Size Matters

[Horton]

This year I started to make the move from 67” skis to 66” skis.

 

I rode the 66” and 67” D3 EVO.

I rode the 66” HO Syndicate Pro.

I rode the 66” and 67” Radar Pro Build.

 

With all three 66” skis I never thought the skis felt small or slow or undersized in any way. In the case of the D3 EVO I liked some things with both sized. In the case of the Radar I was convinced that the 66” I had was a personal favorite until I rode the 67”

 

With all three of these skis speed was never the issue. Width is not the issue. Shorter/Smaller skis generally do turn harder and faster. That is a good thing right?

 

My final take away is that at 180-ish I can ride a 66” but turns are going to be much tighter and more frantic. With the bigger skis turns might be slower but that also means smoother and leaving me in a calmer state of mind approaching the first wake. It is not what I expected then I started this idea but I am going to gravitate back to 67” skis.

 

[Drago]

Hmm, depends quite a bit on set up (fin, bindings). I have always felt @ 38 and shorter the turn can't be sharp @ the apex as you are perpendicular-ish to the boat and there is nothing to pull you through the wake yet. Maybe as you are getting further down the line this is true? Maybe a longer ski rides higher and actually turns similar to a shorter ski deeper in the water. Contrary to logic , my pb @ 36 mph was on a 68, @ 34 mph on a 67". Unfortunately I never tried a 67 @ 36 mph, so not really scientific

[jimski]

Very interesting.

On one particular ski I've been having trouble with, I was told to go the next size down and it should help me. 67 down to 66

 

[igkya]

So... BIGGER is better.

[Drago]

Maybe

[Horton]

@jimski what attribute do you think will improve w/a smaller ski?

[jimski]

@horton me nothing

The person advising me thinks it will help.

I'm having trouble getting up on the front of the ski to get more tip feed back. I can't get the ski to turn very well on either side unless I push the DFT way up past the recommendations

Make any sence ??

[Horton]

@jimski kind of think this might need to be its own thread. Can you post some video I'd like to see this. So far I'm not sure it makes sense.

[jimski]

@horton my video skill suck and have been unable to get anything that is very good quality.

[Drago]

@Horton what your buoy count differences on the Evos and radars?

[Horton]

about the same. I get to 4 @ 38 on almost every ski and then 2 at 39 when the moon and the stars really line up.

[Drago]

That was my guess, but longer feels better/less hectic?

[Bruce_Butterfield]

More confirmation of Butterfield’s 3rd Law of Slalom: “No ski will magically add buoys to your PB. What the optimum ski and setup does is have a dominant effect on your consistency.”

[Drago]

Agreed.

I've had skis that skied 6 buoys better (consistently) once I got the fin just right. A ski actually, maybe 2, I'll let you know next summer

[Horton]

@drago exactly

[Drago]

So, considering the factors (consistency, gotta run 38 to work on 39,etc), do you want to get 4@39,or run a bunch of 38s, which length do you feel would get you to that goal? And is it a different length depending on that goal?

[Horton]

@Drago it's an interesting question. In most cases if I can get around 1 and heading back towards 2 ball without unnecessary drama I will run 38. My assumption is the ski that gets me in and out of one smoothly at 38 is going to get me farther at 39.

 

I do own at least one ski that I can run a relatively high percentage of 38s on but it's always always always a hot mess. I don't ski on that ski much because I don't want to practice skiing in a frantic mode and I think once I get to 39 the hot mess will just get messier.

 

Circling back to the original topic. I think generally speaking the shorter skis rotate faster at Apex and are potentially more forgiving at on side. One of the reasons I would opt down a size for particular ski would be for a more forgiving on side but then that potentially means I'm more frantic offside.

 

Anything that makes my skiing more frantic is probably a pretty bad idea.

[jimski]

So if your on a ski that matches your weight / height why ? Would you go down a size or up a size ?

[Drago]

That's what we're trying to figure out. There is overlap