REVIEW: MADSHUS EON WAX

Speed and Grip!

I finally bought the Madshus Eon with a waxable base.  I bought them on clearance back in September 2015.  I believe they are from the 2012-2013 production.  They do not have the current black-yellow top sheet- they are silver.

My pair is 205cm (the longest you can get an Eon).

The Eon is the slimmest of Madshus’ “xcountry-downhill” (XCD) series.  I would describe the Madshus XCDs as hybrid alpine touring/telemark-xcountry skis.  They do not offer the classic xcountry performance of a stiff, double-cambered backcountry-xcountry ski.  They are a less efficient xcountry ski than a Scandinavian backcountry ski (i.e. “fjellski”) as well.  They are designed to offer “modern” (i.e. Alpine) downhill performance- while still being light enough to xcountry ski with.

(The Madshus XCD line is a carbon copy of the last generation Karhu XCDs: Eon= XCD GT; Epoch= XCD 10^th Mountain; Annum= Guide)

Fischer’s S-Bound series is designed to offer similar performance.  In my experience the S-Bounds seem to be a little more weighted towards climbing and downhill skiing.  The S-Bounds in general have more of a parabolic profile, and the waxless “off-track crown” on the S-Bounds is clearly designed for climbing traction.  The S-Bounds, in general, do have a stiffer flex pattern than the Madshus XCDs- this in general offers better performance on dense/hard snow than the Madshus XCDs.

(There are a number of other manufactures of this hybrid class of Nordic skis including Rossignol (e.g. BC90, BC110, BC125) and Alpina (e.g. Discovery series))

Specs

Here is a summary of the Eon Waxable specs:

• Profile: 83-62-70mm
• “Single-cambered”
• Flex pattern: smooth, even, soft flex, with a slightly-rockered tip
• Full-length steel edges
• Low-profile tip
• Track groove
• Sintered, waxable base

The Eon is often described as being “camber-and-a-half”…from my perspective the Eon is clearly a single-cambered ski.  The Eon is, in my experience, noticeably stiffer than its wider siblings- the Epoch and the Annum- this contrast may be the primary reason for referring to the Eon as “camber-and-a-half”.  It is also available in longer lengths.  A 205cm Eon has noticeably more “camber” than a 195cm Eon.

Like the Epoch and the Annum, the Eon has a smooth, soft, flex.  This flex pattern offers good performance on fresh, soft snow- brutally inefficient on dense/hard snow.

The Madshus XCDs are slightly-rockered in the tip- UTE magazine described the Eon as having approx. 10cm of rocker in the tip.  (This is quite different than Fischer’s “Nordic rocker”, but in my experience, produces similar early-tip rise- at least in a xcountry K&G context).  The slightly open tips of the Eon are very noticeable when initiating downhill turns.

The Eon, unlike a traditional BC-XC ski, has a low profile tip (i.e. more like an Alpine ski).

The waxable Eon has a high-quality sintered base.  I have hot-glide waxed them, and grip-waxed the traction zone underfoot.  They hold wax very well- and they are very fast.

This winter- I will be testing this ski against a 205cm&195cm waxless Eon; as well as a 210cm Asnes USGI Combat ski (waxable).

Quality and Durability

There has been much apprehension about the build-quality of Madshus XCDs being built in China.  My family (my wife and I have 4 children at home) has multiple sizes of the Eon, Epoch and Annum.  I personally have put well over 1000kms/season on my 205cm waxless Eons over the last 6 years.  I must confess we have never had any problems with these skis.  My waxless Eons, in particular, take some serious abuse in late-winter, early-spring skiing through the woods.

Xcountry Performance

From a traditional perspective- the Eon is not a very efficient xcountry ski- it is not stiff enough to offer an efficient Nordic “kick”.  (Although I do find that the Eon with an NNN-BC binding offers more “snap” than with a NN-75mm-3 pin binding).  The xcountry “kick and glide” performance of the Eon is greatly affected by the length of ski that you choose.  For example, at my weight (185lbs) I get significantly better K&G performance on my 205cm Eons than on my wife’s 195cm.

 

I have tested the current Fischer E-109- it is significantly stiffer and more cambered- the E-109 is a much more efficient xcountry ski than the Eon. 

My Asnes Combat skis (see my review) are much stiffer and more cambered than the Eon- they offer much more efficient K&G performance then the Eon.

The waxable Eon is significantly faster than the waxless Eon- it’s actually amazing how much faster it is!  And with appropriate grip waxing- I get better K&G and climbing traction than the waxless Eon- in most snow conditions that I ski in (cold snow).  The waxless Eon still shines in warm wet snow though- I am certainly not going to part with them!

All of this being said- the Eon is a very popular backcountry-xcountry touring ski.  Many, many people appreciate the “relaxed, smooth ride” (and of course the downhill performance).  The Eon is noticeably straighter and stiffer through the tail, than the tip.  As a result- the Eon tracks very well for a ski with so much sidecut (though it does not track as straight as my Asnes Combat skis).  I understand why people like the Eon as a xcountry ski- though I personally wish it had a stiffer flex pattern.

Another excellent use of the Eon is for a backcountry ski for children (or very light skiers).  The flex pattern of the Eon is soft enough that children can control a 165cm Eon from a relatively early age.  My oldest daughter (who is still as light as a feather), for example, has been on a 165cm Eon since she was 7 years old.  Finding BC-Nordic skis for children can be a real challenge- learning how to ski on fresh snow, on a stiff, cambered ski, is no fun for anyone!

Climbing Performance

With appropriate us of grip wax I can climb a much steeper slope than I can with the waxless Eon (the waxless “Omnitrack” on the Eon is clearly designed for K&G performance- not climbing).  I have yet to deal with grip wax and a climbing skin…

Downhill Performance

The Eon offers what I would call “moderate” downhill turning performance…

This has to be put in context…

In fact, compared to a traditional BC-XC ski (with a stiff flex/camber), the Eon offers excellent “modern” (i.e. Alpine) downhill performance- the slightly open tips, and ample sidecut, offer decent turn initiation, and a reasonable turn-radius.  However, compared to other hybrid telemark-xcountry Nordic skis- the Eon’s relatively straight, stiff, tail make it a less efficient turner than skis with a more uniform, parabolic profile and flex pattern.  I personally think that the performance of the Eon is more weighted towards xcountry performance, than many of the other hybrid skis available.  Effectively steering the Eon requires quite a powerful boot/binding- unless you are on ideal snow/terrain.  I ski the Eon with a NNN-BC binding (currently the Alpina Alaska for a boot) - I find the Eon is easier to manage by using a striding-technique to initiate/complete my downhill turns.  Obviously the Eon would be easier for me to steer in a short length- but then I would lose all of the xcountry performance this ski has to offer.

Flotation

A “powder” ski the Eon is not.  Even with that 83mm tip, I find the Eon is not fat enough (or perhaps long enough- depending on your perspective) to offer enough flotation in truly deep powder.  (My 195cm Annums are much more efficient than the Eon, in truly deep powder).  Part of the problem is that sidecut- the Eon is only 62mm underfoot- this significantly reduces the effective flotation of the Eon.  (My Asnes Combat skis (67mm underfoot) offer significantly better flotation than the Eon).  I would actually prefer an Eon with less sidecut- and more width underfoot.

I find that the Eon offers effective flotation in up to about 16 inches of fresh, soft snow.  In my neck of the woods- I typically have up to 2 feet of fresh snow on top of a very dense base- in these conditions- the Eon performs very well.

The other issue is the fact that  the Eon is very soft-flexing, and reverse-flexes very easily.  While this may be in fact an advantage when downhill skiing on soft snow- it seriously compromises XC performance on soft snow.  There is not enough resistance in the flex of the Eon to support the ski's waist in a powerful Nordic kick.  I find that in deep snow, when I push down to stride forward, the ski reverse-flexes- causing the waist to sink into the abyss with the tip and tail floating on top of the snow! 

Conclusions

Here are my current conclusions:

• The Eon, in general, is an excellent XCD touring ski on fresh, snow over a dense base.  It offers reasonable xcountry performance- with decent downhill performance.
• In order to fully take advantage of the xcountry performance- you must ignore what the “experts” tell you: don’t “size-down”- “size-up”!!  If you truly want to cover lots of distance with this ski- get as long an Eon as you can.  The Eon is so soft-flexing that even the lightest of skiers can effectively ski a long length.  (As a xcountry-focused ski, I would buy a 215cm Eon- if I could only get one!)
• The waxable Eon is a much “better” (i.e. faster, better traction) ski than the waxless- but only if you get enough cold snow to take advantage of it.  I much prefer the waxable base- but I would not be without a waxless ski for skiing on wet “spring” snow.  Klister works better than waxless- but keep your klister out of the woods!
• If your backcountry skiing is on gentle to moderate terrain and takes more of a xcountry-focus- you may be disappointed with the Eon.  It does not have the stiff flex pattern of a traditional BC-XC.  However, if you are not so performance-orientated- you may find the “smooth, relaxed ride” of the Eon to be perfect for your skiing style.
• The Eon is an excellent backcountry ski for children and very light skiers- due to its smooth, soft flex.
• From my perspective I think that the Eon would offer more powerful performance if there was more resistance to its flex-pattern.  I find the Eon is just to soft and reverse-flexes too easily.  I push my skis very hard to perform- the Eon does not have enough flex-stiffness to respond!

In conclusion- the Eon is a well-designed, and very capable and versatile mid-width XCD ski.  It is easy to like- and easy to handle.  Combine that with a very reasonable price- its popularity is well deserved.

The greater performance of the waxable base is well worth the bit of extra maintenance!