First ride on 2006 Apex RTX with Curve skis

[redrx1rkt]

Yesterday, a buddy of mine and I took a ride on Tug Hill. Temps were around 0 degrees, with a nice, firm base and some loose snow on top. My initial impressions of the Curve XS skis...

1.) There is absolutely no darting whatsoever. I have put 18,000+ miles on stock Yamaha skis on my '02 SXR600, '04 RX-1 and my '06 Apex. I have grown used to darting and skittish behavior from those skis in straight-line riding. Those issues are gone. On a straight trail, just sit and hang on. No correction needed.

2. You can't pussyfoot with these skis. Again, with thousands of miles on Yamaha stock skis, I have become accustomed to constantly correcting, and being tentative in turns. I am used to the factory skis sliding at first, then quickly grabbing and turning harder than expected, causing ski lift. Naturally, I have learned to let off the throttle in turns to get the factory skis to grab the snow. Used to doing this, I continue this practice with the Curves. They acted much like the Yamaha factory skis when doing so.

As I grew more confident in the skis, I started accelerating in turns. My Apex did something it has never done before when gassing it in the bends...it turned. And the steering was linear! The harder I cranked the handlebars, the more it turned...no sliding, no grabbing, no twitchiness...the damn sled just turned PREDICTABLY.

I let my buddy with a 2008 Nytro and stock skis ride my sled. He described the handling as "awesome" and it was so smooth in the turns it was "like butter". He beat me in a race again, but that's another story.

On the way back to trailer, I kept riding the Apex harder and harder...and I am not an aggressive rider most of the time like a lot of you guys are! It didnt seem to phaze the skis and sled at all. It was like "come on...is that the most you can do?" Usually, I dont go much more than 45 mph in the turns. When I glanced down at the speedo it always somewhere between 55 and 60 and I had total confidence and great grip at these speeds. I left my buddy and his Nytro RTX is the dust, and he even said he just couldn't keep up.

Bottom line - if darting is an issue, it wont be with the Curve XS skis.

-if you get these skis, they will handle just like the Yamaha factory skis if you pussyfoot and let off the throttle in the turns.

-if you ride aggressively, these skis are just awesome and inspire a tremendous amount of confidence.

-No, I am not a paid sponsor for Curve skis! I paid $460 for them at the Big East show back in October!

 

[Curve Industries]

Thank you for the great review RedRx1! We are happy we could be a part of making your time on the snow that much more enjoyable.

Apologize to your buddies for us - it sounds like they'll be sucking quite a bit of snow dust this year ;-)

- Sean

www.CurveIndustries.com
www.GoProSchools.com

 

[redrx1rkt]

Hi Sean -

I bought the skis directly from you & Nick at the Big East Show! They are everything you claimed them to be! The best part is how smooth and predictable the handling is now, no twitchiness or unpredictable behavior. Also, even with 6" skags, steering effort is on par with my Yamaha skis or maybe even reduced.

Question - My dealer couldnt find the carbides for these skis in their Stud Boy catalog...do you have a part #?

 

[Curve Industries]

Snow Studs model RM8906 is your 6" round bar replacement. Stud Boy also makes round bars if you prefer. I recommend sticking with that 6" round bar combination though. It seems that you are very much enjoying it!

- Sean

www.CurveIndustries.com
www.GoProSchools.com

 

[snowbeast]

Snow Studs model RM8906 is your 6" round bar replacement. Stud Boy also makes round bars if you prefer. I recommend sticking with that 6" round bar combination though. It seems that you are very much enjoying it!

- SeanDid you mean square bar,instead of round bar,the square bar must be just a tad more aggressive than the round,are they not??? I have run the shaper square bar rod in the past and loved them for there bite,sometimes to much bite,but bite they do,and round bars seems to do a good job,just not as sharp as there square counter parts do,just my exsperiance,your skis have me very interested guys,i just wish they were a little cheaper thats all,as i like alot of us have invested alot in our go fast snow scotters!!!

www.CurveIndustries.com
www.GoProSchools.com

 

[Curve Industries]

snowbeast, we've had tremendous success with the round bars on our skis. We use a 4" round on the XP 121, 4" round on the FX Nytro 121 and 6" round on the Apex and Venture. It's just a great all around combo.

We have holiday pricing until the end of the month - free hardware and $10 shipping credit!

- Sean

www.CurveIndustries.com
www.GoProSchools.com

 

[MADDOG24]

What are you running your floats at ?? Just curious, I just got back from my first trip on these skis. Although the darting is all but gone, these skis are REAL hard to steer. Looking for ideas on how to make these work.

 

[redrx1rkt]

Maddog - to be honest, I have never touched the Fox floats since new in 2005. I have never even checked the pressure! I believe they are still set at factory specs, which has been perfect for me for 4+ years now.

The only time I experienced mild darting was on hard packed snow with no loose snow on top. And I stress it was minor, nothing compared to the stock skis.