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Skiing. A reliable sport in terms of equipment malfunction ?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'm having a week where everything seems to be breaking.

My trusty vw golf has just had its air conditioning pump fail, I've broken two chains on my bike and my catamaran is showing signs of delamination necessitating repairs.

All my kit tends to be a bit elderly and gets thrashed so I carnt really complain to myself. It got me thinking though, my ski kit has hardly ever let me down in nearly 50 years. I broke my very first pair of wooden skis in Corrie na ciste and once had a telemark binding crack. I also went through a phase where I kept breaking ski poles but....other than that I've found skiing gear to be very reliable compared to other gear orientated pastimes.

What do you think ? Not much to go wrong with skis, boots and bindings these days ?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Other gear orientated pastimes - golf, fishing, cycling, paragliding, sailing? I guess it depends on the duty. A quality set of golf clubs can last a lifetime, but they don’t take much punishment in normal use. Tend only to break when being wrapped around a tree.
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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?
@Peter S, I thought this was going to be a weird thread! I had a binding break on me 2nd day of this season after maybe 40 days use. I have never had a binding break before although I have seen it happen.

I’ve had two pairs of skis break though, but both after extensive use.
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I broke a ski during my first week on skis (it was one of the shorter skis, being a week of Ski Evolutif) but can't say any kit has let me down since.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I've had bindings break on me, poles snap, edges be proud of the base, edges come away, bases get wrecked, skis bend, numerous boot problems mainly around discomfort and poor fit.
Don't think skiing kit is better or worse than many others to be honest.
Golf kit is reasonably reliable though the balls go missing quite a bit and sometimes seem to have a mind of their own(mind you so do skins in a wind)
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In 35 years I've had very few issues, I tend to keep 'hardware' (boots, skis, bindings, poles) for 3-4 seasons, and ski approx 18-20 days per season. really the only failure I've had was a hinge on a ski boot comming loose a loosind rgw screw/bolt (was easily repaired by one of the local ski shops in Serfaus). So yep ski gear is pretty reliable. Although, it has to be said that it does seem to wear, partiularly boot liners (compress). Sinse I st\rted servicing my own skis, edge life seems to have improved, so again generally pretty good.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Now boots are mentioned, apart from taking 30 years before boot fitting was invented...

My cyrrent ones are on second liners, third booster straps, and cosmetically enhanced French and Swiss flag coloured buckles. wink
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@Peter S, bike chains are a consumable surely? By the time they're worn enough to break they are stretched and themselves wearing the cassette, so should be replaced periodically?

Ski equipment seems to be pretty robust, but apart from bindings very few moving parts so ski issues will presumably be more incident damage than quality/ wear & tear issues. Ski clothing however does seem to wear out, and cost far too much.
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My Salomon SX 90 Equipes bought new and custom fitted in 1982 suffered a total shell failure in 2010 fortunately in the parking lot after a hard days skiing at Steamboat.

Over 40 years I have never a binding fail.

I have torn the edge out of a brand new pair of Dynastars but that was due to rock hopping on a thin day on the face at Val.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
@Peter S, ...mostly amazingly robust.

I have had blown edges, but only after terrible dings on rocks. Entirely reasonable. And a fix has always been possible.

Binding screws pulled on one of the kids' skis but a helicoil sorted that.

Mountain biking is a different story. I have always run light bikes, and so breakages are common. But you live with it.

Of course in skiing while my kit is strong, my ego is particularly fragile and has been shattered on numerous occasions....
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Happily some great sailing today. Sun and wind and nothing additional broken Cool
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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.
Everything is reliable when properly maintained, and used as they’re designed.

As others had pointed out, breaking chains on bike isn’t about reliability of the chain but rather having them changed when worn. Granted, you could break it if you got a stick between. But that’s about as “unreliable” as a chain can get.

Skis, I don’t konw. I’ve skied over rocks sometimes. So base services were often required. Boot liners only last x number of days. So mine is actually past its replacement date. Again, not a reliability issue for either. Although I have releasible bindings, I ski as though my skis are attached to my feet. So haven’t tested in anger the release mechanism.

I used to use light components on my mtn bike. But after a few broken pieces at most inopportune time, I gradually replaced them with slightly more robust ones. Much less breakage and much happier rider despite the slightly added weight.

Skiing equipments doesn’t need to be light. So there’s every motivation to use robust equipments. Except in ski equipments, weight or reliability tend NOT be even mentioned in most time. In any case, the lesson I took from mtn biking carry over to most other things. I tend to get the more robust version of gear if there’s a choice.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I had a ski snap in half (broke mid-way under the binding), other than that in 30+ years of going skiing no other major issue.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Skis are mechanically very simple and bindings not overly complex so there isn't that much to go wrong. When it does it's usually bad design or bad manufacturing quality e.g. cracked binding mounting plates. Obviously anyone who tends to use stuff to breaking point will experience more fails than one who replaces with new and sparkly every 2 years.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
abc wrote:
Everything is reliable when properly maintained, and used as they’re designed.


Is that so? I had a 3 month old desktop hard drive go phut. What maintenance do you think I failed to do?
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
dogwatch wrote:
abc wrote:
Everything is reliable when properly maintained, and used as they’re designed.


Is that so? I had a 3 month old desktop hard drive go phut. What maintenance do you think I failed to do?


Regular defragmentation, this will redistribute data on the platters. If data is loaded unevenly this can cause the platters to wobble due to extra weight on one side (like an unbalanced tyre) leading to wear on the drive components and premature failure.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
dogwatch wrote:
abc wrote:
Everything is reliable when properly maintained, and used as they’re designed.


Is that so? I had a 3 month old desktop hard drive go phut. What maintenance do you think I failed to do?
There will always be the unfortunate Friday afternoon lemon. Smile


Tubaski unless it's an SSD drive that many PC's have now (inc mine)....
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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?
@king key, they emulate it in firmware. VED feature = virtual eccentric drive
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(SSD) But as it doesn't spin dynamic balance isn't an issue.

(Standard HD) I don't follow the logic of this balance of data on a disc (for dynamic balancing), data is either 0 or 1, whether it's readable data or unformatted surely wouldn't change that? I don't know enough about this so just mentioning it.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@king key, I was joking in both posts! @dogwatch has just fallen victim to the bathtub curve of failure (which sounds like a joke, but actually isn't)
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Tubaski wrote:
dogwatch wrote:
abc wrote:
Everything is reliable when properly maintained, and used as they’re designed.


Is that so? I had a 3 month old desktop hard drive go phut. What maintenance do you think I failed to do?


Regular defragmentation, this will redistribute data on the platters. If data is loaded unevenly this can cause the platters to wobble due to extra weight on one side (like an unbalanced tyre) leading to wear on the drive components and premature failure.


Defragging loads it all near the front. You need to make sure the disc brakes are well maintained!!
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Quote:

Skiing equipments doesn’t need to be light.

Well its not quite so essential for downhill equipment to be light but surely there must be issues around ever heavier skis causing injury ? Also carrying heavy skis and walking in heavy boots is much harder work.

For touring and telemark you want your gear to be light and for skiing tight lines light skis should be quicker edge to edge.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
The main exception for me is telemark bindings. In 20 years I've broken about 10 - 2 x Rottefella 412, 1 Skyhoy, 2 x 7Tm, the rest Rottefella NTN, unless I've forgotten something. All except the Skyhoy were a broken or bent metal toe-piece, and only one is likely the result of a single crash. I reckon several factors could contribute to this:
- I'm not exactly at the middle of the bell curve regarding the force I put the kit through
- With tele binding almost all the rotational force in across the length of the toe-piece, rather than the much longer length between heel and toe for alpine kit
- The releasability is more variable, compared to an alpine binding where the release will also preserve the binding as well as the skier
- As the market for tele kit is smaller, there's probably less money available to invest in robustness, and I've been happy to be an early adopter
- All the tele bindings have been expected to be used uphill, so there is the weight v. strength trade-off

I also broke 3 snowboards (2 wore out, 1 ripped the bindings out) in the 90s, when the quality standard may have been lower, and again I used them hard

Apart from that, most ski kit has lasted pretty well. I also find good quality ski clothing lasts well too - several times longer than a set of tele bindings anyway
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Mrs WoC's exposure protection equipment must be prone to failure as the jacket and ski pants seem to get replaced at least once every season, whereas my trusty Wedze / Quecha gear seems to go on for ever.

I've had a couple of binding straps go, and caned a few bases, and cracked 2 helmets - but in 1000+ days on snow I think that's to be expected.
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Does skiing kit get used enough to be a legitimate comparison? My year old mountain bike has just had a new gear set but has had far more time/miles put on it than the 2 year old skis I just replaced because I wanted a different set.

My car has had 31k miles put on it in 20 months and only needed tyres and new discs/pads. I doubt many people are putting that kind of stress on any ski kit, most people seem to replace gear (or at least add to the quiver) after about 5-10 years, some people much more often than that.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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SnoodlesMcFlude wrote:
Does skiing kit get used enough to be a legitimate comparison? My year old mountain bike has just had a new gear set but has had far more time/miles put on it than the 2 year old skis I just replaced because I wanted a different set.

That's probably the top point. With the exception of professionals (instructors, pisteur, guides), most people skie... 20-50 days a year?

Never mind a car that gets driven pretty much every day, a bike can easily got ridden 100 days a year by a weekend warrior. That's many times the usage of a typical set of ski gear. Not to mention on a typical ski day, the skis just hung around people's feet while they ride lifts.

As for replacement intervals, the irony being, the less frequent people use their gear, the more frequently they tend to replace it
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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.
abc wrote:
SnoodlesMcFlude wrote:
Does skiing kit get used enough to be a legitimate comparison? My year old mountain bike has just had a new gear set but has had far more time/miles put on it than the 2 year old skis I just replaced because I wanted a different set.

That's probably the top point. With the exception of professionals (instructors, pisteur, guides), most people skie... 20-50 days a year?

Never mind a car that gets driven pretty much every day, a bike can easily got ridden 100 days a year by a weekend warrior. That's many times the usage of a typical set of ski gear. Not to mention on a typical ski day, the skis just hung around people's feet while they ride lifts.

As for replacement intervals, the irony being, the less frequent people use their gear, the more frequently they tend to replace it



I think you're well out on usage - for people who own ski gear you're missing the vast majority who probably get around 6 days per year on it (1 week in Europe, couple of long weekend sin NA). You've actually got to be pretty keen to be clocking up 20-50 days. Of course people not using much don't get to be good through mileage so may be looking for the magic bullet in terms of tech as a shortcut. It's still a cheap sport compared to cycling where it seems the bright and shiny wins often.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:

It's still a cheap sport compared to cycling where it seems the bright and shiny wins often.

Kit wise perhaps, unless you are one of the few people who eschews lift served skiing, its a damn sight cheaper to access suitable ground for cycling on than ski slopes whether road or MTB.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

It's still a cheap sport compared to cycling where it seems the bright and shiny wins often.

Being a long time cyclist, I feel differently.

Yes, bikes are more expensive initially. But I'm not one who fall for the "bright and shiny" bits. I just ride whatever I got and replace when needed. Properly maintained, bike bits don't fail either.

In fact, bikes last longer than skis. I have 4 bikes, the oldest is nearly 30 year old and still actively used as a day-to-day get-around-town commuter. My newest bike is almost 10 year old and sees easily 5000 miles a year. Needless to say, tyres had been changed many times over. So were cassettes and chains, brake cables, etc. My mtn bikes got new suspension "upgrades" at appropriate times too. (shock technology tend to improve significantly every few years)

Ski kits? I have once had a pair of boots for over 10 years. It ultimately disintegrated when the plastic got old and brittle. Those were the days I only ski 10-20 day/year. Lately I ski closer to 30 days/year average (some years 20, some years 40). I have to had the edges sharpen and bases waxed more often. I know the edges will eventually be done after so many sharpens (though I'm not quite there yet).

So, even though new skis don't cost as much as a new bike, most ski gears can't be replace bit by bit. It's always a brand new pair of skis or new pair of boots each time!
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