Grabby Edges

[Sky]

I had my Volkls tuned @ the mountain last week and scored the best race times of my season. I noticed the skis seemd a bit outer) edge grabby, but figured it was just the super tune...and "maybe" the tips needed to be "de-tuned" a bit.

Last night after racing, we free-skied a few runs and I quit early because it felt very strange...like my outside edges wanted to grab. I checked to see if I had snow under my boot, causing an "alignment" issue, but there was nothing there.

I'm taking the skis back to the shop for a look...but was curious if anyone ever experienced a similar sensation.

Thanks

Sky

 

[JimG.]

I had my Volkls tuned @ the mountain last week and scored the best race times of my season. I noticed the skis seemd a bit outer) edge grabby, but figured it was just the super tune...and "maybe" the tips needed to be "de-tuned" a bit.

Last night after racing, we free-skied a few runs and I quit early because it felt very strange...like my outside edges wanted to grab. I checked to see if I had snow under my boot, causing an "alignment" issue, but there was nothing there.

I'm taking the skis back to the shop for a look...but was curious if anyone ever experienced a similar sensation.

Thanks

Sky

Sounds like your skis got a bad tune...probably railed (the base is ground too low relative to the edges). Bring them back for a regrind and hand tune the edges.

I hate that railed feeling and it's one of the reasons I add an extra degree or two of bevel to the edges.

 

[Sky]

...probably railed

I was thinking the same thing.

Thanks pal...I'll let you know how it works out.

Thinking of going up tomorrow AM (on the way to work).

 

[Greg]

Is this the first time you've experience excessive outer-edge grab? If not, it's possible you need to have your boot soles planed and properly canted. When Jeff did my boots, I found that the fore/aft alignments and canting (via boot planing) had as much of a significant effect to my skiing position as did the custom footbeds. The goal is to have perfectly flat skis when standing in a normal relaxed skiing position. Most people are either bow-legged or knock-kneed a bit so this is not always the default result without any canting. Improper (or no) canting can lead to catching an edge, especially after a fresh tune. Something to consider if this happens after subsequent tunes...

 

[Sky]

Is this the first time you've experience excessive outer-edge grab?

Yes, this is the first time I've ever experienced this. I thought "Alignment" immediately...but it must be something to do with the tune as I've never felt it before in my life...only "read" about it.

Like I said...I'll have it looked at tomorrow (or tonight if I can get out of the house).

I was just carving up a storm two weeks ago (prior to the tune) with my son. He hadn't seen me ski for a very long time and was very impressed with my new-found skills. So I'm confident it's the tune.

 

[JimG.]

Is this the first time you've experience excessive outer-edge grab? If not, it's possible you need to have your boot soles planed and properly canted. When Jeff did my boots, I found that the fore/aft alignments and canting (via boot planing) had as much of a significant effect to my skiing position as did the custom footbeds. The goal is to have perfectly flat skis when standing in a normal relaxed skiing position. Most people are either bow-legged or knock-kneed a bit so this is not always the default result without any canting. Improper (or no) canting can lead to catching an edge, especially after a fresh tune. Something to consider if this happens after subsequent tunes...

What Sky is feeling is way less subtle than a bad alignment. It literally feels as though the skis are on a track and you can't get them off it. Makes turn initiation almost impossible without blatant upward motion, a real bad feeling.

 

[Sky]

a real bad feeling.

You said it brotha!

 

[RISkier]

I had my Volkls tuned @ the mountain last week and scored the best race times of my season. I noticed the skis seemd a bit outer) edge grabby, but figured it was just the super tune...and "maybe" the tips needed to be "de-tuned" a bit.

Last night after racing, we free-skied a few runs and I quit early because it felt very strange...like my outside edges wanted to grab. I checked to see if I had snow under my boot, causing an "alignment" issue, but there was nothing there.

I'm taking the skis back to the shop for a look...but was curious if anyone ever experienced a similar sensation.

Thanks

Sky

My wife and I just got back from a trip. We both had our skis "tuned" at a local shop prior to leaving and we we're both complaining about how poorly they skied the first day. We took them to a shop and said we thought the tunes were bad. They skied great the next day. You can definately get bad tunes.

 

[Starter Jackets Rule!]

What brand of skis are you running?
Most racers run a 3/4-1 deg. base bevel and a 2-3 deg side bevel.
(I run a 3/4-3 bevel on almost all my skis).

if you are running the gates on a pair of Atomic skis you must matain a 1-3 bevel!
What I have found most if not all shops run a 1-1 deg. bevel on thier stock tunes.
Another thought if your outside edeges are grabbing, it sounds like the shop tec did not debur the edeges.
When you get around to bringing your skis back.
Have the tec run a true bar down the base and pay attention to the gap along the edeges.
a base high ski will also feel hooky and make it hard to make a clean entrance and exit of the turn.
base high will feel almost like the ski wants to skid out and you might also notice that you will have to set a high edege angle just to get the ski to turn.
Good luck and in the future get a hold of a set or two of dimond stones and run them starting at the tip and ending, in overlaping strokes to the tail.
this will matain the sharpest edege and remove any burrs that might make your skis feel hooky.

 

[Starter Jackets Rule!]

What brand of skis are you running?
Most racers run a 3/4-1 deg. base bevel and a 2-3 deg side bevel.
(I run a 3/4-3 bevel on almost all my skis).

if you are running the gates on a pair of Atomic skis you must matain a 1-3 bevel!
What I have found most if not all shops run a 1-1 deg. bevel on thier stock tunes.
Another thought if your outside edeges are grabbing, it sounds like the shop tec did not debur the edeges.
When you get around to bringing your skis back.
Have the tec run a true bar down the base and pay attention to the gap along the edeges.
a base high ski will also feel hooky and make it hard to make a clean entrance and exit of the turn.
base high will feel almost like the ski wants to skid out and you might also notice that you will have to set a high edege angle just to get the ski to turn.
Good luck and in the future get a hold of a set or two of dimond stones and run them starting at the tip and ending, in overlaping strokes to the tail.
this will matain the sharpest edege and remove any burrs that might make your skis feel hooky.

(Duhhh volkis, my bad).

 

[Sky]

I bought a diamond edge tool with a variable (dial-able) angle. I checked with the tech regarding edge angle...2 for Volkl.

As fo base edge...not sure one is applied to my ski but I'll look.

All better after they "de-tuned" or deburred, or whatever they did. Super sweet.