Thread: Factory tune - Is it good?

Hi,

I used search but couldn't come up with anything. When you get new skis with a factory tune, how reliable is it? I've heard of many skis coming convexed/concaved and having to be ground out. What about edges? I'm assuming factory bevel and should be razor sharp. Do you guys tune your new gear before taking it out or just maybe a wax? This is for freeride not race skis.

Thanks.

What skis?

Originally Posted by gramboh

Hi,

I used search but couldn't come up with anything. When you get new skis with a factory tune, how reliable is it? I've heard of many skis coming convexed/concaved and having to be ground out. What about edges? I'm assuming factory bevel and should be razor sharp. Do you guys tune your new gear before taking it out or just maybe a wax? This is for freeride not race skis.

Thanks.

in general, you want to tune your skis before use to get the base flat & prep the edges (see that weird cross-hatching on the edge? you do not want that).

that said, for freeride skis, this is usually not a big deal though, since edges get chewed up and the bases get gouges pretty quick.

my recommendtion would be de-tune the edges tip and tail (to your preferance), gummy the full length of the edge, then wax 'em up.

Wax them a couple of times and then ski them. If they need some work, you can always retune.

sometimes yes, sometimes no. sometiemes shop do bad jobs sometimes they do good ones...

Always hand tune them before you ski them. Lightly file (enough to get rid of the little lines and swirls) the base and side edges. Polish them with, with a diamond stone or ceramic stone. Lightly deburr edges with a gummi stone. Wax and hot scrape a few times to clean up the bases. Wax'em and go skiing.

These are Dynastar 8800's. Thanks for the tips guys, just taking a look at them now to see what has to be done. Too bad it hasn't snowed here in about 4 weeks

I clean them using base cleaner. Then give long waxing with soft wax ( higher temp). I think it is is good idea to check with true bar as might have concave or confex base . On one of the last pairs that I bought was edge high at the tails. As far as bevels goes might be 0°/0° or might be some otherangle that you don't care for. I don't care about the tiny little lines as soon enough I'll be filing out some rock hit .

extra note. sometimes the bases of new skiis are really dirty and all that crap must get in the way of getting lots of wax into the ski. A cheap place to get base cleaner in Calgary is to go to Sportmart and with the tuning stuff , well at least they used to, they have these black cases marked way down to $9.99 that has base cleaner pump bottle , cleaning cloths, rub on low fluro wax and I think that is it. Thing is beside it a smaller bootle of base cleaner is the same price. I also use base cleaner in the area of a big base repairto get the wax out of the way of the repair.

99.99% of what maggots do:

Detune tips, tail, gummy, go.

Unless you are racing, competing, XC.

Stocki factory tunes suck.

basically tunning skis is not rocket science...look at the edges. flip it up. look at the base. lets take the 8800 for exemple. the sides edges are finished with a ceramic disq. you will recognize this by the diagonnal lines that run through the edge. you want to see if they are even and that the disc have touched all the way through. repeat for base side of edge. if its finished by hand, you will see lines that run the lenght of the ski look if it done evenly. similar with sand paper fininshes

base wise often they will put a product to prevent rust or dryness of the base. brush it off... look if the structure (lines through the base) is nice and even. if you can find a level or a true bar, but it on the base and look if its flat, but now we are talking advance. but the simple-est of test is to rub your skis against each other and see if you here a metal sound (edges, you ski is rail) it could use a tune, lighter skis with thinner material on the inside have a tendency to do that (cough, atomic...)


anyhow talk about it with your tech that does the tup he will be glade to give you knowledge. remember its power...

For freeride ski I would say your main concern is how many grinds your ski will take. It is a waste of bases/edges to grind skis before you ski them, even though it might improve performance (slightly). So I second those who have said wax'em, rupper down front and tail edges, ski'em. Then, when you have enough scars on base and edges, grind'em.