Pomoca Free Pro 2.0 experience

[gaijin]

I also just got these in the mail, as per this thread convincing me the weight and glide is it. I don’t climb steep lines here in JP so grip isn’t my number one focus.

Yeah, the tail clip seems a bit daft. We’ll see.

Just an FYI to others— I ordered the XXL (185-200cm) by mistake. (I still think the local distributor fucked up because I’m anal as fuck ordering from Japanese sites) but luckily they fit my 184 M102s with a few CMs leftover. YMMV

Nice out of the box. Supple and lite. 658g out of the box, uncut @ 140mm.

I doubt I’ll notice them being lighter than my BD Ascensions on my 2300g Mantras. Oh well. They’ll definitely both glide and climb better. And they definitely are thinner.

More soon. Snow up high.

[Wes Mantooth]

PSA BC.com currently has these for like 20% off, you just have to pay them $3 every time you use them for “backcountry” related purposes

https://www.backcountry.com/pomoca-f...-climbing-skin

[Benneke10]

Active Junky also doing 12% cash back for backcountry, great deal

[Wes Mantooth]

Active Junky also doing 12% cash back for backcountry, great deal

Ah shit I’m an idiot and forgot to order through them

[twoturn]

What hardware did you install teamdirt?

Have them. Great glide/ traction in powder. Super light and compact. I removed the Pomoca tip and tail and installed the more bomber bd tip and tail....

[teamdirt]

Change the tails for sure- the tips will last for many years....all parts are interchangeable from manufacturer to manufacturer. The bd kits come with all hardwear and are easy to install for anyone.

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.co...skin-tail-kit/

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.co...-tip-loop-kit/

[LeoK]

Did anybody blow those heel-attachments for real? I think they are not all that bad + it is not really ending your day straight away if they fail. Just suggesting to use them till they are gone...

[Wes Mantooth]

Did anybody blow those heel-attachments for real? I think they are not all that bad + it is not really ending your day straight away if they fail. Just suggesting to use them till they are gone...

I’ve been on outings with several different people who blew off the tails on pomocas but those were on older heavily used pairs. The tips are much more of a day ruiner but a heli strap or some duct tape will still get you home

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I’ve been on outings with several different people who blew off the tails on pomocas but those were on older heavily used pairs. The tips are much more of a day ruiner but a heli strap or some duct tape will still get you home

I've blown them all off on my oldest pair of Pomocas. It was always after years and many days of use.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[Lindahl]

Change the tails for sure- the tips will last for many years....all parts are interchangeable from manufacturer to manufacturer. The bd kits come with all hardwear and are easy to install for anyone.

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.co...skin-tail-kit/

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.co...-tip-loop-kit/

BD tails rip out easily if the backer material isn't strong enough - the 'rivets' are too small. I had issues on Gecko skins and would be concerned about the Free Pros.

[TG]

just cut the tails off.
lighter, better glide.
no loss in function, if you are just a little bit mindful when handling your skins.
put an extra little layer of gold label on the tail if you need some extra peace of mind, but that is something you should probably do to the tip & tail of any skin.

especially the tip of these lightweight backing/plush pomocas - the thin & floppy structure provides little resistance to the snow pushing against the leading edges of the skin, and you invariably end up with snow building under the front of the skin - negating the smooth glide and light weight benefits that the skin is supposed to provide. But even with the extra glue it's still a losing battle.

Unless you spend all your time on wide packed down skin track highways and your skins don't have any extended contact with unpacked snow (or softening spring corn)

funny watching the fifty. When Cody's skis are visible at the top of a climb, you can often see the snow packed in under the pink skins before he peels them.

That's been my experience too. Had enough of it. It's a bummer because the glide feels so nice before the eventual degradation.

G3 is onto something with the carbon stiffening layer under the tips of their miminist skins. But they have their glue issues.

[twoturn]

Well fuck! Snow creep is definitely problematic. I am starting to think about returning them before I touch them

[wilcox510]

I've had the Free 2.0 for 2 seasons. Just kind of reiterating what's been said, crazy packable and light but I've been pretty bummed with how much snow creep I get under tips and tails. I just bought some G3 minimist glides. We'll see the pan out.

[adrenalated]

I missed this thread. I have a pair of Free Pro 2.0s on my spring touring skis, so not a ton of days. Haven't had any issues with the tip and tail attachments. They're light and pack up great. Glide is great and grip is adequate. Glue is fine. I don't have high hopes for long term durability; plush falls out if you sneeze on it. Overall they're fine but I think I still prefer the BD Glidelite Mix.

[zion zig zag]

I get a lot of snow creep on the tips of my BD Glidelites too.

[robnow]

G3 is onto something with the carbon stiffening layer under the tips of their miminist skins. But they have their glue issues.

Actually never had an issue with G3 glue until my current Minimist Glide from last season and patches of it coming off. Our shop sent back the entire shipment of Minimist from this fall due to glue issues ("The Minimist are still in production, but we are currently working on an ongoing issue with a limited amount of them. Our teams are working hard to solve this issue and that this product is safe, reliable and durable.")

[twoturn]

Any of you guys get snow creep with the new S Glides? They look to have a similar backing to the Free’s but with longer fibers

[twoturn]

I am starting to feel like I should exchange the Free‘s for another pair of S Glides

[MiddleOfNight]

.. just don't have the cash laying around for them, not while the other skins are still alive.

figures. the other ones died. stupid BD glue.

So I got climb 2.0's for the big girls. Kind of middle of the road Pom offering.

Old BD's were 411g/skin, these Pom's are 311g/skin. Each ski is 3641g, so I might call that a 2.5% overall savings (not incl the boot). Not much.
But they're much more packable, and if the glue doesn't pull a BD it's worth it. As for snow creep, I'm hoping their shape helps them do better than BD's. I've always resorted to vet-wrap-ing the tips to prevent it.

[CaliBrit]

Read this thread. Bought some s-glides. I’m not big mountain pro enough.

[MiddleOfNight]

Day 1 on the new Pom's. Different tip attachment than my other Pom's, seemed to keep the skin against the ski really well at the tip - there was zero snow creep. This was at the top:



Granted it was a short tour just 90 minutes up, and they're new so the glue will never be better. But super deep snow and the BD's woulda crept for sure. So far so good!

[dschane]

I've been using the orange Free 2.0s this season -- maybe 15 tour days so far. Grip is fantastic. Glide is meh (as marketed). The tips seem a bit chintzy and I almost lost the clip when it fell out of the bracket, but they're otherwise holding up just fine. I agree with the comment above that the plush comes off if you sneeze on it and my glue side has a small amount of plush fibers stuck to it (much of it happened when I was trimming the skins, so maybe my bad).

Overall, I'm quite happy. But, I have also had few gripes with BD and G3 skins (G3 Alpinist skins noticeably didn't grip as well as the BD Ascension or High Traction Alpinists did but glided better than both). After 4-6 seasons, both need to be reglued.

I think whenever someone complains about glue, they need to note how anal they are when it comes to caring for their skins pre-outing, post-outing, and during the summer.

[XXX-er]

Did anybody blow those heel-attachments for real? I think they are not all that bad + it is not really ending your day straight away if they fail. Just suggesting to use them till they are gone...

I got BD tails & clips on a skin for a long time, I might have ripped a strap so now I turn the clips around so the tails fold back over the ski top instead of trailing behind the ski which takes some of the strain off the strap holes whih causes the tail ripping and I think the strap is less likely to fail that way

[XXX-er]

After 4-6 seasons, both need to be reglued.

I think whenever someone complains about glue, they need to note how anal they are when it comes to caring for their skins pre-outing, post-outing, and during the summer.

ya this ^^ like he sez, you will be regluing in 4-6 seasons, its not hard so either learn or spend the $$$ for new skins

I've reglued with pomoca glue which might have been slighty > G3 glue which is universaly thot to suck

but now we find BD glue sucks ?

It would seem we have run out of glue to blame stuff on

[SeatownSlackey]

Well just got a week of hut skiing and broke in my Free Pro 2.0s.

Sadly it didn't go so well for me. This was day 3 at Battle Abbey. Temps were moderate for there at -10c and this happened doing nothing unusual. just pulled skins from pack, grabbed tip and tail to separate and.......RIP
Just put in a warranty claim via EVO and will report back how its handled.

Other than tearing in half, was very happy with glue, grip, and glide.