Info on the K2 World Piste

[Dr. Crash]

Hi,

I saw a local ad where someone is selling a telemark setup made of a K2 World Piste 190 cm ski (which apparently is a size from 2000-2001, they went to 188 cm the next year) with Voile CRB 3-pin bindings. The guy is asking for $100 OBO. The skis may be gone by now... He says they've been used two seasons.

The World Piste apparently was entirely redesigned for 2002-2003 and can be found new for $200 w/o bindings. Is it a much much better ski?

Is this a decent setup or me to learn tele on? I'm 5'11", 185 lbs (going down), and usually alpine ski a 188 cm G4. 190 cm may be a big long, I don't know. I tried tele once and they gave me 160 cm skis (I guess they really want you to be able to turn the first time) and were suggesting 170 cm for a real setup.

What do tele maggots think? Also, what would be the best offer price for that setup?

Thanks!
drC

[cj001f]

For $100 go for it. Meets all the requirements of a learning setup - decent and cheap!

[homerjay]

should be fine. a little long-ish, though, I like my tele skis 5 cm shorter than alpines.

crb is that releasable voile rig. mixed reviews on that.

3 pin cable is an okay binding I suppose. good for touring, mostly.

[Will]

An old-school 190 World Piste is not too much ski.

The re-designed world piste is basically a K2 Axis XP, although perhaps without the Mod thingamajobber.

The old school world piste was softer and flimsier. At 180# you won't overpower it. You might find it kinda crappy for harder snow and heavy crud, especially compared to your G4s. Also, the Voile release system is (in my opinion) a piece of shit.

But you're just learning and the set-up is only $100. You can't go wrong.

ps - If the shop was suggesting 170cm for a "real" set-up, then by "real" they must have meant: "good enough for your first year, but once you get past intermediate level skiing you'll have to come back and buy another set-up from us."

[cj001f]

Originally posted by Will
If the shop was suggesting 170cm for a "real" set-up, then by "real" they must have meant: "good enough for your first year, but once you get past intermediate level skiing you'll have to come back and buy another set-up from us."

I was thinking of "real" as in living up to the sterotype of tele-skiers being slow granola eaters. I like my tele skis as long as my alpine skis. No good reason to go shorter.

[Dr. Crash]

Will, thanks for the answer. I'm a bit afraid of the K2 being too soft but the price looks right. Would you say $100 is fair or something lower would be better if the bindings are crap?

The 170cm was not a shop suggestion, it was the instructor who spent 30 minutes with me on the slopes (cross-training is a perk of teaching I guess). She thought shorter is better (insert jokes here).

drC

[Buster Highmen]

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[Dr. Crash]

Thank you Buster. That's the extra bit of data I needed to make an informed decision.

drC

[Will]

Originally posted by Dr. Crash
Would you say $100 is fair or something lower would be better if the bindings are crap?

$100 is pretty damn good for a ski/binding combo. Assuming the skis are not beat to hell and you're a beginner I say grab it. They'll last you a year or three depending on your learning curve.

But if you can worm the guy down some, why not?

The bindings ain't great, but you can buy new ones after a while. If you end up liking the release plate you can just ditch the 3-pin part and replace it with a hardwire, cobra, or targa.

I don't like the Voile release system because of the constant pre-release issues I had with it. If that's a problem, you can crank 'em down tight enough so that they never release. It's not a perfect solution, but it works.

Oh yeah, and if the bindings ice up a lot get some of that "anti-ice tape". Putting down a layer of electrical tape is the cheapskate solution - this can also tighten up the dukbill's fit in the binding.

[laseranimal]

the question is do you have any beater old skis that you'd be better off spending the $100ish to buy a decent binding and throw on? When I got my G4's my G3's became expendible and therefore I put tele bindings on. I managed to score some brand new T2's and Targas for less then $300 last year about this time

[Dr. Crash]

I've got my 200 cm straight skis and that's about it.

drC