New Skis came but...

crashandburn wrote:Just a point / question for new skis.

New ski's straight out of the 'wrapping' do they need to be waxed before they are broken in?? Or is the final stage of manufacture a waxing ready for the first piste???

They are just fine, factory wax is slightly different from what you might buy in the store or the wax used when the store service the skis but it's fine. Edges will be sharpened at the angles the manufacturer thinks are best for that ski, that's also going to be fine unless you're a racer in which case you'll have special needs for both waxing and edging. You most certainly shouldn't attempt to detune the edges, that's going to compromise the turn initiation on modern carving skis, it's something competitive skiers might do though.

After a week or so skiing then get the skis serviced and they'll put some more wax on them. Modern ski bases are sintered so they'll soak up wax on these different applications.

When I get new skis, like most people, I just take them to the slopes and use them. If the manufacturer feels it's required they'll have advised the dealer to put some wax on the skis. It doesn't hurt to ask the dealer to wax a new pair of skis.

I do like to strip the factory wax off new skis. I hot wax clean them and it always seems to come off very dirty. Fresh wax is nice. I don't touch the edges, it's good to try the ski out as the manufacturer intended them to be used.

Tend not to detune my ski's any more, I have made comparisons with ski's which have been detuned and have found no difference in performance.

Ian Wickham wrote:Tend not to detune my ski's any more, I have made comparisons with ski's which have been detuned and have found no difference in performance.

Me too, I've tried it, even on the slopes and taken consecutive runs in the same line before and after detuning and there's no detectable difference at all. I've tried one ski detuned and one not and then blindly put them on my feet and I can't tell which is which either. I worry it's just something to baffle and mystify people with in fact.

bandit wrote:I do like to strip the factory wax off new skis. I hot wax clean them and it always seems to come off very dirty. Fresh wax is nice. I don't touch the edges, it's good to try the ski out as the manufacturer intended them to be used.

That may be the best possible technical advice of all, it's hard to follow for most people, waxing is a little awkward and removing old wax is bit tricky. Wax is always tricky, unless you do it each day, sometimes more than once a day, then you have to accept you've got the wrong wax at some point. I found once I'd grasped that point it was better to be a bit more chilled about the whole thing.

As for edge angles, I think I've decided for all mountain skis and day to day stuff the manufacturer knows best and on slalom or race stock skis you make your own mind up.

There are home units where you can do this in the basement right? I would like to learn how to do this kind of stuff over the winter. And by that I mean the waxing tools

I got free waxing with my seasons pass at a local shop, so I will have mine waxed when I have the bindings mounted soon.

Also the seller is sending me a replacement for my broken binding piece.

Brad

P.S. Forgot to mention, My new skis are "VOLKL SUPERSPORT S5 SKIS 168 w/Marker Motion IPT 11 BINDINGS" :D

IceGhost wrote:There are home units where you can do this in the basement right? I would like to learn how to do this kind of stuff over the winter. And by that I mean the waxing tools

Absolutely, it's fairly straightforward as well, worth it it you ski a lot of days in the season as you can save some money on servicing.

ise wrote:

bandit wrote:I do like to strip the factory wax off new skis. I hot wax clean them and it always seems to come off very dirty. Fresh wax is nice. I don't touch the edges, it's good to try the ski out as the manufacturer intended them to be used.

That may be the best possible technical advice of all, it's hard to follow for most people, waxing is a little awkward and removing old wax is bit tricky. Wax is always tricky, unless you do it each day, sometimes more than once a day, then you have to accept you've got the wrong wax at some point. I found once I'd grasped that point it was better to be a bit more chilled about the whole thing.

Hmmm, I find taking the old wax off with an iron quite easy, perhaps I'm doing it wrong :?: I think we maybe need to talk tech.....
I would never have the time to wax my skis each day, and since I'm sooo not hardcore I use Zardoz instead :D
As a domestic goddess, I use Teflon quite a bit, though it's not normally that runny....