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Bad/horrible factory tunes

cantunamunch

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The camber pockets are gimmicky crap

OK, I have to ask - has anyone on this forum had, skied, tuned or fondled a pair of Lib Tech Kook Sticks?


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With the Kook Sticks, our experiMENTAL division introduces RAD (ROCKER ACTIVATED DRIVE) Technology. A revolutionary new rocker under foot / camber hybrid edge pressure distribution optimization contour system. Sounds complicated, but don’t worry it does the skiing for you... better edge control, easier turning, harder carving, while maintaining the characteristics of a mid fat when it gets steep and deep, more float... more surf... more fun. The Kook Stick isn’t for kooks, it is for radical, freethinking, progressive shredders like you and me. Guaranteed to make everything you encounter more fun.
 

Wendy

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OK, I have to ask - has anyone on this forum had, skied, tuned or fondled a pair of Lib Tech Kook Sticks?


View attachment 162331
Not the Kook Stick, but some other Lib Tech ski, and it was a lot of fun. They do demos (or they did) up at Montage.
 

cantunamunch

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Yep, well familiar with their skis -most recently in the "I want to skate powder" context, just not that one, which seems relevant to the camber pocket discussion above, since it's going one further.

Everyone knows about moustache aka RCR skis - these seem to be RCRCR.
 

David

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Pretty normal. But grinding is hard on your skis vs flattening on a belt. If new skis need that much grinding I'd contact the manufacturer or find another shop to tune them.
 

Noodler

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Pretty normal. But grinding is hard on your skis vs flattening on a belt. If new skis need that much grinding I'd contact the manufacturer or find another shop to tune them.

Grinding is "hard on your skis" vs. using a belt? Where did you get this from? There are online video tests where they literally did a grind on a pair of skis hundreds of times without running out of base or edge material. Whereas when using a belt you are typically left with "waves" down the length of the ski and abraded base material.

My advice is to never let your skis get anywhere near a belt. There should be no concern to do as many grinds as the ski demands based on ensuring they are performing at the desired level.
 

Rdputnam515

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I'm with him entirely - I wouldn't buy at places that surcharge but don't perform either.
I had a local shop this season charge me $60 for a full tune that was so bad I took it to the tuner at the mountian we ski. They were a mess. Luckily the tuner fixed it and now they ski great. It turned out to be a net positive because we found an excellent shop with an excellent tuner and a staff who genuinely cares about doing it right. The guys are fun to talk to and great to work with.

since then I have had them mount, base repair and full tune a couple other pair and all the work was excellent. They charge less than our local shop to boot.
 

Ken_R

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I would argue that a good tune is even more important for less skilled skiers. A higher level skier is more likely to notice the tuning problem and know it's a tuning problem and will get it remediated. They also have the skills to adapt to the poor tune temporarily until they get it fixed. The poor lower level skier will not recognize the problem and just resign themselves to thinking either the ski sucks or that they suck (or maybe both).

Yep. Give a pair of skis that are railed to beginner or even an intermediate and its downright dangerous.

I know we here on the web tend to focus on the negatives but gotta give props to Head. The factory tune on my Kore 99's was awesome. Right out of the wrapper. Ditto with Black Crows. Very nice with a good structure.
 

David

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Grinding is "hard on your skis" vs. using a belt? Where did you get this from? There are online video tests where they literally did a grind on a pair of skis hundreds of times without running out of base or edge material. Whereas when using a belt you are typically left with "waves" down the length of the ski and abraded base material.

My advice is to never let your skis get anywhere near a belt. There should be no concern to do as many grinds as the ski demands based on ensuring they are performing at the desired level.
Maybe I misunderstood my shop owner but he said they don't like to grind unless it's absolutely necessary because it takes off so much base material.
 

Henry

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8 years ago my new Head Rally Supershapes had cupped shovels. They'd dash left or right with a mind of their own. A bottom job fixed that. I read somewhere that some new skis get the factory tune before the epoxy has fully cured, thus the cupping---true? My 2021 Head e-Original Supershapes are flat and ski great (Czech factory?...not Austrian.)

My new 2017 Stöckli Laser AX weren't as bad as the Rallys, but didn't ski as sweet as I expected. A true bar across the bottoms let light under the bar. They weren't cupped, but the structure was so coarse that the light came through the grooves. A bottom job sweetened things just right.

The new Stöckli Montero line claims to have factory edge bevels of 1.5° bottom & 2° sides. Who wants that?

Here's a plug for the Elevation ski shop at Sun Peaks (lower level of the Grand Hotel). Excellent full tune for C$60! The best-ever tune on the AXs
 
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anders_nor

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well I think we have a new winner, on the wrong end of the scale.

kids skis, buddy has a U6-U8 racer and asked me to look over his new race kids skis... holymoly, it feels like a bumpy road just running your hand down the base. it literally jumps up and down. 0 chance of fixing by hand even after hours of trying, they need some passes... yeah so adults are bad, kids, horrible.
 

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