Well, I made my first purchase...

[Solincia]

First I'd like to thank everyone for all of their posts and comments regarding my questions on new gear.

I checked with my local ski shop, and no luck in demoing. The ski hills around here are supported by this shop, and they do demo days in January <I'll hit that up next year> So, after much review, I purchased my first pair of new skis online. I'm pretty excited.

I went for the K2 One luvs's, in a 160. I found them on o2gearshop.com for 449.99, no tax, no shipping charges... not bad. They'll be here thursday.
I know everyone said demo demo demo, but unfortunately it wasn't an option for me, and I wanted to hit up this years deals and get a chance to ski them before the season is over.

When they come in, I'll be taking them to my ski shop, get a bootfitting, find a good pair of boots, poles, and have the bindings mounted and adjusted.

I hope these work out. I don't think my skills would have been able to tell me what is "good" or "bad" as far as demoing goes anyway, as I'm "new" again and skiing technique seems to have changed a bit since I was last on my old rossi's. My old skis were given to me, so I've never really been through this process before.

I know the ski shop thats in the area carries mostly dalbellos <they carry others too, but have a large setup of dalbellos> and I've read good reviews on them, and noticed some of you ladies ski them as well. I have big feet <size 10-10 1/2> so we'll see how it goes!

When it comes to poles I'm in the dark. K2 has their Karat line that is for the T:Nine series, and the 6 karat are only 79.99 vs. the 5 karat that I've seen for the same price... my question, does it matter? I'm not a high performance skier <yet... haha..> and I've seen poles that range from $20 to $120.... Aside from hearing "you should buy carbon over aluminum" and the fact that the 6 karat matches my skis, I really don't know what the difference is!

Any insight would be appreciated. I'll let you ladies know how it goes after I get these babies ready to go!
Thank you again from an aspiring skidiva!

 

[lucine]

Lots Of folks don't demo. In fact, as long as you buy a quality intermediate ski (you did)for a quality intermediate (like you) you can learn on them and make them yours. You will find out what conditions they love and where your team (you and your one luv)excel!
even if you demo you can be mislead. What if you demoed the perfect ski for you and it was in the wrong length or poorly tuned? You would never know.
Besides a lot of us started on long tall straight skis and it has not diminished our love of the sport!

Enjoy those one luv's they are beautiful and perfect for you!
Make sure the boots fit!
I don't know about poles -mine were $19.00 and they are ugly.

 

[sleddog]

Congrats on your purchase. As far as poles go - the material used, swing weight, grip, and strap are what determine the price. Carbon fiber poles usually have a lighter swing weight & don't bend when you fall on them, but aren't good for racing since they flex too much. Aluminum poles usually are less expensive unless you're getting a pole made for racing, but can get bent when you fall. Find a pole that's comfortable in your hand when you've got your gloves/mittens on - some have grips that separate fingers, some have a little platform on the grip to keep your hand from slipping.

 

[Solincia]

YAY! My skis came today! I'm stoked! These skis are absolutely beautiful!

I need to take them in tomorrow to have the bindings mounted, which is sad... they said I have to leave them for two days!! I want to ski them this weekend. GRRR :Cry: : ... oh well... anyway.

I'm actually pretty happy that I went with the 160's.. they are longer than I thought they would be, so that was a good choice for me.

I have to give props to www.o2gearshop.com
They were well boxed, in the plastic, bindings in the original box.. and with an original price of $975.00 on the plastic of the skis.
I paid $449.99... no tax, free shipping. I'm a happy camper.

When I'm dropping them off tomorrow I'm going to boots and poles too, so it should be a fun day! If only I could try them out tomorrow!
I'll let you know how that goes.

 

[lucine]

Take beer and cookies I did and my o2gear purchase was mounted and tuned in 1.5 hours.

The beer works better than cookies but I brought cookies and asked what kind of beer and brought it when I picked em up.

 

[Solincia]

Take beer and cookies I did and my o2gear purchase was mounted and tuned in 1.5 hours.

The beer works better than cookies but I brought cookies and asked what kind of beer and brought it when I picked em up.

I like it! That would be fantastic, considering I get off work at noon, and they are open till 9pm... oh that would be fantastic!

 

[Shellski]

Yep, I would put some subtle pressure on and get a same day turnaround.

Demoing is the ideal situation, but I think you will love those skis.

I have 5 carat poles, they are gorgeous, I don't think there is any 'performance' difference between the 5 and 6, get the ones you like the look of.

 

[rangergrrl]

I have to give props to www.o2gearshop.com
They were well boxed, in the plastic, bindings in the original box.. and with an original price of $975.00 on the plastic of the skis.
I paid $449.99... no tax, free shipping. I'm a happy camper.

QUOTE]

Don't you just love those online buys! I picked up my new Roxy Bliss still in plastic tags attached bindings new in box for $300 when everywhere I looked local and semi local was still in the $800 range!

I hope you enjoy your new skis. I just took mine out today and boned with them lol.