Does anyone have the straight scoop on O'Brien

[skibug]

I hear a bunch of rumors....does anyone know what is really going on? I have even heard they are going away from RTM manufaturing and reverting to the normal mold and press method; due to the PITA factor and the inconsistency it can produce between skis. This makes sense as the other rumor I heard is that they were moving all their Elite production to the Connelly facility. If this is so, I am assuming the Elite will ski differently? Anyone have some insight? The Elite site has not been updated since 2010 and the Alpha...on the O'brien site...is not availible.

[MattP]

RTM is the most consistent way of manufacturing skis. As for the Connelly facility it is the newest building in the Archer (O'brien, HO, Connlley) empire put the best production in a place that can handle it if the are actually being made there who knows. Just because their marketing department is focusing on other things does not mean that they are not working on new products they always are. High end slalom skis do not make money for these guys I bet they loose money on them so they put a lot of focus in other areas. The money makers are the tubes and combos. There is not a huge need for marketing in this market if you are a high end skier you know what the high end skis are no need to really hound us with adds and web marketing.

[skibug]

I have seen 3 or 4 Elites and 2 of them had manufacturing "issues"...see pics of the one I sent back (these are actually voids you can stick your finger nail in). The dealer (which will go nameless) tells me they have had many issues with the consitency of the ski quality (they are a high volume shop). They cannot get anymore product right now so I am stuck waiting on the next production run of Elites. I am guessing they moved the RTM process over to the Connelly facility? /vanilla2/uploads/FileUpload/6/1006.JPG/vanilla2/uploads/FileUpload/7/1007.JPG

[scoke]

Day one of nationals, ski vendors:

Razor, d3 with no service in the booth, HO- very friendly and Goode of course taking orders.

 

No sign of Obrien.

[Ed_Johnson]

Scoke,

 

Any new innovative products, announcements, or new skis in the booths to report on. Did Goode have anything new, like a Nano without the twist?...........Thanks

[Ed_Johnson]

Scot,

 

Have not seen anything on their Web-Site about that. Seems like a well kept secret.

[jaredH20]

scoke,

any photo's of the new Radar's

[davemac]

Jared,

Haven't seen or heard anything about Strada or Vice, but (Darren) Wileys had a facebook posting this weekend showing pix of the 2012 Radar Lyric, Senate, and Senate C. Pretty radical changes in graphics for the Senates....grey and orange. Also, looked to be 3 sets of (back) rear inserts on each ski...to accomodate their "feather frame".

[scoke]

 

Regarding radar, not sure if they are marketing skis to National competitors anymore. I didn't see any skiers riding them in M2/W6/M4/M6.

 

Most skiers were on D3, HO and Goode.

 

Someone had Radar skis in a rack and a kid was talking about them but I didn't stop in and look at them. Nobody was in there fondling the skis. All the skiers were in the HO or Goode booth.

 

 

[Wish]

Was the S2 there?? Any noticable dif in ski shape or designe??

[Chef23]

Wish, I have held an S2 in my hands and it has the stepped bottom of the Coefficient skis. I can't comment on the rest of the shape as my eyes aren't that good. The top of the ski is mostly white instead of the black of the A2 and current S1.

[scoke]

 

S2 was front and center on the rack. I talked to Dave W of HO for quite a while about the ski. He was very excited about it.

 

Said for 34, they widened the tail out a hair, changed some bevel/rocker type of issues and some other ski builder talk that I wasn't fluent in. It was very nice looking, light, inserts, white top and might be on my list for a purchase. 67.5" for me. He mentioned that team HO 34 mph guys are migrating to that ski.

 

 

 

[gjohnson]

At the Malibu Open, it looked like Karina was on the S2.

[skibug]

Scoke, my ski partener finished 4th in M4 on a red Radar......

[Ed_Obermeier]

Davemac - no new Strada for '12, they're still testing prototypes. Likely in 2013. Got that from a very good source.

 

Ed

[rq0013]

I heard the strada will have new carbon that is a bit lighter. Strada boots will fit more like the RS1's but with the strada soft back rubber

[Horton]

The layup is different.

[rq0013]

ski! Boots will be slightly different

[MattP]

Last I heard they were going to have a new ski out this year I would assume at Expo in September. I got this from a very reliable source.

[ForrestGump]

Arora is on his way back from Nationals with an S2.

[eleeski]

I talked to Eddie. Radar is working on a new ski. But he says they are always working on a new ski. There are a couple in testing now but it is a long way from a good ski to the market. Eddie was watching to see if his Radar skier was going to win the event so there were plenty of Radars there. Radar was definitely a presence at Nationals, and the booth was crowded when I went by.

 

All the booths were busy - including Connelly. Obrien did not set up while I was there.

 

The Reflex slalom looked interesting there. Any reviews?

 

Eric

 

 

[skibug]

I've been HIGHJACKED!!!!

[rq0013]

Eleeski, did Radar have the new stuff out?

[eleeski]

@ rq0013 No. But they did have lots of product there and they were quite busy with several sales happening. Good to see the vendor tent doing well - for everybody.

 

@ skibug Does the active Connelly booth bring any relevance to your question about Obrien? Nobody said anything official to me except that Obrien didn't show.

 

Eric

[skibug]

I have no idea! All I know is that I demoed 4 different skis and liked the Elite the best, now I can't get one from the shop I am dealing with (not their fault) because O'brien has no product. Furthermore, I am wondering about the potential change in manufacturing process and how that might effect the skis characteristics. I really didn't want to start the whole "find a ski" process all over again. I know....i know....I can buy one on Ski-It-Again or from another source; but, this shop has really earned my business through their outstanding customer services and I am committed to them.

[skidawg]

I talked to drew a bit and he assured me elite was working alive and well. Restructuring a bit but making skis and working on future projects