Steel edge question

You may want to give these a look:

http://www.karhu.com/gear/category.php?c=backcountry

The Ursa may be of interest.....certainly easier than the
alternative....



-----Original Message-----
From: ]
On Behalf Of Bruce W.1
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 2:09 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list NORDIC-SKI
Subject: Steel edge question


I bought and used for one season a pair of steel-edged XC skis. They
were a wax type. I really liked the steel edge. And wax works well in
really cold weather, like below 15F.

Since then I've moved to a warmer climate. The wax type skis are not
practical here, klister wax and all that is a pain, so I bought a pair
of no-wax skis, without a steel edge. I miss the steel edge when doing
backcountry skiing.

I've been thinking of modifying my wax type steel edged skis to have a
no-wax kick base. I will use a router to cut space in the bottom, then
insert a no-wax kick base salvaged from yet another pair of skis which I

found abandoned.

So I have two questions. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this
operation, like what type of glue to use?

And if steel edges are so great then why don't I see other people using
them? I've never seen anyone use a no-wax ski that had a steel edge.

Thanks for your help.

Hi Bruce-
I've seen people do what you're proposing (take the no
wax section from one pair of skis and insert it into
another), but it's a lot of work, and it's hard 1)
getting the old bases off (both sets of skis) without
damaging the skis or bases, and 2) finding a glue that
will hold the no-wax p-tex to the new ski base.

There are quite a few steel-edged no-wax skis out
there, from most of the major ski manufacturers
(Fischer, Madshus, Atomic, etc). Do some web
searching and you'll doubtless come up with at least
one or two models. IIf you're looking for a deal, and
if you have a ski shop near you, you might be able to
pick up a deal on last year's skis if they have any
left over, or wait until later this year to pick up a
pair.

What may be more of an issue is figuring out which
steel-edged no-wax to buy. You can get anything from
a fairly straight, traditionally sized ski with good
kick and glide properties (useful if you do a lot of
skiing in tracks or if covering miles is your primary
goal); to wider, shorter skis with more sidecut (more
useful if you're skiing in "wild" snow, or want to
make turns on the downhills). You can find no-wax in
both of these configurations, and many steps in
between.

good luck!
Chris C.
SLC
--- "Bruce W.1" wrote:

I bought and used for one season a pair of
steel-edged XC skis. They
were a wax type. I really liked the steel edge.
And wax works well in
really cold weather, like below 15F.

Since then I've moved to a warmer climate. The wax
type skis are not
practical here, klister wax and all that is a pain,
so I bought a pair
of no-wax skis, without a steel edge. I miss the
steel edge when doing
backcountry skiing.

I've been thinking of modifying my wax type steel
edged skis to have a
no-wax kick base. I will use a router to cut space
in the bottom, then
insert a no-wax kick base salvaged from yet another
pair of skis which I
found abandoned.

So I have two questions. Does anyone have any tips
on how to do this
operation, like what type of glue to use?

And if steel edges are so great then why don't I see
other people using
them? I've never seen anyone use a no-wax ski that
had a steel edge.

Thanks for your help.







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Chris Cline wrote:
Hi Bruce-
I've seen people do what you're proposing (take the no
wax section from one pair of skis and insert it into
another), but it's a lot of work, and it's hard 1)
getting the old bases off (both sets of skis) without
damaging the skis or bases, and 2) finding a glue that
will hold the no-wax p-tex to the new ski base.

There are quite a few steel-edged no-wax skis out
there, from most of the major ski manufacturers
(Fischer, Madshus, Atomic, etc). Do some web
searching and you'll doubtless come up with at least
one or two models. IIf you're looking for a deal, and
if you have a ski shop near you, you might be able to
pick up a deal on last year's skis if they have any
left over, or wait until later this year to pick up a
pair.

What may be more of an issue is figuring out which
steel-edged no-wax to buy. You can get anything from
a fairly straight, traditionally sized ski with good
kick and glide properties (useful if you do a lot of
skiing in tracks or if covering miles is your primary
goal); to wider, shorter skis with more sidecut (more
useful if you're skiing in "wild" snow, or want to
make turns on the downhills). You can find no-wax in
both of these configurations, and many steps in
between.

good luck!
Chris C.
SLC
================================================== =====

Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing a new type of XC ski last
year at a rental place. They looked very much like alpine skis. They
were wider, shorter, and had a tapered side cut. Can't remember if they
had a steel edge.

One beef I always had with XC skis is their unwillingness to turn. A
tapered side would remedy this problem. Maybe I should take this route
rather than trying to modify my current wax skis. Though I do like
Booker's idea of using a Dremel tool to put scales on the bottom of my
wax skis.

This thread is then boiling down the overall design of the ski, which is
a bigger topic than simply modifying my wax skis. I will start a new
thread.

In article ,
Bruce W.1 wrote:
Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing a new type of XC ski last
year at a rental place. They looked very much like alpine skis. They
were wider, shorter, and had a tapered side cut. Can't remember if they
had a steel edge.

Most of the backcountry skis with big sidecut do (and they
tend to be no-wax, as well).

I've got an slightly older pair of Rossignol Tempo Ridge BCs
that are short, shaped, and steel-edged, and while they're
pretty slow they're also a lot of fun - you can take them
anywhere and they turn quite well.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Amateurs study cryptography; professionals study economics.
-- Allan Schiffman

--- gr wrote:

Bill in Schenectady wrote:
I have no wax skis with a steel edge. I bought
them prior to last
winter. I find that on down hills, I only have to
THINK about turning
to cut a turn!

I live in upstate New York, where we can get
anything from below zero
to above freezing in the winter.

My only complaint: the edges have rusted a bit,
probably from riding
on top of the car on damp days.

rust on steel edges
I have been using with great success "Notwax" as an
all purpose wipe on
wax and It says it is now improved to prevent
rusting on steel edges.
gr

If Notwax doesn't do it, there's nothing wrong with
taking steel wool or a mill ******* file to the edges.
Files have the added advantage that you can also
sharpen up the edges with them. This is verging into
alpine skiing topic-land, but pass the file in a
single direction -down- the ski, and frequently brush
the filings off both the ski and the file so you don't
grind them into the p-tex. And for future reference,
if you bring the skis inside after you ski on them
(vs. leaving them on your car or in an unheated
garage), the water will evaporate off the edges and
they won't rust as badly. A light pass with some sort
of lubricant/oil (machine oil, WD-40, Notwax, paste
wax; just about anything) will keep them from rusting, too.



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