This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
Real reviews by real skiers. What a concept! Add your own today. Reviews only please, questions can be posted as replies but new threads looking for opinions should be posted to the main Telemark Talk Forum.
@GrimSurfer
Here are the digital measurements directly on the to-scale jig drawing from Rottefella.
I used the built in measurement tool for Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Yes that one measurement IS 3.01 cm and not 3.00 cm when snapping the measurement points to the hole centers - no idea why. But 3 cm is close enough in practice.
Xplore dimensions.png
According to this drawing, the outermost parts of the holes are 32mm apart, =16mm from the centerline.
Many thanks… this diagram is a keeper!
So the front binding screws are 13mm on centre. The drill bit size for the screws are 3.6mm wide. So the hole edges are 14.8mm from centre. Theme was pretty much right on the money in her measurement of 15mm then. (Well done, Theme!)
Binding screws are pretty coarse, so the crest of the threads are going to be at least 1.0mm proud either side of the minimum diameter of the fastener. So we’re talking roughly 15.8mm from the ski centreline to the outer edge of each screw. This tallies with the 32.0mm dimension you mentioned. (Never a bad idea to double check a critical measurement to see if it makes sense, which this one certainly does!)
So at this sums to 8.0 mm of side material when mounting an Xplore to a 48mm wide ski (24-16=8).
It would be unwise to speculate on exactly how many millimetres of side material is needed to hold the screw because the issue is more complex than what a single fastener is doing in one plane of motion. My intuition is that 8.0mm is certainly enough.
Whether 6.0 or even 4.0mm is sufficient is anyone’s guess if attempting to use Xplore with a track ski… not that anyone here is thinking of such a project at the moment.
We dreamed of riding waves of air, water, snow, and energy for centuries. When the conditions were right, the things we needed to achieve this came into being. Every idea man has ever had up to that point about time and space were changed. And it keeps on changing whenever we dream. Bio mechanical jazz, man.
A friend of mine received his skis with the skins mounted backwards. Also with very little adhesive.
I don't know what's going on, but these skis have been a mess in many dimensions, not typical of Åsnes. Now, I thought these integrated skins had a stronger glue, like on most other integrated skin skis. Turns out Åsnes only uses the same glue as on X-skins. Is this the case for you all? Now it no longer sticks well.
This pomoca skin seems to be the same skin materials as the yellow mix X-skin, with which I have had problems in the past. The glue is patchy and only partly grips. Was not able to revive with heat, so I have my doubts with these skins too. Kinda glad I was not on any longer of a tour, since I am not yet carrying X-skins with me. Only breaking the integrated skin in at this stage, to allow waxing. Happened only a few hundred meters away from my front door, when coming back!
@Theme I heard about this issue before with the yellow Åsnes skins. I wonder if the skin base material is too porous for the glue? It is different from the Nylon or Mohair skin base. It is easy to buy spare glue for skins. That some skins are mounted backwards is ridiculous. So ridiculous that it isn't checked in a usual QC test?
Kinda curious as to the outcome of the skin issue on that ski Theme. I’m assuming you’ve contacted Asnes or the place of purchase regarding this problem.
I think @Musk Ox mentioned that his wife uses the 190cm so I’d be curious how much Mrs. Musk Ox weighs which puts her in an ideal range for the 190cm MR48 skin.
Oh my God, I can't ask her that.
She's around the 70kg mark, I'm going to say. I'll try and subtly get a more accurate metric (wish me luck.)
I have a pair of 190cm mr48 that I'm having trouble selling after choosing a longer pair instead. Incidently I'd like to get my gf on a pair of fast skis that will fit in a track. I believe she's a little lighter at around 140 lbs and 5 foot 2. I'm wondering if it's worth mounting these up for her and seeing if she can manage them or is this just too long? I don't want to load her pack up with water just to get her compress them but it seems that everyone is skiing these as long as possible. They are the skin version and she's a novice nordic skiier
"There's no fun in over-speccing". Your favorite skier
Might not be ideal for a novice skier. One or two bad sessions struggling with kick and she might bail on the sport.
Before mounting, those MRs will be easier to sell… even though you haven’t had any early bites. Your asking price is good in my view. Maybe a lack of skiable snow in most parts is the problem atm?
Have a “friend” who would have snapped those up the minute you posted them… if he was 30 lbs lighter.
Might not be ideal for a novice skier. One or two bad sessions struggling with kick and she might bail on the sport.
Before mounting, those MRs will be easier to sell… even though you haven’t had any early bites. Your asking price is good in my view. Maybe a lack of skiable snow in most parts is the problem atm?
Have a “friend” who would have snapped those up the minute you posted them… if he was 30 lbs lighter.
I think the MR48 Skins are absolutely great for a novice skier (if I've understood?).
The grip's so lovely and grippy, and they're so simple to use and maintain. Very easy to propel. I'd say they're a great first ski. They're not for the wild and steep (although they're surprisingly good off the trails).
Might not be ideal for a novice skier. One or two bad sessions struggling with kick and she might bail on the sport.
Before mounting, those MRs will be easier to sell… even though you haven’t had any early bites. Your asking price is good in my view. Maybe a lack of skiable snow in most parts is the problem atm?
Have a “friend” who would have snapped those up the minute you posted them… if he was 30 lbs lighter.
I think the MR48 Skins are absolutely great for a novice skier (if I've understood?).
The grip's so lovely and grippy, and they're so simple to use and maintain. Very easy to propel. I'd say they're a great first ski. They're not for the wild and steep (although they're surprisingly good off the trails).
My point wasn’t about the skis in general. It’s about the length/camber and the ability of a novice skier to effectively compress the wax pocket in order to kick.
A really experienced XC skier can often adjust because they have well-honed weight shift technique. They can do things like “dynamic loading”, which is using speed and inertia in weight shift to get the pocket to compress on a ski outside their range.
Faced with the same challenge, a novice skier will often be frustrated.
Faced with the same challenge, a novice skier will often be frustrated.
Honestly, having skied these and lent them to family and friends, I have to say the Skin ones are super forgiving of imperfect technique. They grip like nobody's business going up hills if it’s solid enough, and you can quickly get an OK speed on without being Norwegian. Plus you can just pick them up and ski out of the door without thinking.
Honestly, this makes them pretty good for a novice, I say.
Actually, where they may NOT be a novice skier’s first choice is descents on hard snow, or in bad conditions. They’re SO light and narrow that they’re really point-and-scream. Put them parallel and hope you don’t die before the bottom. And they can really jump about at speed… they’re definitely not the skis, say, you’d want to come down refrozen snowmobile tracks on, that’s for sure.
