First I bought some Head XRC 800’s. I thought those were just OK, but was not really blown away by the performance of the 800. I thought the 800’s felt a little like riding a Snowboard, and the turn shapes could be schizoid at times.

Two weeks after I bought the XRC 800s I came across a pair of the XRC 1200s and proceeded to swap the bindings. Mine are 177 cm but dont feel long at all when skiing. Long radius turns,  short radius turns(and everything in between) are no problem on the 1200. The 1200s are a very pure ski, and very closely related to Heads race department skis aside from the built in railflex binding risers. I found these to be a delight to ski… very smooth, fast, damp and stable without sacrificing liveliness. Highly recommended for advanced and expert skiers looking for race ski feel and performance, except without the physical demand or strength required to pilot todays race skis.

Same reviewer as above here… I liked the 177’s so much that I bought some slightly used cm 163’s. The 163 cm is very playful and quicker to execute short radius turns. You can get in a very nice rhythm in sr fall line turns. The 1200 in 163 also remains stable at speed in bomber turns as well- (these feel fast and behaved for a short length/if not maybe a little stiffer than the long ones). In any length(for me personally) I think these may make the sweetest turns and arcs of any ski, and have the feel of those classic skis you loved from years gone by.

...also for comparison…a Much smoother and classier feeling ski than some Atomic ST7 skis I resold earlier this year. The 1200s feel like it has more substance than just a chunk of fiberglass under the hood. Real wood cores here if I am correct, with inteligent fiber and liquid metal jacket to help em rip.

These should be as popular the top Fischer RX models, but I dont mind if I can keep catching great street prices on the newer Head 1200s….Both reviews are for the 06-07 model as listed in the header. Its the same ski for 08’ with arguably an even more unpretty shade of green. But dont let the colors deter you from buying these skis. Plus the tops do seem to be better quality than earlier Head 1100/1200 variants.

I also can not qualify these as a race ski yet, although I may use the 177 for NASTAR next season. These skis feel a little too smooth to race despite being very fast… so I’m not certain you can tell for sure if you would be going really fast on course….

I got my 1200’s at the end of the season two years ago and i love them.  Just like the two other reviews these skis are the best.  I chose the 1200’s over the fischer rx8 and the elan speed wave 14’s.  These are great for experts to late intermediate skiers who like speed and carving

I found a pair of these online; purchased but need to find compatible bindings.  They reportedly take Tyrolia and Fisher; so I’m looking for the best online deal for something that will go on them.  Thanks for any suggestions.

I got on the podium every GS race with my 177cm iXRC 1200 last season. The 16m radius works really well with my light frame in the tigther courses in Australia.

These are very good skis.  They are stable at high speeds and they are also good at short radius turns.  They are very versatile and can be used all over the mountain.  A really great ski

it all depends on who’s standing on the ski’s of course, but I had a bad experience with the XRCi 1200

I was told it was a race carver but it was far from that. On the first corners it already felt like the ski was elastic. It had no grip on ice and was feeling terrible in high speed corners. The ski was instable and far to flexible. Doing an emergency stop felt like falling into the ski’s (again to flexible).

Quick small corners were ok to the level where your foot hit the snow and lifted the ski = loosing grip.

Only positive thing was that the ski was lightweight and you could jump the steep slopes into small corners.

For allround skiers maybe a good ski.