vtmecheng

I figured you knew and covered most or all of those issues. Never hurts to mention in case one wasn’t known or thought of.

Big issues I had with Givego. 1) Some of the coaches listed wouldn’t respond. I personally reached out to a couple of them and they told me that they had requested to be taken off the platform and it didn’t or they said that they were taking a break due to other life things. 2) Video responses were limited to 2 minutes. I had a couple responses get cut off. That’s a stupid limitation. 3) Customer service sucked when there was a problem. All of these seem like easy fixes: Stupid easy that you will be all over: Take coaches off when requested and give people money back when service isn’t provided. Also easy: 2 minute response limit is often too short. I get a limit so that the site doesn’t go way beyond a storage limit but it needs to be reasonable. Allow coaches to click an option to temporarily suspend taking new videos. Thinking when a pro has a couple tournaments in a row and needs to focus on themselves or just wants a vacation. I hope this works out in the long run. Givego was great for connecting with different coaches to find a style that works for each individual. Thank you for picking up what they dropped.

Holy crap these are good!

As with everything, it’s up to the user to decide what makes them comfortable. The MOB isn’t a new system and I can attest to it working when needed (having “tested” it more times than I like to admit). Again, to each their own. On weight, it is heavy compared to other options. That said, I use a rear toe plate and figure some double boot setups aren’t much different. I’m also not going to 39-41 off so that little weight isn’t going to be the defining factor. On boot type, that’s 100% personal preference. Some love the classic Reflex (like @Horton), a different Reflex, the Vapor, or a classic rubber. You will see many here say that you can pry their Tfactor out of their cold dead hands. My foot and body structure aren’t like anyone else’s and that plays a big part. It’s a lot like snow skiing in that you have no idea what you like until you try it and almost no one lets you demo the higher end options. Sorry it isn’t easier.

My vote is Vapor with release. addition: I like the Vapor with the MOB. It is comfortable and easy to adjust while being higher performance. I don’t know of a way to test bindings.

I think there are more Nautique events, which means more opportunities since most want to get a WR behind their sponsor boat.

Coming from a ski boots, I definitely understand the benefits of a tight fit. In snow skiing, too much boot volume is a horrible thing and many end up going down a size because of this. I am currently using a Radar Vapor boot and just ordered a size down to try for this specific reason. I wasn’t sure if Joel uses a sock for a tighter fit or because he just likes the style. I would think that a thin neoprene sock would be better for performance than a standard nylon but haven’t compared personally.

The real question everyone wants to know. What’s up with the sock on his front foot?

Terry is clearly a good guy and a great coach. I firmly believe that matching the coach to the skier is important and not all coaches work for all skiers. I personally went through a few real good coaches that just didn’t convey information to me in the way that my brain could really act on. It wasn’t until one specific coach that things started to click into place. That skier-coach match made a big difference to me.

That explains your opinion of them.

@Than_Bogan I said it is a hypothesis to test, not that it would be a positive test. The problem with the easy approach alone is that you can’t know if the measured change (or no change) is caused by the ski changing or poorly controlled measurement techniques. I believe the first step is to conduct controlled experiments in order to determine if the hypothesis is true. If true, then determine if a simplified measurement technique can be used.

I’ll start by saying that I have no interest in going down this rabbit hole, it’s too close to my career and I just want to ski. Someone else can have this “fun.” The hypothesis, as I understand it, is that ski use results in changes to the natural frequency of the ski. There are a couple of potential ways that I can think of to test this hypothesis. 1) Hold the ski in a support that is firm and consistent. It cannot change between tests. The frequency of the test setup must be designed so that it is well outside of the primary modes of the ski in the clamped configuration. Mount an accelerator to the ski. It must be hard mounted or the mount should provide consistent transfer of motion (I’d probably start with screwing into a binding insert). Hit the ski at a consistent location away from the support and acquire the acceleration for modal analysis of the frequency spectrum. Do this though out the ski’s life and see if the prominent powers change frequencies. 2) Clamp the ski to a vibration table with an accelerometer, following all the stipulations above for clamping and gauge mounting. Perform a vibration sweep, recording input and output accelerations. The transmissibility is calculated and the results compared though out ski use. There may be other ways to test as well, these are just my first thoughts without really spending time on it. I can see some potential challenges. Consistent setup and measurements are critical. The data acquisition needs to be done correctly, with proper sampling rates and anti-aliasing filter applied. The clamp may not be strong enough to keep from creating its own frequency mode and not damage the ski. Also, the sensitivity of changes in frequency with wear may be too small for capture in these methods. Maybe both are no big deal. I like the idea of seeing if something like this provides useful info. I have used modal changes during “large input” dynamic shock tests in order to determine the time that plastic strain begins to accumulate (waterfall frequency spectra are great for that). Again, this is too much like work for me and I just want to ski. More power to whomever does something with this.

@Sedge any progress on adding ski protection after the V?

I use Radar screws and still have one or two that always come loose. Been the front RTP screws this whole season.

I have a couple screws that I have to tighten a touch before every set. I’ve tried new screws and no difference. Others I ski with find the same. Luckily we all check screws before each set.

You are not bringing your ski but are considering your boat? What am I missing?

I have no knowledge on how fast a ski degrades. It makes sense that it would have to simply by the forces applied and flexing it goes through during every pass and the materials of construction. The bending results in tensile and compressive stresses that have to be high, along with shear stresses at the laminate interfaces. This is a funny topic where I ski because of a guy who used to ski with us. He loved telling other skiers that their ski brand is crap and already broken down, no matter the age. I got a new ski once and on my second set he told me it was broken down already because that brand is crap. Now, whenever someone PBs we inevitably say, "you would have gotten through that pass but your ski is just broken down." Makes for a good laugh.

I’ve had good luck first messaging the prospective coach on Instagram or sending an email, if the person has a website. Motivated coaches often respond to those messages quickly and will know to look for the video.

On the plus side, my two direct connect sessions with Marcus Brown resulted in the fastest improvements that I have ever experienced. It is nice being able to try different coaches in order to find the one that fits you.

I have had a lot of hit and miss experiences with GiveGo. Last year I had some direct connect go uncoached but did get responses from Givego customer service that resulted in reassigning to new coaches a few times until one finally responded. This year I had much more success with the FastPass option, where any of the coaches can pick it up. It seems like there are some coaches listed on GiveGo who tend to not respond. It's definitely frustrating when a video just sits day after day (and set after set). Addition: I had one session this year where it didn't let me give a tip and then deleted the session. I emailed GiveGo and they never responded to that one.

While winterizing our 2021 Prostar 6.0 (open cooling) I noticed a fair amount of mineral buildup in the cooling system. I pulled a couple of the cooling hoses and confirmed that a good layer has built up, with larger amounts at joints and transitions. This mineral buildup also completely clogged up the coolant crossover line. Does anyone here run something like the Star Brite product or cleaning vinegar through the engine cooling system for cleaning mineral or is this a leave it kind of situation?

I like the new Vapor. I found it was really stiff for the first few sets but then broke in a bit. Just don’t be worried when you first try it. For me, the boot “encourages” good ankle flex in that I know instantly if I’m back. That took a bit for me to understand but I really like that now.

Sadly we pulled the course and boat today. Got cold quick here this year. I did get a practice PB for my last set, in a 4/3 wetsuit and 63 degree water, so ended on the highest note possible. Taking notes for next year and moving to snow skiing in a few months.

Thank you @ColeGiacopuzzi. @skialex, I am using with the MOB so should be good. I asked because I like the new Vapor boot a lot but my super low instep foot sometimes slides forward if I let my ski get out in front of me off the second wake (I am working hard to keep over the ski more on my off-side pull but it's a work in progress). When this happens, the slide is just enough that my big toe can sometimes hurt from hitting the front/inside of the toe cap. I'm considering either trying the strap or adding a strap that attaches either to the back screw or the two side screws. That would keep the strap over my instep and prevent loss in a fall. Not sure it will work as intended but worth a shot. At this point in our season I'll probably fiddle over the winter, water is already 60F and extended forecast shows air in the mid-50s for the next week+.

@ColeGiacopuzzi, the intuition strap that @skialex shows earlier in this thread, is it supposed to go over the boot like that or around the liner inside of the boot? There were no instructions so I have not been using the strap.