Rossignol Black Ops Gamer 118, the best powder/crud ski being made? (at least for lighter and some medium sized skiers)

[SpeedyKevin]

Looks like the 108 will be released for the 23/24 season

 

[GregK]

Looks like the 108 will be released for the 23/24 season
View attachment 181607

These skis better be life changing by the length of time it has taken to reduce a great 118mm ski and simply make it narrower.

 

[ski otter 2]

It's perplexing to me, because the Black Ops Sender Squad is already the 118 ski made narrower, to 112.

The Sender Squad is a bit stiffer than the 118, more a powerful charger; so with the 108, it all depends on
their objectives: do they want more of the same, exceptional but an outlier for skis today,
or do they want to make the 108 "more accessible?"

 

[GregK]

Heard they wanted the middle BO to be more accessible than the 118 but even if you used similar construction to that ski in a narrower width, the weight would be down maybe 200gr and comparableto other 108-110mm skis that aren’t demanding like the MFree 108, Enforcer 110 etc.

They were able to widen the Sender Ti to make the Sender Squad without that much difficulty, so a narrower version on the more symmetrical, twin tip BO 118 shouldn’t be THIS hard.

 

[ski otter 2]

The Sender Squad may be a widened shape of the Sender Ti, don't know. I just know that the Sender Ti acts like a completely different, unrelated ski, to both the Sender Squad and the BO 118, both of which are/behave like, derivatives of the K2 Pettitor - almost knockoffs.
These three behave much the same, in the same family - really different than any other skis, except the 116 final K2 Obsethed, actually.
And move all four of these forward, and you get a long sweet spot, behaving similarly, getting turny in a stable, knockout way.

This is the shared quality that a Black Ops 108 should have; otherwise it's likely to be just another "meh" ski.
Like the Sender Ti is, relatively speaking. It may be that this is the hard part, IF there's some reason other than marketing considerations.

 

[Bandit Man]

Anyone have time on both the BO 118 (186) and Sender Squad? I’ve got the Sender Squad, but have limited time on it. Have been curious about the BO 118 and it’s steam-roller reputation.

 

[SpeedyKevin]

Anyone have time on both the BO 118 (186) and Sender Squad? I’ve got the Sender Squad, but have limited time on it. Have been curious about the BO 118 and it’s steam-roller reputation.

I believe you could get additional feedback from some of the folks over ar TGR. I recall seeing a few folks having experience with both (black ops thread in tech talk. Ill try to find it)

 

[Triplet]

Anyone have time on both the BO 118 (186) and Sender Squad? I’ve got the Sender Squad, but have limited time on it. Have been curious about the BO 118 and it’s steam-roller reputation.

@ski otter 2 is your man he has skied both and can give you an idea. In general the Squad is much more chargy than the BO 118, he says it's like a fat GS ski. The 118 is more turny and fun overall.
Post your body stats as this might help in the equation.

 

[ski otter 2]

Skied at the rec. mount point (at least in its first few versions), the Sender Squad 112 is a heavy high speed charger. It only comes long, 19X.

The Black Ops 118 is only 186 (even shorter in pull length), and skis correspondingly shorter than the Sender Squad.
For a lighter weight, shorter guy, the 118 can be moved forward to get more turny, and it kills both powder and crud -
unless you are too tall or large to be stable on the 118 fore-aft.
This ski sorely misses having a 19X length option, in my opinion.

The Sender Squad 112 similarly can be moved forward (to get wonderful turny), except since it is longer,
it works for a taller, heavier skier in this way, not just a mid-size person and smaller.
Because of being only 112 instead of 118, and stiffer-behaving, the Sender Squad is more a crud ski,
whereas the 118, for a mid-weight/height and smaller guy, kills both powder and crud, in a way almost all other skis do not -
as the Blistergear folks have accurately reviewed.

 

[Triplet]

for a mid-weight/height and smaller guy, (BO 118) kills both powder and crud, in a way almost all other skis do not -
as the Blistergear folks have accurately reviewed.

I'm sold on that line
Will report this winter.

 

[ski otter 2]

I'm sold on that line
Will report this winter.

Neat. Be sure to get a binding that allows you to experiment with fore-aft mount point, to get the things dialed in best for you. (Used Schizo or demo binding, probably - and not the more recent Marker demos, which are toe high.)

If you are short enough, you will probably be able to get it forward enough to get dialed in turny, w/o losing fore-aft stability or tip-driving carving ability.

I could just barely do that at my size (though a bit farther forward, for a a bit shorter guy, would have probably been slightly better, dunno).

We learned this originally from the K2 Obsethed 116 and the K2 Pinnacle 120/190. The brainchild of Seth Morrison.

Seth Morrison's Best TGR Segment Ever - YouTube​

https://www.youtube.com › watch






PREVIEW



1:37
Seth Morrison's Best TGR Segment Ever - TGR's Top 21 Moments (13/21)It's ... One video a day until the world premiere of our new film "Tight ...
YouTube · Teton Gravity Research · Jul 12, 2017

 

[ski otter 2]

Another: (For me, the music not so much) (Note: these skis are just as good for normal skiers also.)

 

[SpeedyKevin]

Could this be the 108? You got Tatum, Parker, and Chris there ...must be! And thr blog says release in February?!?

Dear Diary: FREESKIER goes to France with Rossignol - FREESKIER

FREESKIER is in France with the Rossignol crew checking out the impressive headquarters in Grenoble, France.

freeskier.com

 

[GregK]

Could this be the 108? You got Tatum, Parker, and Chris there ...must be! And thr blog says release in February?!?

Dear Diary: FREESKIER goes to France with Rossignol - FREESKIER

FREESKIER is in France with the Rossignol crew checking out the impressive headquarters in Grenoble, France.

freeskier.com

Love! Judging by sidewall height, it looks like it’s going to have a solid flex throughout with just the extreme tip/tails being softer ie Similar to the 118. Nicely sloped tips/tails and like the red sidewalls too!

Looks like rubber dampening sheets tip, tail and underfoot in those black sections under fibreglass sheet on the left construction ski. Wondering if that’s an open weave carbon sheet going on the right “construction” ski? Would add strength and pop with little weight gain and they could possibly use lighter weight fibreglass within the ski to achieve the desired stiffness.

Mid season release too, so I might actually get my CT 2.5 this season. Love!

Because of this thread and so much talk of the heavy BO 118 greatness, I’ve actually moved the heavier Attack 16 binding I had saved for a possible Unleashed 108 purchase and put them on my 118 Moment Wildcats yesterday.
So they each gained 125gr of weight over the Attack 13 that were on them before. Still have a 110 brake and set of Attack 13s I can now use on the BO 108. Perfect!
Heavier bindings also going on my 184cm CT 3.0 soon!
Look what you’ve done @ski otter 2!

 

[ski otter 2]

I'll be interested to see if you notice a difference with the 184cm CT 3.0. It has such a great, dialed in turn - just could use a little higher speed limit!

 

[GregK]

I'll be interested to see if you notice a difference with the 184cm CT 3.0. It has such a great, dialed in turn - just could use a little higher speed limit!

Find the metal heels on the Attack 16/17/18 dampen vibrations a bit better than the 13/14 do.

Love the 184cm CT 3.0! No issue going highway speeds but the 190cm is definitely more stable.
Like how the min speed to be fun on even the 190cm isn’t that high for even medium sized hills.

 

[ski otter 2]

For my profile, at least, I found the 190 to effectively have no speed limit, for myself. It is so stable when it rips.

 

[GregK]

For my profile, at least, I found the 190 to effectively have no speed limit, for myself. It is so stable when it rips.

Anyone’s profile!

 

[GregK]

Saw this mint pair of Blackops 118 listed on KSL.com(SLC) with Attack 14s for $550.00 if anyone wants to jump on the crud destruction train!
Just be sure to adjust the low Attack AFD up when setting up for your boots.

Rossignol Blackops 118 186 w Attack 14

$550.00 Rossignol Blackops 118 186 w Attack 14 for sale in Salt Lake City, UT on KSL Classifieds. View a wide selection of Downhill Skis and other great items on KSL Classifieds.

classifieds.ksl.com

 

[GregK]

Had my new Blackops 118 out today in a bit of heavy new snow that was very quickly tracked out.
Have my pair mounted at -5cm total back from Center to improve float and stability for my 175lbs and seem great there. The skis felt instantly comfortable and liked how they were stable at higher speeds but didn’t require a lot of speed to be fun carving on groomers.

Mine came with a horrible factory tune but ground flat and put a more aggressive 1/3 tune on them. I didn’t find it “too much” at all even on such a wide ski. Was able to grip even firmer, snow making mounts and release when I wanted to in soft bumps.

Mine averaged around 2480gr but didn’t find they skied heavy at all. Didn’t get to do tight glades yet as the coverage is still not great but was impressed in how good they were in soft bumps.

Got lots of compliments on the graphics and started lots of chair lift conversations here in the East. Lol

Very happy with them and praying for more snow to try them out again.