Review: Full Mantra review at 1.5 back, Line Prophet 100 and Bridge mini review.

[Smails]

I have now had 10+ days on the 184 Mantras in every kind of condition you can imagine. Ice coast ice, east coast powder, east coast trees, 30” of blower at Snowbird, trees at Alta, groomers, etc. My thoughts are fairly positive, but I am not as stoked on them as I was when I first purchased them. That’s why I have Prophets on the way . . .

Almost forgot, the obligatory stats. 27 y/o 6’1” 205 former racer. I like to ski fast, but also like to stay on my edges more than a lot of people around here.

Ice: For a fat ski the Mantra is great. It isn’t the stiffest ski (see Squads, LP’s) but it is stiff enough for skiing ice well. The metal and vertical sidewall construction is a huge plus here. Even though they aren’t that quick edge to edge compared to a race ski, they will hold on just about anything.

Woods: I don’t like the Mantra in the trees back east. A few things may be hurting its performance. First, I have heavy 18 din race bindings on them. Doesn’t make them too nimble with the extra weight. Second, I mounted 1.5 back from boot center. Giving that mounting point the ski requires a little more speed to perform the way I want it too. Getting up that kind of speed can’t always happen in the trees. When it can, I love them, when it can’t they are a lot of work.

Deep Powder: Not a fan. They were serviceable, but that’s it. I went with the 1.5 back mounting to make the tips dive less. Even so, when the got in the really deep stuff out in Utah charging with any speed was scary unless I try to keep the tips out of the snow. If I didn’t, I had to work hard not to go over the handlebars.

Crud: In shallower crud the Mantra is perfect. You can charge over the top of it and the skis feels solid yet maneuverable. In deep crud, again I felt like I had to do work to keep the tips up. Just like I deep powder I really felt like the ski required more of an old school jumpy up and down technique to keep the tips from diving. I don’t want to have to ski like that. My sense is that this is due to the stiffness of the ski and the fact that the tips don’t deflect. Given that even with the rear mounting point I found that the tips dove, I think boot center is the way to go because at least that way you get a more nimble ski.

Groomers: Awesome. At the rear mounting point and at the boot center mounting point the ski is great on groomers. At boot center you could roll your ankle and carve, but without the disadvantage of the tail keeping you locked into one turn shape. I did feel like I could us a little more tip when going very fast. At 1.5 back they required more speed and more angulation and pressure underfoot to initiate a carve. However, at the 1.5 back mounting point the extra ski up front made them pretty much not have a speed limit. Great ski for wide open steep western style groomers.

EDIT FOR THREE YEAR RETROSPECTIVE:

The Mantras has been a good, but not great ski for me. I now feel at my weight and size I should have gotten the 191 for a few reasons. 1.) These aren't great in tight spots and excel at trucking on hard snow so why not get them long. The 191 would be a good ice coast destroyer for crowded slopes. Nothing too stiff and extreme, still turny without being hooky, but fast and stable. 2.) The soft snow performance for me on the 184 was horrible, mounted 1.5 back or on the line. Some extra length might have improved this. At the end of the day, the hard snow performance is second to none for a fatter ski. The soft snow performance, even crud and variable, leaves a lot to be desired. These skis aren't crazy stiff, but they are stiff in a dead sense to me. The tortional ridgity is excellent, but something about the flex of this ski makes it less then desirable in soft and variable conditions. No pop, no playfulness.

A final note, when I got these everyone everyone on TGR was mounting them back. This is stupid in my opinion. If you want something less turny or you want something longer, then buy something else. Don't mount them back. They will still suck in soft snow and will just be harder to turn on groomers, which is the only place they are good in the first place. As you can tell, I feel pretty strongly about this! Mounted on the line was just so much better . . .
All in all, these skis have been good to me for specific east coast applications. They really aren't a soft snow ski though.

Volkl Bridges 185

My roommate owns these, and given that we have the same BSL I have skied on the a decent amount. They are much more turny and playful than the Mantras. But they are also far less solid, and far less comfortable at speed. On soft snow they were a blast, but when things got hard I wasn’t that comfortable with them. I also wasn’t that comfortable going as fast as I like to go. They felt short, light, and weak to me when pushed to speed. Now on the other hand, in powder, chop, and bumps they were much more agreeable. Even though they feel shorter the tips don’t dive like the Mantra and they are more maneuverable in trees and bumps. Nice ski, and my buddy loves them, but I am happy not to own them.

Line Prophet 100 186

I skied these and feel in love. I really am so stoked on these skis. Like a lot of reviews have said, whether here or in magazines, these things are just plain fun and will do almost anything pretty well. At Alta they performed amazingly well in the deep stuff, no tip dive at all. They were light and easy to get around when traversing. Well, the partial twin always sucks for that stuff, but what ski in this class doesn’t have that these days . . . The light weight was also awesome in the trees, they were amazingly playful. They were also solid. Nuking over crud and chop was fine, even at high speeds. Groomers weren’t bad either. They were very quick edge to edge and carved with little work. They were not as good at speed as the Mantras, but good enough. They sucked in hard bumps, but what 100mm waist ski doesn’t. They also weren’t great in steep sketchy stuff with variable snow. I would want a ski longer and stiffer with less sidecut. They can’t do it all though. . . .

All in all, I was just really pumped about this ski and immediately ordered a pair when I got home from my trip. I love a ski that is versatile enough to go anywhere on the mountain without thinking “shit, I wish I had ski X instead of these” and I felt like the Prophet was that ski.

THREE YEAR EDIT:

I still like the Prophet and ski them a ton. They are versatile, funny, and have a nice even flex. I enjoy them on both coasts and never really feel like I have the wrong ski when I take them out. With that said, they have many limitations. For someone my size the 186 is still a little short. The turning radius is fun, but really too short. I'd really prefer something that allows for more turn shapes and some skidding. When I ski these a few days in a row and carve a lot my knees KILL. I remember part of the reason for FIS rules on radius being too many blown knees. Something to think about. A ski this fat with a turning radius this short torques the shit out of your knee if you ski it hard.

Durability is also an issue. The cap on mine is broken in 5 places. I epoxied the crap out of them and they haven't blown up yet, but it is bound to happen someday. I really wish they are sandwich construction and I am psyched to see Line come out with the Prophet 115.

I have also bought 195 Motherships since I posted this review. Something between the MShip and the 100 would be ideal for me. Say 190 length, 24-26 turning radius, maybe 105 underfoot. Small tip rocker. That would be nice . . .

Anyway, I digress. The Prophet 100 is a proven winner. Sure it has some drawbacks, but if I have to chose one ski it's always the 100.

[Magnoe]

Should we assume you were on the 184 or 191?

[ulty_guy]

Where'd u (or anyone else chime in) have the prophets mounted?

[Smails]

Should we assume you were on the 184 or 191?

Minor detail, haha. My bad, 184.

As far as the prophets, mine were mounted on the line. I would't mind being a little further back or having the skis feel longer. BUT, given that the tips didn't dive mounted at center for someone my size I don't really know why you would bother mounting back. It could take away some of the quickness and carvability. I do remember that Powtron posted that he loves his at -1 so it may be worth trying for some.

[Smails]

UPDATE: PSA TO EAST COAST

Don't mount your Mantras back, it is a total asshat move in my opinion if you live in the east.

I had demoed the Mantras a few times before buying and was really stoked on them. After reading here, and noticing a little tip dive when it got deep over New Years I figured mounting back would be the way to go. I skied them a few times and wasn't as happy but figured I would leave them until after I got back from Utah. I will admit, on big mountains where you have the room to get up the speed to open things up they are great. BUT, they still are a stiff ski that tends to tip dive in deep powder even with the rear mounting point AND the rear mounting point VERY significantly takes away the skis versatility.

Once I re-mounted at boot center I couldn't have been happier with the ski. Sure, they weren't as solid at speed, but in the east there is a lot to be said for being able to TURN at speed to avoid gapers too. At boot center, the skis will carve at something other than mach speed and without as much work. Basically, at boot center the Mantra skis the way it is intended to ski. It is serviceable in powder, it can be carved on ice, it can ski bumps good enough, and it is maneuverable in the woods.

Again, I will admit they were more solid at speed and great for wide open western spaces. But if you like the Mantra mounted back for harder snow, chop, crud, etc why not buy the Legend Pro. The LP does everything the rear mounted Mantra does, only better. If you mount the Mantra back for soft days so it floats better, why not get the Prophet 100s? They float much better, charge almost as hard, and are a ton more playful in the trees.

Hopefully people who do a search will catch this review and think twice about a rear mount if they live back east, or if they want a versatile ski.

[tchpdx]

+2 on mounting on the line. I rode most of last season on the line and then tried the -1.5 mount for a few days and really didn't like what it did for the overall ride. I have powder skis for any day that is more than a few inches and use the Mantras to ride on harder/crud days.

As an everyday ski, the Mantra is money on the line for me at 6'2/215

[Wetdog]

I'm surprised to hear all you 200+ guys riding 184's. I'm not that heavy, 185ish, and and ride the 191 and it is quite easy to ski, unlike other skis in a 191, because of the sidecut in the front portion of the ski. I demoed the 184's and found the same problems with tip dive you all mention, but not so on the 191. It seems to ski better in longer lengths, especially for larger guys.

[Smails]

+2 on mounting on the line. I rode most of last season on the line and then tried the -1.5 mount for a few days and really didn't like what it did for the overall ride. I have powder skis for any day that is more than a few inches and use the Mantras to ride on harder/crud days.

As an everyday ski, the Mantra is money on the line for me at 6'2/215

Glad to see someone else agreeing with me. I expected to get flamed for this, but I was kind of hoping for it. But I agree, boot center mount = everyday all mountain killer. Buy something else for powder.

Wetdog: I think you make a fair point. I haven't skied the 191, but I have wondered if it might perform better for me in deep stuff, etc as a bigger guy. I am happy with my choice though given that I live in the east, and have the Prophets for deeper stuff.

[falou]

I was debating on whether to mount mine back, thinking it would be better at speed and blasting crud, but probably would be better to just get the 191 for that, and the 184 seemed pretty damned good everywhere when I demoed them. And since I have a pow ski, I went with the 184, at 165 lbs seemed to float plenty good in up to a foot of pow I skied them in. Mounted them 814mm from the tail which I read was Volkl's rec on the Mantra mounting thread, and that was actually a few mm behind the mark on the side. The boot center graphic on the top sheet is all over the place.

I tried the 186 Prophet 100 for a run and those things skied short and the tips were a bit hooky, didn't really like them too much, both the Mantra and Watea 101 felt so much better to jump on and go. Maybe if I spent more time on the Prophet I would have adjusted, but first impression didn't do it for me, but I like stiffer skis.