Posted on: 2022-02-28 07:35:08 by davidof

Atomic Redster S5 Cross Country Skate Ski Review

The Atomic Redster S5 Cross Country Skate ski is the entry level of Atomic's performance range. It's bigger siblings are the S7, S9 and the Atomic S9 Gen S reviewed last season. Construction is a Speedcell Densolite core, basically a foam core for lightness. If you think of a skate ski as a spring that stores energy as you flatten the ski and returns this energy as you push off then you need a bit more than a bit of foam and Atomic layer the Densolite with carbon fibre. The skis are built in Bulgaria, which obviously helps keep costs down a bit.


The Redster S5 is easy to ski. Very stable on the downhills and it turns well, either stepped or skidded turns, you never feel out of control provided you have a minimum of technique. The shovel is more pronounced than the Rossignol performance skis which reduces the chance of digging in while climbing if you skiing is not 100%. The skis are light, 585 grammes naked in 186cm. They come predrilled for Atomic/Salomon SNS or Prolink bindings so all you have to do is put in a bit of sealant and screw on your bindings.


As for performance. It is hard to make a comparison but I would say they are at least as good as my old Rossignol Delta Comps which is their direct competition. On Strava I beat all my old PRs during the test without really pushing it but that may be a case of different snow (conditions were similar, hard snow, early morning) or going up to a slightly longer size (192 vs 186cm).

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