The Official Great Pacific Octopus Thread

[Island Bay]

Nice pics Dromond. As usual, Praxis nails the perfect rocker/shape.

I'm curious about the weight of the GPO. It's basically a more rockered/tapered RX or a skinnier Ullr (Keith said as much), yet they are listed as quite a bit heavier.

Found some numbers on the 192s: 9.7-9.8lbs carbon, 10.3 non-carbon, so it would seem the listed weights are for the non-carbon lay-up.

Could any of you happy new 187 GPO owners throw them on a scale, please?

Cheers

[Dry]

Money shots for me. 112RP, 112 RPC and the GPO. I'm not a huge fan of the 112 but I am a really BIG fan of the RPC. Looks like the GPO is in a very, VERY sweet spot on ski design and numbers for my use. Tiny bit wider @ 116mm under foot, less rocker on tip and tail by comparison. Some more taper on the tail thrown in. Make 'um med/stiff and I'd bet they really rock the majority of the mtn. Somebody was thinkin on these.

112 and a GPO tail



RPC tail


112 and a RPC tip


112 and a GPO tip


and a bit more tail taper

[Dromond]

I would but I don't have a scale. I'm losing gear nerd points for that...

[whatsupdoc]

My 187 med-stiff fiberglass layup GPOs weigh 2133 g and 2137 g per ski on a digital kitchen scale. That's just over 9.4 lbs for the pair. I happened to weigh them as well on a bathroom scale that rounds to the nearest 1/10th of a pound, and they weighed 9.6 lbs there. Either way, that's lighter than advertised.

FWIW I weighed some 185 med stiff Ullrs (fiberglass layup) on the same bathroom scale before mounting and they were 10 lbs even. Didn't weigh them on the gram scale. So 1 lb heavier than the website says there, but this isn't surprising to me, as the Ullr is a fatter ski than the GPO.

[Island Bay]

Thanks Doc.
That sounds more like it. I was wondering if they had really beefed up the core and/or lay-up compared to similar Praxis skis.

[tripice351]

I did not know this. This works even if they were delivered, then stolen, and therefore not really the fault of the shipper?

As far as I know, yes. I wouldn't volunteer the info that your neighbors saw them on the porch, but I would definitely contact the shipper and get a claim started. I believe either you or the seller can file the claim. If you have the Fedex or UPS tracking number, you should contact them ASAP. Worst case scenario, they deny the claim.

[bobsdesk]

Anyone care to take a guess as to how the 192 GPO will compare to the 13/14 196 moment governor?

[North]

Woohoo! Took out the GPOs for some spring skiing at Abasin today. Conditions were mostly smooth mush, with some mushy bumps forming later in the day. 187 hybrid carbon mounted at dimple. I detuned the rockered sections with a gummi stone before skiing.

First impressions:
The forward mount looked pretty trippy to me riding up the chair for the first time - was a bit worried about ski blade syndrome. This turned out to be a non-issue.

First run was super intuitive, very easy to ski. Stay forward and you can make any turn shape. Only got minor hints of slarve-ability but snow was too heavy for anything but short slarves. Forward mount makes the skis seem light. Very poppy on takeoffs, great stomp pads.

The coolest thing I noticed was the tail. As soon as you weight it, it's like stepping on a gas pedal and the skis take off. Really fun to be able to turn the charge mode on and off like that. Forward stance = pivoty/playful, Centered stance w/tail input = Crush mode. Super cool.

I think the mount point could be very important on this ski, as minor input to the tail (mounted at dimple) makes it a charger. I'd bet -2 would put the GPO in charge mode full-time, whereas the recommended mount gives it more of a split personality.

TLDR version: Skis like a fatter, stiffer Wailer 112. Busts through chop better, but can still make small turns, big turns, etc. The rocket booster tail differentiates it from the 112. Very intuitive. Really stoked on these at the moment. We'll see how they do when winter rolls around.

[Dry]

"Skis like a fatter, stiffer Wailer 112." Nice quickie review North. Just as I had hoped for. Thanks!

Wondered where my pair were.

FED EX home delivery:
"6/02/2013
4:54 am
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
Scheduled for delivery next business day"


They are here now!

Cosmetically these are some FREAKIN beautiful skis for sure.

Carbon version 182cm GPO is 4lb 7oz per ski with less than 50g difference per ski. Nice mating the pair for sure. Compared to similar "touring skis" the weight is right in there. My 177cm Huascarans are 3lb 4 oz per ski. My 178cm Hang5 is 4lb 5oz per ski. Also thinking -2cm for the mount by comparison.

[Dry]

Tails of a 177 Dynafit Huascaran, 178cm La Sportiuva Hang5 and two 182cm GPOs. Skis layed out at mid center mount mark, GPO @ punch mark and @ -2cm.



Same set up, ski tip showing @ mid sole marks and @ GPO punch line and -2cm.



I really like this ski's flex (medium stiff, over all flex arc, camber and rocker tip and tail. As well as the tip and tail raise compared to my 112RP and 112 RPC. The 112/115mm under foot seems to be a real sweat spot for the majority of my own skiing in the PNW/N Idaho. A one ski quiver for Chamonix? No clue how they ski yet but I am impressed by the build quality and how the ski was laid out for design. Keith should have called this one "Goldilocks" instead of the GOP because everthing seems "just right". A lot softer hand flex than the RPC, much stiffer and more even flex than the Huascaran and about the same flex as the Hang5. A very similar ski to the RPC in over all shape. A very good thing imo. Really looking forward to skiing this one. GPO has more over all rocker length and less camber than any of those listed.

[sqikunst]

What I like about the Praxis rocker profiles is the trasition of the really subtle change from really low profile rocker to the tip rocker if you look at the 112 you can see that the rocker is really abrupt. Its one of the things I knowticed about my Protests. Because the rocker is soo long and subtle it does not have to be that high.

[Dry]

Here is a request for all the current GPO owners. Where did you end up mounting your ski and how happy are you with the end result? Goes along with this conversation:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ern-skis/page2

thanks!

found 26 pair of GPOs with mount data. 13 @ the dimple. 1 @ +2 from dimple, that is Tabke via an emial . 6 @ -1cm, 1 @ -1.5cm, 4 @ -2cm and 1 @ -3cm

Everyone seems happy with the decision, except the guys at 0. But we are talking a 6cm difference in mount points!

Who else is undecided for a mount point?

[powder fiend]

Everyone seems happy with the decision, except the guys at 0.

wait, so you're saying no one who mounted on the dimple is happy with it??
I've got some carbon 187s in the medium+ flex showing up in the next week or so, I'll put them side by side with my automatics, which at +1.5 are still pretty damn far back.
will be interesting to see how they compare; the dimensions are nearly identical, same tip height but the GPO has longer splay, way less camber and a lower tail. I love my autos but wanted something with a longer radius and a more substantial tail.
No idea where I'll mount them yet but I have all summer to hum and haw over that.

[Dry]

wait, so you're saying no one who mounted on the dimple is happy with it??

No, sorry for the confusion. I went back and recounted. Of the 13 guys I counted mounted at the dimple (-0-) six wanted to go with a - mount point after skiing at -0. The other 7 seem happy with their mount.

I have 182s here now and am waiting on a pair of 192s. I'll wait till I have both before I decide where to mount. But pretty sure I will be -2 plus some by the looks of it. Where ever I end up mounting I'll be skiing them this summer a good bit. So I'll report back what I find.

[Bird Blaster]

Please do. I won't mount mine until just before SA this year

[neck beard]

I'm happily counting in Dane to get me through the next 6 months. Pace yourself buddy, pace yourself.

[Dry]

Hey Neck, don't pick on the slow kid who has to write everything down!

[98brg2d]

Anybody skied these and Automatics and can give a flex comparison? Hand flex even? Looking at 187/186 in GPO and Automatic. Automatic seem like they may be a bit soft for heavy crud and med-stiff seem like they may be a bit stiffer than I want for slow speed really tight trees. Keith said he thinks med-stiff may be slightly stiffer than 182 shoguns that I currently ski but he said he is really not sure about the shogun. Can't make a link between GPO med stiff and automatic through all the various reviews.

[shroom]

no auto input, but the med-stiff GPO is not a stiff ski to fear. i would not at all use the word stiff when describing the flex.

[whatsupdoc]

Auto definitely hand flexes softer than a med-stiff GPO. But the med-stiff GPO ain't crazy stiff.

On a 1-10 scale, if the automatic is a 5, the GPO hand flexes 7ish I'd say.

Fwiw the automatic is a good ski for tight trees & slower speeds.

[98brg2d]

hmm, maybe med+ is the way to go. How do the med-stiffs compare to the last version of the EHP in 186? Thanks for the beta.

Edit: has anybody requested black or white sidewalls? Not super interested in red with the stock purple/white top sheet.

[jthon]

hmm, maybe med+ is the way to go. How do the med-stiffs compare to the last version of the EHP in 186? Thanks for the beta.

Edit: has anybody requested black or white sidewalls? Not super interested in red with the stock purple/white top sheet.

The different colored sidewalls distinguish ski size, per model

[sf]

hmm, maybe med+ is the way to go. How do the med-stiffs compare to the last version of the EHP in 186? Thanks for the beta.

187 gpo in med+ is a bit stiffer than 186 ehp. 1-10; I'd say med+ is about a 6,5-7 while ehp are 5,5-6. But I have 50-ish days on them so they might have softened up a bit

[Skiwurrel]

Anybody tried the stiffs? Think they're still workable for a lighter guy?

[whyturn]

I have medium stiff and would not want more at 180 lb. have skied 196 renegade as a side note