2007 HO Triumph - 4/29/2007
I've received the 2007 HO Triumph from H2Osmosis.com with some help from Seth Stisher, his gear guru Tadd Schreiber, and my Mastercard. Seth was happy to send the ski out to me for this review and my experience with buying from them has been great so far- quick shipping and great service. H2Osmosis offers a try-before-you-buy program where they will ship you a ski to try out for two weeks as long as you place a deposit and pay a small demo fee. I've added several pictures of this ski along with my CDX in the gallery section of this site.
Looking at this ski vs. my current ride, a 2002 HO CDX, I can tell some pretty immediate differences right off the bat. For starters, the fit and finish of this 2007 Triumph far exceeds that of my CDX. This Triumph is basically free of imperfections all around. The graphics, the joining of the top and bottom of the ski along the entire perimeter, as well as the fin slot and inserts all seem more precise and well-finished on this ski. It looks like HO has come pretty far in the past 5 years on the fit and finish of their skis. I'll also say that this is a really cool looking ski. Sure, you might say that looks don't matter but slalom skiing has a huge mental element so every bit helps in my opinion. The ski is finished in a very nice metallic flake with a very modern design, even incorporating a Gucci/LV-style pattern into the graphics. The ski is also not as wide-looking as I thought it would be. It is wider than the CDX but at a glance it doesn't look that much wider. I thought it would look clownishly over-sized but that is really not the case once you see it in person.
The 07 Triumph comes with a fixed fin rather than an adjustable fin & clamp. It looks like you could still adjust the DFT (distance from tail) by siding it forward or backward, and probably adjust your fin height using washers if you really wanted to. The fixed fin setup is extremely low profile, which probably has less drag than a typical adjustable fin clamp. By the looks of the insert pattern for this fin, an adjustable fin clamp and fin could probably be added later if desired.
I have only ridden this ski once at 28mph so I'm not ready to give an in-depth review of how the ski rides at this point. My first impression of the ski is that it has an extremely light tip relative to the CDX at this speed. It seems much lighter on the water and much more agile as well. The ski seems a bit less tolerant of my current skiing form than the CDX at these speeds which is a GOOD THING. I usually need to turn it up to 32 or 34 mph on the CDX to get this kind of feedback from that ski. A couple of my friends also tried the ski and found it very "different" but at the same time very comfortable. I can't wait to get a little more time on this ski but from what I've experienced so far, Seth's not getting this one back. I'll add more to this as soon as I ride the ski again.
Update: 05/13/07:I rode the Triumph again today in some pretty poor conditions. 28mph, 15 off free-skiing in about a 12-15mph wind. Again, the ski felt very comfortable but I was having a hard time breaking free of the boat and getting into any sort of rhythm. I decided to bump up the speed to 30mph and the ski CAME ALIVE. I was able to carve some nice turns on the ski and it was working well for me. All I had to do was bump up the speed. So, this ski loves 30mph! After riding it on two occasions I'm not as comfortable on it as I was on the CDX but I'm still enjoying the ride. I'll also say that on the few occasions that I came across the wake flat, I didn't feel like I was going to come out the front. The flat, wide tip on this ski seems to be more forgiving across the wake than the CDX. More to come!
Update: 06/02/07: I've switched back to the CDX for a few weeks to get my confidence and rhythm back in slalom. The Triumph rides high and light in the water but I can't get it to turn as easily as I can turn the CDX. I'll get back to the Triumph soon, but for now it's back to the old school stick.
Update: 06/25/07: I rode the Triumph all weekend. I definitely have this ski figured out now. I can get it to turn just fine by keeping my weight centered on the ski a bit more in the turns and being patient while the ski finishes the turn. This ski will not work with the back-foot-heavy technique that I am used to on the CDX, so I'm thinking of it as a training tool. At this point I'm as comfortable, if not more comfortable on this ski as I was on my old ski. A also took the wing off, which may have helped as well.
Conclusion: I've ridden the Triumph for several weeks now, but it's time for it to head back to H2Osmosis to make way for a few more demo skis. At first, this ski was tough for me to turn with. I think any back-foot-heavy, traditional slalom skier will feel the same way about this ski at first. Don't be surprised if you buy this ski and don't like it for the first few sets- hang in there. After riding this ski several times, I started getting used to it and I think it really did help me figure out a couple things in slalom, like being a bit more patient in the turns. By the end, I could turn this ski as tightly as any ski out there- even last-minute hook-turns, no problem. This ski has enough speed to please any of the more advanced skiers out there, in my opinion. The ski rides lighter than my old CDX in the water but it has a smaller sweet spot in the turns, at least at 30mph. Part of me misses the Triumph now that I've sent it back, especially after riding the O'brien Synchro for the first time this week. Time will tell how the Synchro and the Connelly F1X stack up against the Triumph. One thing that's coming out of these tests for me is that there is no silver bullet in beginning slalom. My hips-back, butt-out, shoulders-forward form still shone through with this ski behind the boat, although I feel my body position in turns did improve.
Turning: Back-foot heavy skiers will have to adapt to a more neutral stance. Patience is required in turns. Once you do that, it's like butter if you hit what I would consider a narrow sweet spot in the turns.
Wake Cross: I noticed no real difference in how the ski crosses the wake relative to my old-school CDX. If anything, the tip rides lighter across the wake due to width and may be less prone to an OTF fall.
Speed: When I first skied this ski, I got a ton of slack after crossing the wake. The ski rides faster at these speeds than the CDX during the edge change, bringing more speed into the turns. By the end, I didn't even notice this and the slack was long gone. I guess that means that I changed something in my form to compensate for this, and it probably was a good thing. I had no problems generating speed across the wake/behind the boat either.
Thank you Seth and Tadd at H20smosis Sports for letting me demo this ski! As I'm well aware from shipping the ski back, shipping is not cheap and these guys have really been great in getting these skis to me with no hassles and plenty of good advice. Please give them a chance to sell you a ski when the time comes! www.H2Osmosis.com
FTC Disclosure: this product was not provided to me for free.
Comments:
Bob Mac, 5/16/2007: What length Triumph are you skiing on ? I am 6 foot tall, 175 lbs and bought a 67 inch. Ski requires lots less effort to start on, and ski on, but takes a little more effort to initiate edge change. My first couple runs on it were not pretty, since it the ski requred such a different technique particularly when entering the pre turn, I thing at may be a fun ski once you adapt to the differences. Bob MacJoel, 6/5/2007: Bob, it's a 67.
ScarletArrow, 6/5/2007: Joel - It sounds like the Triumph wants you to ride it more on the front foot ("high and light") more than tail dragging. How many sets did you give it before you switched back to your CDX? I know not every ski is a good fit for everyone, but do you think your CDX could be reinforcing habits you might want to break? Do you think you will give it another chance before making a decision?
Joel, 6/6/2007: SA, I am thinking exactly along the same lines as you regarding the Triumph. It does not let me ski with my poor CDX habits. I'll get back on it soon- I have not come close to giving up on it for sure! It could be the best thing I ever tried. I switched back because I needed to feel a few runs around all 6 balls again. It's too fun to give up too long.
BobMac, 6/7/2007: I have been skiing my D3 X5 all month on my trips to Santo Domingo, making nice progress working with a coach. today I launched my boat at home here in NH to ski with buddies, tried ouit my 67 Triumph for the second time thinking I could show my friends all my new techniques. I could not ski worth a damn on that thing !!!! (30mph) I weigh 175, ski handles very different, maybe I just need to ski it more to get good on it. Interesting because Joel had a similar experience, thought since it was an "easier" ski it should be easy to ski on, guess its just different. Bob
Vern, 8/1/2007: I was having a hard time getting this ski to turn. Then I started counter rotating which put more weight on the front and my onside turns were better, but my offside turns were still difficult. It seemed like I just couldn't get the ski to slow down and carve the turn. After reading the ski tuning tips on Schnitz site, I moved the front boot forward one hole. This made a huge difference. Now it is much, much better. Hard to beleive such a minor adjustment can make such a big difference, but it did.
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