Curves/tuners/ B-strum tripples head to head

[yamadoo]

Well guys I ended up with 2010 Vectors 121 with tuners and studs, LTX with Curves (came on the sled) and my old Apex with bergstrum tripples. Not exactly head to head but after some seat time my conclusions for what they are worth.

All three reduce darting compared to stock. Best is tight and condition dependent -Curves and Tuners , Tripples helped as well but not as much.

Turns and carving is most improved in snow with the Curves hands down, on Ice is real tight between all three -I set up the tuners 11s6in and 11R4out so aggressive, tripples were 8s and I think 6 inch under the curves.

Deep snow...........Curves no doubt.

So overall what would I suggest? (based on this simple seat of the pants comparison)

If you ride in snow - Curves, Icy hard pack trails your pick.

I am sure others have different oppinions, this is just what I thought after riding all of them over more than a thousand miles - switching on and off sleds. In retrospect for 230$ those tuners are tough to beat, but dollars aside the Curves are real nice.

My two cents.
Yamadoo

 

[steiner]

Can't believe you didn't include the 20 miles of SnowTrackers in this head to head comparrison.

JK

I have used Bergstromm's tripple points with shim and Ski Saver combo on a stock ski. No darting and great control on ice and pavement.
Found the your Tuners quite trail friendly but required a little more muscle to turn than what I'm use to.

 

[Irv]

Well guys I ended up with 2010 Vectors 121 with tuners and studs, LTX with Curves (came on the sled) and my old Apex with bergstrum tripples. Not exactly head to head but after some seat time my conclusions for what they are worth.

All three reduce darting compared to stock. Best is tight and condition dependent -Curves and Tuners , Tripples helped as well but not as much.

Turns and carving is most improved in snow with the Curves hands down, on Ice is real tight between all three -I set up the tuners 11s6in and 11R4out so aggressive, tripples were 8s and I think 6 inch under the curves.

Deep snow...........Curves no doubt.

So overall what would I suggest? (based on this simple seat of the pants comparison)

If you ride in snow - Curves, Icy hard pack trails your pick.

I am sure others have different oppinions, this is just what I thought after riding all of them over more than a thousand miles - switching on and off sleds. In retrospect for 230$ those tuners are tough to beat, but dollars aside the Curves are real nice.

My two cents.
Yamadoo

Great review Yamadoo, thanks

My current set up is Curve skis and 8" Bergstrom Triple Points with ski savers and I can honestly say this combo is Awesome!!

I have zero darting and it rails like a dream!

Very happy and would recommend this combo to anyone

 

[yamadoo]

Stiener is right and I forgot my time on his sled.

I did some miles on his snowtrackers and they are the BEST on not darting on hard pack. I almost completely forgot, guess I was just thinking of my families sleds.

I rode his sled- that is just really dialed -in for some miles 10-20 trail miles and some lake blasts in Manitoba and the snow trackers were awesome.

Irv

I am sure the Curve / tripple /saver and shim combo is awesome.

So in summary we have many options for improvement- all work and it is a personal preference depending on trails, your riding style what will work best for you.

As my old boss used to say, "You pays your money and takes your pick."

 

[Irv]

Stiener is right and I forgot my time on his sled.

I did some miles on his snowtrackers and they are the BEST on not darting on hard pack. I almost completely forgot, guess I was just thinking of my families sleds.

I rode his sled- that is just really dialed -in for some miles 10-20 trail miles and some lake blasts in Manitoba and the snow trackers were awesome.

Irv

I am sure the Curve / tripple /saver and shim combo is awesome.
So in summary we have many options for improvement- all work and it is a personal preference depending on trails, your riding style what will work best for you.

As my old boss used to say, "You pays your money and takes your pick."

Couldn't get the shims in there Yamadoo. I tried both sizes and both were too thick.
I also have new Curve rubbers and since they are so hard/rigid/solid, there is no give in them to install the shims that Bergstrom gave me (1/2" & 3/8's)

I went a head and installed them without and when comparing them after setting the machine back on the ground (with the original ones) they set back further, and the front part of the Triple Point is not touching and that is all I was hoping to achieve with the shims.

Definitely an expensive combo, but if both last as long as I am hearing, then it will be money well spent imo.

 

[Curve Industries]

Thank you for the write up Yamadoo! It's always nice to get an opinion with a back to back comparison as opposed to one with no comparison.

I would like to direct anyone with a new Apex - 2011 and up to read this thread started by Daranello who has been a diehard Curve customer for a while now:

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ight=curve

He had some trouble swapping skis from his XTX to his new Apex due to our rubbers not being a perfect fit on the new spindle.

I will apologize in advance for what seems like a lack of concern for his problems. I'm the only one at Curve who handles the forum postings and on multiple occasions in the thread I was less than responsive due to my geographical location! Hah - Maybe this is why most companies stay away from direct forum interaction. All jokes aside, we do our very best for you guys and it really disappoints me when we unintentionally leave a great customer hanging like that.

In short, our solution on the newer Apex is to either use the OEM rubber with a shim as we've done on Ski-Doo in the past or use a 3/16" shim under the back of our rubber to gain the heel pressure you're looking for.

We haven't seen the new Viper up close but we're hoping it's the same hardware as the Procross ;-)

- Sean