Skibike Ski Tunning
2/16/05 Randy Kimball Albuquerque, NM There are as many
ways to tune skis as there are to make pizzas! When I took on the task
of trying to learn how to tune my own skis, it quickly realized I needed to be careful what I asked for.
For example, "What
basic tune set up would you suggest on a ski?" will get you a
plethora of different answers. After some research and time
experimenting on
my ski bench, I have come up with what I
feel gives the best tune for shaped skis. (This work was
done on a
WinterXbike kit. I have not tried this tune on other Manufactured
ski bikes but I believe it would be a good baseline for any skibike
running a shape ski with lots of side cut.)
For those of you that feel
confident tuning skis, please read on. If you have no experience, do
some research and reading. It is not rocket science, unless you are
trying to shave off .001 of a second for races. Take your time, study
and try a bit of self discovery. I started on my "old rock"
skis first, and not my really nice ones! :-) To start out,
I want to say that this is not Ski Tuning 101. This
article is intended for those that already have some degree of experience
with tuning skis, or who are willing to tell the guy at the ski shop how
you want your skis tuned. I have found that the hardest thing about ski
biking is working to not catch that outside (or downhill)edge. Just like
snowboarding, When you
catch an outside edge on a skibike, you
go down fast and hard. (Emphasis on 'Hard'! I'm talking seeing *stars* and
feeling woozy for a bit). I have found the tune below to help minimize the edge-catching and
allow the skis to easily be moved or float into position.
You need to start with the basics. Clean the base,
de-burr the edges, and flatten/repair the base. This is always the
foundation of a good tune. Next, I get to work on the base edge or bevel.
I have found a good win-win with setting the base to a 10
base bevel. Start at .50 base
bevel and work up to 10
after a bit of trail on your particular bike. This helped initiate turns
on the front ski and movement of the rear ski. I notice that the rear
ski will almost float until I set an edge. After you get the base
bevel between .50
and 10 degree, move on to the edge
bevel. |