The reason brands create families of skis is so that they can present a product at each of several key price points. In the NRGy series, the NRGy 80 isn’t just the narrowest model, it also occupies the lowest rung on the price ladder, which means a certain amount of stuffing has to come out.  This raises the cost/value ratio as long as one’s ambitions aren’t unrealistic. “It’s a very good intermediate level ski,” as one of the Footloose test army attested.

This is a round-about way of saying the NRGy isn’t just a thinner NRGy 100, it’s also lacking in the sort of NRGy an expert expects.  The rockered tip is better suited to flowing over soft snow than hooking up on a hard surface, and even the titanal lacework in the Torsion Bridge isn’t enough to calm the edge at the higher speeds advanced skiers commonly cruise around at.  As one tester who works just off the Plaza at Snowbird warned, “Speed limit strictly enforced.”