I bought the ARV 84 because I got a killer deal on it at a ski sale.
As far as bang for your buck, these skis are right up there.
As youll see, these skis do a bit of everything.
Construction/Shape
The ARV 84 is a near symmetrical ski with a full camber profile and no taper.
The flex is medium.
Id say from tip to tail that the ski feels like this - 6 - 7 - 8.5.
- 8 - 7.
The flex Id say is more on the poppy side of the damp/poppy spectrum.
The bases on these are really durable but are a bit slow.
The ARV 84 also has a full poplar core.
On groomers, these things rip.
The radius is nice and small, which I like as I ski a small hill in Wisconsin.
In crud and choppy snow however, I found these skis to get deflected and bounce around very easily.
These are not a good ski to just plow through chunky snow.
In powder, these did decent for their size.
These did surprisingly well for their profile.
I had a really good time hitting narrow tree runs and the occasional mogul run.
Park
Okay, so these things are amazing on jumps.
They are super light and easy to throw around, and the camber/flex pattern are really nice on landings.
So I hit rails pretty often, but I didnt do any technical stuff.
The lack of taper made 50-50s really easy.
If you want to butter, Id say there are better skis.
I think a heavier rider wouldnt have much trouble buttering these.
Durability
I skied these for a whole season in a variety of conditions.
The edges have no cracks (I take care to detune pretty heavily and de-burr).
And the base is kinda slow but I ran over rocks, sticks, dirt, rails, etc.
and I only have some mild scraping, with no core shots.
The topsheets are also really durable.
They only have light scratching with 2 tiny holes that show wood.
(like, really tiny).
So overall, these things are really durable for having cap construction and for the price point.
In terms of value for your money, these are up there at the top.
Id say they didnt particularlyexcelin any particular area, instead, they did pretty much everythingwell.
That is a good thing for someone who is new and doesnt have a dedicated style yet.
There are better skis for swerving, better for pow, crud, etc.
But those are going to be more specialized.
