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| 21 Mar 2007 19:46:34 |
| Neil Smith |
| Glide Wax Area |
Dear All, checking an old book on waxes and it made this recommendation about determining glide area. You place your fingers behind the bindings and squeeze the 2 skis together until the gap closes to 75 cm. Where they join will give you the limit of the glide area. This gives me a much bigger area than I normally use. ( It would explain why I am slowing down as the years slip by). My skis are quite stiff and is quite awkward to do. Do people agree with this formula. Thanks, Neil |
| 21 Mar 2007 16:37:29 |
| Re: Glide Wax Area |
Depending on the stiffness of the skis relative to your weight and the ski's construction, kick zones are typically 50-60cm, starting approximately from the inside of the heel forward. If your kick wax zone is truly 75cm, then the skis are too stiff for you (or you've lost a lot of weight since they were fitted). If they are correctly fit for you and you've been waxing 75cm long, then you will feel your skis dragging when they should be gliding and the wax will be wearing to a much shorter length. Have you looked closely after skiing? What's the book? Where are you located? A ski shop will be able to guide you on this. rm "Neil Smith" <savispud2000@yahoo.co.uk > wrote: >Dear All, > checking an old book on waxes and it made this recommendation about >determining glide area. You place your fingers behind the bindings and >squeeze the 2 skis together until the gap closes to 75 cm. Where they >join will give you the limit of the glide area. This gives me a much >bigger area than I normally use. ( It would explain why I am slowing >down as the years slip by). My skis are quite stiff and is quite >awkward to do. Do people agree with this formula. >Thanks, >Neil > > |
| 21 Mar 2007 17:26:15 |
| Camilo |
| Re: Glide Wax Area |
On Mar 21, 11:46 am, "Neil Smith" <savispud2...@yahoo.co.uk > wrote: > Dear All, > checking an old book on waxes and it made this recommendation about > determining glide area. You place your fingers behind the bindings and > squeeze the 2 skis together until the gap closes to 75 cm. Where they join > will give you the limit of the glide area. This gives me a much bigger area > than I normally use. ( It would explain why I am slowing down as the years > slip by). My skis are quite stiff and is quite awkward to do. > Do people agree with this formula. > Thanks, > Neil Grip area (and therefore glide area) depends primarily on your body weight vs. the stiffness of the ski. If you can somehow correlate your hand strength to your body weight, this MIGHT be some sort of way to mark the zones. You mentioned that this is an old book. I haven't seen this technique used by any knowlegable ski fitter since the 70s, and even then, the good shops used the "paper test". Don't pay any attention to the squeeze test, it's worthless. (IMHO, of course!). |
| 21 Mar 2007 20:09:20 |
| Re: Glide Wax Area |
Actually, the squeeze test is an amazingly accurate quick and dirty way of seeing whether a ski might fit or not. If you can close them completely, too soft; if there's a big gap, too stiff; if you can almost close them, probably a good or close fit. I learned it from someone else, but a couple of years ago one of the companies, probably Fischer, mentioned it somewhere, maybe in one of those factory team booklets. As for measuring a kick zone that way, that seems like an approximation of an approximation. "Camilo" <campascual@yahoo.com > wrote: >On Mar 21, 11:46 am, "Neil Smith" <savispud2...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: >> Dear All, >> checking an old book on waxes and it made this recommendation about >> determining glide area. You place your fingers behind the bindings >> and squeeze the 2 skis together until the gap closes to 75 cm. Where >> they join will give you the limit of the glide area. This gives me a >> much bigger area than I normally use. ( It would explain why I am >> slowing down as the years slip by). My skis are quite stiff and is >> quite awkward to do. Do people agree with this formula. >> Thanks, >> Neil > > >Grip area (and therefore glide area) depends primarily on your body >weight vs. the stiffness of the ski. If you can somehow correlate >your hand strength to your body weight, this MIGHT be some sort of way >to mark the zones. > >You mentioned that this is an old book. I haven't seen this technique >used by any knowlegable ski fitter since the 70s, and even then, the >good shops used the "paper test". Don't pay any attention to the >squeeze test, it's worthless. (IMHO, of course!). > |
| 22 Mar 2007 07:02:28 |
| Re: Glide Wax Area |
It's what they do at a reputable cross country ski shop. Do you have one nearby? Same idea as your squeeze test, except you stand on the skis on a flat surface in different positions and the fitter runs a card or paper underneath the skis to see how you and the skis' camber go together. When you find a pair (or bring yours in), they also mark a first approximation of the kick zone for different conditions. "Neil Smith" <savispud2000@yahoo.co.uk > wrote: >The book was by M.M. Brady and it was published in 1986. >Some mentioned a paper test. What is that? |