Ski Flex?

Hi,

Does ski flex make a difference to skate skis? I saw that there are stiff
and medium. Can some one please explain.

thanks

Bob

Also, does this have something to do with why the profis use skis that are a
few years old because something happens to the flex of the ski over time? Or
did I read wrong?


"Bob Creasote" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Does ski flex make a difference to skate skis? I saw that there are stiff
and medium. Can some one please explain.

thanks

Bob

Ski flex makes THE difference. Or at least one of the differences, and a big
one, between great and poor skis. In the most basic terms, a skate ski
should be fit to distribute your full body-weight away from your foot. The
factors that are influenced by the flex of the ski are speed and stability.
For optimal speed you want an optimal pressure distribution which means
getting your weight spread out over as long a running surface as possible
while maintaining a nice soft tip that won't plow snow. The actual optimal
flex characteristics for speed change a bit depending on track conditions.
Unfortunately, the optimal flex for speed is not always the same as the
optimal flex for stability. For stability you want to spread your weight a
long way toward the tip and tail. this will give you good edge control and a
long "stance". However, the tip and tail may tend to plow a fair amount. On
the other hand, a ski that distributes a fair amount of the load directly
under the foot may be unsatisfactory because it'll lack liveliness and
stability. But it might be quite fast. So, finding the right skis involves a
bit of a trade-off. the decisions regarding this trade-off are largely made
by the manufacturer in their design process. But there is a lot you can do
to find the right pair of skis given a decent selection.

There's a bunch of information on ski flex at my web site at
htp://www.engineeredtuning.net/ . If you have some skis in mind and have
specific questions I'd be happy to send you my thoughts in a private e-mail.
That goes for anybody who takes a look at my web site and has questions...

Zach



"Bob Creasote" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Does ski flex make a difference to skate skis? I saw that there are stiff
and medium. Can some one please explain.

thanks

Bob

Great web site Zach, heaps of info in there.

cheers

Bob


"Zachary Caldwell" wrote in message
...
Ski flex makes THE difference. Or at least one of the differences, and a
big
one, between great and poor skis. In the most basic terms, a skate ski
should be fit to distribute your full body-weight away from your foot. The
factors that are influenced by the flex of the ski are speed and
stability.
For optimal speed you want an optimal pressure distribution which means
getting your weight spread out over as long a running surface as possible
while maintaining a nice soft tip that won't plow snow. The actual optimal
flex characteristics for speed change a bit depending on track conditions.
Unfortunately, the optimal flex for speed is not always the same as the
optimal flex for stability. For stability you want to spread your weight a
long way toward the tip and tail. this will give you good edge control and
a
long "stance". However, the tip and tail may tend to plow a fair amount.
On
the other hand, a ski that distributes a fair amount of the load directly
under the foot may be unsatisfactory because it'll lack liveliness and
stability. But it might be quite fast. So, finding the right skis involves
a
bit of a trade-off. the decisions regarding this trade-off are largely
made
by the manufacturer in their design process. But there is a lot you can do
to find the right pair of skis given a decent selection.

There's a bunch of information on ski flex at my web site at
htp://www.engineeredtuning.net/ . If you have some skis in mind and have
specific questions I'd be happy to send you my thoughts in a private
e-mail.
That goes for anybody who takes a look at my web site and has questions...

Zach



"Bob Creasote" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Does ski flex make a difference to skate skis? I saw that there are
stiff
and medium. Can some one please explain.

thanks

Bob

Thanks for correcting my typo Ken. Great way to generate web traffic;
misspell the URL!

The ski flex question is an interesting one and any response pretty much has
to be limited. I do have some handouts with little pressure distribution
graphics illustrating "overfit" and "underfit" skis. I made them for a
presentation at a coaches education program this spring. If you think
there's interest I could turn those sheets into PDFs and put them on my
website...
Zach


"Ken Roberts" wrote in message
news
Thanks for another set of helpful insights, Zach. I've read a lot of
stuff
about skis, but I hadn't seen that idea before about what makes a ski
easier
to control -- and the conflict with best speed.

The full correct address of Zachary Caldwell's website:
http://www.engineeredtuning.net/

Ken

The ski flex question is an interesting one and any response pretty much has
to be limited. I do have some handouts with little pressure distribution
graphics illustrating "overfit" and "underfit" skis. I made them for a
presentation at a coaches education program this spring. If you think
there's interest I could turn those sheets into PDFs and put them on my
website...
Zach

Please do, I for 1 would be interested.

I've got a question for you Zach. I have a pair of 2002 Atomic Race Skate
skis,190cm.Flex #s on sticker were 76 and 2.3 When I bought them I weighed
180lbs. I skiied them all last year and loved them. Since October 2002 my
weight has dropped to 153. What can I expect when I get on snow this year?
Too stiff?
TIA
Fitzgerald
Derry,NH

OK - I've put those sheets on the website. This is probably a good
opportunity for another link:
http://www.engineeredtuning.net/

The PDF files may not be of fantastic quality, but they should get the idea
across.

Zach


"kayakclc" wrote in message
om...
The ski flex question is an interesting one and any response pretty much
has
to be limited. I do have some handouts with little pressure distribution
graphics illustrating "overfit" and "underfit" skis. I made them for a
presentation at a coaches education program this spring. If you think
there's interest I could turn those sheets into PDFs and put them on my
website...
Zach

Please do, I for 1 would be interested.

thanks Zach!
The quality is fine - I might be able to make some sense of those pressure
distribution graphs that some shop published... Does anyone have a link to
it? The store is in the midwest somewhere and the graphs show how the
pressure changes from unweighted to full weight in a nice 3-d chart for each
ski.

TIA,
Bob

From: "Zachary Caldwell"
Newsgroups: rec.skiing.nordic
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 09:18:39 -0700
Subject: Ski Flex?

OK - I've put those sheets on the website. This is probably a good
opportunity for another link:
http://www.engineeredtuning.net/

The PDF files may not be of fantastic quality, but they should get the idea
across.

Zach


"kayakclc" wrote in message
om...
The ski flex question is an interesting one and any response pretty much
has
to be limited. I do have some handouts with little pressure distribution
graphics illustrating "overfit" and "underfit" skis. I made them for a
presentation at a coaches education program this spring. If you think
there's interest I could turn those sheets into PDFs and put them on my
website...
Zach

Please do, I for 1 would be interested.

www.ernordic.com