?

 

[Philpug]

That will be my go to ski for next season for sure. I wish he did the 77 in a 177 along the lines of a Stockli. The 174 seems more of a "fun-size" ski. The 180 seems a bit long for a 77. . I look forward to your findings in skiing more short radius and getting into some bumped out stuff.

Didn't you have a 90 in a 174? Did you feel that was too short?

I didn't feel the 174 was too short in the 90 but would also rather have that in a 180ish too. Remember how you felt the 98 was in the 184 and that didn't feel too long? This is the same way. I will say, if I was having these just for myself, I would be a bit happier...juuust a bit happier with the Pivot mounted directly on the deck but I needed the adjustability for others to get on them and the leverage is still fun.

 

[Eric Edelstein]

Got first runs on Cyrus's 180cm Renoun Z77 Proto yesterday at Killington (no one there...full slope widths available for speed testing )

• Tyrolia PowerRail SPD12 adjustable position bindings (low-rise...no plate) mounted -1cm from the mark after fussing with it a bit.
  
• Conditions: Firm Spring Cream Cheese with hardpack underlayer...flats to steeps

First impressions:

• Silky engagement...had me hooked on the first turn. Addicting.
  
• Super-sweet feel and control underfoot, begs to be driven into steeper and steeper edge angles...ended up doing high-intensity hip-dragging arcs all over the place...lots and lots of confidence the harder you press them...but easy to handle.
  
• Race-like grip with elegant turn initiation and finish without the Herculean effort of driving a race ski.
• Excellent zing out of the turn if you load the ski up and let it fly across and down the hill.
• Ski patrol yelled at me to slow down, even with no one on the hill
• Not as much pronounced effect felt from the HDT as in the Z90 or Endurance model, but the ski was quiet and silky, even at high speeds.
• Measures 177cm tip-to-tail straight tape pull
• As good, (if not better than) race carvers in the 75-80mm waist category from the "Big 10" companies....perhaps easier to ski and less demanding
• Feels pretty true-to-length when you get underway
• The more of the entire ski chassis you use, the better it gets...engage it from tip to tail
• Out-of-the-wrapper tune was perfect...no desire to change it.
• Glossy topsheet (Z90 will get this treatment also)
  
• I wanted to buy this test pair after 1 run (that says something right there)...this could be my frontside ski of choice....only real competition might be the DPS Cassiar 85 T2 which had the same effect on me (shows my bias in ski behavior)...other carvers have similar performance, biut seem to demand more from the pilot (Elan XTi, Blizzard SLC...etc.) and might not have as wide a terrain envelope as the Z77

Waiting on some comments from other testers and another day on these skis to make sure I was not just having a unicorns-and-rainbows day with skewed impressions (some testing days just seem like every ski works great...need to do a reality check...that's why we like to test over a bunch of weeks in various conditions...not just issue a full review after one day...).

First day out = really impresive....shockingly impressive ski design for a 25 year old working out of an incubator office environment in Burlington, Vermont.

Stay tuned.

RENOUN Z77 (left) and Z90 (right)

RENOUN Z77 Prototypes​

 

[Ron]

Sweeeet. I ordered a pair last week and I can't wait till next November. I think those Ty's are a great choice. Did you get any chance to take them into bumps or tracked/crud?

 

[palmettoski]

Phil, you have suggested mounting the Z90s at 1cm behind stock, any similar finding for the Z77?

 

[Philpug]

Phil, you have suggested mounting the Z90s at 1cm behind stock, any similar finding for the Z77?

I think it is fine on the line. I wold also have no problem mounting a Pivot flat on the deck without a riser.

 

[Brian Finch]

Way fun, pushed em hard!

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

After having been on several Renoun skis throughout the season, I have a feel for what this young company is trying to accomplish -- a smooth riding ski that rips. The Z-77 is no different. I found the narrowest ski in the family a fast, competent and extremely enjoyable front-side offering. As with the other Renouns, the 77 seemingly flows like Mercury down the slope smoothing out uneven terrain providing that luscious ride I anticipate. Bend it in multiple turn shapes on a whim and enjoy all the thrills from arc to arc. Hard snow, soft snow, bumps and crud, just point 'em and go because this ski will be there for you.

 

[Philpug]

I changed up the Z-77 for this coming season. I took off the race plate because I have been going over in my head that there was jsut something different between the Z-77 and the Z-90 and I am thinking it wasn't jsut the 13mm difference and the only thing I could come up with was the lifter plate and the more I thought about it, with the HDT, the ski jsut didn't need it. I think it cost is a bit of the nimbleness that I loved so much from the 90. Now, that limits who can now get on the Z-77 since I hard mounted the Pivot 15's right onto the ski. Sorry @Drahtguy Kevin and others with big boots but daddy has to think of himself sometimes.

 

[Ron]

Well im putting a Aattack demo on mine so if Kevin buys me a beer, he can borrow them.

 

[Eric Edelstein]

I Agree with Phil about the Z77 plate removal...this ski doesn't need the physical height, stiffening and isolation effects...we like it with our minimal demo-plate just great for frontside playtime...wouldn't change a thing.

Just met with Cyrus yesterday at the VT Ski+Ride Expo and the 77 Proto is essentially unchanged for production...it's that good. We will have our demo-binding pair on-snow ASAP to finish up formal testing as soon as Killington lays down some suitable surface (getting ready for the WorldCup Nov 26 & 27, so they will be rabidly blowing snow like never before...hurry up...the World is coming to visit and they will demand a race surface). If anyone wants to ride them in VT, give me a shout.

The big plus you get with a plate on the Z-77 is preventing boot-out when you get really layed-over in a trench-digging arc...we keep running into boot-out because we can get the skis leaned-over so far, so hard and keep craving more at speed on hardpack...I know we could get just a few more degrees of angle if we had a plate ....If only...

Also, you will want to pay attention to the new model (bigger, badder, hardwood-core w/ beaucoup HDT) from Renoun coming soon...(shhhhh...).

 

[Eric Edelstein]

After having been on several Renoun skis throughout the season, I have a feel for what this young company is trying to accomplish -- a smooth riding ski that rips. The Z-77 is no different. I found the narrowest ski in the family a fast, competent and extremely enjoyable front-side offering. As with the other Renouns, the 77 seemingly flows like Mercury down the slope smoothing out uneven terrain providing that luscious ride I anticipate. Bend it in multiple turn shapes on a whim and enjoy all the thrills from arc to arc. Hard snow, soft snow, bumps and crud, just point 'em and go because this ski will be there for you.

Agree with Drahtguy...flowing mercury is a good description.

 

[Ron]

Eric. I really want to make my pair demo accessible but can't find any Ty's. If you know where any might be, please post up.

 

[Philpug]

Like with theZ-90's, I did move the bindings back 3cm which seems more in line with other skis of similar dimensions in this category. Plus I felt they skied better back a bit.

 

[Eric Edelstein]

Eric. I really want to make my pair demo accessible but can't find any Ty's. If you know where any might be, please post up.

Your friendly local Tyrolia/Head dealer can order some, I found this:

http://www.coloradodiscountskis.com/store/product6444.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tyrolia-15-...ndings-NEW-Width-80-85-95-110mm-/301978206816

You want the adjustable plates (any will do..the Pro bases have extra rubbery bits for dampening...not really required)

Powerrail Base
Art. Nr. 119250 black/smoke

Powerrail Pro Base
Art. Nr. 119221 black/smoke
Art. Nr. 119226 black(red)

Also...dirty trick we do....we get a bunch of extra plates, mount test skis with the PowerRail plates, then swap a limited number of heel and toe pieces between test skis to keep our costs down......it takes about 30 seconds to swap a full set of bindings off one pair of skis and install them on another...no tools. Great for ski trips....take 4 pairs of skis, one pair of bindings...keeps the weight down and takes up less space than 4 pairs of bindings. We're big fans of the Tyrolia PRD12 plate system..different brake widths, different skis, one set of bindings...no tools needed to swap them. Never ever had any problems with the PRD12 performance...rock solid and pretty durable.

 

[Paul Lutes]

Like with theZ-90's, I did move the bindings back 3cm which seems more in line with other skis of similar dimensions in this category. Plus I felt they skied better back a bit.
View attachment 14341

Three cms, or just one?? I'm confused .....

Three seems like an awful lot.