Wax Ingredients

This idea has been researched by a chemical pro / masters skier in my
area. Not successful for a variety of reasons.

One of the practical issues, you may have noticed, is the wide variety
of performance from this magic stuff. You know - sometimes it's REALLY
S L O W !

How does the amateur engineer this stuff such that you get what you
want out of a 20# bag of powder ?

The closest I have come to this ideal is to go to www.racewax.com This
guy has zero tech support for his product, but it is CHEAP fluoro
powder that you can try out in a variety of conditions without breaking
the bank. It is something like $15 for two film can sized shakers (with
a useful shaker top).

I am actually "getting over it" due to inconsistent results that can
really blow your race.

I think Zach Caldwell has me convinced to try the Star powder next, as
he says it always tests as fast as other brands, and I believe it is
affordable. No offense Rob Bradlee ! I think your Helix is a major
player in the performance arena. By the way, I have not seen that Zach
has fooled around with Helix. Hm.

--- delltodd wrote:

I think Zach Caldwell has me convinced to try the Star powder next,
as
he says it always tests as fast as other brands, and I believe it is
affordable. No offense Rob Bradlee ! I think your Helix is a major
player in the performance arena. By the way, I have not seen that
Zach
has fooled around with Helix. Hm.

I'd check again with him. I bet he has or will be soon. Star is good
stuff, but you have buy lots of different kinds. Very specialized. If
affordability is your goal get Old Snow Jetstream Block and rub it on
for most races. For very warm or longer distance spray on Helx. That
covers all fluoro conditions with a simple set up.

Rob Bradlee
Toko Tech Team


=====
Rob Bradlee
Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training

On www.racewax.com there is this quote: "DrD is a chemist and buys
fluoro by the barrel directly from large chemical suppliers ... lower
cost". Interesting. Wonder if any of these "large chemical suppliers"
is where Swix buys their barrels of fluoro?

DrD - are your reading this? I'm curious - where do you get your
barrels of fluoro? And do you know - does Swix buy from the same
source?
I don't expect a response ... but it doesn't hurt to ask ... ;-)

Since Rob is piping in with an opinion I'll join in and add
that Ski*go C44 is also very affordable with great results.
C44 is a fluoro powder that Zach uses quite a bit too.
Not to forget the WC teams that use it too :-)

Rodney

Rob Bradlee wrote:

--- delltodd wrote:


I think Zach Caldwell has me convinced to try the Star powder next,
as
he says it always tests as fast as other brands, and I believe it is
affordable. No offense Rob Bradlee ! I think your Helix is a major
player in the performance arena. By the way, I have not seen that
Zach
has fooled around with Helix. Hm.


I'd check again with him. I bet he has or will be soon. Star is good
stuff, but you have buy lots of different kinds. Very specialized. If
affordability is your goal get Old Snow Jetstream Block and rub it on
for most races. For very warm or longer distance spray on Helx. That
covers all fluoro conditions with a simple set up.

Rob Bradlee
Toko Tech Team


=====
Rob Bradlee
Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training

You found it for less than $102 USD for the fluid and $110 + shipping
from Canada? (www.skiwax.ca)

Gene

"Rodney/SkiWax.ca" wrote:

Since Rob is piping in with an opinion I'll join in and add
that Ski*go C44 is also very affordable with great results.
C44 is a fluoro powder that Zach uses quite a bit too.
Not to forget the WC teams that use it too :-)

Rodney

Rob Bradlee wrote:

--- delltodd wrote:


I think Zach Caldwell has me convinced to try the Star powder next,
as
he says it always tests as fast as other brands, and I believe it is
affordable. No offense Rob Bradlee ! I think your Helix is a major
player in the performance arena. By the way, I have not seen that
Zach
has fooled around with Helix. Hm.


I'd check again with him. I bet he has or will be soon. Star is good
stuff, but you have buy lots of different kinds. Very specialized. If
affordability is your goal get Old Snow Jetstream Block and rub it on
for most races. For very warm or longer distance spray on Helx. That
covers all fluoro conditions with a simple set up.

Rob Bradlee
Toko Tech Team


=====
Rob Bradlee
Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training

You found it for less than $102 USD for the fluid and $110 for the
powder (+ shipping) from Canada? (www.skiwax.ca)

Gene

"Rodney/SkiWax.ca" wrote:

Since Rob is piping in with an opinion I'll join in and add
that Ski*go C44 is also very affordable with great results.
C44 is a fluoro powder that Zach uses quite a bit too.
Not to forget the WC teams that use it too :-)

Rodney

Rob Bradlee wrote:

--- delltodd wrote:


I think Zach Caldwell has me convinced to try the Star powder next,
as
he says it always tests as fast as other brands, and I believe it is
affordable. No offense Rob Bradlee ! I think your Helix is a major
player in the performance arena. By the way, I have not seen that
Zach
has fooled around with Helix. Hm.


I'd check again with him. I bet he has or will be soon. Star is good
stuff, but you have buy lots of different kinds. Very specialized. If
affordability is your goal get Old Snow Jetstream Block and rub it on
for most races. For very warm or longer distance spray on Helx. That
covers all fluoro conditions with a simple set up.

Rob Bradlee
Toko Tech Team


=====
Rob Bradlee
Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training

Gene Goldenfeld wrote:

You found it for less than $102 USD for the fluid and $110 for the
powder (+ shipping) from Canada? (www.skiwax.ca)

That's the suggested retail pricing. The exchange rate is about 1.25 USD
to the CAD. The Ski*go fluids are $126 CAD so yeah that's less than
$102 USD. The fluoro powders are $136 CAD =~ $110 USD.
Imported from Sweden and then to the ski shops. So it's the regular
style of supply chain. Christer Majback (formerly of Swedish Team)
owns/runs Ski*go now. So a good skier runs the show :-)
The importing is done through Ski*go Canada (www.skigo.ca). That's
in English, in Swedish it's www.ski-go.com.

Rodney

Gene

"Rodney/SkiWax.ca" wrote:

Since Rob is piping in with an opinion I'll join in and add
that Ski*go C44 is also very affordable with great results.
C44 is a fluoro powder that Zach uses quite a bit too.
Not to forget the WC teams that use it too :-)

Rodney

Rob Bradlee wrote:


--- delltodd wrote:



I think Zach Caldwell has me convinced to try the Star powder next,
as
he says it always tests as fast as other brands, and I believe it is
affordable. No offense Rob Bradlee ! I think your Helix is a major
player in the performance arena. By the way, I have not seen that
Zach
has fooled around with Helix. Hm.


I'd check again with him. I bet he has or will be soon. Star is good
stuff, but you have buy lots of different kinds. Very specialized. If
affordability is your goal get Old Snow Jetstream Block and rub it on
for most races. For very warm or longer distance spray on Helx. That
covers all fluoro conditions with a simple set up.

Rob Bradlee
Toko Tech Team


=====
Rob Bradlee
Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training

OK, most folks here are fluoro-loco, but there are other kinds of ski
wax than hi-perf race wax. I can easily see that race wax of any kind
would be complex.

I still wonder how the old Swix system (red, purple, blue, green,
polar---was it ever simpler yet?) might've been made 30 years ago or
what have you. I bet that stuff wasn't too tricky. Or was it? Anyone
know? When Swix last used that color coding was it complex stuff or
much different from when they first started using it? I have real old
Swix Blue as well as the last version of it and it makes me wonder if
the make-up is different or not. (I also wonder if the stuff
degrades---my old Blue seems darn soft now, for high 20's.)

Did any of the real old formulas/waxes work nicely for certain
conditions? I wonder how they were made.

I smell pine tar in several of my real old waxes---and in one line of
new waxes (I love using that stuff).

If we wanted just a simple OK wax, nothing fancy, is there something we
could make at home that would do the trick? I've seen the pine-tar,
beeswax formula but I haven't heard how it works out. Basically, how
good can this old stuff get...or conversely what's the simplest new
stuff?

Of course, there's always 5=A2 tins of Swix at garage sales so that's
probably cheapest of all.
But one is naturally curious about what's in this stuff!

--JP

wrote in message
oups.com...

I smell pine tar in several of my real old waxes---and in one line of
new waxes (I love using that stuff).

Is that what was in the famous Jackrabbit waxes?

Professional servicemen waxing skis for WC racers do not prefer any
specific wax company, despite the fancy advertisements. Service teams
use what they find best during their testing process in the same
conditions the upcoming race is going to be held. The wax of the day
can be Swix, Toko, some small unknown company or maybe a mix of them
all. Every wax company generally has an advantage over the others in
some specific conditions. It is wrong to say that Toko, for example,
has the best wax for every track.
As far as I know many teams are switching to products from smaller wax
companies like Solda, Rode, Ski*Go etc. Their products are cheaper and
in some cases far more effective. Ski*Go has good fluoro powders for
extremely warm conditions, Solda has the fastest paraffin-based waxes
for colder conditions and so on. Can anyone tell me what are the
conditions when top skiers are always racing on Toko, instead of Swix
for example? What are your experiences with different brands?