Jenex V2 100 SR wheel update

Finally have broken enough rocks in my chain gang and saved enough
pennies to purchase new rollerskis. Talked to Jamie at NordicSkater
and found out that Jenex has pulled the microcellular tires for their
V2 100's off the market. They are re-designing them to last longer.
Jamie is offering the rollerskis with solid rubber tires as a
substitute. Question, has anyone tried the ski with the rubber wheels?
What did you think of the difference versus the microcellular tires?

Additionally, I don't like the jolt that aluminum rollerski poles
transmit through my entire arm- I have an aggressive pole plant. What
pole would work better: carbon/fiberglass or fiberglass, or something
else?

I'd like to take up your point on best poles for rollerskiing, as I"ve
been experimenting with that.

I find the carbon fiber poles transmit a lot of shock and have come to
prefer aluminum poles. Surprised to hear that they transmit the jolt
to your arm--my experience is that they seem to damp vibrations really
well, and because they bend, they seem to take some of the force out of
the larger "amplitude" jolt.

(BTW, Len Johnson's "official" position is that there is no difference
between the two, and Swix sells special polls for rollerskiing which
are just there lower end carbon poles.)

Jon

"Jon" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'd like to take up your point on best poles for rollerskiing, as I"ve
been experimenting with that.

I find the carbon fiber poles transmit a lot of shock and have come to
prefer aluminum poles. Surprised to hear that they transmit the jolt
to your arm--my experience is that they seem to damp vibrations really
well, and because they bend, they seem to take some of the force out of
the larger "amplitude" jolt.

(BTW, Len Johnson's "official" position is that there is no difference
between the two, and Swix sells special polls for rollerskiing which
are just there lower end carbon poles.)

Jon


Common wisdom in cycling is that aluminum is stiff and harsh and that it
will transmit any road vibration to the body, while as carbon fibre will
dampen it a bit more. Best material for poles would be titanium in terms of
lightness, strength and damping, but I don't think anybody makes titanium
poles; it would also be very expensive.

nordvind wrote:

Additionally, I don't like the jolt that aluminum rollerski poles
transmit through my entire arm- I have an aggressive pole plant. What
pole would work better: carbon/fiberglass or fiberglass, or something
else?

I gently suggest that instead of new poles, a more gentle pole plant
might be in order. An agressive pole plant is one thing, a jarring
pole plant is another and probably doesn't contribute to efficient
skiing. The asphalt is telling your body that you are wasting energy.
You are wasting it on snow too, but the snow isn't a tattletale.

Having said that, I use mid-level, not-too-stiff, carbon poles when
rollerskiing and they work fine.

Ski Exuberantly,

Hank

Mammoth Lakes, California.

I'm with Hank. I ski with the best poles I can afford but I rollerski
on pavement with a cheaper, more flexible pole that is easier on my
elbows, which flare up from various activities.
russ

Instead of worrying about Al vs. CF, I would take a look at the
transmission of forces at other areas. A couple of recent messages
have mentioned rubber tips. If they exist and fit your poles these
could greatly reduce the high frequency vibrations as well as take care
of traction problems. Even if they wear out quickly I would try these
if I could find something to fit my poles. The second area you might
want to look at is the strap. Force is applied via the strap onto the
hand (assuming you are not really gripping the handle too much). More
or less elasticicity in the strap webbing and/or padding in the hand
area and gloves would act as a shock absorber for the higher impulse
shocks of the tip hitting the road. In sum - go with rubber tips and
wear a glove with some sort of extra padding under the area loaded by
the strap.

Regards,
Chris

I'm no expert, just that the rubber tips for me are sooo smooth. Just
useless if there's dirt or gravel on the road. But as I wrote somewhere here
before, there are cases where carbide and rubber are combines. Rubber for
touchdown, carbide for traction. It SEEMS like if I just stich the rubber
tips I'v got over carbide ones, I might have just that. Won't wreck these
doingso before they're worn out though.
My rubber tips were way the wrong diameter, so I shimmed them with some tape
around the pole. Might ruin some of my traction as the tip sort of moves,
but I'm good most of the time anyway.
I've found that if I lack traction, it helps to plant the poles slightly
differently and use the bending of the alu poles to not let the tips slide
away, remain more vertical.

"Chris Crawford" schreef in bericht
ups.com...
Instead of worrying about Al vs. CF, I would take a look at the
transmission of forces at other areas. A couple of recent messages
have mentioned rubber tips. If they exist and fit your poles these
could greatly reduce the high frequency vibrations as well as take care
of traction problems. Even if they wear out quickly I would try these
if I could find something to fit my poles. The second area you might
want to look at is the strap. Force is applied via the strap onto the
hand (assuming you are not really gripping the handle too much). More
or less elasticicity in the strap webbing and/or padding in the hand
area and gloves would act as a shock absorber for the higher impulse
shocks of the tip hitting the road. In sum - go with rubber tips and
wear a glove with some sort of extra padding under the area loaded by
the strap.

Regards,
Chris

Hmmmmmm, if both aluminum and carbon composite poles are implicated in
shock absorbing problems via carbide pole tips striking asphalt I am
wondering if someone could design a cheap elastomer insert between the
tip and pole to reduce vibration? Would function same as rubber,
although probably too expensive for consideration. This leads then to
a strap with webbing reinforced with high rebound gel or similar
material (viscose elastic?) to absorb the shocks. Would love to see
Swix or someone come out with better pole straps. Only problem, the
form fitting straps supplied on higher end poles would indeed yank me
on my butt and probably twist my shoulder if I wedge a pole in a road
crack......already been there and done that!

What is the general consensus on the best pole then? One that bends
and is springy, or one that is stiff?

I don't like aluminum poles for RSing. I agree that they transmit much more
of the shock than the CF poles do.

MOO,
Matt

"nordvind" wrote in message
oups.com...
Finally have broken enough rocks in my chain gang and saved enough
pennies to purchase new rollerskis. Talked to Jamie at NordicSkater
and found out that Jenex has pulled the microcellular tires for their
V2 100's off the market. They are re-designing them to last longer.
Jamie is offering the rollerskis with solid rubber tires as a
substitute. Question, has anyone tried the ski with the rubber wheels?
What did you think of the difference versus the microcellular tires?

Additionally, I don't like the jolt that aluminum rollerski poles
transmit through my entire arm- I have an aggressive pole plant. What
pole would work better: carbon/fiberglass or fiberglass, or something
else?

"Travis" wrote in message
oups.com...
More like the Common MISCONCEPTION in cycling is that aluminum is stiff
and harsh. Any material can be overbuilt and transmit road vibration
to the rider. (Try riding some early carbon frames sometime if you
want harshness.) This myth started mostly because of early overbuilt
Cannondale frames. (Vitus frames from the 80's, on the other hand,
were very wimpy.)
Back on topic: The pole material is less important than the particular
pole model. Poles are obviously made for snow usage and aren't made
with roadshock dampening in mind. I find poles that are slightly soft
for snow use work well on the road. Also a smooth "powerful yet
consistant" pole plant is key when rollerskiing to avoid jarring the
the arm joints.

Funny how the Jenex site dosen't mention anything about the tire recall
in it's latest "news update"...typical I'm afraid.....


It maybe a generalization, but certainly not a misconception. Aluminum by
nature is less forgiving than say, steel. Having had many bikes, including
Easton and Kinesis aluminum, Reynolds steel, metal matrix and various
flavors of titanium, I can only speak from experience, and how numb my ass
gets from a four hour xc ride on an aluminum rig, whereas less so on steel,
carbon fiber or ti.