Kingofmyrrh 0 Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 Actually, do you know of any good guides (in print or online) for doing that kind of tuning? I have never tried to do anything myself, although I guess it's a good opportunity to learn. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 look up swix and they should have a guide online. Waxing is easy though Link to post Share on other sites
Kingofmyrrh 0 Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 Thanks Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 http://www.epicski.com has a community of serious geeks who also provide links to their own businesses selling tuning gear. check out their tuning and maintenance forums. introduce yourself as a rookie looking to learn and you'll be swarmed by good people giving (usually) good advice. Some of those guys have even posted photo tutorials. Link to post Share on other sites
Kingofmyrrh 0 Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 As I used the skis for the first time yesterday, thought I might share some thoughts. I spent ages preparing them with base waxes etc, basically following the online Swix guide. It wasn't difficult at all, but it was a fairly laborious process... happily it shouldn't take so long to wax them again now that I've spent time prepping the base. When I first strapped them on they did feel a touch clumsy... I was a little concerned that I'd gone and spent a big wodge of cash on a couple of 2-by-4s. However as I got into them and started to make some turns with a little more speed (pretty tricky as I was in Tashiro, which I would not rate for steepness) things started to come together and I found them as comfortable as any rental ski I've had, and extremely stable. This was all on groomers. There was a slope featuring both crud (thanks Tsondaboy!) and powder, so I took a deep breath and released them into their natural habitat. At first, I felt like I was riding down a regular groomer, but just not really in control so much. Then I made an effort to do things properly, and... wow! It wasn't that I've never felt the sensation of rolling back and forth in soft powder, it's just that it was never this easy, or mellow. I was having a fantastic time and enjoying all the little touches, just watching the stream of icing sugar-like snow streaming off the big round tips as I slid through a couple of turns was enough to get me cackling wildly. So, you might say that I liked them! I'll also make an initial comment about the dukes. I didn't use their heel release feature at all this time, so this really is a comment on nothing more than their actual ski-time performance. I had actually meant to spend a little time mentally examining how they felt doing various manouevres, but as it turned out I completely forgot. Except for a couple of times mentioned below I was not even conscious of their existence, which I guess is all you can really ask of from a binding. I don't know if it was actually a coincidence, but strangely my boots have never felt so comfortable as they did that day... normally I'm desperate to shed the things at the end of the day, but this time I almost got into the shinkansen still wearing them... doubt this is connected with bindings though. I did have a few pre-release incidents, mainly on one little hump that was an almost certain hit on the run that Tsondaboy and I were doing over the weekend. The first time I hit it and was little surprised, but certainly not in trouble, when suddenly... SUPERMAN! Flew a good few metres that time. Also happened landing a jump later. However, it may just be that the DIN setting is too low for me as I guess my skiing has actually changed over the last couple of years. What would you think for a 175cm 70kg intermediate who likes large hard carves and zooming around? Anyway, to those who helped me figure out what I needed, and got to the end of these long long post, many thanks for your help! Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Im pretty sure all my skis are din 10 and Im 180cm and 74 kilos. My marker dukes just arrived and will be mounted on my pontoons on the weekend. My skins for the pontoons are cut and ready. Just need to get up to Nagano!! Ive heard great things about the dukes, one that you mentioned, is that you dont notice theyre a touring binding. Thats exactly why I got em for the toons. my diamirs you really have to lean into em to get an edge on groomers/ice. thanks for the write up. Link to post Share on other sites
Kingofmyrrh 0 Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 Mount them up! You won't be sorry. I can't wait to test them out again this weekend at Hakuba. Hmmm... I think I have my DIN at either 7 or 7.5. You are taller and heavier than me, but even so maybe I need to ramp them up a little. One thing I have read on both TGR and Epic is that some people have had the following problem with Dukes: on the first time they set their DIN, they get pre-release. Going home, they reset, but still pre-release. After resetting them a third time (to the same setting as originally) they have absolutely no problem. Seems they can sometimes need a couple of goes to get it right when they're fresh out the box. Obviously I have no idea whether this is true, just passing on anecdotes on the off chance you experience something similar. Where did you get your skins? I was checking out some BD skins in Ishii Sport and they were 23k! Is that normal or can I get them at a more reasonable price elsewhere? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 definitely way too low IMO but that also depends on your level and how aggressive you ride too King. In powder you will want them cranked up for sure. I got my skins at Rappies for my pontoons for 12,000 + CUT too!!! Rappie is the MAN!!! Great prices there. I got some N.Face summit gloves which run 18,000 for just under 9,000 yen. Have a look around and see if he still has that sick skin deal going on if you hit Hakuba this weekend. Link to post Share on other sites
Kingofmyrrh 0 Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 I shall have to have a chat with him! Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 good to hear it, KOM! I'll share some news with you though... they get better as you grow into them. My gotama is one of the few skis in my life for which I have continually developed a further appreciation. Usually they feel old after a couple of years. Take care of them, and they'll treat you right. Now... turn those bindings up a bit. (I like the 10 suggestion above). It's a big ski. Link to post Share on other sites
bellavista 0 Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Guys A word of caution - He's a 64kg intermediate. Cranking up to 10 may not be the best next step. Markers , as I'm sure everyone knows, are anecdotally reported to prerelease more than other brands. I carry a pretty significant permanent injury that happened when I was on some Markers that I had cranked right up. Not sure if the bindings caused it but I sure as hell didn't release. If I could have my time again - I'd have left them on 9. (and I'm a lot heavier than KOM) Link to post Share on other sites
Kingofmyrrh 0 Posted December 12, 2007 Author Share Posted December 12, 2007 Yeah, I will crank up gradually... right now a prerelease is just a bit of an annoyance, whereas a non-release could be somewhat worse. I weigh about 70kg now, surfing this summer/autumn seems to have made me slightly less skinny... but still a lightweight. Link to post Share on other sites
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