Originally Posted by
waxloaf
Have any of you BG owners/lovers skied a Rossi black ops 118? I'm trying to decide b/w 184 goats and a 186 black ops for next yr and having trouble. I don't spin or trick, but like to pop off of things and enjoy a playful ski with backbone and some heft. My favorite skis at the moment are 184 devastators (old construction, not the new lighter ones) and 181 masterblasters, if that helps give an idea of what I like. These would be my soft/deep snow skis for trips out west (mostly CO/UT, but may hit PNW at some point).
If I went with the black ops I would mount ~5cm from center to get a little closer to a traditional mount point.
Build quality is obviously superior with the BGs, and I think they are likely to perform a bit better when the snow gets deeper due to RES, more rocker, mount point, and pin tail. I think both should float well though, as I am not a big guy. I do like the idea of the easy-to-pivot nature of the BG. Black ops looks like it would be better in chop due to weight and shape (less taper) and on groomers (I don't plan to ski a lot of groomers on these, but low tide days happen to me more than I would like on trips out west). Folks I generally trust on these issues love both skis--Blister is in love with the Black ops, you all are generally in love with the BG. I get the feeling that I won't be sad with either...
There are essentially no comparisons of these on the net that I can find, so hoping that someone here has skied both and can give me some insight. Unfortunately demoing isn't an option for me given my location away from the real mountains. Hunch right now is to go with BG because I want to support ON3P and that might put it over the top, but curious if you guys have any additional insight.
Thanks