What ski requires the least amount of fin adjustments?

[DavidP]

John, Thank you for the latest ski review. Fellow Ballers, I'm wondering if you have a favorite ski you tested that performed well (35-38off 34mph) and your final fin adjustments were closest to stock?

[Horton]

@DavidP‌ Quest or Vapor I guess. All modern skis need to be set up right. If you can get to bone stock that should work for any ski.

 

@scotchipman‌ David is asking for not tricky and that ski is very sensitive.

[ForrestGump]

The most stable ski can become sensitive based on the wackadoodle strapped to the top of it.

[Tanner]

I found a Connelly Hook at a garage sale and put a Rockerblock R45 on it. Haven't had to tweak it yet. Thinking I might try a Reflex on it next.

[Ed_Johnson]

I found the Mapple 6.0 to be the first ski I ever had that actually worked with Factory numbers..I have never had a Goode or HO come close....Andy also updates the numbers, published Chris Parrish's numbers, and they worked great.

[gginco]

@Horton, I'm curious about your assessment of the XT being "finicky" and "very sensitive". How tall and heavy are you?

[Horton]

5'9 190

[SkiJay]

I have to agree with @scotchipman‌ on the Nano One and XT ending up closer to stock than most.

[Craig]

I think what @DavidP is asking can be rephrased as:

 

What ski can you move the fin by some amount (say 0.010") in any dimension and feel the change the least relative to it's original fin position?

 

Is that right, @DavidP?

[Than_Bogan]

@Craig's interpretation is interesting and fairly different. But to the literal wording of the OP:

 

I have ended up at almost exactly factory fin settings on most of skis, including 9100, 9900, and Nano One. On the 9600 I deviated a bit with a shorter fin. On the 9400, I never found fin settings I really liked.

 

So I'd say most of the time you can use factory settings on a Goode and be pretty comfortable there. The N1, however, is fairly sensitive to binding placement, both front and back foot. I believe/assume that this is because of the large rocker, which exaggerates an instability if you're not at your center point.

[6balls]

Historically I have felt the D3's have been money out of the box. I'm on a Razor right now and it took some serious effort (nearly gave up) to get it dialed but then loved it. On my 20 years of KD and D3 prior...it was right out of the box money with only tiny adjustments to fine tune. Can't speak for the most recent crop to D3's as have not skied them...but will demo them when time to change skis.

[DavidP]

Thank you for the responses guys. @6balls phrased it best "money out of the box". I don't have a lot of time on the water to test out different fin settings so choosing a ski that is money out of the box would probably be good for me.

[gregy]

Mapple 6.0. First time out it felt a little strange. I went back and re measured and the front boot was a little forward. Set it stock and hadn't changed it.

[ForrestGump]

@DavidP The problem is that what is money out of the box for @Horton may not be money for you. And vice versa.

[SkiJay]

One thing to watch with D3s is that they don't snug the adjusting screws up to the fin prior to shipping. So it's possible that a small knock could bump the fin out of adjustment. My last few have arrived pretty close to spec--not perfect, but pretty close. I think my last two Nano Ones were the closest to perfect I've ever seen out of the box. That said, I'd NEVER ski on a new ski without measuring it up first. I've never seen one come out of a box right on the money--not yet at least.

[lpskier]

Connelly Concept. Three adjustment choices. Forward, Neutral, or Back. No depth, no length. DFT only, and the beauty is "No calipers needed." Couldn't be simpler, and by definition "requires" the fewest fin adjustments!

[Horton]

@ShaneH‌ if a ski is not pretty good with stock settings that is a factory fail.