Rossignol XP 100 vs. Fischer S-Bound 98

[gladesowards]

New to this site and forum, but have been lurking here for a bit. I’m looking for feedback on light XCD skis for relative newbies. I came from snowboarding way back in the day, but my wife and I picked up some basic edge-less Rossignol Evos about 14 years ago to dabble in skiing forest roads and groomed trails. In the last few years, we’ve grown frustrated with not having edges and with the skinniness of our skis. This year, without doing much research first I got us some affordable Rossignol skis with edges: BC 80s with NNNBC for my wife and XP 100s for me with Xplore bindings and Alpina XP boots. Having since read through a ton of posts in this forum as well as having watched nearly every @Tom M video on YouTube, I’m starting to think I should have gotten the S~Bound 98s instead. In particular, I like how light they are, the deeper side cut, and the skin options. My goal is to still ski forest roads and meadows, but also to be able to handle some modest slopes now and again. It appears that there is relatively little experience with the XP 100s in this forum, which I’m taking as a bad sign. Anyone have experience with both/either ski and any suggestions? I also started to get tempted by some AT setups I’ve seen (e.g., Voile Objectives), but I think that’s overkill for what I want to do. When Tom skis S-Bound 98s in his videos, I’m like “thats the kind of terrain I want to do.” Thoughts?

[JohnSKepler]

Voile Objective is not overkill for what you want to do. It is a great ski, especially the scaled version, for what you describe and does fine with the Xplore binding but the Alaska Alpina XP doesn't have as much rigidity as you might want for this ski. The Alfa Free is great with this combo but it gives my right ankle blisters something terrible. I'll be trying it with the Lundhags Abisku this winter which I think is going to be an awesome combination. I also ski it with Transit binding and Scarpa F1 which is great for alpine touring and even resort skiing but that's an expensive set up if you can find the F1s. I have mounted inserts and made a binding plate that lets me put three different bindings on my one pair of Objectives.

If you're trying to keep costs down this ski is great with a 3-pin/cable like the Rottefella SuperTele binding. You can then look or some 3-pin boots in your size on eBay or Facebook Marketplace. I can tell you from experience that the Objective skis great with the Rotte SuperTele and Scarpa T4. I picked up the T4 last year for $40 and 3-pin cable bindings are not hard to find.

To be fair, it is not a cross country ski and comparing it to the S-Bound 98 won't give you a lot of useful information. And I can't say I know what kind of distances you're looking to conquer. It is not a flat miler at all. But from your description, I think you might like it. To me the ObjectiveBC is like a mountain bike. Goes up. Goes down. Decent kick and glide for a wide ski with little camber. More float than the BC80, comparable to the BC100. Very light weight. Turns on a dime. Jack of all trades which means it's a master of none but I always have fun on this ski. Oh, it ain't cheap.

If you're more cross country oriented you might consider the Asnes Falketind 62. It isn't available in a scaled ski but it does have the "Xskin" attachment. Get the wax right and it can climb almost like a scale ski. Has real camber and a "moderate wax pocket". Doesn't turn quite as well as the Objective but kick and glide is far superior. Great with Xplore and not too bad with the Alaska, though really shines with a 3-pin. If you are lower angle with more XC I'd maybe go with the FT62. If you're more downhill oriented with trees and obstacles, maybe the Objective.

Let us know what you pick and how you like it!

[fisheater]

I really don’t believe there would be a significant difference between the skis. Camber has varied over the years on the Fischer, and if purchasing new I think without handling either it would be the best choice. I can’t see the value in replacing the Rossi with the Fischer. The difference is not that significant.
I had an S-112 replaced it with a Falketind X, to me a far superior XCD ski in all respects. I can certainly climb better with wax than scales. That being said climbing in mountains, conditions can change. I like my 45 mm X-skin.
I also have an Objective class ski. I certainly can ski it with a stiff leather boot, but lately if conditions and route are conducive to the Falketind I wear leather boots, if I’m going to my Tindan 86 (Objective class ski) I’m wearing my T-4.
So @gladesowards while a kicker skin is a nice option, you could also just use a skinny skin.
https://skimo.co/pomoca-race-pro-grip-roll
You would measure from your ski tip to the end of your boot heel. The tip attachments are on the same page. It certainly will not glide like a kicker skin, but you will be able to climb.
Hope this helps
By the way, there are a couple guys on here that like that Rossi ski.

[lilcliffy]

The current Rossignol XP-100 is a unique Nordic touring ski-
(I have only tried it once)

It has an extremely low profile tip (don't like it for trail-breaking);
it has a full 80 underfoot- with a round, smooth flex- offering remarkable stabilty in deep, soft snow;
it has little sidecut, and tracks efficiently;
it has minimal rocker, with a long glide zone and effecive edge;
it has a tapered tail that releases smoothly;
it has very little camber.

While I think that this ski would offer zero kick on consolidated snow- I did enjoy my short test in deep soft snow- though I wished it had a Nordic, raised tip.

This ski can be bought at a bargain price and should definitely be considered by those that are Nordic touring in deep soft snow.