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#1
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START kick scotch tape?
I found a package of Start's Grip Tape at Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Read and
followed the instructions and got it on my skis in a few minutes. There is a piece of sand paper stuck to the package, used to "abrade" your kick zone. This sandpaper is rather agressive (looks like 80 grit). I used it on an area about 2cm shorter in the back and 4 cm shorter in the front from my usual grip zone. Applying the "tape" was very easy. What it is really is a strip of wax paper backing with some kind of thin gel on it. You apply the tape over the desired area, cut it, press down the backing, remove it and voila, your kick zone is covered with a thin, even, red sticky coat. I tried the "tape" at Mont Orford on Saturday. Temperature was around -10C, hunidity was low, trails were freshly groomed with hard packed granular covered with about 1cm of fresh snow. I went for a 20 km ride and found the tape to work fine on flat and all type of uphills. However, glide was slightly affected. This may be due to the thickness of the tape; I will reduce the front of my kick zone and see if it helps. To compare, I tried other skis with Swix blue and noticed no diffference. Further testing under other temperatures an humidity levels will be required to determine adherence and more kilometers will be required to see if it picks up dirt and how this will affect performance. Right now, it seems to me this will be a good product for recreational skiers if applied and handled properly. The only thing I can be positive about right now is: make sure your grip zones don't touch each other when handling the skis. It is impossible to separate the skis without ruining the tape... I saved the waxed backing: back from skiing, I covered the tape right away, until my next test (which may be tonight, in fresh ungroomed city park snow). JMC P.S. Conditions in Orford where just great last Saturday. They got 60cm a week ago; it poured rain last Thursday, which reduced ground cover by half but turned what survived into a hard packed solid base; a few centimeters fell over that base on Friday. Everybody getting off the trails on Saturday had a big smile up to their ears and sparkle in their eyes! I checked their site this morning: they already received an additional 60cm since yesterday, and it is still snowing!!! |
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#2
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START kick scotch tape?
Was that an online store? Do you have their URL?
"JMC" wrote in message . .. I found a package of Start's Grip Tape at Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Read and followed the instructions and got it on my skis in a few minutes. There is a piece of sand paper stuck to the package, used to "abrade" your kick zone. This sandpaper is rather agressive (looks like 80 grit). I used it on an area about 2cm shorter in the back and 4 cm shorter in the front from my usual grip zone. Applying the "tape" was very easy. What it is really is a strip of wax paper backing with some kind of thin gel on it. You apply the tape over the desired area, cut it, press down the backing, remove it and voila, your kick zone is covered with a thin, even, red sticky coat. I tried the "tape" at Mont Orford on Saturday. Temperature was around -10C, hunidity was low, trails were freshly groomed with hard packed granular covered with about 1cm of fresh snow. I went for a 20 km ride and found the tape to work fine on flat and all type of uphills. However, glide was slightly affected. This may be due to the thickness of the tape; I will reduce the front of my kick zone and see if it helps. To compare, I tried other skis with Swix blue and noticed no diffference. Further testing under other temperatures an humidity levels will be required to determine adherence and more kilometers will be required to see if it picks up dirt and how this will affect performance. Right now, it seems to me this will be a good product for recreational skiers if applied and handled properly. The only thing I can be positive about right now is: make sure your grip zones don't touch each other when handling the skis. It is impossible to separate the skis without ruining the tape... I saved the waxed backing: back from skiing, I covered the tape right away, until my next test (which may be tonight, in fresh ungroomed city park snow). JMC P.S. Conditions in Orford where just great last Saturday. They got 60cm a week ago; it poured rain last Thursday, which reduced ground cover by half but turned what survived into a hard packed solid base; a few centimeters fell over that base on Friday. Everybody getting off the trails on Saturday had a big smile up to their ears and sparkle in their eyes! I checked their site this morning: they already received an additional 60cm since yesterday, and it is still snowing!!! |
#3
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START kick scotch tape?
"revyakin" wrote in message om... Was that an online store? Do you have their URL? It is brick and mortar with 8 stores across Canada; they do have an online store, http://www.mec.ca/Main/home.jsp but I do not think all items are listed. You may have more luck going first to http://www.startex.fi/ENGLISH/maahan...&laji=xcountry to find your local importer, whow you can call for store(s) near you. JMC |
#4
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START kick scotch tape?
revyakin wrote:
: Was that an online store? Do you have their URL? : "JMC" wrote in message . .. : I found a package of Start's Grip Tape at Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Read and : followed the instructions and got it on my skis in a few minutes. : [-- snip --] See www.mec.ca. I did a quick check and the tape does not seem there. The web site list all types of wax as not shippable outside Canada too so i guess you will have to look in the US retailer. Sylvain |
#5
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START kick scotch tape?
"JMC" wrote in message . ..
There is a piece of sand paper stuck to the package, used to "abrade" your kick zone. This sandpaper is rather agressive (looks like 80 grit). I used it on an area about 2cm shorter in the back and 4 cm shorter in the front from my usual grip zone. According to the comments of one (1) skier I talked to, it´s better to make the grip area shorter, up to 10 cm in the front and 5 cm in the back. I tried the "tape" at Mont Orford on Saturday. Temperature was around -10C, hunidity was low, trails were freshly groomed with hard packed granular covered with about 1cm of fresh snow. I went for a 20 km ride and found the tape to work fine on flat and all type of uphills. However, glide was slightly affected. This may be due to the thickness of the tape; I will reduce the front of my kick zone and see if it helps. To compare, I tried other skis with Swix blue and noticed no diffference. The guy had very much a similar opinion, but he commented that above -5C both were better, "clearly equivalent with what I´d get with my usual wax job, better than any sunday skier would get, but obviously not on a par with what any experienced waxer with a decent bag of stuff would". The durability may not live quite up to the advertised 150-250 km, though - but "who ever got more than 50 km on klister?". Further testing under other temperatures an humidity levels will be required to determine adherence and more kilometers will be required to see if it picks up dirt and how this will affect performance. Right now, it seems to me this will be a good product for recreational skiers if applied and handled properly. Yes, the cleaning and abrading, and pressing out any air bubbles are essential for durability. But if the headache of *what* wax to apply, the need to rewax when the conditiosn change, and the messiness of klister are now things of the past for the sunday, the recreational and (for training purposes) the lazy cit racer, the kick tape does seem to, basically, live up to the hype. (The price here is €9.90.) I checked their site this morning: they already received an additional 60cm since yesterday, and it is still snowing!!! You lucky *******:-) Anders |
#6
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START kick scotch tape?
"JMC" wrote in message ... Further testing under other temperatures an humidity levels will be required to determine adherence and more kilometers will be required to see if it picks up dirt and how this will affect performance. Monday: In a foot of loose powder, temp -7C, 77% humidity. I packed my own tracks, about 1,000ft long, on flat terrain and made about a dozen return trips in them. At first, I was more "snowshoeing" than skiing, so grip was not an issue. Once the tracks were packed, I had some back slipping (may be due, to a certain degree, to the imbalance caused by poling into that foot of powder). Tuesday: Same tracks as above, next day, temp -5C, 82% humidity. Grip was perfect, even skiing without poles, but the tape picked up most of the debris blown into the tracks . . . So far, I would say this product is good for touring. However, it will never replace kick-waxing experience and will not last too long in dirty tracks. JMC |
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