 Poster: A snowHead
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How many people here think that buying new or ‘state-of-the-art’ equipment will make them a better skier?
Me (apart from being cheap)? I hold to the rule that I need to learn how to use what I’ve got properly before moving on to newer stuff and then only if a palpable benefit will be achieved.
I equate it to . . . If I buy a better condom, will it make me a better lover?
Your thoughts?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Masque wrote: |
| I equate it to . . . If I buy a better condom, will it make me a better lover? |
No....but it might improve the chances of the SO not getting pregnant 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Masque wrote: |
If I buy a better condom, will it make me a better lover?
Your thoughts? |
Yes, possibly. If it gives you more feeling then you will be better able to sense, control and direct your actions which will improve your... skiing.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Thu 18-03-04 11:28; edited 1 time in total
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| Masque wrote: |
| If I buy a better condom, will it make me a better lover? |
What I would like to know, is where can you buy condoms that'll make me a better lover - never mind all that other b*ll*cks 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Depends. If your skiing in rear entry boots, and are useing a pair of skinny skis from the nineties, then I'm betting you will see a pretty big improvement.
Of course I think if you have three hundred quid burning a hole in your pocket it should be spent on lessons rather than equipment.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Masque wrote: |
only if a palpable benefit will be achieved.
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Surely it's that, not to become a better skiier, that any gear gets upgraded. It makes it easier to do harder stuff.
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You know these little plastic net bags you get mandarin oranges or garlic in ?
Once saw one stretched out to a long tube and pinned in the loo with the graffitti saying .......
Air-Cooled Condom
Now that's state of the art.
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Depends on what you got, if you're trying to ski with a couple of lolly pop sticks sellotaped to your trainers you're never going to get good enough to progress! I am not very good (only a beginner) but i have my own boots purely for comfort so that i can enjoy my skiing not because i belive it will make me ski better.
However i do kinda agree with you though, like any sport you can have reasonable kit which will do the job and let you progress but there's always super expensive high tech kit that can be bought by people with too much money which makes them no better at their sport!
But on the other side of the coin, why shouldn't people be allowed to waste their cash on the hobby / sport of choice?
Personally i'd rather be able to ski to an avearage standard on standard kit than ski to the same level on expert kit. It ain't what ya got, it's the way that you use it 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Let me pose that question in another way. Swap your current equipment for 1970s or 1960s equipment. Will it worsen your skiing?
The older bindings wouldn't matter. A pair of 1960s Look Nevada bindings would transmit as much leg movement to your skis as a pair of 2004 bindings.
A pair of 1970s plastic boots would probably be less comfortable. If they were early 70s boots they'd be very stiff and wouldn't help you ski well. Late 70s boots would roughly equate in control performance to today's boots.
Skis are another story. Skis from 30 years ago would be significantly less responsive. But does that make you an inferior skier? A good instructor would look at your technique and ability to control the hardware, which has nothing to do with the hardware itself.
So, in essence, equipment doesn't create the skier. Training and technique do that.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Thu 18-03-04 16:18; edited 1 time in total
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Interesting point, David. My brother in law has a pair of 12 year old "straight" Salomon Slalom race skis. Last Jan we had a coaching/guiding lesson and with only a minor change to his technique he was edging them fantastically. Even the instructor was impressed how he got so much from essentially non carving skis.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've heard people say that skiers today are a lot better than those of 40 or 50 years ago, I'm not so sure, I think if we gave them the modern equipment not just skis and boots but the clothes in hi-tec fabrics we use today that given a couple of days to get used to the new ideas they'd show us just how good they were, Old skiers used to walk up the mountain before they'd ski down that through deep unpisted snow and possibly blizard conditions, how many of us could honestly say they'd be able to do the same, not many I suspect.
Modern equipment and good lift systems have made life easier for todays skier and the instruction techniques have changed as well with the emphasis today of geting out onto the piste as rapidly as possible, people are therfore often not taught some of what used to be regarded as the basics of skiing, Stem Christies, Sideslipping, and so on or even some of the more advanced techniques for off piste use.
Does it make us worse skiers, possibly but the equipment helps people deal with the technique side of things, and quick release bindings with safety brakes help reduce injuries, but are we better skiers as a result ?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Don't know about making you a better skier, but Masque, wouldn't it be great to have skis with a built in mileometre.
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I can hear a penny dropping! 
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Masque, wouldn't it be great to have skis with a built in mileometre.
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Ooooooohhhhh don't start that again !!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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I used to say that better equipment doesn't matter when applied to golf. "Hit it better not harder" is an adage that holds true. However I am eating my words now.
Technology has made all sports more refined and, in a lot of cases, easier.
I see skiing in the same light. Whilst good technique will always make you ski well good equipment will help with poorer technique.
I don't advocate buying the latest gear each year but a compromise on upgrading to higher quality equipment when yours is obviously dated is how I view it.
I still use my 12 year old boots because they fit well, are comfortable, and more than adequate for the skiing I do, but I like to hire good quality skis rather than buy.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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'Old' skiers (why do I think I fit into this category?) were climbers with skis, they would have been fitter than the average skier today. As for being better, how do you compare? Better at what? Enjoying the mountains? Can't measure that in milliseconds.
(I don't like the thought of state-of-the-art carving condoms. Ouch!)
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Mores to the point, why do they sell them in packets of 6?
The only time I feel like doing it 6 times is before I've done it once.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Slowplough, I'm not sure I could show my face on the mountain if I tried to use those, where do these people come up with their ideas 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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They're having a laugh, surely?
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i think that belongs in the 'something for the weekend sir' thread
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Try courduroy condoms for a groovy kind of love. 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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You may get ribbed for using them!
| Red Dave wrote: |
| They're having a laugh, surely? |
All the way to the bank.
This could prevent impregnating those trees, maybe even stop sexually transmitted woodworm.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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There is a sign in the drugstore window: "Condoms, custom fit."
So a man walks up to the counter and asks for a condom, like the sign says. The man at the counter tells him to see Edna in aisle 4. So the man finds Edna. Edna grabs the man by the crotch, then gets on the PA system and says, "Medium condom. Medium condom."
Well the man is embarassed, but goes to the counter to get his condom.
Later, a second man sees the sign in the window, and goes up to the counter to get his condom. The druggist tells him to see Edna in aisle 4. Same thing happens, Edna grabs his crotch, gets on the PA and says, "Large condom, this man needs a large condom."
The man is pleased, at least, to be a large.
Next a teenager goes into the drugstore to get a fitted condom, and is told to see Edna is aisle 4. Edna grabs his crotch, gets on the PA and says, "Clean-up in aisle 4, clean-up in aisle 4."
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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For those of you with more time than brains - hence this thread - you can get custom made and fitted, 'bespoke' condoms.
My uncle Mike left me his WWII GI issue condom (well he thought of it as a joke!) in his will. It ended up waterproofing the magneto on a Velocette Venom. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Masque, You never told me you owned a Velocette, now I'm convinced you're not really a septic. Or did the benefits of an English public school education extend to motorcycle mechanics and when does zen kick in.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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First bike was 178 Villiers engined James, then a plunger Bantam, Tiger Cub, Matchless 500 trials, A65L, the Velo, and an HRD in bits (and stayed that way) and on and on and on.
The Zen arrived with the Velo clutch - anyone else remember that mechanical abortion?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Blimey Masque, my Dad has an old 1953 Fishtail in the garage in several boxes - a retirement project I'm told, just like the one he had when he was a lad - if it ever gets rebuilt!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I too have rebuilt a Velo clutch. On a 1954 MSS (wish I still had it.) You take all the plates apart and take out dozens of bits of cork. You then cut new cork liners to fit and flatten them off. It takes ages but at least it works at the end of the process.
That was in the old pre-throwaway days. At least the clutch drum was weel enough made not to wear in grooves. On the Commando you chucked the entire clutch when that went.
By the way IceQueen, your dad's (probably 350 MAC is worth real money.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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yeah, and when you released the clutch spring it shat its roller bearing from one end of the workshop to the other! I rebuilt a Commando, looked at the engine mounts and thought 'what's all this crap for' and threw it together . . . interesting handling! Had to go and buy a manual - never did get the shimming right.
This is turning into oily old farts R us!
And why the hell did you tel Ice that! I was going for the 'I'll take it off your dad's hands' route. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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