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Guess who is making Skis in China?

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Fashion_Geek
Posts: 157 - Karma: 53
I just saw a new pair of Volkl Gotama's in the Sports Den in Salt Lake and I was checking out the new tail profile.... And there it was, "Made in China" sticker on the tail. It looks like K2 is pull all the stops and having most of there skis made by "lil hands in China"....
Aug 25 2006 1:15PM
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feihlination
Posts: 8356 - Karma: 1,084
armadas are made at atomic or elan, but def. in austria if i am right.

4frnts are made at some snowboard company

and i thought lines are made at karhu



i once entered a shop with a armada-headband, and one guy there said i should remember that armada isnt as core as it is supposed to be, i should go with line or 4frnt, because armadas are built in austria in some factory and 4frnts are made almost by steele, matt and vinnie theirselves.

but from what i read on ns, 4frnts are made by a snowboard company, the name consists of three capital letters, i cant remember anymore
Aug 27 2006 6:09AM
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RRP-llc
Posts: 205 - Karma: 10
4frnt is made by Option snowboards in Candaia.

Armada is made by Elan in Slovenia.

--rick
Aug 27 2006 9:37AM
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pbandj
Posts: 5610 - Karma: 28
you forgot line and karhu under k2 inc.
Aug 27 2006 10:08AM
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nothanks
Posts: 13551 - Karma: 31
Yes, K2 really really does own a lot of stuff. A lot. Most don't realize that almost all of their money in sporting is going there.

I look at all my sporting equipment, Rawlings, Shakespears, so much, K2. It's rough.

And no, Volkl prices will not drop.
Aug 27 2006 10:19AM
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180FSscratch
Posts: 164 - Karma: 10
you guys are not giving china credit they build so much shit over there and most of it works. im sure the skis are stioll built to the same standards
Aug 27 2006 11:04AM
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Gez
Posts: 294 - Karma: 10
For the record, this year's Gotamas are the only Volkl skis being made in China....this of course will probably mean, however, that the other skis will soon be made there.
Aug 27 2006 1:37PM
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evtic
Posts: 1713 - Karma: 16
Elan, wow, does Elan produce atomic products too? Are they all made somewhere together?

Option snowboards are sweet and so are 4frnts so that sounds like a deal.
Aug 31 2006 5:03PM
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jibmaster_josh
Posts: 2369 - Karma: 23
and k2 snowboard
Aug 31 2006 5:13PM
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Fashion_Geek
Posts: 157 - Karma: 53
Ok here is the real information....

Armada moved all there product for this years skis to Atomic. Last year they were only making ANT's and JP vs Julian's in Atomics factories, the rest were still in Elan.

4Frnt has moved all production out of Canada to Elans Factory.
Aug 31 2006 5:21PM
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Campeador
Posts: 7516 - Karma: -1,227
Armada in the E.U., 4frnt in Canada (could be wrong on this one) and Ninthward in the U S of A.

Support the Ninthward, because unlike companies like Line who want more money for less quality by moving to China, Ninthward sacrifices that to bring you a sick product that is made by Americans for Americans. Not by the Chinese who could give a fuck about skiing and skiers or anything besides their dollar-a-day paycheck. You can say there are high standards in China but I do not want skis from a ski factory sweatshop. My clothes I could care less where they are made, but not my skis.
Aug 31 2006 7:58PM
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evtic
Posts: 1713 - Karma: 16
4frnt and Armada are produced in the same factory, i would love to know which skis are made better with better materials and more time.
Sep 3 2006 10:06PM
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Fashion_Geek
Posts: 157 - Karma: 53
they are not made in the same factory...

4frnt is in Elan and Armada is in Atomic.
Sep 3 2006 10:12PM
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pdubz
Posts: 312 - Karma: 10
Click for larger imageClick for larger imageClick for larger imageClick for larger imageClick for larger image
Sep 4 2006 12:05AM
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Muteman
Posts: 1508 - Karma: 12
From my experience since K2 has switched to China their skis have gone down the shitter. I have owned both the Seth Pistols and the Public Enemies and they both have terrible craftsmanship. I ripped out both heelpieces on my Pistols and my Enemies have been falling apart since I got them. Sure China allows companies to make cheaper priced products but at the same time it seems that quality suffers as a result. Hopefully Vlokl skis maintain the quality they are known for even though they are now being made in K2 factories in China. I do not want to make claims about all of K2's chinese made skis but from my experience it has not been a good thing in craftsmanship terms.
Sep 4 2006 12:15AM
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ozee
Posts: 759 - Karma: 16
The fact that the invader was built in China has nothing to do with its reliability or durability. What affects that is the design and materials used to build the ski. Line didnt do enough R&D on the product and rushed it into production without testing it fully. Manufacturing plants in China simply follow instructions given to them. They dont chose how the ski is made and what goes into it.

As for your comment about prefering skis to be designed by pro riders, I personnaly prefer to have a ski designed by engineers who actually know about flex patterns, product durability and quality control...if anything, if you look closely at the finishing on 4frnt and Armada skis in the past, a little sloppy.

K2 makes really good skis, doesnt matter if you're in China or on Vachon Island....wood and epoxy resin remain wood and epoxy resin.
Sep 4 2006 12:29AM
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BK
Posts: 2353 - Karma: 1,122
K2 has got to have their hands in some dirty little inline skating busineses too....
Sep 4 2006 5:25AM
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jack_weisman
Posts: 2310 - Karma: 169
NIKE?
Sep 4 2006 2:15PM
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evtic
Posts: 1713 - Karma: 16
were they at some point made in the same place?
Sep 4 2006 2:37PM
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espen^R
Posts: 2330 - Karma: 192
They save billions of money making skis in china instead of germany.
Sep 4 2006 2:40PM
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Grimace.
Posts: 8345 - Karma: 25
thank you. line used to be known for there quality and they produced one bad line of skis, the invader, and sudenly all of there skis are shit. i bet this years invader will have very little problem, much like the chronics and other skis in the past. im sick of someone posting a picture of line skis and someone commenting how they will delame and fall apart.
Sep 4 2006 3:54PM
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jKutcher
Posts: 3936 - Karma: 4,260
hahahaha! that is awesome!
Sep 4 2006 4:36PM
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