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2017 Ickys - And So It Begins

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  • jsinger
    replied
    I don't know because I didn't ask. I do know that RVL8 and Spruce boards typically come with a bit of base hump (thick base in the center of the ski), so the bases can be ground flat first. The Artech tune guy said that he looks at the board first and does what makes sense. Most European skis come from the factory a bit railed (base thin in the center of the board), so for those he might take the base of the edges down some on a narrow belt sander first to get them out of the way of the stone. Then stone grind the P-tex and then go back with a file and polishing stones on the edges. It all depends on what's going on with each ski.
    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.

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  • Kocho
    replied
    Jeff,

    Other than the structure, did the bases/edges have to be ground down to be flattened first on the 104s before the edge angles could be set?

    The base and edge tune makes a big difference for us on the east coast. Even if it is not perfect in terms of polishing, the angles and flatness matter a lot. Much of that gets masked by nice packed powder conditions that we very seldom have for an entire run. On such nice conditions just about anything goes with minimum impact on general performance... I've been on several boards that were great on soft and even on very firm but not icy conditions, yet those same boards fell apart completely over icy patches despite having sharp edges. They were just tuned wrong (or rather not tuned from the factory), with bases that were not flat and with bevel angles too big to work consistently on transition from snow to ice (from different brands, so not picking on any board in particular, just the characteristics that mattered there)...

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  • jsinger
    replied
    Race Tune

    Sorry. There is an internet based company that's 20 miles from my shop that only sells racing skis. Every brand I've ever heard of. They've been in business since 1988 and built their own building two years ago. Artechski.com Last year, I stopped to talk to the guy that tunes all of their new skis after sales and also a few walk-ins like me. After talking with him, I thought I'd try having a pair of pretty ordinary short skis tuned up by him. I don't know how much time he spent on them, but I couldn't believe how good they were on snow. Tons of glide and edges that just wouldn't quit. Very different from the average shop tune. I asked this guy how long he spends on expensive race skis right out of the box. He said 3 hours average, a lot of which is cutting down the sidewall shoulder to a low height and putting a custom structure pattern on the base that the customer can request. This guy is a club ski racer himself , so I asked him where he would take his own skis for tuning if he couldn't do it himself. He knew of one other shop in New England that's 120 miles away that has a "pretty good" reputation with racers. Because I'm almost always on cold dry snow and ice, I had him do the 104 bases with essentially no structure to get optimal speed for that snow. The edges are tuned 1 degree base 2 degree side, which is the most common rec. edge these days. Ground first and then polished in sequence with three increasingly fine diamond stones. I think the key to his work is that he looks at every ski first and cooks up a strategy for tuning it that depends on exactly what he finds with that one ski. When I picked up my 104s, I asked him what he thought when he first looked at them and he said "pretty good" which I take to be a high complement. I now have 5 pair of my own boards tuned by him and I can't imagine going without it on any new boards that I start riding. So, after years of thinking that fancy tuning was a waste of money, I'm a believer. Cost? Usually $65 for as long as it takes to get he boards right. I do a little better with brand new boards that don't need damage repair.

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  • Bad Wolf
    replied
    Originally posted by jsinger View Post
    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, can you explain what you mean by "race tune". I used a 90 file on my edges to keep them sharpe, and wax them of course. What are you doing different, did you also grind the bases?

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  • valmorel
    replied
    Originally posted by jsinger View Post
    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.
    For sure. Tune on my standard board is very good though. Don't feel anything needs doing. Bases are very flat and edge angle is low. Did give them wax off course. Did you ride them set back Jeff?

    Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

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  • jsinger
    replied
    First Runs RVL8 104s

    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.

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  • Wookie
    replied
    Originally posted by macrophotog View Post
    Take them out to Elk this Thursday or Friday
    Wish I could but need to cover work obligations before taking off for the holidays.

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  • macrophotog
    replied
    Originally posted by Wookie View Post
    Wookie ownership of the SIIs confirmed. You are welcome to give them a try (after I take them out --- I have not had them out yet).
    Take them out to Elk this Thursday or Friday

    Leave a comment:


  • Wookie
    replied
    Originally posted by Kocho View Post
    From what I read this could be my next board. But I hope to try it first if someone has it near me (lost track if Wookie or macrophotog have it, if so, Elk Jams will become even more appealing )
    Wookie ownership of the SIIs confirmed. You are welcome to give them a try (after I take them out --- I have not had them out yet).

    Leave a comment:


  • Kocho
    replied
    From what I read this could be my next board. But I hope to try it first if someone has it near me (lost track if Wookie or macrophotog have it, if so, Elk Jams will become even more appealing )

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  • slow
    replied
    My SII arrived today. Flattest bases and best top sheet chamfering I have witnessed. I also like the flex.


    Nice attention to details Greco!

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  • Bad Wolf
    replied
    Hi Dave,

    Sorry, I'm not sure which picture you are referencing with soft boots. The riser I made, which is my signature pic, has Attack 13 bindings for my hard boots. It has a height of 1/2 inch and has not caused any clearance issue so far. To be fair though, I don't exactly crank it over in turns.

    My soft boot set up uses the Missouri Riser from SBOL. The narrowest boards I have used them on are the Slapdashes, and again, no issues with clearance. I also have a soft boot set up from Bill that has the riser built in. I think it is close to the Missouri riser in height as well.

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  • Davelynam
    replied
    BadWolf,

    How high are the risers on your softboot setup? In the picture, they only look like they are a few cm's off the board. do you have issues with your binding dragging in the snow?

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  • valmorel
    replied
    Mine came with the top edge radiused, a job I usually had to do myself in the past to prevent chipping. The white you can see is the top sheet on which the graphic is printed and is why boards without graphics are usually white. Really looking forward to getting mine out on the mountain for a whole day.
    The Sticky is really a kind of refined original skiboard. Back to roots almost. I would have preferred a slacker turn radius, maybe 8m but somehow that never happens any more.

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

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  • Bad Wolf
    replied
    2017 Ickys - And So It Begins

    After several days of riding, my boards have usually collected a number of edge chips. I am happy to say that the Ickys still look brand new. I'm not sure if the edge has been camfered in some way(?), but they are pleasantly resistant to damage. I looks like there is a white trim around the edge of the board, which is not the same color as the side wall. Perhaps a new manufacturing process ?


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