Thanks for helping me clarify Joseph, indeed.

As you must have encountered buying your 195mm cycling cranks, you didn't
have much choice, while they suit you fine, better than any of the 99.9% of
crank offerings, yet your build is nothing out of the ordinary.
Height/Weight, you're actually super close to average, had you not been an
athlete.
My experience from cycling is that the best thing to ride, is sometimes not
even for sale, while relatively easy to craft.
My own passion in MTB'ing is 29" wheels. Only came into existence in '99,
while the MTB was invested in the mid-70's. They used kid's bike tires as
those happened to exist with a wide casing, while before that all adults
rode 28" for all performance disciplines. Just no wider 28" tires existed.
MTB caught on (world-wide sports revolution, really), and 26" is what
everyone rode for cross-country cycling ever since. "No-one" ever questioned
the 26" standard, and who did, was silenced. The initial cost of making a
new tire (mold) of $5-10k was never coughed up, in a quarter century of
almost unlimited sales success with sporting goods costing $600+ average.
Now, 7 years after the introduction of 29" wheels, nearly everyone that has
tried them, is an instant convert. I won't bore you with the advantages they
bring, but the forum I moderate on mtbr.com is stuffed with testimonials.

I wonder whether ski width, especially for clydesdale athletes, could take
some of their disadvantages away.
As not all cyclists ranging from 1m40 to 2m10 can't find their optimum in
175mm cranks, or 26" tires, even tire width, I wonder how that translates to
skiing.

-is there an optimal width for classic skiing grip?
-is there an optimal width for gliding, be it classical or skating?
Are the above weight-unrelated, and coming down to the same width?

Not meaning to bash on centuries of skiing technology per se, just trying to
understand why things are the way they are. At least in cycling I know for a
fact that the business were more into keeping up a hype than to offer
customers the best cranks or wheelsize they could.

Do two top-fit skiers, one 1m80/60kg, and one 1m80/100kg get the same width
skis? If so, why? What width should I look for with my 1m94/82kg, or really
just focus on length and tension?


schreef in bericht
ups.com...
It is important to note that Jan is talking about wider or narrow skis
outside of the range of what is commercially available for normal
fitting. He's talking about what is optimal in a theoretical sense, not
what one should actually be looking for to buy today.

Do I understand you correctly, Jan?

Joseph

Jan Gerrit Klok wrote:
RW,
Thanks for that info! I had figured out that part already, although I
didn't
know those percentages yet.
I meant to wonder, how a significantly wider ski with the same (correct)
flex properties for the athlete's weight would compare for grip and
glide.
All the same dimensions, just 10-20% wider, and as said perhaps a bit
thinner if that works out that way to accomplish the correct
pre-tension.
The fact that the answer is not readily available gives me the
impression
that perhaps this is not investigated often, at least in recent times.
Would two athletes, each 60kg and 100kg, both 1m85, be recommended the
same
ski length, shape and width, just different tension? Joseph already
expressed that he notices he has a definate edges over lightweights when
it
comes to gliding downhills, easily explained by weight/frontal surface
ratio
as air resistance is a big factor there. I'd love to know if he could
benefit from wider or even narrower ski's for grip, and if it would cost
him
(fast and slow) glide or actually improve that further.

J

"rw" schreef in bericht
oups.com...
Hi J,
Glide and grip is all about having the proper ski for the proper
person.

Say you weigh 100lbs. Your ski be it wider or not is flat under your
foot(grip zone)
at 120lbs the skis are no good for you as it would take 120% of your
total weight yust to get grip.The ideal ski for a person with 100lbs
weight is one that is flat at 75lbs. This is because on every step
you
have to flatten the ski to get grip.
Sure a lightweight person could get more skibase in the snow if they
get a wider ski.
This has nothing to do with glide or grip. A wider ski does not glide
faster or grip better if the skis have not been selected properly.
The optimum is to have your skis selected by a competent ski shop.
RW