I hate to actually admit this, but ... I have no clue about tuning

[Atomicman]

1:3 is standard tune for a skier who likes to carve clean turns and has some control over his edges.
>1 base is for folks who don't really care all that much about carving clean turns, getting good quick response from their skis and spend a lot of time skiing sideways, doing spins and butters.
0.5: 3 is standard tune for a skier with good control over their edges and cares about making good quick cleanly carved turns, and doesn't spend much time in moguls or doing spins and other tricks
1:2 is the 0.5: 3 softened up a bit for mogul skiing where the short-radius non-carved turn is king; think of it as a compromised 0.5:3 for a bit more forgiveness and versatility. It's easier to control, but paradoxically less precise at the same time.
>3 side and less than 0.5 base is for people who don't need to be told they want it, and they probably have a specific use in mind for it (e.g. a SL course).
The softer the snow the less it matters.

Sorry Francois, .5 is not a standard base bevel....1 Degree is. And when prepared properly and accurately is not the least bit sloppy. . 5 is extreme. Sounds like you need to learn to float more in transition and roll your ski on edge progressively .5 is pretty much on or off! Oldschooler used a term above , which generally should be taken out of the current vocabulary....."set the edge"....this isn't 1970 on a pair brick stiff 210 VR17 50M. If you want a .5 on your FIS slaloms, I think that is a good idea, but 1 degree is the standard for most skiing and particularly recreational. From my experience most people over base bevel their skis and probably don't have a true .5! Unless you have a very accurate way to measure, almost all base bevel tools are capable of applying too much base bevel. Ya gotta check as you go!

 

[Scruffy]

Heh. A lot of this is becoming divorced from what one is actually doing, and getting lost in people’s technique. It’s a bit like driving directions. Say a family giving driving directions to the new people who came to the fourth of July party. It goes on and on and everyone argues, completely confusing the driver, who may end up doing the opposite because of memory issues.

When I started out, there was a book on ski tuning called “Tip to Tail”. I try not to hate on the author since he posts here and has some redeeming qualities, but when they come looking for books to burn, that’ll be top of the pile.
Spending all that time and energy trying to figure out how to file the side edge only from tip to tail. At some point I realized you’re just filing and polishing metal, which direction you do it in makes zero difference despite the book.

I would recommend getting a 200 grit diamond stone. 400 is a bit fine. If I could only have one I’d go with 200.

I had that book.

 

[François Pugh]

Sorry Francois, .5 is not a standard base bevel....1 Degree is. And when prepared properly and accurately is not the least bit sloppy. . 5 is extreme. Sounds like you need to learn to float more in transition and roll your ski on edge progressively .5 is pretty much on or off! Oldschooler used a term above , which generally should be taken out of the current vocabulary....."set the edge"....this isn't 1970 on a pair brick stiff 210 VR17 50M. If you want a .5 on your FIS slaloms, I think that is a good idea, but 1 degree is the standard for most skiing and particularly recreational. From my experience most people over base bevel their skis and probably don't have a true .5! Unless you have a very accurate way to measure, almost all base bevel tools are capable of applying too much base bevel. Ya gotta check as you go!

I will let the good people at Mt. St. Louis - Moonstone know that you think they can't provide an accurate tune. My Fischer WC SCs are a 13 m radius ski, and I tune them razor sharp tip to tail and they work great. At the original 1 degree base bevel, they were very forgiving, but less eager to snap into a turn on command.

Read it again.
I didn't say 0.5 base was standard for the average skier; in fact I said, " 1:3 is standard tune for a skier who likes to carve clean turns and has some control over his edges." We agree there.

I also said, " 0.5: 3 is standard tune for a skier with good control over their edges and cares about making good quick cleanly carved turns, and doesn't spend much time in moguls or doing spins and other tricks"

 

[James]

Split the baby!
I like .7.

 

[oldschoolskier]

See what I mean about the fur flying when you get into which tune is best

 

[Atomicman]

Split the baby!
I like .7.

that's what I do!

 

[RobSN]

I wrote to @Cyrus Schenck yesterday as follows:

"Hey Cyrus – ... as you might have noticed on SkiTalk (ex-Pugski), I’m a bit Renoun-ed out because not only do I have the Atlas’ and the Citadels I bought from you, I just bought a second hand pair of Z-90s! So I have a full Renoun quiver . However, I do have a question for you – what is the factory tune on those three skis?"

and received the following reply:

Hi Rob!
Good to hear from you and love to hear you’ve tapped out hahah!
Factory bevels are 1/1 on the skis - which is a pretty ‘safe’ tune. If you’re looking for something a little more zippy, then I would suggest a 0.7/1.5 or 1 1/2
Best,
Cyrus

I thought that that might be an interesting data point for owners of Renoun skis ...

 

[raytseng]

If you're going from the smoothrides's 1/2 (which should be right on the mark and not a rando tune) back down to 1/1 factory "safe" tune though;
All the tuners will shake their head at you and say how about you instead spend your money on a ski lesson instead to learn how to ski better.

 

[RobSN]

If you're going from the smoothrides's 1/2 (which should be right on the mark and not a rando tune) back down to 1/1 factory "safe" tune though;
All the tuners will shake their head at you and say how about you instead spend your money on a ski lesson instead to learn how to ski better.

Nah! Not touching the Z90s after their tune for a goodly while - but if I'm going to experiment on touching up the edges on the Atlas' and the Citadels, I wanted to know what they were supposed to be set at. CHANGING a tune will be lesson #2. Lesson #1, which is still in my future, is MAINTAINING a tune!

 

[James]

I wrote to @Cyrus Schenck yesterday as follows:

"Hey Cyrus – ... as you might have noticed on SkiTalk (ex-Pugski), I’m a bit Renoun-ed out because not only do I have the Atlas’ and the Citadels I bought from you, I just bought a second hand pair of Z-90s! So I have a full Renoun quiver . However, I do have a question for you – what is the factory tune on those three skis?"

and received the following reply:

Hi Rob!
Good to hear from you and love to hear you’ve tapped out hahah!
Factory bevels are 1/1 on the skis - which is a pretty ‘safe’ tune. If you’re looking for something a little more zippy, then I would suggest a 0.7/1.5 or 1 1/2
Best,
Cyrus

I thought that that might be an interesting data point for owners of Renoun skis ...

No offense to Cyrus, but that’s wacked. Now you’re going to be obsessed with finding a 1.5 degree side edge guide. You’ll spend a lot of time looking. Maybe someone makes a 1/2 degree shim.
Don’t bother, Just stick with your 1 base and 2side. Or 1 and 1.
It doesn’t take much to change a 1 side to a 2 side.
What you need is someone in person to deal with. In the end you’ll have to make these decisions on what you like. One of these days you’ll reallyunderstand you can put any tune you want on any ski.

 

[Jacques]

No offense to Cyrus, but that’s wacked. Now you’re going to be obsessed with finding a 1.5 degree side edge guide. You’ll spend a lot of time looking. Maybe someone makes a 1/2 degree shim.
Don’t bother, Just stick with your 1 base and 2side. Or 1 and 1.
It doesn’t take much to change a 1 side to a 2 side.
What you need is someone in person to deal with. In the end you’ll have to make these decisions on what you like. One of these days you’ll reallyunderstand you can put any tune you want on any ski.

Yea, like who on earth tunes a side edge to 1/2 degree increments? It's either a 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 etc. etc.

 

[GB_Ski]

Is there a way to measure the bevels on your skis so you know what you got or the skip shop is not messing it up? Someone gotta make a simple device out there, no?

 

[Atomicman]

See what I mean about the fur flying when you get into which tune is best

I didn't say what is best....I said .5 is not standard ! And I hammered you about using the term......"set your edges" while skiing

Is there a way to measure the bevels on your skis so you know what you got or the skip shop is not messing it up? Someone gotta make a simple device out there, no?

Yep! SVST Pro Bevel Meter!

 

[GB_Ski]

I didn't say what is best....I said .5 is not standard ! And I hammered you about using the term......"set your edges" while skiing

Yep! SVST Pro Bevel Meter!

dude, $300? that's almost a season pass!

 

[Jacques]

Is there a way to measure the bevels on your skis so you know what you got or the skip shop is not messing it up? Someone gotta make a simple device out there, no?

4 pages about it. https://www.skitalk.com/threads/how-to-measure-base-bevel-angle.14768/

 

[James]

For side edge, take a sharpie, color edge. Then take your guide, say 2 deg, with a stone or file. Run it on that section and see how the sharpie line disappears. If it’s all the way across, the whole edge has been touched, it’s 2 deg. If it’s just the far side, then the guide is more acute than the edge. So the edge is less than 2, namely 1 degree.

 

[Atomicman]

dude, $300? that's almost a season pass!

Can't live without it! I have had mine for years and years...worth every penny. You gonna cheap out on taking care of your skis that you paid $1k for? Try measuring the edge angle accurately any other way. When you match a true bar to the edge angle you need a 1/2 mm gap, 60mm across the ski for a .5 degree, for a 1 degree it is 1mm of gap. Not very damn much. I just sent mine in to be recalibrate and refurbished after 10 or so years of use, they charged me $25...good as new. You must really think I am crazy to have bought a Razor-Tune for $660 with 3 grits of grinding wheel.....again worth every cent!

 

[Atomicman]

For side edge, take a sharpie, color edge. Then take your guide, say 2 deg, with a stone or file. Run it on that section and see how the sharpie line disappears. If it’s all the way across, the whole edge has been touched, it’s 2 deg. If it’s just the far side, then the guide is more acute than the edge. So the edge is less than 2, namely 1 degree.

 

[oldschoolskier]

I agree .

BTW isn’t the point at which the edges engage as you roll on to them.... just one word “set”

 

[Atomicman]

No not to me and how I was taught! "Set" connotates a hard edge set, like a "check" or check hop of old!