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Individual Review Salomon X-Drive 8.8 FS 184cm long-term review

JShort

Getting off the lift
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This is an older ski, but I picked them up as a pair of east-coast rock skis and so far I've been blown away. I'm making this review only because I've seen several barely-used pairs for cheap on the internet, and they are definitely worth a look far any strong skier in a low-snow area (that maybe racks up one too many core shots and broken edges to warrant brand new skis).

Off the snow:
These skis are stout and heavy. With Look PX15 bindings, they are straight up annoying to lug around, lift onto the ski rack, etc. They also have a very stiff flex, very minimal rocker, zero taper, and zero rise in the tail. A friend of mine gave them one look and said "they look like old-man carving skis". On paper, he was right.

On the snow: now I know why so many old-man carvers have these up for sale, basically brand new. They are strong, stiff and very, very directional. On hard snow, the more I drove the tips, the better the skis performed. In soft snow, the tips dove a lot, which proved to be the only weakness of the skis that I found. They are almost no "float" - but what would you expect from an 88mm ski? Even so, ripping fast, wide, even turns in roughed-up soft snow was doable on the X-Drives, even if it did require a bit more finesse than a 100mm or up ski. Slow turns in soft snow though? That's a chore on these. On nice groomers, scraped-off icy groomers, hard, uneven bumps and tight trees with bad snow (basically everything one can expect in the east) these skis were a dream. They are happy to rip down even the ugliest of groomed stuff, and anywhere off-piste, staying in front of these skis and driving the tips let them crush anything. Their edge grip is also tenacious, and I loved how they felt on steeper, bumped-up terrain. On the other hand, they do feel a bit lifeless on more mellow trails, and require a bit of speed to handle. On some easy groomers back to the lift, I found myself beelining it until I had enough speed, arc a few good turns, and then just coasting the rest of the way. If my boots weren't flexing, these skis felt pretty lifeless.

These are very directional skis, but they don't kick you ass as hard as some skis do if you get in the back seat. Obviously, they are not very responsive when skied even in a neutral position, but I think the stiff, supportive tails give you a chance to redeem yourself if you get knocked into the back seat.

So, if anyone is looking for a cheap, bad-snow ski that can still rip, I can't recommend the X-drive 8.8s enough, especially if you prefer traditional, directional skis and if you are either (a) very aggressive or (b) heavy enough to need a stiffer ski. This ski is definitely an overlooked gem.
 

ScottB

Making fresh tracks
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I have these in my quiver and ski them when conditions are crappy. They are my bad snow ski. I find tight turns in trees, especially in soft snow, to be their weakness. I am detuning the tails to give them more pivot ability. The jury is still out. They are outstanding at crushing everything in their path, so a keeper for me. If Bambam from the Flintstones skied, he would be on these. They are squarely in the allmtn carver category. Very good review of them
 

Swede

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They need some speed to come alive and should be driven from front in carves. Very strong tips that can handle a handful. Not a suitable ski in tight trees (for most), unless you like to go fast there. Easy to skid, but skidding them around won’t show any of the skis real strengths inmo.
 
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JShort

JShort

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Here's them definitely not in their element on some very wet snow in Hamilton, ON
VID_20210222_150230_exported_5423_1614039725727.jpg
VID_20210222_150230_exported_5530_1614039656666.jpg
 

James

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Dec 2, 2015
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24,442
Not a huge fan. Despise the carbon feel at times. It is nice in big turns. Mine is short, 172, and I picked it up very used from a patroller for almost nothing. The grind cost more than the ski/binding. It is surprisingly stiff, you realize that when you’re spanning a mogul in the woods and it just fights and won’t conform.

Frankly, I was very happy to get back on a slalom ski after several days. It’s in my “carbon is hard to use” category.
 
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JShort

JShort

Getting off the lift
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Posts
147
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Canada's top hat
Interesting your thoughts on them! A "carbon" feel never occurred to me when I was skiing them, but then again I don't think I've skied a carbon ski before.

I wouldn't have these for a 1-ski quiver (even though they're all I have in Canada now :rolleyes:) and I wouldn't even use them as a narrow ski in a bigger quiver if ripping nice groomers was a priority. What I think they are is a dependable (if not boring) tool for making the most of really bad conditions, or an option if someone is looking at ~100mm skis like the bonafides or mantras but don't need a ski quite that wide.
 

Swede

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For me it is (was) a do-it-all ski, and like all other do-it-all skis--not really good at anything. But they handled hard piste as well as skied out piste and lumpy heavy snow better than most. But you need to like to ski them a bit faster. Quite race (GS) like inmo in that aspect, definetely need some power to be put on the front and can, unlike many other AM:s soft tips, handle it. Really superb to slip courses with ... so perfect ski for race duty as they were also surprisingly good when I occasionally had the chance to go for it (U14-U16GS) :) Would not take it into the woods or bumps as it for me=slow speed. And I don't recall them as 'carbony', allthough I understand perfectly what @James is talking about. I tried Atomics siblings (can't recall model name) that had that kind of on-off plastic feeling. Perhaps a lenghth issue? Have never tried the shorter ones and can imagine them being a little "iron rod"-like. Flex in the longer are stiff but evenly proggressive.
 
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James

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Dec 2, 2015
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24,442
I don’t think I’d disagree with anything said. It’s likely it’s an example of scaling sizes and some skis lose their best attributes when you get out of their optimal size range. Probably 177+ is the size for this ski.
I was also using it where it’s most annoying- slow speed sliding in moguls around rocks in tight trees. It bends less and fights much more than a consumer fis slalom ski.
 

ScottB

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As I am a big guy, I appreciate a ski like this, stiff but not punishing. I have played around with the tune and found a way to improve the ski quite a bit. When I first got them, I skied them in the woods with tight trees and found I could pivot them a little, which helped a lot. I also decided they worked well on ice and mostly liked to carve turns by driving the tips. I then had them ground and set up with a race tune, 0.25 base / 4.0 side. Boy did they carve and hold on ice well. They lost any ability to pivot, but carving them in the East and not in tight trees was fun. In soft snow they would not make tight turns at all. As the base bevel grew due to wear, they lost a little grip, but not much. They still carved well as long as I kept them sharp. I decided I wanted to see if I could get them to pivot better so I could use them in glades. I left the bases alone (measured between 0.5 and 1.0 now), sharpened the sides to 3 deg, and then dulled the tips and tails back to slightly beyond the contact points. Dulling the tip was a mistake. The tip stopped carving and that really took away the skis best feature. It would only do fast GS turns now. I re-sharpened the tip all the way and that made them carve again. I left the tails dulled a bit, and maybe feathered the de-tune an inch or two past the contact point towards the middle of the ski. That brought the pivot back and really improved the way they skied. Now they carve as well as ever, but I can pivot them to some degree when needing tight turns. Much improved for skiing in glades. When in soft snow, they are still too stiff to bend into a tight turn, but I can pivot them with some effort into a tight turn which gets the job done. I think the ski with sharp tips and detuned tails brings out the best in it and makes it a more versatile ski. Its still very directional and stiff and likes to carve, but sliding the tails out is now possible. I still like em best for frozen crappy conditions. I skied them a lot this year in the beginning of the season on manmade snow. When going from talc to packed to scraped to ice they don't flinch and you hardly feel any negative effects. They bull doze soft snow and crud piles if you let them run. I do find I like a more bendable ski for soft spring snow, but if its frozen in the AM, I will typically choose these.
 

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