Evenin' all..

New user here from upstate NY...

I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction towards some online resources. About 15 years ago I raced in high school and did fairly well. Wanting to keep in shape for mountain biking I 've rediscovered XC and snatched up a nice pair of used Fischer RCS skiis and some new boots. Basically I need my memory refreshed as far as waxing & such; along with a little skating technique help. Has the technology changed that much in ten years? Any websites with online videos?

Thanks,
~Mud

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 23:09:46 +0000, mud
wrote:


I need my memory refreshed as far as
waxing & such; along with a little skating technique help. Has the
technology changed that much in ten years? Any websites with online
videos?
For waxing

http://www.rideandglide.bizland.com/wax_101.htm

JT

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Swix used to have a really good guide to base prep and glide and kick
waxing. Taking a quick look there today, I couldn't find it. But you might
want to see if can find it somewhere in their menues. Check out the web
sites for the other wax manufacturers they might have some basic guides on
line or in brochures. Sierra Nordic has some great tech tips on waxing at
their site. For base prep, waxing, technique and training articles, look at
the Master Skier web site. I really think that is a great publication and
organization.

There's a lot of discussion on technique on this site if you check the
archives at groups.google. But I've personally found the stuff written for
the Master Skier, by professional coaches and instructors to be easier to
understand and apply.

Bottom line, I don't think general waxing techniques have changed in the
past 15 years: iron wax into ski, scrape with plexiglass scraper, brush
with various types of brushes. The skis, types of waxes, brushes and ski
structure evolve over time but I don't think the basic theories or
techniques have changed a lot since the early 90s.

Good luck and have fun.

Cam

"mud" wrote in message
...

New user here from upstate NY...

I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction towards some
online resources. About 15 years ago I raced in high school and did
fairly well. Wanting to keep in shape for mountain biking I 've
rediscovered XC and snatched up a nice pair of used Fischer RCS skiis
and some new boots. Basically I need my memory refreshed as far as
waxing & such; along with a little skating technique help. Has the
technology changed that much in ten years? Any websites with online
videos?

Thanks,
~Mud


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mud

Thank you both...

I was hoping to be out on the snow this w/e, but seems I have an incompatibility problem between boot and binding. Unfortunately, these bindings were touted by the seller as SNS when in truth that was not the case, they are an older Salomon version (early nineties.) Can I refit the skiis with new bindings? Will it affect the integrity of the ski? Thank you for helping out a born-again newbie. ; )

mud wrote:
New user here from upstate NY...

I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction towards
some
online resources. About 15 years ago I raced in high school and did
fairly well. Wanting to keep in shape for mountain biking I 've
rediscovered XC and snatched up a nice pair of used Fischer RCS skiis
and some new boots. Basically I need my memory refreshed as far as
waxing & such; along with a little skating technique help. Has the
technology changed that much in ten years? Any websites with online
videos?

Dude! There's tons of cool new ski info out there free online. Check
out: ftp://avari181.mt.luth.se/pub/mpeg/skidor/Technic/

mud wrote:
I was hoping to be out on the snow this w/e, but seems I have an
incompatibility problem between boot and binding. Unfortunately,
these
bindings were touted by the seller as SNS when in truth that was not
the
case, they are an older Salomon version (early nineties.) Can I
refit
the skiis with new bindings?

Mud -

I have a pair of the early Salomon skate boots - the old blue & yellow
SR901's - that I'd be willing to sell. I wear a US 8.5. I actually
have old RCS's and compatible bindings also. I'll be at Van Hoevenberg
Sat & Sun at the NYSEF races if you want them.

- Bob

"mud" wrote in message
...

Thank you both...

I was hoping to be out on the snow this w/e, but seems I have an
incompatibility problem between boot and binding. Unfortunately, these
bindings were touted by the seller as SNS when in truth that was not the
case, they are an older Salomon version (early nineties.) Can I refit
the skiis with new bindings? Will it affect the integrity of the ski?
Thank you for helping out a born-again newbie. ; )

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but ... Both new and "old"
Salomon bindings are called SNS, but the newer ones are called "SNS Profil".
So the guy who sold you the bindings was not lying, just not helping you
much, assuming you knew the esoterica (?) of what I'm about to go on and on
about. 8-)

The old SNS (call it #1) have a metal "loop" sticking out from the toe of
the sole of the boot, fully exposed. When you're looking down at the boot,
it's right out there sticking out the end. If you kicked someone, this
metal loop would do real damage.

The newer (really, not so new, a good 10 years old now) SNS Profil bindings
(call it #2) have a metal rod embedded cross-wise in the very bottom of the
toe of the sole of the boot. When you're looking down at the boot, you
cannot see this little rod because it's underneath and not sticking out the
front like the #1. If you kicked someone with this boot, the end of the
plastic sole would do the damage (much less damage than #1).

Both bindings work by using a lever action to "grab and hold" the metal part
(loop or rod). Obviously, and as you already know, they're not compatible
at all.

Salomon also makes a skating-specific boot an binding called SNS Pilot (AKA
just Pilot). That's a different story all together, with two metal rods -
one at the toe like the SNS Profil, and one a few inches back, right under
the ball of the foot.

From you're post, I think you're saying you have boot #2, but bindings for
#1...

The answer to your question is yes, you can mount new bindings your skis
that are compatible with the boots you have. You "can" do it yourself, but
as someone who has done binding mounting both in a shop and on my own, I
recommend you have a shop do it. They have jigs and other tools that make
it almost fool-proof, where the DIY person can pretty easily mis-align, and
also miss the balance point of the ski and strip screw heads because they
are "pozi-drive" heads, not Philips. Shops also have what is needed to plug
the old holes properly (not brain surgery, but you need some stuff to do
it). Generally the shop will only charge $10-$15 for this. You'll probably
buy the bindings at a shop, just have them do it. Bring in your boots to
make absolutely certain you're getting the right bindings. Pick a real ski
shop and use their expertise.

Off hand, if you want to DIY (again, not a ridiculous thing to do, just not
as easy as it might seem), I do believe the Sierra Nordic web site has some
guides to binding mounting.

And, just in case I'm totally misunderstanding your issue.... If you have
the older boot #1, but have more modern bindings that are not compatible
(e.g. you have SNS Profil (#2) bindings or NNN bindings), my personal
recommendation would be to cut your losses and get rid of the boots and get
some more current model with either SNS Profil, Pilot or the NNN system. In
the Salomon line, yes the brand new-ish boots have some improvements over
the ones from 7 or 8 years ago, but not huge night and day advantages. If
you can find any SNS Profil boots that fit and are in good shape, no matter
what vintage, you will have a very decent set up. The old (#1) SNS system
was OK in it's time, but definitely inferior today. Just MHO of course.

If none of this makes any sense to you,

Dude! There's tons of cool new ski info out there free online. Check
out: ftp://avari181.mt.luth.se/pub/mpeg/skidor/Technic/[/quote]

...sweet! thank you much

Mud -

I have a pair of the early Salomon skate boots - the old blue & yellow
SR901's - that I'd be willing to sell. I wear a US 8.5. I actually
have old RCS's and compatible bindings also. I'll be at Van Hoevenberg
Sat & Sun at the NYSEF races if you want them.

- Bob[/quote]

Appreciate the offer, but one size too small..thanks

"Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but ... Both new and "old"
Salomon bindings are called SNS, but the newer ones are called "SNS Profil".
So the guy who sold you the bindings was not lying, just not helping you
much, assuming you knew the esoterica (?) of what I'm about to go on and on
about. 8-)"

You are correct... I did some research today and what you described is spot-on. Hopefully I can pick up a pair of bindings to match the boots and have them installed without too much further investment. Guess it was my bad for not researching a little more ahead of time.

Thank you all for the great input!