Hi fellow gate bashers, I recently compared two pairs of SL skis and was surprised by their differences on a hard/icy coarse (comparable to injected one). Their bending/longitudinal stiffness is almost equal (1 mm difference as loaded with 20kg) but there was surprisingly large difference in terms of the edge hold on coarse. The Atomic SL12 (beta construction of 2007) had MUCH better hold. So much so that I first thought that the edges of the other pair (Nordica RD WC 2014) were dull, but not so. I know that some brands have a reputation of being torsionally VERY stiff (Völkl) but do not know if this is only a rumour, or based on general characteristics of their whole line-up as compared to some others.
I haven´t, as yet, tried to measure the torsional stiffness of these skis, should be doable but not as easy as to measure bending. Your advice, advice, experiences would be greatly appreciated. All in all my own advice to anyone planning to buy a new pair of SL skis is that you test them in really hard conditions on a coarse before buying, all the best, jaakko
I haven´t, as yet, tried to measure the torsional stiffness of these skis, should be doable but not as easy as to measure bending. Your advice, advice, experiences would be greatly appreciated. All in all my own advice to anyone planning to buy a new pair of SL skis is that you test them in really hard conditions on a coarse before buying, all the best, jaakko