Poster: A snowHead
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Treated myself to a nice pair of Dynastar Legends in the end of season sales back in May 2020.
Wondering what I need to do in terms of waxing/edging etc before I take them to the snow for the first time in January.
Unfortunately my nearest specialist ski shop is now over 100 miles away.
I do have the skill set, having worked as a ski tech for a tour op in resort, but that was 30 years ago - I’m sure the products & technology have moved on a lot since then.
What products, brands etc can you recommend?
Thank you
CW
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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@cardweg, factory wax should be fine for a first go. Likewise edges, and with Legends I don't imagine you'll need any fancy angles. Personally, I'd ski a day or two then put them in for an overnight wax.
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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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Just go and enjoy them! Factory finish will be fine unless you have VERY specific requirements.
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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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You need to sleep with your skis, rumour has it that if your survive the night they will treat you to many days of great skiing
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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From Jon's guide, my emphasis:
The Piste Office wrote: |
This step for new skis only. New skis arrive at the store with plenty of graphite dust in the pores and coarse microscopic hairs are left on the base from the original grind. The factory wax is also for protection rather than performance. If the factory structure pattern is too shallow (it saves the factory having to do a lot of expensive post grind base smoothing) it can be enhanced with a few passes of a steel structure brush & then fibertex pads in varying grades to remove the fuzz from the 'peaks'’, knocking them down somewhat & smoothing out the structure. Warm, low melting point waxes perform an excellent clean & have great penetration in a new base. Even better are the specific waxes just for this purpose like Dominator Zoom Renew. So on new skis repeat the wax/cool/scrape & brush steps as many times as possible as the base needs 'loading up' with wax to give protection & speed. To gain the ultimate in wax absorbency the skis can be put in a ‘hot box’ for a few hours. See my 'Services' section for more information about hot boxing. Between each wax cycle give the skis loads of brass brushing & fiberpad passes (say 10 passes of each) after each wax. For one or two of the waxes use a very cold temperature wax as it cools faster so it traps the hairs that have floated up in the melt. It is very cohesive when cool so the hairs get trapped & snapped off by the sharp of the scraper. A thick, rigid & sharp scraper is vital for this step. Occasional future applications of cold waxes also help eliminate coarseness from a base. Top World Cup tuners may do 50 waxes & scrape cycles on their race skis before they hit the snow so don’t think you’re being anal by doing it at least a few times! |
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andy'n'netty wrote: |
Just go and enjoy them! Factory finish will be fine unless you have VERY specific requirements. |
This.
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Just skiing on them won't harm the skis - but as Jon's guide a proper 'first service' will be better for them.
If you're not doing it yourself I'd be cautious of where you get them serviced. I learnt the hard way that what you ask the ski shop to do is often ignored and they just get chucked through the machine for a standard service (with unnecessary base grind until you're quickly out of base material). If you can hunt you'll find people who do it by hand - just off the top of my head there's Jon at The Piste Office, a small company in London, and a guy in Morzine who works out of Cafe Chaud. Might be worth googling your target resort...or just going shopping at The Piste Office and getting back in to doing your own.
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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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Thanks, all, for your comments. I have had great help from @spyderjon in the past & I’m very disappointed to be separated from him by a couple of hundred miles, a stretch of sea & now, just to put the tin hat on it, the NI Protocol.
I wonder does he have any Black Friday deals
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What I would say is that my first set of skis I skied straight away and by the end of week one they were getting really sticky which wasn't much fun.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ah I just bought a new pair of skis as well but it's a bit late to ship them back to John for hotboxing. Does anyone know of any good workshops in Meribel that can service my skis? I'm going there on 4/12 in two weeks.
I got the Dynastar Master SL so want to give the best care then start enjoying them, rather than doing all the servicing after the first week.
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