Message #15299

[jim-ratliff]

So...why is it they don't use harder more resilent bases for all front side and side country skis...any thoughts out there?

G

Alex, I'll take "Gary questions for $80".


Gary, I'll offer three five possibilities. 
1. You're Mistaken - Maybe there aren't harder and softer bases? 
2. Cost - If harder bases exist, they may be considerably more expensive and the average customer would be unwilling to pay more for those skis with better bases (and all manufacturers advertising says they have the best bases?). 
3. Trade-offs - There may be adverse trade-offs associated with harder (more dense) materials such as resistance to  accepting wax since the material is less porous or creating excessive suction due to inability to create good structure in the base.
4. Car dealers sells cars, but make their money off of service. Maybe they WANT you to take your skis in for grinding?     probably not.
5. You paid good money for the expensive part of the skis, the edges.  Ski on those instead of the bases?   


My guess would be somewhere between 2 and 1.  It would not surprise me to find that more expensive skis have somewhat better bases, but I don't know what "better" means.  The Ski Logik construction tab says:


After testing countless formulas, our clear favorite is the hardest sintered base material produced on earth with graphite added in for a racing glide. Our base is made for us in Germany and has excellent wax absorption and is extraordinarily durable against rocks. We take the time on each ski to get them perfectly true on the bottom. Each base is then finished with a fine linear stone grind and a penetrating hot wax done by hand.

Does the comment about graphite imply that without the graphite the harder ptex wouldn't glide as well?  Or does the hand waxing imply that it doesn't accept machine hot waxing well?
Or does it just mean that he decided to spend an extra $10 per ski getting the best base materials shipped from Germany to China -- and interesting that few of the materials for his skis comes from China, except the wood.