Which ski do people like better on Sidewinder, Cat Ski or Pilots?

[WinterWolf]

Not going to even mess around with the Tuners. Would a Cat Ski be as good as the Pilot's. And can I bolt on the Yamaha Ski Loops from the Tuners onto the Pilot's?

 

[vodoo child]

I went with the 5.7 pilot's, as per RockerDan's post!

 

[**sj**]

Dan is a proponent of the 6.9's...as of now I have not ridden but have a set ready to try (nice write up dan) ...I have run the cat skis with various carbides on my 16' procross ltd and my 17' sidewinder ltx le.....the cat skis can be remarkable in terms of easy steering and predictability setup right...I also have a new set of mohawks to try (my investigation and belief is these are the best) ...so soon I will have some skis for sale lol

 

[ROCKERDAN]

OP, that is a sorta odd comparison. Two diff styles of ski really.

I had huge darting issues with my cat skis on my procross in 12, stock i near got thrown off sled. Same day, same conditions pulled my pilots off my apex, and put them on the cat...it rode like a dream. Ever since 2006 with that apex, pilots on every single sled Ive owned, and many were not DOOs.

Cat ski could work well im sure with a dual type carbide or slimjim style. But for me, any single keel ski can be used if you are going to change to that type of dual carbide which is slower on the gun. There is nothing special about that cat ski, its a flat single keep ski, like skis have been forever. No special design whatsoever.

Pilot uses one carbide, that touches ICE, so its fast on a single carbide....yet in snow it uses the 2nd outrigger to deal with darting, so a dual carbide is not needed on any pilot to help with dart.

To date, I still dont think there is any other ski made with the design of a pilot. BRP does alot of things really well, and the pilot IMO is one of their best. And ironically, they are cheapest skis you can buy.

Only time id recommend diff, is for super aggressive tight trail riders, and then Id go to pilot R. But then you are back to single keep and dealing with dart.

 

[STAIN]

I run the stock single carbide ski on my 14 Viper ( Cat style, not tuners) with slim jims and I have them shimmed. They perform on trail flawlessly. Easy steering, no darting and plenty of bite. No darting on hardpack. I don't care about absolute top speed. I don't go off trail although I do break trail occasionally. I will probably go with this set up on my Winder if I don't like the Simmons I bought.

 

[WinterWolf]

Thanks guys for the input...very helpful for sure.

 

[stevewithOCD]

I know the 5.7 Pilots made my Apex handle & steer excellent UNTIL i hit powder. I don't know on this sled. I DO know it takes more ski pressure to make them work & i could not afford to lose any MORE track pressure. So i went with Curves. I think the 6.9 Pilots may take care of the powder problem, but will still take ski pressure to work well. On the 137 LTX this becomes an issue, at least for me. My AC boys say their ski's work well, but i honestly don't believe anything they say since i've never seen any of them even close to me...

 

[WinterWolf]

I know the 5.7 Pilots made my Apex handle & steer excellent UNTIL i hit powder. I don't know on this sled. I DO know it takes more ski pressure to make them work & i could not afford to lose any MORE track pressure. So i went with Curves. I think the 6.9 Pilots may take care of the powder problem, but will still take ski pressure to work well. On the 137 LTX this becomes an issue, at least for me. My AC boys say their ski's work well, but i honestly don't believe anything they say since i've never seen any of them even close to me...

Lol Steve...
Being I ordered a 129...maybe it'll transfer better than the 137. So I'm not too worried about track pressure at this time. I also am a little heavier than you I believe..so that may help me out with track pressure somewhat.
I think the 5.7 pilots will be fine....6.9's better for powder/flotation for sure. But I do very little in the way of any powder riding. So that's why I'm leaning toward the 5.7's.

Thanks for weighing in Steve.

 

[**sj**]

Lol Steve...
Being I ordered a 129...maybe it'll transfer better than the 137. So I'm not too worried about track pressure at this time. I also am a little heavier than you I believe..so that may help me out with track pressure somewhat.
I think the 5.7 pilots will be fine....6.9's better for powder/flotation for sure. But I do very little in the way of any powder riding. So that's why I'm leaning toward the 5.7's.

Thanks for weighing in Steve.

for me ..Id steer clear of the 5.7...couple key points...heavier sled and skinnier ski..where the 5.7 would most likely sink...the 6.9 will float comparatively....and as dan had pointed out before...theres a ton of these 5.7 skis on the doos out there....easy to follow in the same ruts...whereas the 6.9 is a unique pattern...less darting and hunting...

 

[WinterWolf]

for me ..Id steer clear of the 5.7...couple key points...heavier sled and skinnier ski..where the 5.7 would most likely sink...the 6.9 will float comparatively....and as dan had pointed out before...theres a ton of these 5.7 skis on the doos out there....easy to follow in the same ruts...whereas the 6.9 is a unique pattern...less darting and hunting...

Lol...ok you guys are starting to talk me into the 6.9's. The 5.7's worked great on my Apex...and that was no lightweight sled at all. Probably just as heavy as the sidewinder in the front imo. But I'm starting to consider the 6.9's a bit more...

 

[ROCKERDAN]

I could take either of the Pilots 5.7 or 6.9. The 6.9 will have a tad more push in soft being wider, but then it will float better on the lakes on a fresh snow morn, which is priceless on the turbo, to rocket down a foot and half of powder lake with nose pointing in the air,lol. 5.7s will take alot more to get em up ontop.

If cost is any issue, 5.7s are very cheap. Brand new "kits" from Brp with everything, only 250MSRP if I recall, and most dealers sell that kit for 200usd only. Hard to beat that. 6.9s will not be as cheap, no "kit" as you will need to buy the handles and 4" outers all separate, and then the handle bolts too.

I will say one thing about 5.7s I like better....they will outlast the wider overtime. I have run many many thousands of miles on my 5.7s and always held up great. While my 6.9s with only 2 seasons look pretty rough, and they tend to bend upward on the outer carbide due to extra width. But they really do work so darn good, on trail, and off.

 

[stevewithOCD]

I don't go off trail much either, but even 2'' of new stuff on trail the 5.7's start pushing BAD

 

[cannondale27]

I don't go off trail much either, but even 2'' of new stuff on trail the 5.7's start pushing BAD

I agree. There is a difference between 6.9 and 5.7 and that is it. Yes off trail in deep loose snow a 6.9 will push before a CA,Curve or others but nowhere near as soon as a 5.7 as far as snow depth on trail. I believe the extra width between runners allows the snow to get out and the keel to dig in and turn sled before 5.7 in loose snow to a point that has been more than satisfactory for me on trail. I hated my 5.7's and love my 6.9's for that reason. So if you buy 5.7 to replace the tuners which also push and first nice fresh coating of snow on trail you find that they push too. You have been notified. Not sure what the difference is but RockerDan and a couple others think 5.7 works as good or better for push than 6.9 and I really don't agree. I agree with everything else he says about them.

 

[**sj**]

Another thing to add... the apex although as heavy feels and reacts differently to the same ski.. for example I loved my razors on a apex... but didn't on the 12 procross..... now for the 6.9s i was wondering if shaper plus shaper would eliminate Somme of the push.... but then again i know the cost is heavier steering or to lighten ski pressure might help that? personally I'm still up in the air with having two complete sets of new skis..one being the 6.9s and the other being the Mohawks.... from everyone who's used both.... Mohawks did everything better... just look a little funky. Lol

 

[cannondale27]

Another thing to add... the apex although as heavy feels and reacts differently to the same ski.. for example I loved my razors on a apex... but didn't on the 12 procross..... now for the 6.9s i was wondering if shaper plus shaper would eliminate Somme of the push.... but then again i know the cost is heavier steering or to lighten ski pressure might help that? personally I'm still up in the air with having two complete sets of new skis..one being the 6.9s and the other being the Mohawks.... from everyone who's used both.... Mohawks did everything better... just look a little funky. Lol

I always just ran the cheap Woodys 4in on outside and 7"Shaper on middle with 6.9 never had issues. When switching sleds with buddies running Curves I always thought they turned a bit easier than mine. CA's were about same effort as 6.9 on 800 cat never tried on 4st. Someday when $ is there I will try Curves because of the ease of steering but its such a minor difference not a priority for me. My daughter runs Phazer with same setup I have so its nice being able to rotate Carbides from outside to inside and ski to ski. Eventually the worn shapers make it to outside. Saved a ride few seasons ago when daughter who hasn't learned to slow down and find snow in low snow conditions completely trashed her mid carbides. Just put my outsides on her mids and continued on.