2022 Sidewinder ltx eps - getting rid of push

[Richard Hodgins]

I have a new to me 22 LTX GT eps that I am trying to get rid of push. Might need to switch skis up. Am running 12” offset carbides from qualipiece and a lot of weight on front skis plus normal suspension adjustments that I do. Will need to start testing other combos but I had hoped these Stryke skis would be better. My last sled was a 2019 xf9000 and I had it dialed in with. Pilot 5.7r race skis.

So my question is do I swap skis and to what? I have some pilot 6.9s to try again as well as those 5.7r. I was really hoping the Stryke ski was decent since it’s apparently comparable to a cat ski but so far not feeling it even with big carbides.
I have over 30,000kms on this chassis over the years so am no stranger to making it handle well.
I see some people have swapped to mountain cat ski with deeper keel, how does that compare to a pilot? I have $300 in these carbides already so would be nice to be able to reuse them.

 

[KnappAttack]

Snowtracker Aggressive carbides is the route I'd go.

Has anyone used them on the Strike yet? Hopefully they work better on the Strike ski than the Cat ski. I refuse to run them on the Cat ski, but work really good on any of the Doo skis I know as thats what I currently run.

 

[Upstater57]

I run 9 inch duals on my with cat skis with lots of studs. I don't see much of a push until the carbides wear out ( usually 3K miles give or take )

 

[Richard Hodgins]

Snowtracker Aggressive carbides is the route I'd go.

Has anyone used them on the Strike yet? Hopefully they work better on the Strike ski than the Cat ski. I refuse to run them on the Cat ski, but work really good on any of the Doo skis I know as thats what I currently run.

I’m not a snow tracker guy. Tried agressive on cat skis on my last sled, almost killed myself! Sled rolled when ski caught going sideways and broke my shoulder when I flew off . Don’t want to get in a debate over them since I know some people love them but it’s not for my style riding that’s for sure. I always appreciate your feedback regardless.

I think I may try the 6.9s I have again. Or the 5.7r at this point.

 

[KnappAttack]

I’m not a snow tracker guy. Tried agressive on cat skis on my last sled, almost killed myself! Sled rolled when ski caught going sideways and broke my shoulder when I flew off . Don’t want to get in a debate over them since I know some people love them but it’s not for my style riding that’s for sure. I always appreciate your feedback regardless.

I think I may try the 6.9s I have again. Or the 5.7r at this point.

I love the Trackers, but HATE them on a Cat ski. They are just way too unstable on the Cat ski.

Doo skis are nothing special without the Snowtrackers IMO. In fact they tend to push on the dual keels of the 5.7 and the 6.9. I have about 15,000 miles or more on my original set of Aggressive's on the Doo skis on my current Winder. Been thru 2 sets of correctors and in need right now of the 3rd set of correctors.

 

[Mototown]

With the strike ski , aggressive snow trackers, then back off or tighten center spring until you are comfortable. Had the non aggressive snow trackers they pushed when riding fast .if you are not fast trail rider the regular snow trackers will work fine .

 

[KnappAttack]

With the power steering, aggressive snow trackers, then back off or tighten center spring until you are comfortable.

I run a center spring so light on the front arm it only holds the retainer on with a regular LTX-LE. Trying to do this on tuner skis make for extremely hard steering on tuner skis! Snow tracker steer easily however, never understood why people up the front arm spring pressure. If the correctors are good on the snow trackers, it will steer easily and not dart. Worn correctors and it will dart and steer hard.

 

[Richard Hodgins]

I love the Trackers, but HATE them on a Cat ski. They are just way too unstable on the Cat ski.

Doo skis are nothing special without the Snowtrackers IMO. In fact they tend to push on the dual keels of the 5.7 and the 6.9. I have about 15,000 miles or more on my original set of Aggressive's on the Doo skis on my current Winder. Been thru 2 sets of correctors and in need right now of the 3rd set of correctors.

OK that makes sense, they were on cat skis!
I'm curious if there is that much difference between the CAT, Stryke and 5.7R skis? They are all single keel and quite similar widths. I just dont understand how the 5.7R is that much better, I thought it was a clone of a C&A ski. The regular 5.7 and 6.9 are obviously way different with the raised outer keel.

 

[KnappAttack]

There is nothing special about the Doo race ski no. It's just a single keel ski, but works better than the dual keel Doo skis with the Snowtrackers.

I have not tried or seen a snow tracker on a Strike ski to see how it works or if its the same as an actual Cat ski. All I know is the Cat ski & snow trackers are nothing I'd run. I had them on an 1100 turbo once and thought them to be very unstable. Also had a clients sled here (Cat 9000 with snowtrackers and thought them to be ver unstable). I had a death grip on the bars and was still worried about crashing. He later installed Doo skis and SnowTrackers on his 9000 and had no more instability problems.

I believe the snow trackers sit too far forward on the cat ski myself, making them very unstable. I hope snow trackers work much better on the stryke ski than they do the cat ski.

 

[NYTurbo]

I’ve ran semi aggressive on cat skis for close to 10 years now. If trail are very loose they will push a bit but very stable other wise. One hand steering on the straight always without even thinking about it at speeds u probably should have 2 hands on the bar. Lol

 

[jonlafon1]

Semi on cats also. Very predictable and awesome on hard pack.. I get a very SLIGHT push on loose snow.. gave up on the Yamaha skis. Switched over the 2022 to cats and semis after giving the Stryke skis a season.

 

[journeyman]

The Skis I really liked on my SW were the SLP Mohawks. Had no darting and they turned on a dime. SLP developed that ski on the Pro Cross chassis. They are fairly wide so they float well too.

I have never heard anyone trying these, a totally different sled, but the skis that work like no other on an Apex are the Simmons Flexi ski. I have wondered how they would work on a SW?

 

[Erskin]

I have a new to me 22 LTX GT eps that I am trying to get rid of push. Might need to switch skis up. Am running 12” offset carbides from qualipiece and a lot of weight on front skis plus normal suspension adjustments that I do. Will need to start testing other combos but I had hoped these Stryke skis would be better. My last sled was a 2019 xf9000 and I had it dialed in with. Pilot 5.7r race skis.

So my question is do I swap skis and to what? I have some pilot 6.9s to try again as well as those 5.7r. I was really hoping the Stryke ski was decent since it’s apparently comparable to a cat ski but so far not feeling it even with big carbides.
I have over 30,000kms on this chassis over the years so am no stranger to making it handle well.
I see some people have swapped to mountain cat ski with deeper keel, how does that compare to a pilot? I have $300 in these carbides already so would be nice to be able to reuse them.

You said normal suspension adjustments.. did you pull your limiter straps up any from stock setting? I've always had to pull mine 2 holes to get any decent bite regardless of what i was using for runners

 

[ryama]

I run the aggressive on Cat ski's and have not seen the issue some of the other posters are speaking of. I love them, and they have made my Sidewinder a much more pleasant ride. I also bought the stiffer center spring and have taken a lot of weight off the ski's.

 

[1nc 2000]

The Skis I really liked on my SW were the SLP Mohawks. Had no darting and they turned on a dime. SLP developed that ski on the Pro Cross chassis. They are fairly wide so they float well too.

I have never heard anyone trying these, a totally different sled, but the skis that work like no other on an Apex are the Simmons Flexi ski. I have wondered how they would work on a SW?

I run the SLP Mohawk skis on my sidewinder.
Excellent ski for the UP type of riding.