CaddyDaddy and others : recommend a plate for slalom ?

[tjb]

Hi all,

Can anyone recommend a good plate for a slalom ski. I'm looking at a 166cm Stockli Laser SL and want some more height to the bindings, but don't want to stiffen the ski too much. Any suggestions most welcomed.

Thanks,

tjb

[dude_le_skibum]

http://www.vist.it

[CaddyDaddy77]

Dude Le's on the money, for the price nothing beats it. Plus they are pre-drilled for most bindings out there and durable as hell and lightweight.

[basom]

'sup with the binders?
any info caddy? opinion?

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by basom
'sup with the binders?
any info caddy? opinion?

It's the nordica with a new name stomped on it. Bossass started a thread on it awhile back.

Might recommend verifying with a shop that they have a jig prior to purchase, not many out there to my knowledge. Unless the shop is a biggie in Nordica chances are they are using two jigs to mount them.

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...=VIST+Bindings

[basom]

right.
I'll file that in the 'basom, you like your looks and salomon bindings fine, so don't go rocking the fucking boat you stupid fuck' file.

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by basom
right.
I'll file that in the 'basom, you like your looks and salomon bindings fine, so don't go rocking the fucking boat you stupid fuck' file.

I'm taking it your no longer interested?



My guess is that you won't see many of them stateside this year, VIST is a smaller company, and isn't likely to have the distribution channels that Nordica had to get the binding out.

[tjb]

Originally posted by CaddyDaddy77
Dude Le's on the money, for the price nothing beats it. Plus they are pre-drilled for most bindings out there and durable as hell and lightweight.

Are you referring to the Rialto line, the plastic risers predrilled for 10mm or 20mm heights ? I know where I can get some, but was wondering if the Vist plate as supplied on some Nordica Dobermann SLs mightn't be a better choice ??

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by tjb
Are you referring to the Rialto line, the plastic risers predrilled for 10mm or 20mm heights ? I know where I can get some, but was wondering if the Vist plate as supplied on some Nordica Dobermann SLs mightn't be a better choice ??

I was going for the predrilled line, I think there's an blank riser of the same specs also.
If I remember right the doberman Sl is a two part plate correct? If so it's the same basic plate witha different look. I think the only problem I ran into with that plate was mounting a big 350+mm salomon mount on it. The metal tabs that are the mounting platform can line up with the salomon drilling pattern in certain lengths. The Nordie plate was designed with their binding pattern in mind, so it might pay to check just in case.

There is a WC plate that is more like the VIST WC Air plate with a narrow middle. Definitely beefier, one piece construction and more rebound out of the turn.

Might look into whether or not you or your shop has a jig for the Nordica plate, I've never mounted one personally, so I don't know how they allign in relation to the regular mounting pattern.

The VIST is nice, as you can typically do it yourself if necessary by placing the polate over the existing holes, set the screws in the old holes to line up the plate and then drill the new holes.
Additionally on Salomon mounts you can choose a middle forward or back position without changing the mount. Not sure if the newer VIST plates still have this but the older ones did.

Basically I would go with the VIST plates.

[tjb]

So CaddyDaddy, these:



or this:



The Nordica plate is an OEM Vist plate, and Stockli also have a similar product.

My only concern is stiffening up a ~ 165 cm slalom ski too much, for a GS ski I'd go the plate in the blink of an eye ...

Thanks for all the help!

[Alkasquawlik]

Personally I love a stiff slalom ski. I used to slap the plate from my downhill skis on my old 155 Salomon slaloms. The plate was nearly half the length of the ski. Being 200 lbs and a downhill skier when I'd lay on the edge if I got any flex out of the ski I'd overturn every turn. So from my perspective I'd say not to worry about over-stiffening a slalom ski. They've got so much side-cut anyways, you don't have to worry about getting understeer.

Edit: This is coming from a downhiller, but occasionally I'd pull a slalom run out of my ass and win a run. Check my second run time

[tjb]

shameless bump ...

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by Alkasquawlik
Personally I love a stiff slalom ski. I used to slap the plate from my downhill skis on my old 155 Salomon slaloms. The plate was nearly half the length of the ski. Being 200 lbs and a downhill skier when I'd lay on the edge if I got any flex out of the ski I'd overturn every turn. So from my perspective I'd say not to worry about over-stiffening a slalom ski. They've got so much side-cut anyways, you don't have to worry about getting understeer.

Edit: This is coming from a downhiller, but occasionally I'd pull a slalom run out of my ass and win a run. Check my second run time

Nice Cody! Cool to see the turnaround on the second run, bet you had a few people worried when that time came across.

Look 's like you did pretty well in Bend and Aspen too. No fair on Aspen, Puckett's a god-damn freak. Guys like a fish, can't catch him.

tjb, I'm on the fence on this one, I'm inclined to go to the two-part, as I'm a shameless hack in slalom. I'm saying that because if you get late with a beefier plate underfoot, you'll stand a greater chance of loading up the ski and like myself on two occasions going backwards through the finish. One time worked, the other time I took out the timing wand and a 2X4. Guess it depends on style, and your build too. I'm 6'4 and 235#, but I would prefer a more forgiving slalom, as I need all the help I can get.

[dipstik]

Originally posted by Alkasquawlik
I used to slap the plate from my downhill skis on my old 155 Salomon slaloms.

you really are extremo!

Caddy...you were saying that with a one piece plate the ski could potentially load up too much...well I'm already having that problem with my skis now, sometimes to the point that I damn near lose control. (never claimed to be a good racer )

My slalom ski's are plateless right now, and as you know from my other thread i'm looking to throw a plate on them. Do you think a one or two piece plate would/could help keep the ski from loading up too much? Would a plate even affect the ski in that way or is that more of a skier skill/discipline thing, or just something that goes hand in hand with slalom skis?

thanks for your help.

edit: should be noted that my slaloms (Head world cups) are a tad short...coming in at 150cm for a 5'10 165lbs skier.

edit 2: articulation

[CaddyDaddy77]

I guess, I'm a backpedaling a bit here. I suppose that not all of us will be able to hang like Alka on a Hangl or Derby plate on our slalom skis but, I'm also thinking that most of the slalom boards from last year were a one-piece riser, not two.

I think the importance is the type that is used. Like I said most of us would find ourself's on our ass if we used a DH plate for slalom, it would stiffen the ski significantly and not be at all forgiving.
The one-piece plate that TJB showed is basically the same plate that Nordica uses on their slalom plate, so I guess, I would go with what they know. Seems if all the manfacturer's are using a one-part plate, that's the way to go. I used a 161 Volkl 6 star all last year for slalom. Ocassionally wishing I had a taller platform when I booted out.

A plate will change the ski, the leverage will be increased and the flex will change as you are adding another layer to it. The amount of change is dependent upon the plate used. The beefier the plate, the greater the rebound when loaded. A DH plate is designed to be damp, to absorb high-speed terrain changes, whereas a slalom plate is desigend to provide leverage and rebound the ski back to the snow surface to reduce the lack of contact???

Guess, I would stick with what the pros know, the lighter, one-piece plate. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

[Alkasquawlik]

Originally posted by CaddyDaddy77

Look 's like you did pretty well in Bend and Aspen too. No fair on Aspen, Puckett's a god-damn freak. Guys like a fish, can't catch him.

Thanks for the props but that race in Aspen is one of the main reasons I finally gave up ski racing. The year before I broke my femur I would have won that race easily. I'm not joking either, this result was when I was 17 and in my first ever Nor-Am. I beat a shit load of people years ahead of me and on the US ski team.

(Sorry for the hijack, I get very talkative when it comes in ski racing.)

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by Alkasquawlik
Thanks for the props but that race in Aspen is one of the main reasons I finally gave up ski racing. The year before I broke my femur I would have won that race easily. I'm not joking either, this result was when I was 17 and in my first ever Nor-Am. I beat a shit load of people years ahead of me and on the US ski team.

(Sorry for the hijack, I get very talkative when it comes in ski racing.)

Was that the Bill Johnson in the pack?
Nice result for somebody who couldn't even vote yet.

Broken femur, no fun. Had a roomie back in college who broke his screwing around on a quad. It was hard not to mess with him while he was using a walker for a week or so. Pretty wicked pain, from what he said.

[tjb]

Originally posted by CaddyDaddy77
I'm taking it your no longer interested?



My guess is that you won't see many of them stateside this year, VIST is a smaller company, and isn't likely to have the distribution channels that Nordica had to get the binding out.

Down here in Australia I saw two pairs of Vist bindings this weekend just past. One on a pair of Blizzards that were on the feet of an instructor and another on a pair of Movement skis (Swiss skis made by Wild Duck Snowboards, they even had the Movement logo marked on them).