2017 Ickys - And So It Begins

[Turski]

Hi!

I would like know how Ickys perform in high speeds on hard surfaces. I enjoy riding my 2009 Rumspringa Rockets at speeds commonly up to near 90 km/h measured by GPS, and feel them comfortable and stable (enough). Rumspringa has the largest turning radius of RVL8 boards so I thought they were the best fit for my style since the narrow width wasn't a problem with the local hills over here.

I have however been wondering about getting a new pair of skiboards, since my pair came already with some manufacturing defects in their base material and I didn't want to send them back because they were the last pair in Europe.

Ickys seem somewhat appealing to me. If someone has similar riding preferences and has access to these boards, I'd love to hear some comments. Cheers!

[Wookie]

Nice video Wookie. I'm surprised there wasn't more edge work. You hear of people using progressively finer files on the edges to polish them and create a razor sharpe finish. He spent less time on his edges than I do, and he was working on race skis. Plus, he seemed to remove a lot of material off the sidewall. If you did that every time you tuned your skis there would be no sidewall left?

I would think he is starting with a sharper, truer, better quality ski than we do. If the edges are really true and near razor sharp to start there likely is not too much edge work.

[Bill]

Bill, What grit papers do you use?

It's been awhile so I don't recall exactly, but they offer sleeves ranging from 60 grit to 320 grit. It depends on how much material needs hogging out and how froggy I'm feeling. If a board has a big center hump and I haven't been hitting the coffee too hard I'll start with the 60, but it's risky. Going that coarse, it's always smart to take a new sleeve and knock down the high spots on a piece of hard maple or something first. I don't ever go as fine for finishing as the 320, that loads up fast and wants to "polish" the base. The best tool for the final passes--after some block sanding-- is actually a sharp, bur-edge scraper to shave off the nasty p-tex hairs.

For dry block sanding (on anything), 3M "sandblaster" brand resists loading better than anything I've found. Not sure how it works, but it does.

[Bad Wolf]

Nice video Wookie. I'm surprised there wasn't more edge work. You hear of people using progressively finer files on the edges to polish them and create a razor sharpe finish. He spent less time on his edges than I do, and he was working on race skis. Plus, he seemed to remove a lot of material off the sidewall. If you did that every time you tuned your skis there would be no sidewall left?

[Wookie]

On the subtopic of "Race Tuning" this was very interesting:

[Wookie]

...... If I ride the Spliffs back-to-back with the Ickys, I expect they will seem very different, but we'll see.

Keep us posted. Would love to hear your reviews.

[slow]

Kocho, I forgot to mention, I slit my ABS tube along the length to tuck in the sandpaper ends so the sandpaper stays in place.

Bill, What grit papers do you use?

Bad Wolf, looking forward to hearing how you do in powder.

[Kocho]

In addition to using a black sharpie on the edges (to make sure I see when I get them flat with sanding, and later that I've created a good edge during tuning), I also draw lines spaced 3-5" apart across the width of the board edge to edge with a dry-erase marker. That helps a lot to observe where the bases need flattening (and unfortunately, where there are dimples that there isn't much to do about and probably don't affect performance much, unless they happen to be near the edges).

I did try the ABS round pipe idea last time I worked on flattening a board, and also today again. I preferred the flat block today, seems to be more controllable than a round thingy and the sand paper tends to stay put (where it comes off more easily from my round pipe hand sanding contraption).

Like Jeff's idea, I left one of my KTP boards with a flat base but slightly more bevel edge angle (I just ran out of steam and sand paper so could not fully flatten the edges today). The other board is "perfectly" tuned (well, good enough: flat bases, proper edge angles). Once I ride them, I will see if the "good" tune is good or too aggressive or how much the "bad" tune too relaxed and then tune both boards to whatever I feel would be the best compromise between relaxed and too edgy.

[Bill]

Another option is to get the sanding tube Bill posted about for use with a drill.

That would be this particular tool:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/7-1-...m-Sander/D4595

I use it with a variable speed cordless drill at low speed so it doesn't melt the base material, and use a gum rubber type belt cleaner regularly to keep clogging down. It's not a bad idea to color the metal edges with dykem or a felt market so you can see when you're getting close. Start with coarse sleeves and finish progressively finer. To keep from washboading, I make passes at alternate angles, then make the last few light passes with the grain to put structure back in (just like you would grade a road).

It works okay. A belt sander is too aggressive and hard to control, hand sanding is too tedious.

[sempai]

If the snow falls as predicted over the next few days, I'll let you know how they are in powder.

Prepare to lean back.

[Bad Wolf]

I'm really looking forwards to hearing opinions from other riders about the Ickys. I can't help but feel they are going to become a favorite amongst the forum members. If the snow falls as predicted over the next few days, I'll let you know how they are in powder[emoji3]

[jsinger]

Spliffs vs. Ickys

I have a pair if Spliff prototypes that I got from Greco in the Summer of 2015. I tried to ride them on opening day at Bretton Woods which turned out to be a bad idea because there was one narrow trail open and a thousand or so eager skiers all seemingly going at warp speed. One run was all I could manage on the Spliffs and I was so busy trying to be sure that I wouldn't get run down that it was far from a fair test. I got busy with Spruce activities and didn't get back to the Spliffs at all. Part of that I'm sure is that I'm not a wide board person, so there's much less attraction for me compared to the Icky's which are a real carving board. I had Greco send me a pair of the Spliff production boards last summer and I want to try those soon and see how they go. I may get one of them race tuned and the other left at factory stock to see if I can tell a difference. I'm sure I'll be able to, it's more a matter of degree. If I ride the Spliffs back-to-back with the Ickys, I expect they will seem very different, but we'll see.

[slow]

Thanks!

.................. I've been grinding for hours (manually, using sandpaper on an aluminum block) and I'm almost to a point where the bases are flat enough. I am just beginning to get the bases level with the inside of the edges. The outside of the edges is still quite far away from flat (beveled too much) so I have a lot more grinding to do; and I am about to give-up and go pay someone to finish it on a machine... But it's good exercise, I say

Wrapping sandpaper on a cylinder (I use ABS pipe) and rotating it slowly while sanding the base helps it go faster.

Another option is to get the sanding tube Bill posted about for use with a drill.

BTW: I had to pay the base grind fee and an additional $85 for a sanding belt one time when I asked that the base be ground until the edges were flat. I now do it by hand, get a better result and it is more cost effective.

[Kocho]

Thanks!

What you say below is exactly what I'm dealing with on a pair of KTPs right now to make them rideable on icy patches. I've been grinding for hours (manually, using sandpaper on an aluminum block) and I'm almost to a point where the bases are flat enough. I am just beginning to get the bases level with the inside of the edges. The outside of the edges is still quite far away from flat (beveled too much) so I have a lot more grinding to do; and I am about to give-up and go pay someone to finish it on a machine... But it's good exercise, I say

...I do know from experience that the toughest edge problem to deal with is edges that are not completely flat on the base side, but are rounded because they were not done with an accurate machine. For those, the only choice is to run them through a stone grinder over and over until the base of the edges can be made flat at the desired angle. I've occasionally had boards that took close to an hour of stone grinding before the edges could be flat ground. That's expensive and frustrating for the tuner.

[Wookie]

I got my prototype 104s race tuned so that I'd have one less excuse for why I couldn't make them go. I rode them for a few runs today on pretty hard, cold snow that was a bit chopped up. I haven't ridden a board this short for more than 10 years, so I had to quickly relearn how to make them go. My impression of this board is that it's a great carver. I could hold a very firm edge in hard snow and adjust my line without losing the edge. I've learned by example that a true race tune makes a big difference in edge performance and glide, so I don't know how much of this board's performance is attributable to that, but this board has a nice solid feel to to that I haven't experienced since I rode my Line 98s.

Jeff were you able to compare the SIIs (104cm) protos with the Spliff (109cm) protos from last year? I seem to recall you were not able to give the Spiff protos much testing due to the warm season we had here in the East in 15/16. Would be interested in hearing how you think the two sets compare.