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#1
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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 |
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#2
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Ski Flex?
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 |
#3
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Ski Flex?
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 |
#4
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Ski Flex?
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 |
#5
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Ski Flex?
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 |
#6
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Ski Flex?
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. |
#7
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Ski Flex?
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 |
#8
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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. |
#9
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Ski Flex online graphs
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. |
#10
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Ski Flex online graphs
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