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Yeah covid affected supply chains for all kinds of new products so i imagine that also means XC gear
but I was specificaly talking about a trend i've noticed for USED gear in the last 25 yrs of going to xc ski swaps there just seems to be less of the stuff every year
I've heard people say they are just gona buy something at the ski swap like its real easy and I'm saying its not easy matching up used gear also there is less of it
I also heard in multiple shops that there was a huge fire that destroyed Fischer's biggest factory in fall of 2020...Quote:
Originally Posted by MarsB
Then they rebuilt that factory even bigger in 2021...but it was in Ukraine. I think there were also some other big facilities in Ukraine and Russia. They are not necessarily in hostile zones, but obviously making skis isn't necessarily the #1 priority on the minds of the people in those areas.
This supposedly destroyed the middle of the market. Racers still got their orders of top-end skis that manufacturers kept at home in places like Austria, and you could get low end stuff from china (but they had COVID supply chain issues)...but everything else saw backorders and long lead times.
^^^ Definitely was a factor last year…not so much for this season. Local ski shop is up 33% on ski packages from pre-Covid. People are just doing outdoor sports and cross country skiing is one of them, so they’re just isn’t used stuff around.
small tip on xc boots
zipper fail on salomon xc ski boots, the zip separates and it appears to be from where the zip crosses/ rubs against one of the slightly protruding lace hooks under the zipper I have seen a few users temp fix with ductape and buy new boots next season
It only happened once to me but I have seen a few failures so I have since taken to NOT dragging the zip slider over that lace hook when i do up the boot, you might want to take note
Okay Maggot Nord Dorks - someone please school me or point me to a resource for understanding skate wax. I took a pair of new skis in to the shop this morning because a friend instructed me to have them “hot boxed” which I understand to be an enclosure that promotes deep wax penetration. They charged me nearly the cost of the skis!?! Then, for my rock skis, it was like 25 or 30 bucks for waxing with red? I thought skate skis just got glide wax!?! - signed Naive Ignorant Nordic Newbie Jong
Where were you 5 years ago to correct my ways proactively? My zipper blew out yesterday and I'm on the Gorilla tape train until ski season is over.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
yeah hot boxing has usualy been a plywood box lined with aluminium foil with some incandesant bulbs/ fixtures screwed to the top for gentle heat, I've never bother to do it or have it done,
the hot box is also good for warming day old pizza
maybe you wana get into doing your own ski waxing, you need 3 colors and a real ski iron, i recommend getting a real ski iron and the reason is the temp control is better than you get on a shitty old clothes iron so you are less likely to bubble/ fack opp your base cuz bubbling a base is way easier than with waxing alpine skis , sometimes ski clubs or stores will do a waxing clinic which is a good thing
what you will probably notice on brand new skate skis is the wax will wear off pretty quick and the bases are whitish after only a 2 hr sesh, so the more you wax the more it builds up & the less it will wear off
bummer, I bet you can see where it was hitting that hook ever time you used the zipperQuote:
Originally Posted by John_B
i don't think there is any way to have that zip replaced
Instead of using the hippie chrome what you might do is get some boot cozyies
Any XC gear equivalent to telemark Pyrenees or Chain Reaction?
A lot of XC ski gear is manufactured in Ukraine/Eastern Europe, guessing production is down as is the euro.
Stumbled across to overseas shops but they don’t look overly international shipping driven.
https://www.ekosport.eu/4-687-cross-country-ski.html
https://polder.se/
some domestic online shops
http://www.xcskishop.com/
https://nordicskater.com/
Guessing the Midwest is the hot bed for Nordic.
Anyone have more links that aren’t big box stores with token inventory? (REI and whatnot)
Thanks mang.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
I wax me own skis, with a shitty house iron. BUT, I think I will take your advice and buy a good iron this Xmas season. AND, try and take a clinic.
Also found a pair of Classic skis today with the little carpet patch, so I'm like a quintiple threat these days, I can suck at about any way a man might try and slide.
Ater years of the shitty irons I bought a Toko with the led-temperature readout and I have never regretted buying the best iron, also great for re-gluing climbing skins
Also check outQuote:
Originally Posted by Meconium
akers-ski.com
gearwest.com
bouldernordic.com
I've ordered XC gear from SnowInn (based in Spain) and Varuste.net (based in Finland). Some companies (e.g. Salomon) won't allow delivery from Europe to the US.Quote:
Originally Posted by Meconium
Other places in the US: Pioneer Midwest, Gear West, Boulder Nordic Sport. Or support your local shop (if you have one).
Hot boxing- just wax ‘‘em after every use for the first while and you will be fine. …. Or put some warm condition wax on but don’t scrape. Throw them in your buddy’s dry sauna for a for a bit. Not yours ‘cause it will smell.Quote:
Originally Posted by lowsparkco
Just warm enough to keep the wax soft. Leave for a few hours.
Ya and wax your own skis Jong!
Kiddin- but seriously an iron and a couple three waxes and you are good to go. The more you wax the better your skis will skate.
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Sorry for all the dumb beginner questions but the people at play it again sports were pretty much useless. I was looking for a classic ski and came across these which were interesting. Couldn't find any boots of course. They seem to be SNS which is not ideal but are 210cm which according to google is the length I need for my height (6'3'') . They seem in good shape other than the bumper on one of them is kind of sloppy/fucked.
Will these work or should I return them and find something nnn or a better ski? I am not sure if I can find a new bumper.
Rossignol caribou ar 210 with solomon sns profil equip. $70
Attachment 437086
I'm certainly no expert but it's my understanding nordic ski length should be based on your weight to engage the fish scales/skin when standing on the ski. Those will probably be just fine until you get more experience at what you want to do, classic, skate or nordic touring.
The main issue will be boots, even Salomon is moving away from SNS now so the selection is limited. If you can find some boots that work then those will be fine for casual touring.
Those will be fine, just pull off those sns and put some Rottafella NNN-BCs on there so you can have some boot choices. When you get ready for your next pair, you'll be set for boots & bindings.
They seem really light. Length checked out for my height and weight. Is it easy to switch bindings? Was $70 too much?Quote:
Originally Posted by MarsB
I just switched over a pair that were SNS Profil to NNN. Believe it or not, on the pair I mounted I was able to mostly use the same holes. The only trick is you need to buy the binding plate and the bindings. All of it together was maybe $75 to $80. But, I found it locally, might be able to find a better deal on the tronz.
What lowspark said. I would recommend NNN-BC vs NNN at your size, especially if you are venturing off the groomed.
I haven’t ever actually xc skied before. I should probably find some shitty used sns boots on eBay first.Quote:
Originally Posted by MarsB
Good luck.
Anyone tried Rossignol’s Compact Touring skis? Just scored a pair of the Evo R Skins. I think I’ll be okay in the XL 196’s although I do sit right at the minimum weight.
.Quote:
Originally Posted by lowsparkco
your gear will add some weight .
unless you plan on skiing in lycra ....
YMMV
.
So I been out of it for awhile ? am I to understand SNS has been replaced by NNN ?Quote:
Originally Posted by teledad
cuz I'm all in on the SNS
Yup. Even newer Solly boots have a NNN sole.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
I stopped the xc skiing about 10 yrs ago and just ski toured but I'm thinking the stuff I got is still current enough/ usable
Well, of course, unless something’s broken.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
Technically it's called Prolink but it's fully compatible with NNN and Turnamic (boots and skis). Also most of the skis (except S/Lab and some of the lower end stuff) now come integrated with Prolink bindings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peruvian
On the topic of glide waxing, many folks around here have stopped messing around with the hot wax and are using Vaughti liquid or Yes cold apply wax. At the ski swap the local race team waxed the used skis we picked up for a small fee using the cold apply method; told me they don’t really bother with the hot wax anymore. They can do a hundred pairs in an hour without really breaking a sweat.
I don’t know, I imagine hot wax still has its time and place…and with the cold apply it also means going out and buying more specialized stuff. As for the liquid wax, I think you still need to do intermittent hot waxing, maybe just not as often.
Yup and it’s why I can’t find any SNS Profil boots for my wife!Quote:
Originally Posted by teledad
I would be weary of drying out my bases using anything other than hot wax. If you aren't using heat to penetrate (open up the base to get the wax in there) then there must be some kind of 'catalyst' for chemical penetration. Over a period of time I would think you'd be drying out and trashing your bases? I hot wax and depending on conditions and amount of use, I either wax after every or every other use. I started with a house iron and would get smoke and inconsistent results. I got a midrange Swix years ago and it has been perfect. Works great for tips-n-tails on the XC skis as well as the DH monsters
From a Toko, (which is basically Swix as well), thing I just got. (Edited so it isn’t like a KD post.)
Hot waxing will always be the bedrock of ski and snowboard preparation as long as we have sintered bases. There are two main types of ski and snowboard bases: sintered and extruded. Extruded bases are what inexpensive skis and snowboards come with. They are basically plastic and do not absorb wax. The more expensive (non entry level) skis and snowboards come with sintered bases. The idea behind sintered bases is that if you make a base material that absorbs wax, you can change the properties of the base. If you hot wax with a hard wax, you can make the base more dry friction or abrasion resistant which makes the skis faster in cold dry or abrasive conditions. If you hot wax with a soft hydrophobic wax such as yellow, the bases will become faster in wet snow where combatting suction is a great factor.
——
It goes on to explain that liquid waxes work, but hot waxes last longer are better, etc. etc.
My understanding is that even with liquid wax, you still need some hot wax underneath to protect the bases. So you'd still be hot waxing but maybe not every day. Also you should cork in the liquid (either by hand or with a roto tool) for better durability. Given that, it's not clear to me that it really saves much time, although I can see value for races and other places where it's hard to find a power outlet. I occasionally carry some liquid wax for long skates (particularly in abrasive warm snow conditions) in case I need to refresh the wax.
Any of you try light structuring/base refreshing with a skivisions tool (with stone) in lieu of waxing? The skivisions guy swears by it for alpine skis in non-racing situations. My experiments/observations over the past few years on alpine skis is that wax only makes a noticeable difference in wet snow/slush compared to just a base refresh with a ski visions tool. Also, a few light passes with a stone to “refresh” the bases take much less time than waxing.
Wax on
Wax off
A shot from today. More trails opening up with all the snow around here.
Attachment 437213
Adding structure with a hand tool will help for wet snow but won’t fix dry bases. Just get some of the new liquid wax from swix/toko it is way faster than old school hot waxing. You will still have to do a 1-2 hot waxes a year to keep your bases happy but all the xc coaches I know swear by the new liquid wax for its ease of use.
anyone tried DPS Phantom treatment for their nordorque skis?