Care for new skis

Ok, so I now have 2 shiny new pairs of skis for the season ahead, and hopefully a long time into the future as well...!!! They're not both for me, one pair of for the Mrs.

Both have recently arrived and have been/will be stored in my office, which is a converted garage. Its never particularly warm or cold in there, and I am storing them upright against the wall.

Both pairs are factory prep'd, which I assume means nice and sharp edges and a coat of wax.

However, I want to make sure I am doing everything I should be to keep these in the best possible condition before they get used for the first time, and also that I am storing them the right way. I was told before not to store them flat, so I hope upright is best. I also want to make sure I get the best possible performance out of them now and into the future.
Obviously I will have them tuned/serviced as required.
But is there anything I should be doing BEFORE their first use, and during that first week, and are these things I can do myself or should I be seeking the services of a shop whilst away?

I have perhaps been a little blase about my previous skis, but always kept them upright and serviced/tuned after a week away. I never do any maintenance myself as I am just not a practical person. But I want to treat these babies with respect and love, man. Innit.

Thanks in advance.

The factory edge tune may be OK for recreational skiing, but it may not be. The only way to know is to look and feel.

The wax from the factory varies tremendously. I have had skis that show base burn after an hour and others that still look good after a few days. The best treatment for a new pair of skis is to have them "hot boxed" at a ski store. The bases will be given a heavy coating of wax and left for a period in a hot box, to let the wax soak in to the Ptex. You could do something similar at home by puling the insulation off the top of the hot water tank, and putting the skis in the airing cupboard.

Trencher

Tony_H wrote:Ok, so I now have 2 shiny new pairs of skis for the season ahead, and hopefully a long time into the future as well...!!! They're not both for me, one pair of for the Mrs.

Both have recently arrived and have been/will be stored in my office, which is a converted garage. Its never particularly warm or cold in there, and I am storing them upright against the wall.

Both pairs are factory prep'd, which I assume means nice and sharp edges and a coat of wax.

However, I want to make sure I am doing everything I should be to keep these in the best possible condition before they get used for the first time, and also that I am storing them the right way. I was told before not to store them flat, so I hope upright is best. I also want to make sure I get the best possible performance out of them now and into the future.
Obviously I will have them tuned/serviced as required.
But is there anything I should be doing BEFORE their first use, and during that first week, and are these things I can do myself or should I be seeking the services of a shop whilst away?

I have perhaps been a little blase about my previous skis, but always kept them upright and serviced/tuned after a week away. I never do any maintenance myself as I am just not a practical person. But I want to treat these babies with respect and love, man. Innit.

Thanks in advance.

Tony when storing your skis it is good to put a covering of wax over the base and the edges to prevent oxidisation of the edges, I would normally store mine flat on a rack eg off the floor as hot air rises
and separate the bases with some ski wraps, I would certainly want to put another couple coats of wax on them before use and have you checked what degree the factory have set your'e edges to.
Give us a ring if you need any other advice 8)

Not a lot can go wrong Tony. I always make sure they are strapped together to avoid the edges slipping and gouging the bases.
It may be worthwhile taking a stone to the edges at the tips before use. This is to make sure the edges are detuned at the tips. I'm sure anyone who has tried to ski with over tuned tips will agree!!!!! :shock:
Its great to have a nice shiny new pair of skis, but just remember that they WILL get scratched through general use.

Just Enjoy 'em!!! :D

Ian Wickham wrote:

Tony when storing your skis it is good to put a covering of wax over the base and the edges to prevent oxidisation of the edges, I would normally store mine flat on a rack eg off the floor as hot air rises
and separate the bases with some ski wraps, I would certainly want to put another couple coats of wax on them before use and have you checked what degree the factory have set your'e edges to.
Give us a ring if you need any other advice 8)

I will give you a ring this week sometime, whens best? Dont want to disturb you at work...

I take mine to the ski shop and let them do the servicing/tuning thingy. I do care about them though...I hug them regularly and always introducing them to the light gradually before each trip. :lol:

Tony_H wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

Tony when storing your skis it is good to put a covering of wax over the base and the edges to prevent oxidisation of the edges, I would normally store mine flat on a rack eg off the floor as hot air rises
and separate the bases with some ski wraps, I would certainly want to put another couple coats of wax on them before use and have you checked what degree the factory have set your'e edges to.
Give us a ring if you need any other advice 8)

I will give you a ring this week sometime, whens best? Dont want to disturb you at work...

Any time I can always get back to when I'm free

Trencher wrote:The factory edge tune may be OK for recreational skiing, but it may not be. The only way to know is to look and feel.


Trencher

Case in point. I bought a new pair of Dynastar race skis a while back. They were new old stock, so were cheap. I used them a few times last season, and found them to be unpredictable, in that one day they rocked, and next they sucked. I hadn't done any edge tuning on them, other than run a diamond file over them.

Today, I finally got around to tuning them. The side edge on one ski was not beveled at all (90 degrees). The other edge was at 87 degrees. So the bad days were probably when I had the 90 degree edge on the inside. Moral - don't trust the factory tune.



Trencher