tuner 3 skis

[yamahaex50]

C&A told me any bar that's elevated off the keel makes it more aggressive and steer heavier..they recommend a round bar ...I'd say the Bergstrom triple points sounds like a winner...

Who knows...maybe Kevin is right

On Friday, Kevin and I discussed exactly what he said. I think I may be one of his test mules on this one. And of course report back here.

 

[Port-Parts]

Haha - no need to be a test mule! I've run that setup personally the last 3-4 years and have many customers doing it with those style skis - almost all continue to come back and buy slim jims every year - I'm sure some site members will chime in as well on this one as Mr Sled and quite a few others on here get them from me regularly.

 

[AXR]

hm interesting. I would think that those 2 big square metal bars digging into the hard pack would cause more steering effort then just 1 metal round bar digging in and the deep, but wide keel resting atop of the hard pack. I guess the only real way to find out is to have 2 of the same setup sleds on the same trail at the same time.

 

[Q. Arrius]

I am absolutely sold on the Curve Skis w/ Slim Jims. I also have the slim jims on standard Yamaha skis on my '10 vector (single keel) and they really help on that sled too. I've never struggled to steer, and are great by themselves....when added on Curves, they seem to compliment each other.

I've also never caught them on anything. I'd love to try the SnowTrackers....but I think if I go that route, it would be on the Tuner 2s I have for my Apex, or the Tuner 3 I'll remove from the SW. On the other hand....I really dont want to reset my toe in/out just to swap skis. (Curves are 1/4 to 3/8 or something, IIRC, and SnowTrackers are zero?)

The Curves w/ slim jims turned my Apex from a darting death machine into a sharp, controllable sled. ( I'm 170 lbs...and find the apex less friendly to lighter riders.)

However: they really knocked down my gas mileage, and I definitely feel more drag. (IMHO). My mileage was reduced enough for me to actually be a bit concerned, and even question if my track was too tight or there was other issues like my break dragging. That said...I will never go back to anything less aggressive than slim jims, and if I'm gonna dump $17k into a sled...I'll gladly spend a few hundred more for good skis.

Q. Arrius

 

[sheetwright]

my thoughts the same....or maybe the xcs???

I called C&A direct, and they talked me out of the XCS for my majority of riding. Also said it us too aggressive for icy, or limited conditions

 

[yamaha06]

When i bought my curve skis the dealer i bought them from recommended running the 4" leading edge with the 6" shaper bars, so thats what I ended up going with as thats what the guy ran on all his cats. The sled seemed to handle good, I did notice on the really hard packed trails the steering was a bit heavier, the sled would dart occassionally but not to bad and on the loose trails it handled good. Since I have already drilled the holes in the ski and have the leading edge mounted can I put on some slim jims with the leading edge or do you think they will affect the handling running both? Just interested in trying a different set up as I feel the skis can be better.

 

[Q. Arrius]

"can I Put on some slim jims with the leading edge"

I asked the tech guy at Curve the same question..... He felt it would be much too aggressive. I have thought about switching to the longest carbide I could find, and installing the leading edge and comparing the feel. Maybe I wouldn't have as much drag?

I'm not sure I understand the difference between a carbide runner and what members are calling a shaper bar? When do you go with a square bar vs a standard round? Would the Leading Edge be considered a brand of a shaper bar?

If I was to install the Leading Edge....perhaps the Birgstom (sp?) triple points would be a good combination?

Q. Arrius

 

[AXR]

From what I understand the leading edge is mostly used in off throttle darting when the front settles back down. It has nothing to do with shaper bars. Shaper bars are just like round bar carbides, only that the sides of the round bar are basically shaved off leaving a square profile. I am guessing that this profile is designed to grab the snow more vs rolling over it when turning. My friend has the leading edge on his 9000t with 8" shapers. I ran ½ a year on my viper with the stock 4" carbides that come with the curves with no leading edge. Last year I added the leading edge with the same 4" carbides. I really did not notice much difference. Granted I only rode the sled 5x this season. If I were to do it again I think I would skip the leading edge. TBH the only reason I added it was because I found it on ebay for I want to say $68. My next carbides will either be bregstrom's, slimjims, or 6" maybe 8" snostuds.

 

[**sj**]

I called C&A direct, and they talked me out of the XCS for my majority of riding. Also said it us too aggressive for icy, or limited conditions

when I call ...they are pushing the XCS for aggressive trail ????

 

[sheetwright]

when I call ...they are pushing the XCS for aggressive trail ????

Exact words were "way to aggressive for hard pack, and icy conditions. Better for heavier snow, and off trail. Meaning ditch banging, power lines etc

 

[**sj**]

Exact words were "way to aggressive for hard pack, and icy conditions. Better for heavier snow, and off trail. Meaning ditch banging, power lines etc

so they recommended razors??

 

[Port-Parts]

IMO - to put this into better perspective you need to classify what trail riding conditions you normally ride in - example if your riding in the snow belt area of the UP where trail conditions are normally quite good (good snow base, very little ice, often fresh loose snow on the trail) and you occasionally/often like to get off trail in the powder definitely go with the XCS ski - if you ride those conditions and you never go offtrail its kinda a toss up between the two skis but if you mainly ride northern wi/lower mi where the conditions can often be very hardpack, low snow, and icy go with the Razors. If you ride all the above type conditions pick which better fits your needs.

 

[**sj**]

good point ^^ basically overlapping depending on riding style and conditions it seems...as a on trail rider...with lower and upper both in the mix...Im leaning towards razors again. as to the woodys dual carbides...you sure you arent thinking the regular duallies compared to the slim jim? the u shape and hang down seems like it would make harder steering...

 

[Turtle]

good point ^^ basically overlapping depending on riding style and conditions it seems...as a on trail rider...with lower and upper both in the mix...Im leaning towards razors again. as to the woodys dual carbides...you sure you arent thinking the regular duallies compared to the slim jim? the u shape and hang down seems like it would make harder steering...

Actually the Slim Jims on the Razors work great! We have two Vipers running this combination. There is no darting, holds a line in corners, works great on hard pack, and has only the slightest amount of push when in really loose snow. That's the trick with the Razors. We've run them before with regular runners, and some shaper bars. Those setups had very hard steering. But the slims jims (regardless of carbide length) kept the steering light, and the handling great.

I'm sure this statement could be made about any ski though. The combination of ski and runner can make a setup great, or can make it suck. Gotta find the combination that works for you and your riding style.

 

[**sj**]

^^ cool , thanks for sharing!