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Ski's on car roof?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'm driving to France next week Very Happy Before I've always put my ski's in a bag on the roof but thought it would be easier if I just put them in the rack without the bag. Can anyone tell me if this is going to cause me any problems in terms of damaging my ski's?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Matt Exley, It would seem sensible to wrap up the bindings to protect them from grit wet etc.
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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?
lol...protect them from the wet ?! Skiing is somewhat wet!

I just slap them on the roof and any rust that develops on route comes off in seconds the 1st run.

Alex
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 bloxy
bloxy
Guest
Road dirt, salt, un-burnt fuel and all the other crap they will get covered in (just look at the car when you arrive!) is not good for bases or bindings. Cover them up if I were you. If you go regularly I'd buy a box, room for boots and other gear.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Cling film?
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Almost all the cars you see driving round the Alps with skis on top just have the skis. No bag, no clingfilm, nothing. Most of the gunge is down nearer road level anyway.

Pedantic note: skis. not ski's. in this context... wink
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Matt Exley, no problem whatsoever - just place them with the tips to the rear.
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 bloxy
bloxy
Guest
pam w wrote:
Almost all the cars you see driving round the Alps with skis on top just have the skis.


Usually late 80s vintage Rossis with really curly tips!
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bloxy, well, if they've survived 20 years on the roof....
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
My skis always go inside the car. no noise, less juice, and more secure.
Does get a bit damp inside sometimes.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Matt Exley, They're your skis so just do what you feel works for you. As a personal opinion, I don't carry any skis open to the elements. All goes in a stream lined box to protect from the salt and road film.
Carrying them on the roof won't do a whole lot of short term damage if you clean them but for me even as a distributor, skis are not cheap so best to look after them.
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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.
Skis inside the car. If you must transport them from the UK on the rack, I'd put a generous dollop of wax over the bases and edges, and along the outside edges,and scrape down at resort. Done all this once, and did not like the idea of road fumes and salt spray being able to get in between base and edge. I neither knew nor cared what others who were carrying skis on their racks had done. I wanted my skis and bindings to be in good order.
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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
achilles, done this many times. No extra wax. No damage ever detected. The worst that will happen is that they get a little wet - hardly a concern for a ski, surely?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Alastair, really depends how closely bonded the base is to the edge - right around its length, IMV. I worried about diesel (ie oily) - fumes and salt penetration. I am a pessimist, I suppose - and I'm sure it's often got away with - but I was not happy. It's the owner's call, of course.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
pam w wrote:
Almost all the cars you see driving round the Alps with skis on top just have the skis. No bag, no clingfilm, nothing. Most of the gunge is down nearer road level anyway.


And most of those cars will only be driving an hour or two from home to the slopes.

Not 1000 miles plus across Europe.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
achilles wrote:
Alastair, really depends how closely bonded the base is to the edge - right around its length, IMV.


Tosh. If an 80mph breeze is going to do any damage then the skis will fall apart when they meet snow. You worry too much. I've never heard of a ski suffering from a trip on the roof, and I carried my skis that way for years until a friend bought a roof box. The only problem is the effect on the mpg Shocked .
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Alastair, No. I didn't think the wind was going to be a problem at all. I did worry that oil (in the form of diesel fumes) and salt (from spray from the road) could penetrate between base and edge and cause problems, if there was already a hairline crack where the edge met the base. I could well have been wrong - but I had peace of mind. I am delighted you had no problem yourself. I have no problem these days, either. Skis are carried inside the car. Cool
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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?
achilles, OK, rather than imagining absurd possible consequences of putting the skis on the roof - and then passing on possible solutions to an unproven problem as advice rolling eyes , perhaps we should ask if anyone has actually managed to damage a pair of skis by putting them on the roof.
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I really can't see it doing that much damage, surely?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I do this all the tim - makes no difference whatsoever to the skis.
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Alastair, frankly, I don't care. I just threw in my 2p worth.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Matt Exley,

I have carried my skis on the roof of a car without bag on long trips (over 1000 miles return) and I can't say they have suffered in anyway. My advice: don't bother with the bag, it will only create extra noise.
Obviously if you can fit the skis in the car or a roof box, go for that..

Quote:

Road dirt, salt, un-burnt fuel and all the other crap they will get covered in (just look at the car when you arrive!)

The roof of the car is not usually that dirty though... I do 120 mile return commute everyday so I know how much crap a car can collect on the way...
Quote:

not good for bases

Although i don't really agree, If that is a worry, just pair the skis together and the bases won't be exposed/

Plus the roof bar/ski carriers usually form a sort of barrier in front of the bindings so these don't get much dirt whatsoever...

Horses for courses but I don't believe the absence of a bag will make any difference to the skis...
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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!
Never put my skis in anything over the years. As to wear and tear, historically, I changed my skis for fashion reasons long long before they wear out..
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Just got home Sad

Was an amazing trip yet again!

Thanks to every1 that posted, in the end I put my skis on the roof without any form of protection, tips to the back, and didn't have any problems. They even survived the impact of my dad driving them into the 1.85m barrier at the eurotunnel!
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professorpool wrote:
Never put my skis in anything over the years. As to wear and tear, historically, I changed my skis for fashion reasons long long before they wear out..

the practical solution soons springs to the fore Cool
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I was referring to putting skis in anything on the roof..
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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.
Just buy a new pair when you get to resort and give them to the Chalet Staff as a tip when you leave.

It's not a joke, I've stayed in a Chalet where someone actually did that, along with a complete (expensive) ski outfit. Shocked
They said they always bought new kit every year anyway and this way they could travel with just their Boots and hand luggage.
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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
bloxy wrote:
pam w wrote:
Almost all the cars you see driving round the Alps with skis on top just have the skis.


Usually late 80s vintage Rossis with really curly tips!


As I'm sure you realise, these skis are never removed from the roof. In the unlikely event that the inmates wish to ski, they have a brand new pair in the boot.


Last edited by 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 on Tue 26-02-08 10:28; edited 1 time in total
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Just make sure you strap your skis down properly!!!!! I work on the motorways in kent and every winter we get at least 20 pairs of skis falling from cars, unfortunatly in most cases a lorry will be behind you to finish them off Sad
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

I work on the motorways in kent and every winter we get at least 20 pairs of skis falling from cars

OMG. Shocked If they fall into the path of a motorcyclist, it is more likely the biker who will be finished off. Anyone with an inadequately secured roofload should be prosecuted. I wonder if that happens as much in the Alps - if so, in terms of proportions, there must be hundreds of skis flying around. Maybe people in the Alps have a bit more clue about how to secure their skis.

(as a former motorcyclist I am a bit sensitive about this)
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
pam w wrote:
Quote:

I work on the motorways in kent and every winter we get at least 20 pairs of skis falling from cars
Maybe people in the Alps have a bit more clue about how to secure their skis.


Possibly, but I've seen some highly entertaining footage of bikes falling off the roofs of German cars, so the wisdom apparently doesn't extend to Euro cyclists.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Totaly agree with you pam w, The amount of accidents and near misses we see on almost a daily basis. Just last weekend we had a bloke stranded in the central reservstion because his skis came off his car and he decided to run across the moyorway to pick them up!! stupid risking his own life and that of others for a £200 pair of skis which were mullered anyway.
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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?
This is how skis and roof racks should be used (see page 11).
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I carried mine wrapped in cheap ski bag bungeed (heavily) in the gap between the long roof rails and the top box, and secured by a heavyweight combination cycle lock around the centre of the bindings and the roof bar sufficiently tight that you couldn't slide the skis out. Belt and braces and it stopped them getting knicked by an opportunist whilst we had coffee in the roadside services.

The trip was very successful.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Matt Exley, I had 3 pairs and a board on the roof rack down to the Pyrenees last year and wrapped them in industrial cling film and brown tape. Did the trick nicely Very Happy
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