Thanks for the preview! As a huge Katana fan, I’m saddened by the loss of the metal version. But this new Mantra may be the Katana replacement I’m looking for.
Quick question: where is the recommended mount point compared to true center on the new Mantra? My eye ball guesstimate from your photo suggests it is further forward than the old Katana (which was more than -10cm from true center in the 183cm/184cm versions).
Thanks, Dan. And you’re right. On the new Mantra, Recommended = 80cm from the tail, or 8.9cms behind true center. Of course, you can always move forward or back; we’ll go find out what we think works best.
Wow – Thank for posting this so quick. It looks like a few companies are taking their 98 waist models and bumping them up to 100. The Rossi Experience 98 now becomes Experience 100 along with Nordica NRGY 100 which is replacing the 98 Hell & Back.
Interestinng that Volkl is now true to length. Historically they’ve measured like Blizzards, about 2 cm short.
I fondled a pair of these in the shop the other day. Seems like the sidecut profile of the tip was changed as well…more One Two-ish. I’ll be interested in your comparison between the this and the current one as I’m currently on a pair of pre-rocker Mantras and they are getting a bit thin around the edge after 5 years.
Yep, you’re right, Mike. I had a section in the preview about the tip, then just deleted it because I just kept speculating about how it would ski. And yeah, it’s ONE-ish.
Whats with the plate thing?
They’re just demo binding plates.
Hi
When do you think you can test the ski?
I hoped they would do it more to a twin tip at the end, at least a little bit more. I like my mantra, but also skiing backwards. Shit
Hi Sonja – I’ve been skiing the new 177 and 184 Mantra for the past couple of weeks, and will post my initial review in the next couple of days.
It seems like they have the same rocker profile as my 12/13 katana (low rocker in Volkl terms). Any chance you would have a weight of this pair in 177? I’m still looking around a bit for a slightly more versatile and lightweight version of my katanas.
oops… I see the weight in the header now… my bad.
geeze….every time you get it all figured out they go and change things.
I’m hearing this new version is skiing fantastic. Gonna wait on the purchase of the old ones until you guys post a review of the new ones. A couple local shops can get in the early releases if we so desire.
Looking forward to the review!!
What lengths will the new Mantra be available in? Will they still have a 170?
Could you describe the binding, looks like there is a base plate on it. Will Volkl make a (Marker?) binding for this ski? Will it still be sold as a flat ski for other bindings? Thanks for the review.
The Mantra will come in at least a 191, 184, 177, 170, but I’ll have to confirm shorter lengths.
And those are just demo binding plates, nothing special about them. The skis will be sold flat, and you can mount them with any binding you like.
Great reviews. I am looking to buy the Mantra. Wondering whether to wait for the 2015 model. I am an advanced intermediate, 6 foot 200 lbs. I ski and live in Colorado. Any suggestions?
The review is coming soon, Chris.
Dying to read that review!! Looks like this ski could be just what I’m looking for. When’s that review coming? :)
Thanks Jonathan, you all do great stuff on this site!
Thanks, Chris. The review will be up tonight or tomorrow. It’s an interesting one….
I rode the mantra 184cm ver 2014-2015 in Whistler last week after 3 days of riding the ver 2013-2014. I weight 200lbs and 5’11” and this is my first skis review/comments. The ver 14-15 mantra was my first time on a rocker ski and it took some getting used to. They were definitely a bit squirrely when laid flat, but they carved very well on groomers and ice and through moguls. The biggest learning curve for me was using them in powder. My first two powder runs were challenging because I felt the tips were getting caught in tracked up snow more than the ver 13-14. After 4 more long powder runs on the ver 14-15 skis I learned how to rock them by giving them a bit more speed and biasing my weight back. I could be wrong but I feel the tips are little more flexible than the ver 13-14. After 1 day of riding these skis, I decided they will be my next set of skis. To me, the ver 14-15 ski like a big mountain ski on powder runs and they reward you when you give them speed. The rest of the time they just excell. I have a set of 2006 Gotamas 174cm and the mantras out perform in them in my opinion.
I try the mantra 177 last week and they’re amazing. I weight about 6ft 200lbs. That was for à ski test and those was my winner of the day. They’re Quick and super stable at High speed. For sure on the flat… But it s normal whit That kind of camber. Very easy to ride in thight trees to find powder and a real train on groomer. If you want just one pair of ski the Mantra is what you should try.
Jonathan,
love your reviews, I have never seen anything as professional and detailed on either side of the Atlantic (I’m German …)! I can’t make up my mind between the Mantra and the Bonafide. I’ve skied the Mantra in 190cm for the past 4 years and absolutely loved it. I weigh only 172lbs on 6’1 but ski very aggressively with good technique, so the length has never bothered me and I liked it for the extra flotation/stability it gives you out of bounds. I ski in all kinds of conditions and mountains, as I live in DC, but go back to the Alps every year. Other than that I do a bit of East Cost skiing and try to do at least one trip to the Rockies every year. The Mantra has proven the perfect single pair for this program. I was almost about to buy the 13/14 Bonfides as they seem to have an edge on the Mantra in the powder, and seem similar in all other conditions … and then I read your review on the 14/15 Mantra which throws a whole lot of new questions into the mix: So the 177 Mantra seems to improve the Mantra where it was lacking, in powder, which makes my decision to go with the Bonafie shaky. But the longer versions (which I would be interested in) seem to be worse. How can there be such a difference between the lengths? Or is it just a question of the skiers weight? Or should I go with the 13/14 Bona Fides, which I could currently pick up for a great end of the season price? What is the 14/15 Bonafide like, does it change at all?
Many questions, I hope you can help me take a decision!
Thanks, Christian
Thanks, Christian. A few thoughts: if you’re coming from a 191 Mantra, I’m not confident that you’d love dropping all the way down to a 177 Mantra. And the 184 Mantra is still a point of confusion. I’ve got a number of other skis to test, and I’ve already spent a lot of days on it, but I still hope to be able to say more about that 184. Perhaps if you’re coming from the current 191 Mantra, the new 184 will feel more familiar in terms of quickness than was my experience. That wouldn’t really surprise me.
As for the Bonafide, would you be going 180cm or 187? As you know, I thought the 180 skied very well, though I didn’t love it on groomers. But I would really like to ski the 187, not sure that that will happen this spring. And no, no changes to the Bonafide for 14/15.
Thanks for your quick reply, Jonathan. I guess I would look at both skis in their longest version as I have had such a good experience with the Mantras in 191. It sounds like I need to wait until you ski on the longer ones, as you have neither skied the 187 Bonafide nor the new longer Mantras … never mind, I can wait until next season! What did you not like about the Bonafide on the groomers? And do you think it would be better with the longer version?
Cheers,
Christian
Just wondering if you intend to test the Gotama.
I’m really interested in comparing the Katane, the Katana V-Werks, the Gotama and the One.
All are in range between 100mm and 116mm and it would be very interesting to see the differences.
Cheers Frank
Sorry,
had a mistake in my post above:
I’m really interested in comparing the MANTRA, the Katana V-Werks, the Gotama and the One.
All are in range between 100mm and 116mm and it would be very interesting to see the differences.
Thanks for the preview! As a huge Katana fan, I’m saddened by the loss of the metal version. But this new Mantra may be the Katana replacement I’m looking for.
Quick question: where is the recommended mount point compared to true center on the new Mantra? My eye ball guesstimate from your photo suggests it is further forward than the old Katana (which was more than -10cm from true center in the 183cm/184cm versions).
Thanks, Dan. And you’re right. On the new Mantra, Recommended = 80cm from the tail, or 8.9cms behind true center. Of course, you can always move forward or back; we’ll go find out what we think works best.
Wow – Thank for posting this so quick. It looks like a few companies are taking their 98 waist models and bumping them up to 100. The Rossi Experience 98 now becomes Experience 100 along with Nordica NRGY 100 which is replacing the 98 Hell & Back.
Interestinng that Volkl is now true to length. Historically they’ve measured like Blizzards, about 2 cm short.
I fondled a pair of these in the shop the other day. Seems like the sidecut profile of the tip was changed as well…more One Two-ish. I’ll be interested in your comparison between the this and the current one as I’m currently on a pair of pre-rocker Mantras and they are getting a bit thin around the edge after 5 years.
Yep, you’re right, Mike. I had a section in the preview about the tip, then just deleted it because I just kept speculating about how it would ski. And yeah, it’s ONE-ish.
Whats with the plate thing?
They’re just demo binding plates.
Hi
When do you think you can test the ski?
I hoped they would do it more to a twin tip at the end, at least a little bit more. I like my mantra, but also skiing backwards. Shit
Hi Sonja – I’ve been skiing the new 177 and 184 Mantra for the past couple of weeks, and will post my initial review in the next couple of days.
It seems like they have the same rocker profile as my 12/13 katana (low rocker in Volkl terms). Any chance you would have a weight of this pair in 177? I’m still looking around a bit for a slightly more versatile and lightweight version of my katanas.
oops… I see the weight in the header now… my bad.
geeze….every time you get it all figured out they go and change things.
I’m hearing this new version is skiing fantastic. Gonna wait on the purchase of the old ones until you guys post a review of the new ones. A couple local shops can get in the early releases if we so desire.
Looking forward to the review!!
What lengths will the new Mantra be available in? Will they still have a 170?
Could you describe the binding, looks like there is a base plate on it. Will Volkl make a (Marker?) binding for this ski? Will it still be sold as a flat ski for other bindings? Thanks for the review.
The Mantra will come in at least a 191, 184, 177, 170, but I’ll have to confirm shorter lengths.
And those are just demo binding plates, nothing special about them. The skis will be sold flat, and you can mount them with any binding you like.
Great reviews. I am looking to buy the Mantra. Wondering whether to wait for the 2015 model. I am an advanced intermediate, 6 foot 200 lbs. I ski and live in Colorado. Any suggestions?
The review is coming soon, Chris.
Dying to read that review!! Looks like this ski could be just what I’m looking for. When’s that review coming? :)
Thanks Jonathan, you all do great stuff on this site!
Thanks, Chris. The review will be up tonight or tomorrow. It’s an interesting one….
I rode the mantra 184cm ver 2014-2015 in Whistler last week after 3 days of riding the ver 2013-2014. I weight 200lbs and 5’11” and this is my first skis review/comments. The ver 14-15 mantra was my first time on a rocker ski and it took some getting used to. They were definitely a bit squirrely when laid flat, but they carved very well on groomers and ice and through moguls. The biggest learning curve for me was using them in powder. My first two powder runs were challenging because I felt the tips were getting caught in tracked up snow more than the ver 13-14. After 4 more long powder runs on the ver 14-15 skis I learned how to rock them by giving them a bit more speed and biasing my weight back. I could be wrong but I feel the tips are little more flexible than the ver 13-14. After 1 day of riding these skis, I decided they will be my next set of skis. To me, the ver 14-15 ski like a big mountain ski on powder runs and they reward you when you give them speed. The rest of the time they just excell. I have a set of 2006 Gotamas 174cm and the mantras out perform in them in my opinion.
I try the mantra 177 last week and they’re amazing. I weight about 6ft 200lbs. That was for à ski test and those was my winner of the day. They’re Quick and super stable at High speed. For sure on the flat… But it s normal whit That kind of camber. Very easy to ride in thight trees to find powder and a real train on groomer. If you want just one pair of ski the Mantra is what you should try.
Jonathan,
love your reviews, I have never seen anything as professional and detailed on either side of the Atlantic (I’m German …)! I can’t make up my mind between the Mantra and the Bonafide. I’ve skied the Mantra in 190cm for the past 4 years and absolutely loved it. I weigh only 172lbs on 6’1 but ski very aggressively with good technique, so the length has never bothered me and I liked it for the extra flotation/stability it gives you out of bounds. I ski in all kinds of conditions and mountains, as I live in DC, but go back to the Alps every year. Other than that I do a bit of East Cost skiing and try to do at least one trip to the Rockies every year. The Mantra has proven the perfect single pair for this program. I was almost about to buy the 13/14 Bonfides as they seem to have an edge on the Mantra in the powder, and seem similar in all other conditions … and then I read your review on the 14/15 Mantra which throws a whole lot of new questions into the mix: So the 177 Mantra seems to improve the Mantra where it was lacking, in powder, which makes my decision to go with the Bonafie shaky. But the longer versions (which I would be interested in) seem to be worse. How can there be such a difference between the lengths? Or is it just a question of the skiers weight? Or should I go with the 13/14 Bona Fides, which I could currently pick up for a great end of the season price? What is the 14/15 Bonafide like, does it change at all?
Many questions, I hope you can help me take a decision!
Thanks, Christian
Thanks, Christian. A few thoughts: if you’re coming from a 191 Mantra, I’m not confident that you’d love dropping all the way down to a 177 Mantra. And the 184 Mantra is still a point of confusion. I’ve got a number of other skis to test, and I’ve already spent a lot of days on it, but I still hope to be able to say more about that 184. Perhaps if you’re coming from the current 191 Mantra, the new 184 will feel more familiar in terms of quickness than was my experience. That wouldn’t really surprise me.
As for the Bonafide, would you be going 180cm or 187? As you know, I thought the 180 skied very well, though I didn’t love it on groomers. But I would really like to ski the 187, not sure that that will happen this spring. And no, no changes to the Bonafide for 14/15.
Thanks for your quick reply, Jonathan. I guess I would look at both skis in their longest version as I have had such a good experience with the Mantras in 191. It sounds like I need to wait until you ski on the longer ones, as you have neither skied the 187 Bonafide nor the new longer Mantras … never mind, I can wait until next season! What did you not like about the Bonafide on the groomers? And do you think it would be better with the longer version?
Cheers,
Christian
Just wondering if you intend to test the Gotama.
I’m really interested in comparing the Katane, the Katana V-Werks, the Gotama and the One.
All are in range between 100mm and 116mm and it would be very interesting to see the differences.
Cheers Frank
Sorry,
had a mistake in my post above:
I’m really interested in comparing the MANTRA, the Katana V-Werks, the Gotama and the One.
All are in range between 100mm and 116mm and it would be very interesting to see the differences.
Cheers Frank