 Poster: A snowHead
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How can you tell?
This season, when I took my trusty old pair of Rossi Bandits in to be tuned, the tech took one look at them and there was a sharp intake of breath.
"Those are getting mighty thin, man. There's not much I can do with those: grind those and I might go through to the core - and there's not much edge left to sharpen".
Since this year's trip was to Whistler, which at the time was still looking like a hiking trip, rather than a ski trip, I figured that it didn't matter: these skis could be downgraded to rock skis.
But the point is, I couldn't tell - just by looking at the bases - how the tech could make such an instant diagnosis. (Confirmed, incidentally, by a second opinion).
So, what are the symptoms? what should I be looking for, when my next set of planks are getting into middle age? What are the tell-tale signs?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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the acid test: if this year's colours are much cooler, they are too old 
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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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Look at the thickness of the metal edges, if the edges have been ground heavily then the bases (which must sit level with the edges) will be corespondingly thin, generally if you've ground off 0.5 mm from the depth of the edges it's probably time to change skis  , this is much more likely if you've had bad damage by skiing on rocks etc as the edges will have had to have been ground to a greater depth than if they are just being sharpened which only grinds off 0.025mm or less
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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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A ski is only to old when it's not repairable, i.e edge blown away, broken in half etc....
I had ski techs tell me the same thing about a pair of 7Gs I had in the early 90s....I kept using them for another two years after the tech had given me the same speach as the one you hear, I just didn't have them serviced in a shop after then.
The reliable way to you tell when a ski is too old, is when the desire to purchase a new pair becomes unbearable !
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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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| Quote: |
Look at the thickness of the metal edges, if the edges have been ground heavily then the bases (which must sit level with the edges) will be corespondingly thin, generally if you've ground off 0.5 mm from the depth of the edges it's probably time to change skis
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So how can I tell how much edge I've lost, given that once it's gone you can't measure it? (What I really mean is, how much is left?)
ski,
The desire to buy a new pair is ALWAYS unbearable: this just gives me an excuse.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Acacia, well most skis of the same brand have the same edges so just compare the edges on your skis to a new pair of skis of the same brand, very roughly speeking if the depth of the edge on your skis is half or less than the depth on a new pair of skis it's time to give serious consideration to changing skis
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You might want to consider how much 'life' there is in them as well!
Do they not spring back like they used to, has the camber gone?
But if you have skied on them a lot you should be able to tell this.
Some people can knock a pair of skis out in a season if they ski hard enough
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JT, A pair of skis is designed to last about 1 season or about 4-5 months of daily use, however for some obscure reason they won't last as well if you spread the usage over several years, I'd say 5-6 years at 2 weeks per year seems about right
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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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Keep skis off rocks. Treasure them like boats.
Of course, people keep boats off rocks because they might drown. The same threat doesn't apply with skis, which is why people trash them.
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| Quote: |
I'd say 5-6 years at 2 weeks per year seems about right
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Yeah, that's about the age of mine. The problem with comparing them with new skis of the same brand is that 6 years down the line, you don't see new skis of the same type.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Acacia, no but edges tend to stay more or less the same, e.g Head probably uses the same edge material and specifications for virtually all its skis so you could probably compare an old Head ski with a new one and not be far out
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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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Acacia, sounds like what you really want is our collective blessing. Go for it! Enjoy your new skis!! Of course you can get something better, technology moves on. Try a few pairs before you buy.
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we were wondering about my husband's skis - elderly (like him) and a special bargain in Go Sport years ago. He demo'd some new skis when Rossignol held an event here, and the deciding factor was that the new ones just felt much more "comfortable". We are not technical skiers and he was not able to make a more technical diagnosis, but that was good enough. They gave him a definite desire to keep on ski-ing instead of head for the restaurant. We bought the same skis in Snow and Rock end of season sale mid- March. They even match is boots. Why does anyone without money to burn or a pathological desire to turn heads in lift queues ever buy the same skis, two or three months earlier, for twice the price?. Baffling.
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, perhaps because they are buying skis for the first time?
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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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| Acacia wrote: |
How can you tell?
This season, when I took my trusty old pair of Rossi Bandits in to be tuned, the tech took one look at them and there was a sharp intake of breath.
"Those are getting mighty thin, man. There's not much I can do with those: grind those and I might go through to the core - and there's not much edge left to sharpen".
Since this year's trip was to Whistler, which at the time was still looking like a hiking trip, rather than a ski trip, I figured that it didn't matter: these skis could be downgraded to rock skis.
But the point is, I couldn't tell - just by looking at the bases - how the tech could make such an instant diagnosis. (Confirmed, incidentally, by a second opinion).
So, what are the symptoms? what should I be looking for, when my next set of planks are getting into middle age? What are the tell-tale signs? |
How can you tell?... Two ways actually. 1) ski the ski, and 2) visually inspect the edges & bases.
1) Most Skis have a wood core.. every time you flex the ski (i.e. each turn you make) the wood core has to flex. After so many tens-of thousands of turns, the firers in the wood have broken down to the point thet the stiffness of the ski has noticably changed. but to really determine this you need to ski the ski.
2) every time the ski is tuned, you take life off the base and edges. You can get an idea of how much base is left by using two (identical) straight pins. Push one through the Poly base perpendicular to the base (light force here, you just want to go through the poly, not the underlying (fiberglass/ metal/wood/whatever) base material. Then stand an identical pin next to it. the difference in height is approximatelt the amount of base that you have left. Of course, it is easy to visually inspect the side edge. just lay the ski base-up and look at the thichness of the edges.
Think SN*W
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