replacing my Experience 88s

After skiing on Monday at Sunday River, I took my skis downstairs for the first hand tune of the year. Last month they had all gone to the shop for a stone grind. As I went to check out the bases, I realize the end is near. After the last stone grind, the base is worn out to the point where you can see on the metal teeth from the edges. It'll ski okay for now, but it will never see another stone grind.

These skis are my 2012 Rossignol Experience 88s in 178cm. I absolutely adore these skis and they have been my go-to ski for when I don't know what to expect. From my first run on them, I knew I wanted a pair.

So... what do I replace them with? Since I purchase these skis, my quiver has changed over and evolved. I'm looking for something that makes sense within the context of my current options and likely upcoming replacements. My new purchase should functionally complement:

2015 Nordica NRGY 100 (177 cm) -- picked up this summer after a demo day. planning to use it for an all-mountain ski when the ungroomed trails are in play and the surface is not bullet proof
2014 K2 Rictor 82 XTi (177 cm) -- current frontside / groomer ski
2014 Liberty Sequence (182 cm) -- tree / glades ski for light powder or the day after a storm. very playful / slashy twin tip
2013 Fischer Big Stix 110 (186 cm) -- powder ski, twin tip

After putting getting a few core shots and having to repair the edge, I had been using my E88 as a rock ski and the weapon of choice on the chalky, wind packed / scoured conditions that I encounter frequently. They were really good with junk snow and spring conditions that transitioned from frozen granular to mashed potatoes. I live in central New England, ski mostly northern NH on the weekend, week night ski at Crotched, and occasionally will venture elsewhere.

I am currently thinking about getting a dedicated frontside ski The Rictor 82s can handle the refrozen / scoured junk snow role and are soft enough to be okay in the bumps. The NRGY 100s could do crud and spring conditions. This would leave me looking to replace my powder skis next year.

How often did you stone grind the E88's are not that old.


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dlague said:

How often did you stone grind the E88's are not that old.


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They have a lot of days on them. Got them ground about every 2 months, so probably 12-15 grinds total. The place where the edge tooth is coming through is in an area where I impacted the edge. I had to go to several shops before I found one that would attempt a repair since most shops want nothing to do with edge repairs. They straightened out the edge and used metal grid / p-tex well to fill the base around it. The next weekend out the base repair came out. I then went in and flatted down those teeth as much as possible and did an epoxy repair. The epoxy repair has held up better, but the teeth were not 100% flat.

After a full season and then some, we're facing that issue again. I could try pulling the epoxy repair and flattening things out again, but I am fighting a losing battle here. I am lucky to have gotten so long out of the skis after most shops wanted to declare them dead.

Seems to me you have just about every condition covered with the four pair even if you didn't replace the E88.

If that lineup were mine and I really wanted another pair, I'd probably be looking for a knife blade in the mid-70 waist range or lower for boiler plate days where there is nothing to do but hammer groomers. There are days at Wildcat where something like this I'd think would be great fun:

https://www.ski-depot.com/products/2015/fischer-worldcup-rc-wbindings-race-skis-2015

I've never demoed any Icelantic carving skis, but I've really liked their all-mountain skis. I'm thinking about the Nomad RKR SKNY or Pilgrim SKNY.

Why not just get a new E88?

yeggous said:

They have a lot of days on them. Got them ground about every 2 months, so probably 12-15 grinds total...... The epoxy repair has held up better, but the teeth were not 100% flat.
.

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why do you need to grind them so often?
ski bases only 1.4 mm thick. This is not much to begin with.
edges is hardened steel ones bend up difficult to impossible imo to make them straight. teeth also hardened steel and very easy to break off.... Should replace section of the edges

+1. Base grinds are like 1 possibly 2x a season if that. Don't forget, it's the skier, not the skis.

yeggous,
+1 marcski & others....it's not difficult job to do it all yourself.
Machining will hit on your bases every time. Most maintenance is edge maintenance(to the sides most often = sharpening) without touching bases....

Base grinding aside, how often do you touch your base edge? And with what? I've been lightly going at it with a medium grit diamond stone after each weekend.


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Nothing special..usually check the base bevel...if they measure okay..maybe light stoning but start with medium->sharp ...for sides = file/stone the side edges. There's most always some dulling...I start with the heavier file then goto lighter file...then on to the stones...always go med-to-fine(~3-4(or 5) diff grits), every skiday...it's often needed at Sugarloaf. Getting edges really sharp helps. There's always a bit of moisture=ice, however little, in the air and snow...both manmade and natural stuff.
$.01...