how many sets on a demo ski does it take to know if its worth further testing

[disland]

Sure you really want to know its good before you buy it, but thats a big investment of time and effort. How many sets before you know its worth the extra time

[Chef23]

You need to make sure the settings are right. If the settings are off then a good ski might not be right.

[LeonL]

The first set or two it should do at least something better than your current ski, otherwise to worth a change.

[GaryWilkinson]

I've demo-d a few skis and figured it out right away.

I set the fin up exactly as the mfg recommends and put my binding on.

Frankly, if I'm not feeling it in the first few turns, it's not happening.

 

The ski has to give me a noticeable difference in performance right away for me to drop what could be $2,000 bucks. I might not do more balls in that demo set vs my current skis set, but I have to notice how the ski would help me, such as cast out further and settle into a smooth turn.

[PatM]

I say 2-3 usually, but last year I spent nearly a month on the Nano One before I gave up. So many people skied their best on it I kept thinking it must be me. This year I got on the Mapple 6.0 and haven't looked back.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

With only one exception, every time I have switched skis for the better I could tell on the first set that the ski was going to "work better" than my current ski.

 

If the basic characteristics of a ski do not match your particular skiing style, it's almost always a losing battle to make adjustments and/or just get use to it.

[ski6jones]

I was going to say 4-6, but anytime I've needed that many sets I've stayed on my original ski or tried something else.

[Razorskier1]

If it is set up even close to right I can tell it has potential on the first set. My current ski (M6.0) was set up by Andy at his site and it truly is set up better than any ski I've owned. Going to try a "T" with him in a couple of weeks, and I'd suspect that I will know immediately with that one as well.

[Ilivetoski]

between binding and fin adjustment you can get a ski to do almost anything if you dont like something. So why not spend as much time as you need to play with those settings and see what the maximum potential is?

[SkiJay]

I start with factory settings and can usually tell if it's in the running within one or two sets. If it's close, then I'll play with the setup for a few more sets because not all factory numbers are created equal. If I'm not feeling the love by set five or six, it's on to the next. So many tantalizing skis and so little time . . . .