Snow studs double down carbides for Slydog skis - Review

[kinger]

After going through 4 shaper bars I had enough of them and I needed a beefier carbide. I left a message for bergstrom and CB performance but they never called me back. I went to ebay and found the site johnmaster dot com and found they sell a dual carbide for the slydog ski from snow studs. I had never heard of these. I wasn't a huge fan of the woodies duals but I did like not darting and was ready to give up some push for 100% elimination of darting with these snow studs. We shall see what happens after tommorrow.

Old shaper bars all 4 looked like this! (click to enlarge)


The snow studs have some unique features for the dual first, 1/2" host bars are BEEFY no bending here. 2nd they space the bars out 1.5" from each other so rocks, ice, snow, etc cant get in between and get stuck like I have had happen on woodies Dually's.

Last the 1/8" thick back plate is like having a ski saver all in one. Plus they were only $100 for the 6" duals.

The spacing is what I am most impressed with I think it will be a cross between a dual and a simmons ski with a medium increase in steering, but no pushing in corners.

I will post the ride review after I get back from tommorrows trip, which will be on ALL hardpack and dart prone conditons.

Just getting them installed I am impressed. Downside is they weigh about 3 times as much as the shaper but if they last so be it!

Pictures dont show it well but they come right flush to the same width as the keel of the slydogs and do not stick out past the keel like it sort of looks like in the picture. The white keel is hard to see. They looks like they were meant to be there in real life.

 

[BombaPolaYama]

Interesting. I like the fact that you don't have to add a ski saver with these carbides. Too bad they don't extend right to the tip of the ski to protect that part of the keel - looks like that part of your keel is getting damaged wheras the outside of the ski ridges look good. I must say I have had the Studboys for two full seasons about 6000 Km and they are holding up good. Did your shaper bars sit right in the channel on the keel when installed with the ski savers or were they higher and more exposed to damage?

Hope they work well, look forward to your ride report.

 

[kinger]

one word AWESOME!!! 85 miles it didn't dart ONCE not even thinking of following someone elses rut. I am in love with the sled all over again. Its SOOOO nice to not have to fight it!

Highly reccomended!!!

 

[kinger]

Just a follow up - I will have to wait to review pushing till I get on a better trail and more miles but from what I noticed I thought they bit hard. In fact on a snow packed parking lot I thought I would just do a left right left turn like the nascar boys when warming up the tires, normally she skids and pushes a bit, these things grabbed and I almost went right over it!

That is not a good test though so I will follow up with more miles.

I thought they did a excellent job on pavement it was like i had wheels! Easy to steer and it went right in and out of gas pumps with ease.

I hit a rock and it didn't even notice it.

They never filled up with snow or anything and I didn't notice any top end speed loss.

I'll keep this thread going once then get 1000+ miles on them we can see if they are worth it.

So far I'm very impressed, more so then I was with any shaper bars.

 

[bjowett]

I have not used the Double Downs, but have been using their Magnum runners and Top Dawg Studs for several seasons. They are showing minimal wear given mileage and conditions.

 

[Tabor Rider 973]

My Double Downs will be here on Thursday.I'm putting them on an 05 RS Venture. Liked Woody's but not the push in the corners with the long track being hard to turn from tracking straight.Shimmed my ski's when I had single 6 in carbides,turned like on rails but with excessive effort and lots of darting. Will post about new Double Downs.

 

[kinger]

Cool let us know! I friggen love them!

 

[Tabor Rider 973]

They arrived on Friday probably a day late due to the wild weather. Just got back from a trip to Boston for a Celtics game. Having a beer watching another 8-10 inches of Global Warming pile up!E-mail updates were spot on for ship dates and tracking link to UPS sent by Johnmasters was handy.I'll put them on in the A.M. and try them out.

 

[BETHEVIPER]

I do not understand why your stud boys look so bad. Dartless plates will give you the no darting and you wont lose penatration. You are now putting the weight of the sled on a wider keel.
I would also watch out for the studs breaking on those since your keel is curved, the flat part of the carbide is going to want to flex under it and might weaken the welds. I have installed a few sets of cat offset duallies(only duallies that seem to work) on yamaha skis. I run the grinder down them first to flaten the keel down so they wont rock.
will be watching to see what goes on with them. hope they work out for you.

 

[sorenson1610]

I was looking around in a fleet farm today and I stumbled upon these bars. I remember reading this post and you saying how much you liked them and I need a set of bars. So I went in looking for some light bulbs and ended up buying a set of 6" double downs hahaha. Hope they work well, have never used dualies before. They look very stout and durable but time will tell. And the price wasn't bad either, $99 bones.

 

[kinger]

Yep that is what I paid, good luck with them I still cant belive how much I like them.

 

[sorenson1610]

Sweet, ill find out this weekend. Can't wait

 

[sorenson1610]

Well I finally got these bad boys on tonight and had to go try them out to see how they work.

First impression: 08 Nytro RTX with stock ski's and no studs.

They push really bad, really bad. I only had 4" bars on before and they held a line much better but also had bad ski lift. These just push through the corners until they hit a berm. But this is with limited time on them and the conditions are pretty warm and snow is soft. I did pull the front strap down one hole and that did help a little, but it still doesn't bit all that great. Other then that, they handled pretty well. Zero darting and light steering pressure. I can steer on concrete haha and man are these things built! Stout and ready for abuse! Really interested in how they will last or how they will not wear out.

Im not totally ruling these out yet, I only put about 20 or so miles on just dinking around testing them out. I'm riding all day tomorrow so that will put them to the test. I'll keep you posted.

 

[kinger]

Update for me about 300 miles on them now and in soft snow they do push a bit, in hardpack they seem to bite real well. LOVE the no darting and easy steering and durability of them.

A quick tap of the brake will get them to turn when they are pushing.

Overall great carbide, beefy and will eliminate all darting but still push like most duals just not has bad as woodies duallies.

 

[BETHEVIPER]

Kinger, give standard carbides a try on those skis. I have the same ski and have had great handling results with dartless plates made to fit, as for the push, I think it is more of a function of the wide long ski combined with the not so deep keel. This ski doesn't have levels of penetration to hold you sideways, just the depth of the keel.