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Which Black Crows skis are the most like the Kendo, Enforcer 90, etc?

Hankj

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I've been looking around at 90ish wide all mountain skis. If I get the chance I'm going to get on the Kendo and the Mindbender 89, might give the newer Enforcers a whirl. In general category looking for something that will carve well for the width, not have a speed limit for my upper intermediate ability, and won't get banged around more than necessary but chunky PNW snow.

I'd like to try Black Crows if they have a ski in this category, but I can't wade through 20 separate pages on their site to figure out which skis are how wide and how heavy.

Honestly I love my mindbender 99 TI's, and if I didn't feel like the new sizing of the 89 TI's made me a tweener I'd probably just buy those. But I found that on average I'm just happiest on 184 or 185. MB89ti are 182 or 188 ....

But anyway which black crows if any? Thank you
 
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Hankj

Hankj

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Oh bonus question too, what does the freebird designation mean? Is that a lighter build or something for touring? If so I would have gone with shweatybird :)
 

In2h2o

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The Black Crows Website is pretty easy to Navigate: Look under the Mens All terrain and Resort subsections. A few of the skis have double titanal H-plate adding more stiffness - Orb/ Justis. FWIW Kendo is not the Mindbender but Mindbender may be similar to Camox and none are the Enforcer. These are all pretty different skis. If you have heavy PNW snow you may be looking for something that is going to work specifically in those conditions. Yes Freebird is touring.
 
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Hankj

Hankj

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Thank you! The Black Crows website says the Orb weighs 1625g per ski. That's with two layers of metal. I'd be interested to see if a ski that light has the ride characteristics I generally value.

Camox at 97 is wider then I'm looking for. I do see a lot of these out on the hill that's for sure
 

In2h2o

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I wasn't going to give any bias but I do have a murder of Black Crow skis and FWIW I have been skiing the the Orb (Birdie- same ski as mens Orb) for the last two years and love it as my daily driver! I was not a fan of the other more popular 88s.... and I have demo'd the female versions of the skis you mentioned.
It does have a longer turn radius than the other skis, I'm not sure if that clicks with you.... but it does with me.
 

ARL67

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PSA: I see EVO has the 2022 Orb in 179 only on for really cheap

 

Cheizz

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The 2022 Orb is the outgoing version, for 2023, there is a new, slightly more demanding version...
 

silverback

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I've been looking around at 90ish wide all mountain skis. If I get the chance I'm going to get on the Kendo and the Mindbender 89, might give the newer Enforcers a whirl. In general category looking for something that will carve well for the width, not have a speed limit for my upper intermediate ability, and won't get banged around more than necessary but chunky PNW snow.

I'd like to try Black Crows if they have a ski in this category, but I can't wade through 20 separate pages on their site to figure out which skis are how wide and how heavy.

Honestly I love my mindbender 99 TI's, and if I didn't feel like the new sizing of the 89 TI's made me a tweener I'd probably just buy those. But I found that on average I'm just happiest on 184 or 185. MB89ti are 182 or 188 ....

But anyway which black crows if any? Thank you
I think you are over thinking minor size variations (ie. 182 vs 184). The running length of the 182 MB89th and the 184 MB99ti are 125.5cm and 125.4cm respectively. I doubt you would even notice the extra 2.5 cm (less than an inch) on those two skis. A 179 Orb has a 138cm running length, it will probably feel longer than your 184 K2s.
 

The Retired Skier

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I demoed the Black Crows Serpo at 180cm and 93mm underfoot. GREAT skis that tear up the corduroy and do a nice job in softer chop. It also has the H-shaped metal layers and held my weight quite well. They have a luxurious, precise feel to them that gives you confidence.
 

Cheizz

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The Serpo is a bit wider, but also slightly softer than the Orb. Serpo is more of a one-ski-quiver, whereas the Orb is more hard snow and hard skiing-oriented.
 

Coolhand

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What is so interesting about Black Crows? Their skis are all made in the Elan or Atomic Factories. What tech are they offering that aren't in the majors offerings. If you want something like the Kendo or Enforcer, how about buying a Kendo or Enforcer? Not a facsimile from a "marketing" brand and not the company that actually puts it together and makes it happen?. Kind of like Peak Skis all built in the Elan Factory. I don't understand the interest in these brands, except the desire to have something that looks different on your feet. I guess that I don't "get it". The life of a ludite...
 

The Retired Skier

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The Serpo is a bit wider, but also slightly softer than the Orb. Serpo is more of a one-ski-quiver, whereas the Orb is more hard snow and hard skiing-oriented.
Agreed. That is why I believe it compares more favorably to Kendo and Enforcer than the Orb does.
 

Cheizz

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Agreed. That is why I believe it compares more favorably to Kendo and Enforcer than the Orb does.
For me, it would be the other way around. The Orbs sits with the Brahma and Kendo, whereas the Serpo is a different kind of ski. Or did I misunderstand you?
 

Cheizz

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What is so interesting about Black Crows? Their skis are all made in the Elan or Atomic Factories. What tech are they offering that aren't in the majors offerings. If you want something like the Kendo or Enforcer, how about buying a Kendo or Enforcer? Not a facsimile from a "marketing" brand and not the company that actually puts it together and makes it happen?. Kind of like Peak Skis all built in the Elan Factory. I don't understand the interest in these brands, except the desire to have something that looks different on your feet. I guess that I don't "get it". The life of a ludite...
Have you skied any Black Crows skis? They have quite different characters and feel to other skis. Just like the Salomon Stance 96 fels quite different from an Atomic Maverick 95 TI. If someone would have said 'there no difference between the Orb and the Kendo', then I might have agreed with you. But they are different. They're in the same category at best.

The fact that the production facilities are shared with other brands is irrelevant I think.
 

AltaSkier

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What is so interesting about Black Crows? Their skis are all made in the Elan or Atomic Factories. What tech are they offering that aren't in the majors offerings. If you want something like the Kendo or Enforcer, how about buying a Kendo or Enforcer? Not a facsimile from a "marketing" brand and not the company that actually puts it together and makes it happen?. Kind of like Peak Skis all built in the Elan Factory. I don't understand the interest in these brands, except the desire to have something that looks different on your feet. I guess that I don't "get it". The life of a ludite...

I have last years BC Atris. Never planned on buying a pair, but saw a bunch of them last year at Revelstoke and Kicking Horse, figured there must be a reason. I have to say, I am shocked at how much I like the ski. It is kind of a wide Swiss Army Knife. It doesn't ski like other skis I've had in the past, and that is a good thing. I don't care if they might be pressed in another companies factory, I care how they ski, and I like these. Best complement I can give them is; I don't think about them when I am skiing on them. If I'm thinking about the ski, I'm not thinking about the skiing. Maybe demo a pair, you might like them, you might not. But it is not all marketing hype.

I also picked up a pair of Peak 98's this year. I don't have enough days on them yet to have a strong opinion, but they are a good ski as well. I appreciate how the Peak responds to the input I am giving them. Ski them like a race ski, they respond like a race ski (mostly). Ski them relaxed, they will also ski relaxed. You are not locked into any type of turn by the ski itself.
 

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