2007 O'Brien Synchro - 7/14/2007
I just received a 2007 O'Brien Synchro from Tadd and Seth at H2Osmosis.com I've been eager to try the Synchro as I've heard nothing but good things about it. In fact, I've heard that a skier named Kyle Tate has taken this ski deep into short, short line lengths. As I've done with the HO Triumph, I'll ride this thing for a few weeks and see what happens. 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 in the gallery section of this site.
Right out of the box, I love how this ski looks. The graphics are very cool and this ski feels light as a feather. The difference in weight between this ski and the Triumph is noticable just by handling it. Rather than having a flat top from tip to tail, the profile of this ski reveals that the top has quite a bit of relief to it. I don't know whether all of this contour on the top is cosmetic or mechanical, but it does jump out at you. Like the HO Triumph, the fin is fixed except for allowing a forward-aft (DFT) adjustment. I suppose depth could be subtracted with washers if needed.
I've ridden the Synchro once already, and it was very reminicent of my first ride on the Triumph. I had a hard time getting her to turn! So here I thought I had corrected my weight distribution enough to ride the wider skis through the turns but it's back to square 1 with the Synchro. One thing I did notice is the Synchro rolls over onto its side much more easily than the Triumph. You can lay out in a turn and this thing just rolls on to edge effortlessly. I noticed no difference in wake crosses with this ski over the HO Triumph and everything but the turning feels very similar to the Triumph. The skis sit and ride in the water nearly identically. What surprised me is that I have ridden nothing but HO skis for my entire skiing "career" (Mach 1, Truth, CDX, Triumph) but this completely different brand of ski rides and feels just like the HO! I can't really give any conclusive data on this ski until I ride it a WHOLE BUNCH, so stay tuned for updates!
Update- 7/15/07: I rode the hell out of this ski today. The inner sides of my arms actually have rug burns on them from skiing so much (rubbing against the vest). This ski turns very differently from the HO Triumph. Where the Triumph was very happy turning with a very upright skier, I have to really lay it down in the turns to get the Synchro to turn tightly. I have NEVER let the ski get so far out from me in the turns as I have with this ski. I had several turns where I pushed the ski way past the point of falling over in the turns and it HUNG ON the whole time. It pulls through the turn automatically. Is this good? I don't know. I've never had a ski that holds an edge like this. What's nice about this is that I actually go through the wakes on edge since I'm so laid out on the turns, but it feels like I'm doing the work of a 39-off skier laying out so much to get the damn thing to turn. Comments?
Update- 7/22/07: Gave the Synchro another rip today. Still having problems with turning this ski, on both sides. I'm inclined to move the binding up another hole but with how much I've ridden this ski (the Triumph started working for me sooner than this ski), it's time to take break and try out this very impressive looking Connelly F1X ski sitting in my living room. I've heard nothing but great things about the Synchro but between it and the Triumph, I have to give the nod to the Triumph, which I'm really missing right now! If the F1X doesn't blow my mind then I'll give the Synchro another shot with the binding up one hole.
Conclusion - 8/22/07: I've sent the Synchro back to H2Osmosis. I had high hopes for this ski but I couldn't get it to work for me in the time that I had it. With adjustments to boot position and fin, perhaps I could have gotten the Synchro to work for me but this test was about testing off-the-shelf skis with stock settings and I couldn't get this one to work predictably for me. I also didn't have all summer to play with it. I was able to run full passes in the course with it at 30 mph a few times, it was just unpredictable and seemed to have a small sweet spot in the turns, unlike the F1X that has a sweet spot the size of Alaska.
FTC Disclosure: this product was not provided to me for free.
Comments:
Terry_In_NC, 7/24/2007: In your 7/15 update you mentioned getting the ski out. This maybe the effect of better technique than the ski. If you can project the ski out while maintaining a verticle upper body you will get the lower body lean that actually gets more of the ski on edge and carries more speed through the turn. Try this on all the skis. Project the ski out while keeping the reaching hand high and bend the knees.Luv2Ski, 7/24/2007: I'm not sure Joel but if you can lay it out there and it hangs on I'd say that sounds like a good thing especially if it causes you to go through the wake on edge.However I don't think you should have to force the turns either. Do you think your getting similar cross course speed on the Synchro as the Triumph?
Joel, 7/25/2007: Terry, the amount the ski swings out for me is definitely a result of the ski design (in this particular case). I should have mentioned that the CDX had this "roll-on-it's side easily" quality as well and also hangs like the devil in the turns. The Triumph does not roll over easily at all. It's like the Triumph has a gyro inside which resists the ski's side-to-side roll. I feel like in order to get the Synchro to work right, I've got to resort to old habits rather than the weight-forward upright-body turns I started carving on the Triumph. When I was skiing well on the Synchro, my boat driver mentioned that I was yanking the boat like crazy out of the turns. I'll revisit this ski in a bit, but now it's on to the F1X.
81nautique, 7/25/2007: I'm a little surprised with your initial thoughts on the synchro Joel. First time I jumped on mine I was in heaven. While I don't ski the course, I do ski as agressively as I can while free skiing and the ski seems to turn effortlessly for me. I have yet to blow it out either in a hard cut or across the wake and that's behind my vintage Nautique so it will hang in there pretty good across some scary ramps. Obviously, I'm not skiing as technically as you nor do I have a course to really evaluate the ski on but I couldn't be happier with it and it was a good choice for me atleast for free skiing. Still hope to get out with you guys a least once this year and give the course a try, that might change my views...
Joel, 7/25/2007: Alan, it could be that I went right from the HO Triumph, which was a big adjustment from the CDX, then to this ski, which IMO is more like the CDX. Had I gone from the CDX to the Synchro, things might have been different. I haven't ridden the CDX in weeks so I may have lost my "base measurement".
Joel, 7/25/2007: Alan, did you leave the wing on your Synchro? I removed the wing from mine as soon as I got it.
81nautique, 7/25/2007: Yes, left the wing on. I'm wondering if that's also why I feel I can turn it as hard as I want without fear of it breaking free. After reading your post again I realize your comment on "old Habits" probably suits my skiing style. My wife hates driving for me as she's not comfortable countering the pull so you can imagine I'm overworking it. That has always been my"style" of skiing(old School I Guess.) I can tell you I'm skiing it harder in open water than I'd have to in the course to make a 15off pass so again my opinion of the ski is not really valid for this review but I do feel good on it.
Terry, 7/25/2007: I've heard from other people that have the Synchro that it turns easy for them. I saw Kyle Tate take it into 41 off last year. That is why I was surprised when you said that you had to really lay it over hard.
Joel, 7/25/2007: Hey guys, I call em' as I see em'. All I can do is ski the ski, and write down what it feels like to a novice course skier like me. This is the only ski site I've seen that spends dozens of ski sets spanning weeks to really figure a ski out, and this one is a tough one for me to unlock. Kyle Tate could probably run the course on a 2x4 and I'd imagine this ski probably has a whole different personality at 34mph! Time will tell. I've basically frozen my progress in the course for the summer in order to test these skis out over dozens of sets so I hope they provide some "real" feedback for a novice skier in the end.
Terry, 7/25/2007: No problem Joel. Keep doing what you are doing. It's always good to get a variety of opinions.
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