C&A Pro Ski Users

[journeyman]

Interested in what people are using for a carbide:

Those with shaper bars, were you able to adjust the heavy steering out of the handling? or does it always steer heavy on the front? Would a round bar soften it up or leave you wanting grip?

I have experience with:
-slim jims with 6" carbide
-shaper bar with 6" carbide
-bergstrom triple point with 6" carbide
(each one has its plus/minus)

Searching for the holy grail of carbides.
MS

Not sure what model C&A you have but yes most of them do steer hard. They turn on a dime and don't seem to dart. Probably why the snocross racers really like them.

I ran them back on one of my 2 stroke Yamaha's, worked great in the UP of Michigan with the sugar snow that does not pack. Down in Southern Minnesota the snow is different and I found them very hard to steer.

A buddy had a set that came on his supercharged 2006 Attak. Loved how they turned and never darted but they did wear you out. He had an idea and gave them to me to take to work and I had my machinist buddy mill down about 1/2" off the bottom of the keel. As seen in the above photo C & A tends to use a very deep keel. That made a world of difference, still had all the good traits but did not wear you out as bad.

Just thought I'd share that.

 

[Sevey]

Running Double Downs on Curves this year. Much better than slim Jim’s

The double downs don't look as deep as a slim jim, What did you notice as the defining difference?
MS

 

[Sevey]

Running Double Downs on Curves this year. Much better than slim Jim’s

The double downs don't look as deep as a slim jim, What did you notice as the defining difference?
MS

Not sure what model C&A you have but yes most of them do steer hard. They turn on a dime and don't seem to dart. Probably why the snocross racers really like them.

I ran them back on one of my 2 stroke Yamaha's, worked great in the UP of Michigan with the sugar snow that does not pack. Down in Southern Minnesota the snow is different and I found them very hard to steer.

A buddy had a set that came on his supercharged 2006 Attak. Loved how they turned and never darted but they did wear you out. He had an idea and gave them to me to take to work and I had my machinist buddy mill down about 1/2" off the bottom of the keel. As seen in the above photo C & A tends to use a very deep keel. That made a world of difference, still had all the good traits but did not wear you out as bad.

Just thought I'd share that.

XPT's. They have been on the sled for only 2 seasons.
MS

 

[Sevey]

Yes, Snowtrackers are that good!

I run them on my Doo single keel 5.7race skis on my winder. Still original set of carbides! Correctors have been replaced onece. Well over 10,000 miles on them! Started with them on my old 2009 1200 Doos. Don't think I'll ever wear them out! No darting, no push and easy steering. Get Aggressives!

The aggressives? Reading about them in the past on other skis, users warned off about them being too much.

Interested in the rough parameters of how your SW is set up. Are the front springs relaxed, is the centre shock loose letting the nose settle???
Thanks
MS

 

[KnappAttack]

The aggressives? Reading about them in the past on other skis, users warned off about them being too much.

Interested in the rough parameters of how your SW is set up. Are the front springs relaxed, is the centre shock loose letting the nose settle???
Thanks
MS

Put them on and ride. Set the suspension for ride and handling, no more adjusting trying to lessen steering effort or worry about push. I lessen the load on the front springs by 3 turns from stock on the skis on my LE, and front arm spring is loose and light just holding the retainer on. I like a soft settled ride and lower front end for lower center of gravity to rail corners, and rail it does.

Aggressive are just that, semi-aggressive I wouldn't recommend to anyone other than a slow touring type rider, and I doubt anyone on a wider is just a slow touring rider.

 

[SAB1]

The double downs don't look as deep as a slim jim, What did you notice as the defining difference?
MS

for me the Slim Jim’s were decent until there was 3-4 inches of powder on the pack, then they slid in the tight corners at semi aggressive speeds. The double downs are much better. Perfect, no but much better for me and the hair on my back isn’t up entering tight corners now. I’d love to try Snowtrackers but have not seen them on a machine or in any stores. They are a bit pricey. The other reasons I haven’t tried them is I’ve read some horror stories about them and railroad tracks and there is a warning on the tracker website about rail crossings. Not so concerned about crossing tracks at a road but where I sometimes ride in NH there are rail beds we ride and when oncoming traffic shows up you have to jump a rail and straddle it. That concerns me. Others say they a tough on the trailer guides and I’m in and out of the trailer a lot as we don’t seem to get much local snow anymore.

 

[KnappAttack]

They are no different than any other carbide when it come to trailer guides or rail crossings.

yes they are expensive, and will outlast other carbides 5:1 I’d say.

The horror stories are from guys on apex’s putting their old carbides on the 2011 ski which mounted them further ahead on that 2011 ski. The problem is the bolt pattern was the same as the old ski, but what they didn’t realize is the new 2011 ski the old carbides sat/lead too far to the front of the pivot point on the spindle. When a wear rod has more lead in front than the back of the ski, it will turn all on its own. 55% or more should be behind the spindle centerline, which the 2011 ski did not when using the old pre 2011 carbides on it. This is what caused those riders to crash and put their horror stories on the internet. All had apex’s using old style trackers on the new for the time 2011 ski.

Get the proper carbides for the ski you are using!

 

[SideHogger]

Put them on and ride. Set the suspension for ride and handling, no more adjusting trying to lessen steering effort or worry about push. I lessen the load on the front springs by 3 turns from stock on the skis on my LE, and front arm spring is loose and light just holding the retainer on. I like a soft settled ride and lower front end for lower center of gravity to rail corners, and rail it does.

Aggressive are just that, semi-aggressive I wouldn't recommend to anyone other than a slow touring type rider, and I doubt anyone on a wider is just a slow touring rider.

Semi-aggressives work too. Not a touring rider either. Very tight trails here in Upstate NY. When conditions require it I just dial up more ski pressure and they work perfect. It would be nice to have another Sidewinder with both aggressive and semi to compare with. As I've stated before, just use wheels or buy some ski skins for your trailers and garages. I have to cross railroad tracks every ride and just go slow! Common sense really!