ON3P, Surface and Liberty

Surface makes some very very fun skis, but are notorious for breaking easily.

the nine lifes broke easily.... but everything else they make is usually bomb proof.

ON3P is known for making very high performing, durable skis.

surface makes light, poppy, and they have reasonable prices, but the downside is that their park skis have horrible durable
on3p is a fairly new company their skis are super, light, poppy, and highly durable. Since their core is made up of bamboo this is the reason for the liveliness
Liberty also makes their skis with bamboo and was the first company to use bamboo in all of their skis, this makes their skis super durable, poppy, and very very light, and to add to the liveliness of their skis they also have poplar with the bamboo, i absolutely love liberty, and their warrenty  

ON3P's are amazing in every way imaginable , you would not be disappointed with a pair.

I have about 30 days of skiing on my Liberty LTE's...amazing skis, very durable...no edge damage (although I only hit a few boxes a day), bases took a few rock shots but they left little damage to the base and no core shots, topsheets are still in good condition thanks to the "durathane" layer or whatever they call it.  Highly recommend Liberty!

Although I havent ridden the other brands, everyone and their dog claim that ON3P are some of the best built and most durable skis on the planet so there must be something good going on there too

no, theyre not. a few isolated cases of a ski having durability issues does not discredit the whole company. obviously no one on this site remembers Lines issues with the invaders for a season or two, or any other company for that matter that has ever had a ski not do well in its first season. Plus, most people that repeat the thing with nine lives this season have only read one, maybe two accounts of issues here on NS and now the whole company makes terrible skis apparently.

well we aren't talking about invaders, their were many cases of durability problems, such as delaminating and breaking in half (happened to Flashkick101)

I have Liberty Larose's in 178... sick ski. I'm not going to attempt park anymore so I'm selling them, but I might buy some shorties to teach on.

Super poppy and super durable. Definitely a fun ski.

many cases? name someone besides flashkick101 and big_spence. All im trying to say is a few cases of poor durability does not discredit an entire company, and I hate reading post after post about how "poor" quality their skis are just because someone saw one picture of a broken or beat up ski. Just trying to keep the generalizations to a minimum, thats all...

well put

well would you want to take the risk

you cant read very well can you? he's saying there is no risk, so yes he would buy them obviously. why do you think he's recommending them?..

surface has just as good if not a better warranty than Liberty.

Yeah, but Liberty's skis are better.  Either way enough with all this argument about Liberty and Surface.

Just choose ON3P.

several people have also had problems with the watchlifes and live life 2's as well

in what aspect? thats a generalized non-factual statement based on opinion.

Yeah, you're right.  I actually have never skied either company.  I just think Liberty skis seem like they're really durable and poppy.  I mean Surface does too, it's just that Liberty seems better.  Either way, I think ON3P is better.

How so?  Liberty has the only 3 year warranty in the business.  Surface's site says there is a 1 year warranty. 

You guys are acting like warranties are a suit of armor for your skis. They arent.

They are non-transferrable. They only cover manufacturer defects. They will not cover rail damage, impact damage, topsheet chipping, etc. For example, if you land upside down and snap your ski, tough. If you stomp something switch and catch a brake, the binding may rip right out of the ski, but thats not covered. Even if your skis do have a legit defect, if they've sustained heavy damage from rails and park riding, many companies wont warranty the ski and claim that it was done by impact of some kind.

The only, and I mean the only, comprehensive no questions asked warranty I have ever found is Backcountry.com's crazy return thing. I would feel very very very immoral about using it the way one potentially could, but if you're looking for a guarantee on your gear, its the best.

it would honestly be a lot more helpful to everyone in this thread if people didn't comment on stuff they don't have any knowledge or experience with.  i am not trying to be an ass, but if you haven't skied them it makes no sense to say how they ski.  you could look at dimensions and flex all day long but that will not tell you anything about how they will actually perform.

from my personal experience though surface makes some pretty stiff skis that will do fairly well in variable conditions.  i have the first gen live lifes and they are a great one ski quiver and will shred pow and rail on groomers due to the rocker and camber combo they have.  however their extremely shallow tip height will make them dive every once in a while during really heavy deep days.

from my short demo of the on3p caylor i would say that seems like the perfect northwest pow ski, or a pow ski for anyone that likes to ski very aggressively.  they are plenty stiff to be able to straightline through crud and super gnarly conditions without feeling like you are going to go over the bars at any moment.  they are shaped very similar to the hellbent and have lots of rocker and are much stiffer than most rockered pow skis with the exception of the chopstick and kuro which are probably a bit stiffer.

the on3p wrenegade is an absolute tank.  this ski doesn't like to be skied slowly.  it is for someone that really likes to get after it and will reward you the harder you push it.  perfect ski for all mountain shredding and would be a great daily driver.  it will crank super g turns through chop and feel like you are on a groomer.  took me a few runs to get used to them, but they are a great ski.

construction wise i was very impressed with the surfaces.  aside from some slight base curvature issues that had to be stone ground out a bit they seem quite solid.  on3p's seem very well built as well.  quality looks to be pretty close to on par with my german made volkl karmas, and i consider volkl to be some of the most well built and durable skis out there.  and if you haven't heard from previous threads on3p i believe only had one set of skis come back for warranty which is absolutely unbelievable for their first year in major production.  i can safely say those guys put their heart and soul in each pair and will not ship you out a set that doesn't live up to their spec.

That's pretty much what I'm saying.  You don't need to ski them to be assured from all the reviews that ON3P will live up to your standards, and probably surpass them.  I'm sure Liberty and Surface make great skis too though.  Very good review though.  +K

exactly how i feel. a GS ski on steroids, and I dare anyone to try and get these to their speed limit, because it just doesnt exist

That saved my ass this year.  My skis were out of warranty by 2 weeks when they started to delaminate under foot, but since I got them from BC it was no big deal.  Just ship them back for a full refund, amazing.

yeah, no doubt.  when i was on them i was making absolutely no speed checks just cranking turns and they never wavered in the slightest.  you would have to be pretty damn ballsy or be on the absolute gnarliest pitch to get these things to go past their speed limit, chatter or feel unstable.  and the rockered tip will make mince meat of any crud, pow, or small children = )

thanks everyone. i know you cant really compare them but would u say On3P is the best with Liberty second and Surface third?

dude, thats not how it works. just piss off and buy a pair of skis.

my watchlifes are pretty beat, as well..

i am not even in the market for skis, i just wanted to know the brands all round reputation and the companies reliability. it sounds like ON3P has had the least issues with Liberty second and i know a ski is all personal preference but i just wasnt sure how they compare.

you guys remind me of the cocky douchebag people on Deadliest warrior.
To the people who have compared personally which company can dish the dirty, props.
To the others who favour a company due to anything that can make them bias towards it. your statement is worthless.
My personal opinion, I don't know. I've kinda skied liberty helixs. just a swap out with my friend. They were poppy and fun, 10cm too short though. I haven't skied ON3P, so I have no say. I have skied surfaces and I love them. I own a pair of One Lifes and a pair of Green Lifes.
I can say Surface is the best, but I haven't fully tried everything. So I can cancel that out.

And so what if people have broken skis or have had them delam. usually in the case of the delam, someone can replace it and it will be fine. I've broken skis before, I don't talk down the company, don't think any less of it, I'd give them another go. Shit happens when you party naked.
With warrenty, companies can back you because they have faith in their product. And they can also determine if the product is warrentable or not.


My point hasnt been made. I have no point. Nor does this thread. You can't ask which of these following companies are the best, until you go out and try them all.

In the end. Just go to sports swap and buy some world industry skis.

O.o


Holy shit
I had no idea they had a policy like that
I may need to buy my next pair of skis there, although that won't be for a couple seasons