Ski Comparison Tool

**Troy** · 11-08-2006, 03:30 PM

Hi I'm Troy, I'm the other guy from Spadout...

Both Mark and I know that there is no way to get a perfect program that will recomend the optimum skis for each and every person, short of going in and recomending a set of skis for every possible skier type. The permutations of possibilities are absolutely staggering, so we're doing something kinda devious... we're getting you to do it for us. The algorithms we are using are temporary, and we're tracking the trends of our visitors. For example, if five hundred people that say that they are 6' 190 pounds off piste skiers look at the Volkl AC4, then the new version of the comparison tool will reflect that.

This is one of the reasons we're keeping the algorithms purposefully broad, we want to filter out a descent amount of skis, but we don't want to exclude too much to give people like you all the chance to pick out skis that we might not have expected you to like.

**Troy** · 11-08-2006, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by farmasea

Also does anyone else think that the tool is biased towards K2 products? Or, is it just that K2 has such a deep product line anymore?

What you are probably seeing is a product of two things:
1) The skis I've ridden and really like are sorted to the top of the pile
2) The skis that are the most popular are also sorted to the top

So if you see a hell of allot of K2's up near the top, its probably for those reasons.

**Brock Landers** · 11-08-2006, 03:38 PM

^^^Seems like a good idea if you keep it on sites where the people know what theyre doing. Itll take a while and youll need to include some more skis from different brands. The flex thing is key though. We have a pretty good idea of the flexes of the skis mentioned but if you dont put it in the equation/algorithm somewhere other people are going to get noodles.

**PlayHarder** · 11-08-2006, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by Troy

The permutations of possibilities are absolutely staggering, so we're doing something kinda devious... we're getting you to do it for us. The algorithms we are using are temporary, and we're tracking the trends of our visitors. For example, if five hundred people that say that they are 6' 190 pounds off piste skiers look at the Volkl AC4, then the new version of the comparison tool will reflect that.

You know, if you guys had said this in the beginning, I, for one, may have actually clicked a couple for you. Instead, I looked at the list provided, shook my head and thought "Cool idea, but it needs work".

**fubar** · 11-08-2006, 04:11 PM

Ha! Funny, I put my specs in and the first ski on the list is the ski I currently ride... in a shorter length than what I have.. still kinda crazy.

It needs an all-mountain category. IMHO

**FreeHeelin** · 11-08-2006, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by fubar

Ha! Funny, I put my specs in and the first ski on the list is the ski I currently ride... in a shorter length than what I have.. still kinda crazy.

It needs an all-mountain category. IMHO

the 'advanced feature' button allows you to pick from others categories, like all & big mountain.

I actually found it easy to use. I simply wish the weights were listed, and after reading farmasea's post, stiffness as well, even if somewhat general (viagra, stiff, med-stiff, medium, med-soft, soft, flaccid etc).

L7 · 11-08-2006, 10:33 PM

What can TGR do for me month must have been held over. I mean it would be great to let us try something but it seems essentially you have nothing and want us to build your data.

I'm sitting here with my masters in computer engineering girlfriend and she figures you have doorknobs doing your programming. I don't know that much about it but it doesn't seem that hard with a bit of effort. I guess I'll just go in and pick a bunch of 65mm intermediate powder skis as my part of the effort.

**Chitown Pow** · 11-08-2006, 11:29 PM

I listed type, edge skier, deep powder and got a listing for 20 skis with 80 and below waist. I dont think a 74 waist will get me through blower at Alta. Advanced option OK, but your dialing in what you want at that point.

**Jer** · 11-09-2006, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by Chitown Pow

I dont think a 74 waist will get me through blower at Alta.

Believe it or not, ten years ago a 74mm waist was a big powder ski. I see what you're saying tho - just couldn't resist the chance to lip off.

**markanite** · 11-10-2006, 01:02 PM

Thanks again for all the comments

New Feature - Well I just finished writing a bot that scans prices from stores. We have already scanned 7 stores so you can obtain prices for any ski on the market.

Regarding the weight and flex - we are limited by the information the manuf. provide. Some of them had to be contacted 10+ times to obtain the sidecut radius. We do plan to do this in the future though.

74 mm powder ski - what should be the min. width for a powder ski?

L7 - I would encourage anyone else to try to make other tools. This is potentially a useful tool but like all things requires external opinions. "want us to build your data" - Honestly outside of opinions I am not asking for anything. I apologize if I come off that way.

**Below Zero** · 11-10-2006, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by markanite

74 mm powder ski - what should be the min. width for a powder ski?

90 mm and over

**markanite** · 11-10-2006, 01:13 PM

Thanks Below Zero. I set the min. to 90. Let me know if the results are any better.

**Troy** · 11-10-2006, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by FreeHeelin

the 'advanced feature' button allows you to pick from others categories, like all & big mountain.

I actually found it easy to use. I simply wish the weights were listed, and after reading farmasea's post, stiffness as well, even if somewhat general (viagra, stiff, med-stiff, medium, med-soft, soft, flaccid etc).

I've tested a couple skis for flex already, I'd like to get that data up on our site soon... Its just real hit or miss. I can only get my hands on so many skis. Also, some of the data seems to be misleading. The Rossi Actys 100 has the same flex as the K2 Apache Recon, but obviously the Recon is an infinitely better ski. So, I'm going to have to figure out how to work the flex ratings into the algorithm without making it do something stupid like recomending those two skis together.

All in all, I would love to get flex stats on all the skis, but we aren't big enough to ask for that kind of info from the manufacturer. You would be baffeled to know all the damn hoops I had to jump through just to get unique turning radii for all the skis in all their lengths. Just as an example, I had to get on the phone with a tech from Rossi, and have him read all the info out to me, because they don't have it saved in electronic form.

What I found really funny is that I could get MAP pricing data REAL easily (MAP stands for minimum advertised price, retailers can't sell below the MAP price), but getting them to tell me MSRP, man, that was like pulling teeth.

**Shin-to-Win** · 11-10-2006, 01:39 PM

Instead of infering from clicks, how about having folks pick their list of skis they have owned or liked and at what length, then use that data to provide reccomendations to new users. Another option would be for people to rate skis on the fly, then match to their skier profile for size/weight/skier type.

Flex is tough, there are no specs. Maybe have that be a user input too where people reate their peception of flex on a 1-10 scale.

**Troy** · 11-10-2006, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by markanite

New Feature - Well I just finished writing a bot that scans prices from stores. We have already scanned 7 stores so you can obtain prices for any ski on the market.

We're really stoked about this, its going to be big.

**Troy** · 11-10-2006, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Shin-to-Win

Instead of infering from clicks, how about having folks pick their list of skis they have owned or liked and at what length, then use that data to provide reccomendations to new users. Another option would be for people to rate skis on the fly, then match to their skier profile for size/weight/skier type.

Flex is tough, there are no specs. Maybe have that be a user input too where people reate their peception of flex on a 1-10 scale.

Yeah, we've definitely been playing around with an idea like that. Don't be surprised if you see a special user interface for rating skis in the future.