Buying secondhand skis

A snowHead

I'm new here, and new to purchasing gear (which is why I'm here!). Have skiied for probably two weeks in my life & am comfortable on blues (but haven't been West yet - this is all at Snowshoe in West Virginia). I'll be in Connecticut for the whole winter, and I'm planning on some trips up to Vermont - so now I'm ski-shopping.

Found a pair of used '00 (I think) Elan PSX Detonator Parabolic skis with Marker 28 V-Tech Twincam bindings, and possibly with Rossi boots (pray they fit!). The price is right for my college student budget - under a hundred dollars for the skis & bindings, plus whatever more for the boots. I'll be using these three or four times a year, and although I'm trying to improve my skiing, I'm okay with something that doesn't go too fast. And because I can't drop a lot of money on whatever I end up buying, I'm not looking for "the best" equipment.

So, I've never demo'd equipment, just rented, and so I don't know much of anything about what I'm thinking about buying. Does anyone have experience with these skis? Will they be okay for my level of "expertise" and usage? Also, I'm going to end up buying used equipment (whether it's from this person or someplace else) - any tips on things to watch out for when going secondhand?

A snowHead

First, welcome to Snowheads!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

em-to-the-ily, Agree with comprex, 100%. don't buy them - they're not a bargain!!

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Thank you both for your replies-- I'm glad I found a forum where I could get this sort of advice!

Keeping in mind that I'll be worrying about boots first (thank you again, comprex), does anyone have any recommendations for me? I'd consider myself a "beginning intermediate". I want to work on my turns, and don't really care to be go very fast. I will be predominantly on piste.

I suppose that my biggest question is if there are any makers/models I should particularly avoid. My second question (which will show how much I have to learn about ski equipment!) is: how important is my choice of binding? For convenience's sake, I'd like to get my skis & bindings together-- is there anything I should watch out for?

Sorry to bug you all with these newcomer, know-nothing questions-- I haven't had much luck finding info on the Internet, and don't know many experienced skiiers.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

em-to-the-ily, anything from rossingnol or salomon but I'm biased if it ain't dynastar it ain't worth having.

You'll need to Register first of course.

em-to-the-ily, can't really help you on what boots to look for - but it's worth spending over half your budget on getting a pair that fit properly - and probably even paying someone to fit any second-hand pair you may find to get that fit. And unless you get skis that have rental bindings on them, you'll have to get the boots no later than the skis, so they can set up the bindings to the correct length.

[random thought mode]
For skis, if you're really short on cash, what about trying any local slopes and check out whether they have any rental pairs they have surplus to requirements or about to be retired. If it's a really small slope they may not have much turnover so you may have to watch out for very old skis, but more popular slopes should get through them fairly quickly so they shouldn't be too old. A former colleague of mine did a post-doc at Yale and used to head up to Okemo (IIRC) frequently on Weds afternoons - so maybe give them a call and see if they have anything going.

Actually at your level, many people wouldn't normally suggest buying skis - as you should be progressing fairly quickly and will outgrow something that will suit you now fairly quickly. In your case though I'm assuming that you're trying to buy something to avoid forking out a load on rental charges, so think about the relative costs of buying and renting. If you're getting something bargain basement, you'd probably reckon on 6-8 weeks tops before you'll outgrow them, more like 4-5, so you can look for something with no more than that life left in them and then skip them. You'll have to wax them probably at least once a week, and if you're skiing the East Coast you'll want to keep them sharp to cope with that lovely ice (horrible memories of what little I've skied in NY and OH). Just make sure there's enough edge left to allow you to sharpen them Wink

. If you're at Uni, check out the Uni ski club - there's almost certainly someone there who'll have the right equipment to wax and edge them yourself (so saving paying someone to do it for you), so blag it off them! If you are skiing thin snow you'll also be taking chunks out of the bases, so you'll have to factor in base repair charges as well, or also get up to speed on base first-aid.
[/random thought mode]

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

em-to-the-ily, we would have to know a few more personal details (weight, how much you plan to ski over the season, lesson plans, budget) about you in order to give you worthwhile specific recommendations.

Your choice of binding makers is really not important at this stage of your skiing career. If you are buying newer skis than 2001, chances are that the ski manufacturer will have provided for a specific make of binding to be mounted to their ski.
Thus: Atomic skis-> Atomic bindings
Rossignol skis-> Rossignol bindings
K2, Volkl -> Marker bindings

and so on. This means that a newer ski, especially at your price level, will come packaged with appropriate bindings.

There are skis that would be inappropriate for you. As categories, we could name racing skis, powder skis, park & pipe (trick) skis, but the essential message is not to get carried away by the 'coolness' factor of any ski someone -else- likes.

So much for the "Don't" side of this post. Now for the "Do".

The ski shape.
Most skis these days are described in at least one of two ways: sidecut (three numbers in a row like 112/68/105 meaning tip/waist/tail dimensions in mm) or turn radius (in meters like say 18m). From your description above, I would give you two rules of thumb: don't look at any ski with the first number much smaller than 108, and don't look at any ski with a turn radius bigger than 15m.

The ski length.
Has to be determined by your weight given that the ski fits the shape description above. For a (very rough) place to start, think about 1cm per pound then adjust based on ski shape.

To give you a specific picture of a ski that fits the description above, here is one. I don't recommend you buy that ski in that size, however, at least until we hear more about you.

Bug us all you like: we love going on about this stuff.

After all it is free

GrahamN, thank you for the budget advice. Very helpful!

comprex, thanks for the shape/length info-- again, just the sort of information I need. I'm female, 120 lbs, 5'3", and my last rentals were, I believe, 158 or 162 cm (about the same as my height). I'm hoping/planning on 1-2 weeks of skiing per season. I hadn't been planning on taking lessons. Budget? $300, but somewhat flexible.

So, based on the advice you have all given me so far, I suppose my plan of action will be to first find the right boots, and THEN the skis & bindings. There are a few local shops; most slopes close by are small, but I'll make some phone calls and see if I might have any luck there. I was comfortable with the rental skis-- should I stick with that length?

Oh, here's another question. What's the difference, if any, if I get equipment made specifically for women? I'd guess that a women's boot would be more likely to fit better, but what about the skis?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I'm in a bit of the same situation. Looking for some eq but not really sure how it all works. I'm not sure my budget it even as high as yours (em-to-the-ily). Generally speaking though, i'm 5'8" and range around 140-145lb. I really like to 140 length skis alot, mainly because I don't like poles much and I can't get around very easy with anything bigger w/o them.

My ignorant question is, do all the ski boot brands generally fit all the ski brands? Additionally, I notice that in the 140 size, used at least, there are alot of "junior" skis. I'm gessing that's bad for someone my size, or would it all be pretty much the same.

I'm also in the OH region. I don't know, but someone said something about remebering those days of NY and OH in an above post. I guess there's a bit of ice when I go. I've delt with it, but is there a particular ski/boot I should look for then?

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

freekrob, the boots will fit into the bindings, but that doesn't mean the automatic release setting is appropriate for you.

Since there aren't very many funcarvers sold in OH, (see the Decathlon skis thread for example of funcarvers) you'll be hard-put to find skis that flex appropriately for your weight in the up to 140cm size unless you look at
- the longest junior slalom race skis
- longer skiboards/miniskis.

Of course, you could step up to the 140-150cm size and strive for better balance along with more patience for the ski to do its work wink

snow reports

comprex, (for your info since I don't suppose you've had a chance to see them) The Decathalon skis are not really funcarvers - more giant skiboards! Not enough sidecut to be classed as funcarvers in the taditional sence.

Hey guys - all good advice from comprex, - nothing useful to add!! Smile

Help!!

Buying secondhand skis

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