2023 Volkl Deacon 80 - SkiEssentials.com Ski Test

0:00 [Music] hey skiers it's bob with skiessentials.com welcome to our 2023 ski test we've got a vocal deacon 80 for you here today this ski gets a graphics update for this year but remains the same structurally which is great news for intermediate to advanced skiers who really just love the feeling of a clean carved turn on the groomers you know at 80 millimeters underfoot it's got a little bit more you know width and surface area versus a true like front side carving ski but this thing fits right in there with a little bit of all mountain potential as well due to the flex and relatively lighter weight of the ski

0:46 this is the 177 here at 80 millimeters underfoot we get vocals 3d radius so this thing produces a 15 meter turn radius underfoot 24 in the shovel and 21 in the tail so you can get this thing up high on an edge angle really kind of get into that more slalom style turn or you can let it run a little bit shallower you still get a good amount of stability and dampness in those longer turns a lot of it has to do with the construction as well so we do see vocals we got 3d ridge and also 3d glass as well as glass frame so there are a lot of things going on with the construction of this ski the ridge is just this raised portion in

1:32 the central part of the ski here that provides some extra dampness and stability the 3d glass so this fiberglass laminate goes over the edges anytime you put a fiberglass laminate in a three-dimensional format it really stiffens the flex of the ski and fiberglass is super energetic as well so not only do you get the stiffness and the precision and the entry of the turn but it gives you great feedback on the end as well so tons of rebound and energy coming out of this ski and then the glass frame is is the other big component here so like we've seen in the kendo and mantra skis that use a titanal frame as well as deacon 84 titanal frame around the outside of the ski is the

2:18 fiberglass laminate unencumbered in this middle portion here and through the tail uh where the where the ridge is but that fiberglass around the outside here really gives the ski a ton of energy and responsiveness uh fantastic edge grip uh really and you know reduces the weight versus the titanal as well so you get a nice light ski with the binding here and let me put this thing on the scale um you know the binding is going to add quite a bit for sure but still in this 177 we're looking at 3068 grams so you know not terribly hap heavy especially when most of the weight is uh you know kind of structured in the middle of the ski due to the binding and that raised platform system

3:04 and that's really nice too because it's integrated into the ski so really good system binding here a little bit lower of a stand height with this low ride and then the fact that it hooks into the actual ski gives you really excellent precision and performance on the groomers i actually got on this for the first time this past year and really really enjoyed it you know even as a bigger skier and i was on this 177 pretty fun quick you know agile turns didn't find a whole lot of a limit to it either you know you can really push this thing pretty hard and it's just a ton of fun so if you're looking for that you know that front side ski that has a wider platform to stand on for balance this is a fantastic choice you know most skiers aren't leaving the groomers anyway so you know

3:51 having something that's pretty condition specific like this makes a lot of sense so glad to see the deacon 80 back check this thing out at ski essentials dot com and we'll see you out there on the hill bye