# Cheap Ass Race Skis?



## wa-loaf (Mar 10, 2008)

Anyone know a good online source for finding close-out race skis?

I spotted some 06 Salomon GS race skis on skis.com today for $69.00 and tried to order them. They disappeared while I was ording them. :x They are back, but for $199, so I think the price was a mistake and they caught it while I was ordering.

Anyway I'm now on a mission to find a pair of GS skis for $100 or less. Almost any brand will do from within the last 5 years. Preferably new.


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## kbroderick (Mar 11, 2008)

If you're willing to consider used, wait another month.  FIS rules change again next year, and the minimum legal radius goes from > 21m to > 27m, so most racers are going to be replacing their skis and there won't be much of a secondary market within the race community.


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## deadheadskier (Mar 11, 2008)

kbroderick said:


> If you're willing to consider used, wait another month.  FIS rules change again next year, and the minimum legal radius goes from > 21m to > 27m, so most racers are going to be replacing their skis and there won't be much of a secondary market within the race community.



Am I reading that correctly?  The minimum turn radius next season for a GS board will be 27m???


I really don't see what the point is.  This isn't stock car racing.  As far as I'm concerned, set the course and whoever gets down fastest wins, even if it's on a pair of ice skates.


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Mar 11, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> Am I reading that correctly?  The minimum turn radius next season for a GS board will be 27m???
> 
> 
> I really don't see what the point is.  This isn't stock car racing.  As far as I'm concerned, set the course and whoever gets down fastest wins, even if it's on a pair of ice skates.



It's very unfair..a 5 foot tall college racer has to use the same minumum length of a 6 foot tall college racer..


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## deadheadskier (Mar 12, 2008)

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:


> It's very unfair..a 5 foot tall college racer has to use the same minumum length of a 6 foot tall college racer..



I don't even know where the 'unfairness' lies


I'm completely clueless about 'new school' skiing these days.  Turn radius what????  I'm used to GS skis, SL skis, Bump skis, Powder skis...etc.  


.....I've completely lost track of the game....but I still have fun, which is all that matters to me.


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Mar 12, 2008)

Here's a good link about the new FIS regulations concerning race skis.  

http://forums.epicski.com/archive/index.php?t-41355.html


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## drjeff (Mar 12, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> I don't even know where the 'unfairness' lies
> 
> 
> I'm completely clueless about 'new school' skiing these days.  Turn radius what????  I'm used to GS skis, SL skis, Bump skis, Powder skis...etc.
> ...



It's pretty simple, the longer the radius of the ski, the more force you'll need to exert on it to really crank a turn.  Now take that big 'ol 6' 200lb racer vs. that 5' 150lb racer when you really need to crank a turn and if the abilities are similar, who's going to be able to get more edge pressure and have the advantage??

By comparison,  the Atomic B5 Metrons that I'm one have a 13.2m turn radius and I can use them to carve some serious "trenches" on GS turns, and then just let them do what they want to and make some real nice slalom turns with them too at that radius.

If you asked most high level racers what they'd want for a turn radius on their skis, you'd probably see them looking for a GS ski in the 12 to 18 meter turn radius range and a slalom ski in the 6 to 10 meter radius range.  That 27 meter GS ski radius is probably something that the world cup racers would want on their downhill skis, not their GS skis.


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## wa-loaf (Mar 12, 2008)

kbroderick said:


> If you're willing to consider used, wait another month.  FIS rules change again next year, and the minimum legal radius goes from > 21m to > 27m, so most racers are going to be replacing their skis and there won't be much of a secondary market within the race community.



Thanks, that's good to know. Kinda odd to increase the radius like that. Do you know the reason?


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## deadheadskier (Mar 12, 2008)

drjeff said:


> It's pretty simple, the longer the radius of the ski, the more force you'll need to exert on it to really crank a turn.  Now take that big 'ol 6' 200lb racer vs. that 5' 150lb racer when you really need to crank a turn and if the abilities are similar, who's going to be able to get more edge pressure and have the advantage??
> 
> By comparison,  the Atomic B5 Metrons that I'm one have a 13.2m turn radius and I can use them to carve some serious "trenches" on GS turns, and then just let them do what they want to and make some real nice slalom turns with them too at that radius.
> 
> If you asked most high level racers what they'd want for a turn radius on their skis, you'd probably see them looking for a GS ski in the 12 to 18 meter turn radius range and a slalom ski in the 6 to 10 meter radius range.  That 27 meter GS ski radius is probably something that the world cup racers would want on their downhill skis, not their GS skis.




That all said, it still seems somewhat silly to me. Perhaps 'back in the day' they had similar restrictions. I raced for a season in High School in the early 90's and it was simple, you had your GS ski and your SL ski, size was entirely up to you.  

I guess the whole 'radius' thing is somewhat new to me, even though it's probably been around for ten years or more.


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## wa-loaf (Mar 12, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> That all said, it still seems somewhat silly to me. Perhaps 'back in the day' they had similar restrictions. I raced for a season in High School in the early 90's and it was simple, you had your GS ski and your SL ski, size was entirely up to you.
> 
> I guess the whole 'radius' thing is somewhat new to me, even though it's probably been around for ten years or more.



They are not regulating the length of the ski only the turn radius. A 27m radius is probably the same or smaller than you were using back in the day on straight skis.


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## skibum9995 (Mar 12, 2008)

drjeff said:


> If you asked most high level racers what they'd want for a turn radius on their skis, you'd probably see them looking for a GS ski in the 12 to 18 meter turn radius range and a slalom ski in the 6 to 10 meter radius range.  That 27 meter GS ski radius is probably something that the world cup racers would want on their downhill skis, not their GS skis.


Too much sidecut is worse than not enough, IMO. Racing GS on a 12m ski would be dangerous because that ski wold always be looking to hook up and make 12m turns. the top FIS racers up through World Cuppers have been skiing skis in the 27m range for a while now, even with a 21m rule.

This rule will effect the first year J2 the most, as they are generally smaller than your average FIS racer.


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## roark (Mar 12, 2008)

IFYP.



skibum9995 said:


> This rule will effect *skibum9995, as I am the size of a J2 racer.*


 
:lol:


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## skibum9995 (Mar 12, 2008)

wa-loaf said:


> They are not regulating the length of the ski only the turn radius. A 27m radius is probably the same or smaller than you were using back in the day on straight skis.


There are length regs as well. For J1/J2 men it's 180cm GS and 165 SL with a 10cm tolerance for J2s in SL. Women are 175cm and 155cm. The minimum radius for GS is 27m for men and 23m for women. There is no minimum radius for SL.


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## skibum9995 (Mar 12, 2008)

roark said:


> IFYP.
> 
> 
> 
> :lol:


Haha. Thats why I'm on >23m instead of >27m.


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## roark (Mar 12, 2008)

You're making this too easy for me.



skibum9995 said:


> The minimum radius for GS is 27m for men and 23m for women.


 


skibum9995 said:


> Thats why I'm on >23m instead of >27m.


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## skibum9995 (Mar 12, 2008)

roark said:


> You're making this too easy for me.


The women that ski on those skis are generally bigger than me.

Tomorrow night, my feminine sized skis against your kids skis. We'll see whose name comes first on the results sheet.


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## roark (Mar 12, 2008)

skibum9995 said:


> Tomorrow night, my feminine sized skis against your kids skis. We'll see whose name comes first on the results sheet.


 
Your skis are obviously faster. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.


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## wa-loaf (Mar 18, 2008)

Just picked up a pair of race stock Volkl Racetigers on ebay for cheap. Now I need a race plate and bindings . . .


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## tree_skier (Mar 18, 2008)

skibum9995 said:


> The women that ski on those skis are generally bigger, faster and better looking than me..



how did I miss this one?


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## skibum9995 (Mar 19, 2008)

tree_skier said:


> how did I miss this one?


must be the old age


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## madskier6 (Mar 19, 2008)

wa-loaf said:


> Just picked up a pair of race stock Volkl Racetigers on ebay for cheap. Now I need a race plate and bindings . . .



What year Racetigers are they?  The skis didn't come with a race plate already integrated?


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## wa-loaf (Mar 19, 2008)

madskier6 said:


> What year Racetigers are they?  The skis didn't come with a race plate already integrated?



I don't think the race stocks come with an integrated plate, not everyone wants to use Marker. Plus these are used (I haven't gotten them yet) and I'm pretty sure they are the 06 version.


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## tcharron (Apr 1, 2008)

wa-loaf said:


> Anyone know a good online source for finding close-out race skis?
> 
> I spotted some 06 Salomon GS race skis on skis.com today for $69.00 and tried to order them. They disappeared while I was ording them. :x They are back, but for $199, so I think the price was a mistake and they caught it while I was ordering.
> 
> Anyway I'm now on a mission to find a pair of GS skis for $100 or less. Almost any brand will do from within the last 5 years. Preferably new.



EvoGear sells a whole crapton of their older stock on ebay.

http://sporting-goods.search.ebay.com/_Skis_W0QQcatrefZC12QQsacatZ16062QQsassZevogear

Example of one pair, GS, 167cm, 59$ + 12.95 S&H, new:


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## wa-loaf (Apr 1, 2008)

tcharron said:


> EvoGear sells a whole crapton of their older stock on ebay.
> 
> http://sporting-goods.search.ebay.com/_Skis_W0QQcatrefZC12QQsacatZ16062QQsassZevogear
> 
> Example of one pair, GS, 167cm, 59$ + 12.95 S&H, new:



Thanks, I picked up a pair of Racetigers on ebay. I know about Evogear, they had some Moto GS's for $99 that I missed out on. 167's are too short anyway.


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## wa-loaf (Apr 1, 2008)

tcharron said:


> EvoGear sells a whole crapton of their older stock on ebay.
> Example of one pair, GS, 167cm, 59$ + 12.95 S&H, new:



Oh, and anything K2 with team in the name is a Junior race ski.


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## tcharron (Apr 1, 2008)

wa-loaf said:


> Oh, and anything K2 with team in the name is a Junior race ski.



Well that was just an example.  :-D  K2 Mach GS 186's are there for 79.90.  But either way.    I always look at both EvoGear *AND* their ebay listing specifically.  Seen situations where something ends up on ebay, but NOT on evogear.com


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## wa-loaf (Apr 1, 2008)

tcharron said:


> Well that was just an example.  :-D  K2 Mach GS 186's are there for 79.90.  But either way.    I always look at both EvoGear *AND* their ebay listing specifically.  Seen situations where something ends up on ebay, but NOT on evogear.com




This gave me an idea for a thread: http://forums.alpinezone.com/26331-ski-deals-thread.html#post252923


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## hammer (Oct 8, 2008)

Bump...now that ski swaps are starting to happen, are there any recommendations for what race skis to look for?


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## deadheadskier (Oct 8, 2008)

Sky posted a really good deal in another thread


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## SkiDork (Oct 8, 2008)

hammer said:


> Bump...now that ski swaps are starting to happen, are there any recommendations for what race skis to look for?



You can't go wrong with Fischer


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## andrec10 (Oct 8, 2008)

Try Peak Performance in Killington. Fred always has leftover or used race skis in great shape.


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## skidmarks (Oct 8, 2008)

wa-loaf said:


> They are not regulating the length of the ski only the turn radius. A 27m radius is probably the same or smaller than you were using back in the day on straight skis.



Yes some of the old GS skis had a 33M + turn radius


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## skibum9995 (Oct 8, 2008)

http://www.raceskis.com has good deals on last years race stock models from a bunch of manufacturers. I picked up a pair of Nordica Dobermann SLRs for $329.


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## madskier6 (Oct 9, 2008)

andrec10 said:


> Try Peak Performance in Killington. Fred always has leftover or used race skis in great shape.



Correct.  I got a great pair of Volkl Racetigers plus bindings for my 16 yr old daughter last April for $349 from Peak.  They had only been used on 2-3 days & were in excellent shape.  Would have cost me double that if I had bought them new.


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