I have developed a good relationship with the Kastle rep for the western US. I am hoping that he does a demo day at my home mountain in Mt later this year, and if so I will get to try all their skis. In the meantime, I asked him a lot of questions about the stiffness of the MX series vs the FX series. Our E-mail discussion is as follows:
JB: Quick question for you: I bought the FX 84 because from reading reviews and comments (clearly a poor second choice vs demoing the skis) I thought the MX series might be a little too stiff for off piste skiing. When I ski the FX 84, it is so forgiving that I could handle (and might appreciate) more stiffness. So my question is how much stiffer is the MX 88. I can reference this with two comments. I am 6 3? 185 lbs. I am not huge but not small. I can bend a WC GS ski and tighten the turn radius (but it is work). I hate skis like the beefy Volkl?s and the beefy Nordica skis (with huge amounts of metal) where on hard snow when I go to pressure the tip not only doesn?t it bend, it actually bounces me off the tip and lands me aft, momentarily in the backseat. These skis can only work for someone who weighs 240Lbs + or someone who does not pressure the tips and just rides the sidecut of the ski (poor skiing!!). The second category of ski is what I see with some Stockli?s where they are super stiff, but still bendable (like? WC GS skis) but off piste if you get back even for a split second, that stiffness will take you for a ride immediately. The Scott Schmidt model falls into this category. I love that ski on hard snow, but find it unskiable off piste unless I straightline almost everything and stay forward the whole time (which can be fun but I am getting a little old to do that all day!!).
Wow, way too long winded to ask a simple question!!
Anyway, any thoughts you have on comparative stiffness between the FX 84 and some of the MX skis in similar widths would be helpful. Thanks.
Kastle Rep response:
You?d be fine on the mx 88; either 178 or 188cm depending on preference for an every day ski but the FX is better in off piste situations.? ?The MX 88 is more forgiving than the others you mention, softer tail, but still rips on hard pack and overall is a versatile ski.? The most notable difference in the FX and the MX is the FX is lighter, slightly softer, and the side cut is geared more towards variable conditions.? The FX side cut starts 5-7cm behind the contact point in the tip, this is a movement in the industry for skis designed for back country, windblown powder, and variable conditions; ?hook free shovel.?? The MX on the other hand the side cut starts at the contact point; ?fast-grip shovel? more aggressive on hard pack but can be grabby in variable snow.? Hopefully you?ll have a chance to test them out at a demo this spring.
He also sent me two pages from a presentation that compare the design of the FX 84 to that of the MX 88. It's actually very nicely done and it does outline why the tips are different and shows graphically how each ski is built from the core up. It's clear that the MX is somewhat stiffer. I am happy to send anyone these pages if you want to send me your e-mail address. My guess is that it is on their website somewhere.
Lastly I will say that I see an MX series in my quiver at some point. I actually like a "hooky tip" or what they are calling a "fast grip shovel". The only place that I find that I don't like it is in windblown, but I go out of my way not to ski extreme windblwon snow. In everything else I prefer more sidecut and a hookier shovel. But this also explains part of the extreme forgiveness factor of the FX 84. It pretty much handles and glides over everything with ease, and it is by design.
http://www.kaestle-ski.com/en/techcenter/John,
Good write-up and thanks. Someday, I hope to be lucky enough to ski the 84 in the conditions for which it was designed. Would you prefer it in Ca or Mnta?
The above link is to Kastle's website technical center. There is much info there on the various aspects of ski design. My guess is that what you have is also available there. If you look at it , let us know. Also, by backing up in the link, the entire ski line is available for review.
Via a Philpug purchase, I'm on the M(as in Mike)X 88 following being smitten by that ski at a demo day, also with Phil. I am still smiling as I remember how much I enjoyed it, and, I'm a skinny ski skier. I'll have it in Jackson next week and I'll have a much better chance to review it. Phil pushes a ski much more than I and he loves the 88. Demo it when you can.
Mike
That link has most of what I was sent. After tooling around on the website it's actually got a lot of good info and details. Looking forward to the Demo day!!