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PTO Review
We know them. Here's how they stack up.
These skis span 2 categories (Carving, All-Mountain Freestyle). Scores reflect each ski's intended use — direct comparison across all dimensions may be misleading.
SL-JR PRO — a junior racer who is already training and entering slalom gates, and who has the strength and technique to load a metal race ski.. Bent 100 — intermediate and better skiers who value a light, quick, playful ride and drive the ski with finesse rather than muscle.. Check the radar chart below to see where each one wins.
Each row compares all skis on one dimension. 🏆 marks the highest score.
| Dimension | SL-JR PRO | Bent 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Carving | 10🏆 | 6 |
| Park | 1 | 7🏆 |
| Playfulness | 2 | 9🏆 |
| Forgiveness | 2 | 8🏆 |
| Stability | 6🏆 | 5 |
| Powder | 1 | 6🏆 |
A junior racer who is already training and entering slalom gates, and who has the strength and technique to load a metal race ski. It suits a family that wants the SL WORLD CUP's core recipe — ash-poplar, double Titanal, Marcel Hirscher's factory tune — in a build engineered around a kid's weight and boot rather than shrunk down from an adult ski, and that would rather buy a system already resolved (plate mounted, binding named by the plate maker) than assemble junior race hardware piece by piece. The racer's release value has to fit inside the Marker COMP 10 TCX, DIN 3-10, which is the build PTO carries.
A child who isn't racing gates. Van Deer's junior lineup for 26/27 is this ski and the GS-JR PRO, both race-only, so there is no recreational or all-mountain junior model here to trade down to — a kid who skis for fun is better served by another brand entirely, and we will say so at the counter. It is also the wrong ski for a racer who doesn't yet have the strength and technique to bend a metal race build; nothing in Van Deer's language for it — explosive power, high speed, the podium — is written for someone still learning to link turns. A racer who needs a release value above DIN 10 is outside the build PTO carries (the COMP 12 GW, DIN 4-12, is a special order). A GS racer wants the GS-JR PRO, and PTO has stocked no length of it. And a family hoping one ski survives two or three growth spurts should know what it is buying: each plate has a fixed boot-sole-length window, and the four lengths are separate radius-tuned tools (8, 10, 11 and 11 m), not one shape stretched taller — at $830, growing out of it in a season is the real risk here.
Intermediate and better skiers who value a light, quick, playful ride and drive the ski with finesse rather than muscle. It rewards people who like to press, slash and ride switch, plus lighter or less aggressive skiers who do not want to fight a heavy ski, and anyone after one do-it-all ski that still floats on a soft day. It also makes a light resort-to-sidecountry option.
Skiers who want a metal ski's hard-snow bite and race-like precision: with a light woodcore and no metal laminate, the Bent 100 handles a groomer but will not match a metal ski's edge hold on firm snow or feel as locked-in on ice. Heavier, aggressive skiers who charge through cut-up crud will feel the light build deflect - a metal all-mountain ski like the Nordica Enforcer 100 tracks that line better. True beginners should skip it too; independent reviews place it at intermediate and up. And if deep powder is the priority, the wider Bent 110 or Chetler 120 is the better tool.
SL-JR PRO is best for a junior racer who is already training and entering slalom gates, and who has the strength and technique to load a metal race ski. Bent 100 is best for intermediate and better skiers who value a light, quick, playful ride and drive the ski with finesse rather than muscle. The right choice depends on your terrain, ability, and riding style.
Van Deer SL-JR PRO has the highest Stability score in this comparison at 6/10. That score compares composure; it does not by itself mean the product is the most versatile choice.
Van Deer SL-JR PRO leads Carving in this comparison with a PTO score of 10/10.
Atomic Bent 100 has the highest Forgiveness score here at 8/10. Forgiveness is one factor in progression, not a claim that every beginner should choose it.
Not sure? Ask us.
