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#1
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Used Skis
Again, looking for advice from the much wiser RSA crowd.
Living far from the slopes, I only make about 1-3 trips a year, but am still sick of paying money to rent every time when it seems like I can get a fairly decent setup used for a few hundred dollars (almost what I spend on rentals in a season). I'll probably look around on ebay, but the problem is I don't know what I'm looking for. I'm a 6'0" male, 150 pounds, who skis mostly groomers but I enjoy powder where available, and the occasional bumps. It seems I'm looking for some all-mountain cruisers, but what would be a good set for me, the intermediate who wants to get better and ski increasingly difficult terrain. Also any recommendations on boots? Any help is appreciated, Chris Devidal |
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#2
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Used Skis
Chris Devidal wrote:
Again, looking for advice from the much wiser RSA crowd. Living far from the slopes, I only make about 1-3 trips a year, but am still sick of paying money to rent every time when it seems like I can get a fairly decent setup used for a few hundred dollars (almost what I spend on rentals in a season). I'll probably look around on ebay, but the problem is I don't know what I'm looking for. I'm a 6'0" male, 150 pounds, who skis mostly groomers but I enjoy powder where available, and the occasional bumps. It seems I'm looking for some all-mountain cruisers, but what would be a good set for me, the intermediate who wants to get better and ski increasingly difficult terrain. The usual advice is to try before you buy. The other usual advice is that the break-even point for buying vs. renting is ten to fifteen days a year. If you ski less than that, it's cheaper to rent. Note that buying used gear reduces the break even point somewhat - but you know what rentals cost so you can run the numbers yourself. Don't forget to budget for maintenance including a yearly tune-up & release check. And a ski bag if you fly to ski. And possible excess luggage charge. yadda yadda yadda. That said, if you're going to buy a pair of skis "blind" your best bet is probably the Atomic C9 (or 9.18 in earlier seasons). All around good ski for the "pretty good" skier. Very popular and ubiquitous on Ebay. Aside from some "serious" skiers who are looking for top end performance, nearly everyone who tries them has good things to say about them. They may not be the best ski for you, but you'll probably find them more than acceptable. If you want the best match for your skiing style, you've gotta get out and demo. Also any recommendations on boots? Buy them first, before you buy your skis. Good boots are more important than good skis. Don't let anybody on the internet tell you what the right boot is for you. Find a good boot fitter, listen to your feet, and don't cheap-out on the boots. Any help is appreciated, This may or may not have been of any help. -- //-Walt // // ...press any key to continue... |
#3
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Used Skis
"Walt" wrote in message ... The usual advice is to try before you buy. The other usual advice is that the break-even point for buying vs. renting is ten to fifteen days a year. If you ski less than that, it's cheaper to rent. Note that buying used gear reduces the break even point somewhat - but you know what rentals cost so you can run the numbers yourself. Don't forget to budget for maintenance including a yearly tune-up & release check. And a ski bag if you fly to ski. And possible excess luggage charge. yadda yadda yadda. That said, if you're going to buy a pair of skis "blind" your best bet is probably the Atomic C9 (or 9.18 in earlier seasons). All around good ski for the "pretty good" skier. Very popular and ubiquitous on Ebay. Aside from some "serious" skiers who are looking for top end performance, nearly everyone who tries them has good things to say about them. They may not be the best ski for you, but you'll probably find them more than acceptable. If you want the best match for your skiing style, you've gotta get out and demo. Buy them first, before you buy your skis. Good boots are more important than good skis. Don't let anybody on the internet tell you what the right boot is for you. Find a good boot fitter, listen to your feet, and don't cheap-out on the boots. -- //-Walt Thanks to you and everyone else for the advice and recommendations. I'm located in Austin, Texas (not exactly the place to tell Colorado locals you're from, or a good place to find a good bootfitter). What are some of the things I should look for in a good boot? Like I said, I'm pretty intermediate and stick to groomers while dabbling in other bits, but what should I look for besides comfort? I know ankle support is vital, but are there any boot advancements such as soft boots (which I keep hearing about) that I should be aware of. Also, is buying used boots generally considered a no-no, due to wear of padding, foot molding, etc? Thanks again, Chris Devidal removeNOSPAM to reply |
#4
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Used Skis
Chris Devidal wrote:
Thanks to you and everyone else for the advice and recommendations. I'm located in Austin, Texas (not exactly the place to tell Colorado locals you're from, or a good place to find a good bootfitter). What are some of the things I should look for in a good boot? Like I said, I'm pretty intermediate and stick to groomers while dabbling in other bits, but what should I look for besides comfort? I know ankle support is vital, but are there any boot advancements such as soft boots (which I keep hearing about) that I should be aware of. Also, is buying used boots generally considered a no-no, due to wear of padding, foot molding, etc? Used boots are tough to buy, for the reasons you cite. Better would be a "Performance" (thusly advertised, meaning intermediate-low end) boot on a good sale, fitted by a good boot fitter. If I was in your spot, I'd schedule my first several day ski trip to somewhere like Denver or SLC where there are a lot of good shops near the skiing, and a lot of competition; I'd find a sale (which there will be many in early season) and buy there; going back each afternoon getting the fit adjusted until it was perfect. It'll be hard to match that kind of boot fitting in Austin, I imagine. After saying the above, I'll add that used boots can be a real bargain, if you 1) know how to get a good fit and 2) know how to make your own adjustments and 3) know how to fix things when they break. Boots are very simple, really. If you pay lots of attention to everything the bootfitter is doing when you buy those first boots, ask lots of questions (be obnoxious), read everything you can on boot fitting, and spend time locating the proper garage sale pair, your next pair CAN be purchased used and save you hundreds of dollars. |
#5
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Used Skis
Thanks to you and everyone else for the advice and recommendations.
I'm located in Austin, Texas (not exactly the place to tell Colorado locals you're from, or a good place to find a good bootfitter). What are some of the things I should look for in a good boot? Like I said, I'm pretty intermediate and stick to groomers while dabbling in other bits, but what should I look for besides comfort? I know ankle support is vital, but are there any boot advancements such as soft boots (which I keep hearing about) that I should be aware of. Also, is buying used boots generally considered a no-no, due to wear of padding, foot molding, etc? Thanks again, Chris Devidal removeNOSPAM to reply Chris-- I spent a few years in Austin about 3 years ago. One thing I learned while there, is that the ski prices are incredibly lower than up north (I guess for lack of demand), but selection can be a bit smaller. Plus, they tend to run end of season sales starting about January. Sun and Ski (on Anderson) and Sail and Ski(?) (on 183) tend to have some pretty good staff, mostly montain-transplant types attending UT. You might go by now, see what they've got and do some preliminary shopping, then demo some of the models on your first trip. That way you'll have narrowed it down some. One other thing I rememebered, make sure to get model numbers, b/c for some reason it always seemed like the tops sheets in that neck of the woods could get alternate graphics. IIRC, the place out on 183 used to rent skis as well, based on 5 days packages, and the stuff had little to no wear, as it was seldom used. You might check to see if they sell out inventory at end of year. Just my 2 cents. As usual, lal_truckee included all the good advice on boots --Alex |
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