Armada Reliance 92 Ti Review

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Armada was one of the most important ski companies to give breath to a new vision of skiing in the early aughts – one focused on pushing forward the freestyle revolution instead of alpine racing. The brand helped transform the sport into a fun, freely styled creative endeavor. With a history deeply rooted in the playful, liberated skiing ideals we now consider the status quo, it's no shock that Armada's Reliance 92 Ti would reflect this design philosophy.

Stability at Speed

This ski provides a smooth, fairly damp ride at moderate speeds. However, when you turn up the velocity, the Reliance 92 Ti suddenly becomes unreliable. The wide, spatula-shaped tip flaps like mad at high speeds. Despite the rockered nose, the tips seem to deflect easily if they even touch a patch of uneven snow. On very firm snow, the torsional rigidity is insufficient to hold a strong edge.

Carving Ability

The Reliance 92 Ti, likely many modern skis, prefers to skid and butter rather than roll over on edge and carve. You really have to put in a concerted effort to put it on edge and remain engaged through a full-radius turn. Our testers all agreed that the printed 17-meter turn radius felt true to experience. However, one tester commented that “this ski flexed quickly and reached that radius a little too fast, sometimes bucking me off balance.”

Powder Performance

Our testers really enjoyed getting freshies on the Reliance 92 Ti. The uniquely shaped rectangular rockered tip bounced them back to the surface, and the meat of the ski floated really well, especially considering their mere 92-millimeter waist. Their accessible flex profile allows a skier to easily bend them in the deep and create a platform of snow to rebound against. Even though their 17-meter turn radius also feels true in powder, so our testers actually preferred to ski the Reliance 92 Ti in big open bowls more than tight trees. When you could open them up to make sweeping, medium-to-large radius turns, one tester exclaimed that "it felt like having little freight trains on my feet!"

Crud Performance

Our testers offered varying opinions of the Reliance 92 Ti in tougher snow conditions. Some felt that the ski was damp and reliable and that it skimmed well across variable snow surfaces, especially if you only set low edge angles. Other testers agreed that it wanted to maintain a flatter trajectory but felt that the ride was a bit too rough. All were surprised by how the tips deflected easily in chunky snow, and despite the articulated titanal banding throughout the ski, it often wasn't stiff enough in the nose to push through debris.

Terrain Playfulness

The Reliance 92 Ti is the brain-and-body child of Armada's revolutionary philosophy toward ski design. This lightweight ski is agile in the air and is apt to go airborne off small features or even under the power of its own rebound. Some heavier testers felt it bent just a smidge too easily, as the quick rebound regularly tossed their balance out of whack. Yet they certainly could not fault the Reliance 92 Ti for being the life of the party – it's an ecstatic and energetic ski.

Bumps

The ability for the Reliance 92 Ti to make a smooth, smeary turn is a boon here, but it's still not quite enough to overcome other drawbacks. The issues with tip deflection and the soft yet energetic flex pattern in crud were the same critical issues we experienced when skiing moguls. Our testers were getting tossed out significantly earlier on the Reliance 92 Ti compared to other skis, skiing the same zipper lines back-to-back.

Should You Buy the Armada Reliance 92 Ti?

This ski works really well in certain ways and very poorly in others. If you enjoy taking laps through the park on sunny days but want to play in the powder when the snow flies, then the Reliance 92 Ti is a great choice. However, if you appreciate the more “classic” forms of skiing – namely carving groomers and skiing moguls – you should look elsewhere.

What Other Skis Should You Consider?