Initial Tuning of New Atomics

[madskier6]

I'm buying new Atomic Metron B5s (from an internet supplier) in the next few days and will be having the bindings mounted and the skis tuned. I have read the previous AZ thread on the subject of new skis and tuning:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/6593-do-new-skis-need-tuned.html

I have some follow-up questions:

1) Other than the 1-3 edge issue (as compared to the 1-2 edge), do Atomics have any other unique characteristics that I should be aware of for tuning?

2) I have heard that Metrons have unique tuning requirements (even compared with other Atomics). Does anyone know about this and can you provide any specifics?

3) I'm having Atomic Neox 412 bindings mounted on the B5s. Are there any special mounting requirements (i.e. mount location or anything else) that I should know about? I realize that any authorized Atomic dealer should know about these issues but since I'm making a pretty large investment to buy the skis, I don't want something to happen that could have been prevented.

3) Anything else I should know about proper treatment of new skis?

BTW, I've gotten different advice re: the need to tune new skis. One shop (in the Killington area) said that while it is not necessary, it is a good practice to ensure good performance out of the box. Another shop (also from K-Mart) advised me that it was not necessary and coming from the factory, the skis already have the best tune they are ever going to have. What do people think of this? Thanks for any assistance.

 

[trailertrash]

Another shop (also from K-Mart) advised me that it was not necessary and coming from the factory, the skis already have the best tune they are ever going to have. What do people think of this? Thanks for any assistance.

From what I hear this is not true. I have heard that ski factories do not have the capability to insure a high accuracy when it comes to edge angeles. If you have the tools go to any shop take a random ski off the wall and measure the edge angles compare to what the manufacturer says they are. I doubt they will be. The best tuner in NE is Mike D at Summit Ski and Sport. Don't believe me? Try him. Rosie Fletcher did.

 

[Bumpsis]

I'm buying new Atomic Metron B5s (from an internet supplier) in the next few days and will be having the bindings mounted and the skis tuned. I have read the previous AZ thread on the subject of new skis and tuning:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/6593-do-new-skis-need-tuned.html

I have some follow-up questions:

1) Other than the 1-3 edge issue (as compared to the 1-2 edge), do Atomics have any other unique characteristics that I should be aware of for tuning?

2) I have heard that Metrons have unique tuning requirements (even compared with other Atomics). Does anyone know about this and can you provide any specifics?

3) I'm having Atomic Neox 412 bindings mounted on the B5s. Are there any special mounting requirements (i.e. mount location or anything else) that I should know about? I realize that any authorized Atomic dealer should know about these issues but since I'm making a pretty large investment to buy the skis, I don't want something to happen that could have been prevented.

3) Anything else I should know about proper treatment of new skis?

.

Be sure to stay under 55mph for the first 500 miles. Best yet, stay out of that 5th gear all together and do that first oil change after 2000 miles.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

I do all my own tunes, so i took my new M10's and made sure 1 and 3 were set and then ran a tru bar over the base to make sure they were flat (they were) if they werent i'd take em to the shop and get a grind...

 

[andyzee]

Can't answer your questions, but I did demo that ski this past Saturday. Dynomite ski, enjoy!

 

[PowderDeprived]

My Atomic Izor 7.5's came with a pretty decent edge on them from the factory, but didn't really have any wax. I would assume that most skis should come from the factory with a square edge, so if you want a side edge bevel, you would want to get them tuned from the start.

If the edges are a little dull you should be fine for the rest of this season, You can only tune a ski so many times before you run out of edge material. Ski on them a few days and tune them, unless you race or want to ski some grade A boilerplate.

 

[kbroderick]

If the edges are a little dull you should be fine for the rest of this season, You can only tune a ski so many times before you run out of edge material. Ski on them a few days and tune them, unless you race or want to ski some grade A boilerplate.

Unless you've got access to a GrindRite, are hitting rocks and then trying to get the edge back to like-new condition on a regular basis, or ski a whole friggin' lot, running out of edge material should not be an issue. Tuning does remove material from the edges, but most retail skis have plenty of edge and are much more likely to become obsolete than to run out of edge material. The only skis I've ever seen actually run out of edge belonged to a racer who had been using them for multiple years and was on snow a lot (i.e. more than anyone with a full-time job would likely be able to be) while also keeping them razor-sharp.

Personally, I prefer to have sharp skis whenever possible; even in softer snow, you can reduce the edge pressure by adjusting your technique but you sure can't make the edge sharper the same way. (With that said, I've been skiing on skis with nearly-destroyed edges for a couple of weeks now as I've been doing a lot of playing on less-covered stuff and don't want to risk my good skis, so you probably could get away with dull skis; it's just those refrozen iceflows that could be nasty.) I'd also recommend tuning any new pair of skis before use, but I'm an ex-racer and that probably affects my opinion.

 

[PowderDeprived]

Yeah, the idea of tuning is just to sharpen, and hone the edges, and reove just a trace ammount of material. Although, you can bur edges up pretty badly when things get thin, and that requires filing away more mettal.

My skis, came with a decent edge, they weren't razor sharp but rather than shell out 20-40 bucks to get a tune, I skied on them for a few days, let then get dull and then tuned them.

With the east coast beeing the "ice coast" there are days I won 't even think of going out with dull edges, I am probably going to buy a file guide and tune my own skis, because I am tired of shelling out 40 bucks for a fulll tune, or 25 bucks for a quick tune.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

www.tognar.com has everything you need to get tuning at home

 

[PowderDeprived]

I hear tognar is great, local shops allwasyse charge to much for ski tools. I have seen peoople charging 30 bucks for a freaking plexiglass scraper.

 

[marcski]

I'm a less is more type of guy, as long as you have some sharp edges when there is ice. Other than that..if you've got a new pair of boards....let 'em rip, man.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

Tognar really is great,,,,I;ve been getting all my stuff from them for 3yrs now,,their tech help over the phone is awesome....you wont find better....yes, its an initial investment, but over the long haul you'll save a ton of cash,,,,nothing like tuning skis late at night with a few cold ones and ESPN on,,,,,,

 

[PowderDeprived]

I pretty much just need to get a ski grade bastard file, file guide, side wall planer, gummy stone, and a cheapo Iron for wax. I allready have a belt sander, and lots of other tools that could be occasionaly usefull so I will start tuning my own next season.