Snow studs double down carbides for Slydog skis - Review

[BombaPolaYama]

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.

Good point, yeah the ski is pretty well flat except for the keel, and just floats/skims over the snow. With the dry, light, soft snow we have here this year there is very little traction or resistance for the ski to push against.

I saw another ski back when I was trying to decide on skis with like a graduated keel set up with three different levels for varying conditions. I believe Powder Pros maybe?

 

[sorenson1610]

A quick update on the double downs..........Rode some saturday morning with some firmer conditions. Worked a little better but overall they pushed too much for me. I ended up going to the local dealer and picking up some 6" round bar roetins. Got the desired bite and confidence to really carve the corners back. They do dart some but I would rather have the sled dance around a little bit then push me into the trees or on coming sleds. Just works out better the way I ride. Not knocking the double downs by any means, just wanted to clarify that. I wanted to give them a try and they didn't suit me, but for the more of a laid back trail rider I feel they would be a better setup.

So anybody looking for set? Mine are up for sale, only about 40ish miles on them.

 

[kinger]

Same update for me the pushing is definitly there, I can tolerate it for now but betheviper I may go to a single again next year and try modified dartless plates.

These fixed the darting, weakness of shaper bars, and easy steering...

But added the push in the corners.

Take some and give some I guess LOL

The hunt continues. I want to make the powderhounds work on trail because they do such a good job off trail.

 

[BombaPolaYama]

Same update for me the pushing is definitly there, I can tolerate it for now but betheviper I may go to a single again next year and try modified dartless plates.

These fixed the darting, weakness of shaper bars, and easy steering...

But added the push in the corners.

Take some and give some I guess LOL

The hunt continues. I want to make the powderhounds work on trail because they do such a good job off trail.

Thanks for the honest reviews. How about the S now Trackers - will they fit the Slydogs? It shouldn't be too difficult to make something similar to the ST's with some heavy duty stainless and some bending and cutting tools.

 

[kinger]

In the US I cannot get snowtrackers and just gave up now. They dont make them for the slydogs but I was hoping to modify them to work. That still seems like a good option.

Dartless is sending me some plates for stock skis and I will play with them to see if they can work on slydogs and if I try a single it will be the snow studs single bars because they are just as beefy as the double downs.

Not sure I care that much the sled is fun to drive right now and if you go through a corner with gas and tapping the brake it will turn and not push all the way across.

 

[Grimm]

...and if you go through a corner with gas and tapping the brake it will turn and not push all the way across.

That's the characteristic that I found with Slydogs, in general, you had to transfer the sled's weight to the front in the corners to get them to bite.

 

[Tabor Rider 973]

The Double Downs seem to push only on initial turn-in. Once I've made the initial turn into the corner they seem to take a line and bite. More ski pressure helps on the R.S. Venture and it is still fairly easy to steer. If I remember when my Woody"s Duallies were new, I seem to think they pushed a little more and steered a little easier. Its a close call. Both good choices to eliminate darting, and I will give the edge to the Double Downs for cornering, as the push is predictable and shorter lived. Be careful snugging up the stud bolts on the Venture as the keel is deep and the studs are marginally long enough.

 

[gotta-b-blue]

900 miles on the Double Downs and Powderhounds this weekend....10x better than the Shaper bars. They did push in soft conditions. Zero darting. I don't carry a ton of speed through the corners anyway because of the way I have my sled set up with the track, studs, and transfer you better be pointed straight when you hit the throttle.

I know there is better stuff out there, but these aren't bad.

 

[BombaPolaYama]

900 miles on the Double Downs and Powderhounds this weekend....10x better than the Shaper bars. They did push in soft conditions. Zero darting. I don't carry a ton of speed through the corners anyway because of the way I have my sled set up with the track, studs, and transfer you better be pointed straight when you hit the throttle.

I know there is better stuff out there, but these aren't bad.

So there is a downside to the Doubledowns then eh! (pun pun)

BTW, why do dual carbides push more than singles - I thought more steel and carbide would= better cornering?

 

[snowbeast]

woody double carbides

well i picked up another apex,the 06 gt,it came with 4" double carbide runners,i think they are woodys,but at any rate,sat. trails were hard packed,and frozen from rain fridaynight,so yes they did not dart much,but later in the day,when more traffic left a bunch of differant type of grooves,it would follow there tracks,and i had a hard time pulling it out of the groove,and yes they pushed way to much for my driving style,as i was only out with the wife,but if i was with the boys i would have been in the woods a couple times,they are now off.

 

[snowbeast]

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.

Hi betheviper,have you given the C&A razor a try,if so what did you think,i may give these a try next year,i drive very agressive,and now have the apex gt 06 and i need something that will rail,not dart to much and float in off trail snow,and of course no top speed loss. thanks pete PS how did houlton cats make out with there demo days after the hard rain we had on friday,we were in caribou friday picking up my apex,and when we came back down it was very wet in the whole County,all the way back to patten,they did groom fridaynight,and it hardened up sat. but still got soft late sat. afternoon.

 

[kinger]

I had the C&A razors and they were awesome on trail I didn't find that they floated well at all off trail.

 

[Tabor Rider 973]

BombaPolaYama,I think that the reason single carbides don't push like doubles is that singles penetrate deeper into the snowpack. The dual set-up displaces weight onto two runners and any plate in-between .Also when you turn there is a relief cut in the snowpack close by which aids in steering ease but gives some push in the corners.

 

[BETHEVIPER]

900 miles on the Double Downs and Powderhounds this weekend....10x better than the Shaper bars. They did push in soft conditions. Zero darting. I don't carry a ton of speed through the corners anyway because of the way I have my sled set up with the track, studs, and transfer you better be pointed straight when you hit the throttle.

I know there is better stuff out there, but these aren't bad.

So there is a downside to the Doubledowns then eh! (pun pun)

BTW, why do dual carbides push more than singles - I thought more steel and carbide would= better cornering?

In the same way a longer, wider ski, floats better. When you need bite(carbide to hard pack) you need the carbide to penitrate the surface, the deaper you can get it, the more bite it will have, If you look at a single carbide cross section, pushing into the snow, it pushes the snow aside, letting the weight of the sled v its way into the snow, packing snow to its sides as it goes in. Now imagine that same ski cross section pushing down on a dually. The snow is now pushed up into the center between the carbides where it stops, now snow is packed into a curved pile under the carbide dead center. This causes two things to happen, one good and one bad. That pile of packed snow sitting under the center means there is not packed snow beside the carbides which is why duallies turn easy, when you turn them, they are falling off the packed snow. The down side to this is you are constantly making a new pack under the carbide and next to it, looser snow exists, when you turn, now your riding on top of that packed snow and pushing against the snow that isnt. The packed snow holds the ski from dropping down into the sno and packing it against ski sides.

This problem is far lessened with the cat offset duallies I have used on yamaha skis in the past because the carbides do not overlap, thus never cuping the snow between the bars. Unfortunatly they are not made very agressive with alot of carbide or taller host bars.

The arrow skis I use get around this floating on a pile of packed snow by making the keels only as wide as the carbides as well as using short carbides and rocker keels. the separate keels that are straight up on the inside, let the carbides penatrate, they are far enough appart so the snow doesn't pack between them making you ride on that pile of packed snow like the duallies do. The rocker keels allow the ski to turn easier and drive up and out of other ruts. Since they are dual carbide, they do not have tracking(darting issues) so you can run less rearward bias on the carbides like you need to do with single carbide style skis to keep the front up and out of the ruts. This lets the ski turn easier.

as far as darting with a single carbide ski, just put any kind of dartless plate on them. Dartless, slp, home made, just do it, they really work well.

I have not tried any C+A pros in a long time. Last ones I had were straight bottom style, they worked good but turned hard if you shimmed them rear biased or if you set them to neutral, they darted alot on hard pack. I didn't know about dartless plates then so I got rid of them. I didn't like the look or the way the carbide is just ended at the front, not tucked.

HPS had a great demo ride. great weather, great trail, about 4=5 miles if I had to guess. I think they said they had 70 riders sign up.

If I would stop running into things and selling sled parts, I might get to try the dartless plates on the tripple threats I have. smashed up my apex a little.

 

[snowbeast]

betheviper how did you wreck your apex,and what did you hit? hey what or how friggen big are them eagles that built that huge friggen nest on the pole line next to the rr bed just outside of houlton,we saw that last summer riding 4-wheelers,and again a couple weeks ago riding sleds,that nest must be 5 feet deep,and 5-6 feet acrossed,heck i have seen much smaller tree houses lol.. its huge.