Never ending fis sl ski questions

[mulva28]

I have a question for the FIS SL folks: How thick are your skis at the mount line? I'm curious how the brands compare. I shouldn't have sold my Rossignols, but I remember them being thicker than the other skis in my collection. My Ogasaka's are 19.2mm. My eRace Pros a mere 13.75mm.

Blossom's are ~5/8" 15.875 cm. Just took a very rough measurement. RC's are significantly less thick ~ 1/2" 12.7mm. Still love those RC's. 15/16 supershape i.speed is also ~ 1/2" 12.7mm.

 

[tomahawkins]

Blossom's are ~5/8" 15.875 cm. Just took a very rough measurement. RC's are significantly less thick ~ 1/2" 12.7mm. Still love those RC's. 15/16 supershape i.speed is also ~ 1/2" 12.7mm.

Thanks, @mulva28. It's only a couple of data points, but it confirms my suspicion that the TC-SUs are thicker and stiffer than slalom skis -- not for better edge hold on ice, but for better edge hold when there is no ice, i.e. technical carving events in softer snow. But I'd like hear from other brands. Atomics (@KingGrump)? Rossis (@Tony Storaro)? Noridca (@DocGKR)? And who's our primary fanboy for Volkl FIS SL and why don't the skis get much attention here? UVO is real tech.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Thanks, @mulva28. It's only a couple of data points, but it confirms my suspicion that the TC-SUs are thicker and stiffer than slalom skis -- not for better edge hold on ice, but for better edge hold when there is no ice, i.e. technical carving events in softer snow. But I'd like hear from other brands. Atomics (@KingGrump)? Rossis (@Tony Storaro)? Noridca (@DocGKR)? And who's our primary fanboy for Volkl FIS SL and why don't the skis get much attention here? UVO is real tech.

Mine are in the shop for conservation wax purposes. When I get them back I’ll measure if I don’t forget

 

[Roby lukens]

I have a question for the FIS SL folks: How thick are your skis at the mount line? I'm curious how the brands compare. I shouldn't have sold my Rossignols, but I remember them being thicker than the other skis in my collection. My Ogasaka's are 19.2mm. My eRace Pros a mere 13.75mm.

Just to add a few more data points for what it's worth. I have a pair of blizzard race sl (2011 i think), a pair of dynastar omeglass wc slantnose (also 2011) and a pair of head isl rds (2015 i think). The blizzards measure about 11/16 at their thickest. the dynastars and heads measure about 5/8 at their thickest. Mounting lines are either hidden by plates or have worn away (we don't need any stinking mounting lines!).

 

[Jjmd]

These are Atomic s9 fis 2024 I recently acquired and I was wondering what the markings on the “9” were? Possibly some reference to to the flex pattern of the ski? The only condition I have skied them in was end of season soft on its way to mank ,so I can’t make much of an interpretation of their relative stiffness and performance. Any comments on this version (I don’t think the construction has changed for a few years other than the graphics) would be appreciated.

 

[Rudi Riet]

These are Atomic s9 fis 2024 I recently acquired and I was wondering what the markings on the “9” were? Possibly some reference to to the flex pattern of the ski? The only condition I have skied them in was end of season soft on its way to mank ,so I can’t make much of an interpretation of their relative stiffness and performance. Any comments on this version (I don’t think the construction has changed for a few years other than the graphics) would be appreciated.

Yes, it's a flex number. All of their race stock skis have them, be they SL, GS, SG, or DH.

 

[James]

They match the flexes between the pairs.
Supposedly, the whole Augment flex boondoggle was the same thing, they didn’t change the layup.

 

[smv]

I think its the ’9’ from the S9 designation.. check the ’S’ before !

 

[KingGrump]

I think its the ’9’ from the S9 designation.. check the ’S’ before !

 

[dbostedo]

I think its the ’9’ from the S9 designation.. check the ’S’ before !

Jjmd is not talking about the "9"... but referring to the small hand-written numbers on the 9. Looks like "39" to me.

 

[Jjmd]

If it was 666 I’d be in deep ka-ka.

 

[James]

It’s ‘34’ afaict.
There’s some discussion of flex numbers in this thread-

In this case “Federh.” (Federhärte) means spring constant (bending stiffness / flex), the values for “Federh.” on the labels are most likely for the center spring constant. Center spring constant is used to match the skis into pairs and in the case of race skis to grade them according to stiffness, the higher the number the softer the ski.

“Schaufelharte = shovel (forebody) spring constant and Endhärte = rear (afterbody) spring constant, all the measurements are carried out without plates / bindings.
For further information see ISO 5902 Alpine skis — Determination of elastic properties,

“Vorsp.”is an abbreviation of Vorspannung, which means camber and as many of you have already worked out “Gewicht” = weight and “Laenge” (also spelt Länge) = length.

 

[Tony Storaro]

What were the numbers for stifness of Atomic SLs? I remember something like 36,37,38 whatever that means but I am not sure if I can choose at the interwebs shops I am buying from. Is there a common stiffness for the FIS SL Atomics sold to the general audience?
And what do the numbers on that professional looking sticker at the tips mean?

 

[Rudi Riet]

What were the numbers for stifness of Atomic SLs? I remember something like 36,37,38 whatever that means but I am not sure if I can choose at the interwebs shops I am buying from. Is there a common stiffness for the FIS SL Atomics sold to the general audience?
And what do the numbers on that professional looking sticker at the tips mean?

Lower numbers = stiffer

 

[James]

And what do the numbers on that professional looking sticker at the tips mean?

According to swisstoni’s graphic, it’s the spring constant, Newtons/cm, c= 300N/f(deflection)
That means higher deflection = lower spring constant

But that doesn’t jive with experience, so maybe they just list the deflection, in millimeters. (Always been my understanding) So lower deflection under the standard weight = stiffer.

 

[Swede]

Normally there are two numbers, one for the front and one for the tail. They might have changed but 34 sounds like it would be a number for the front and a stiff flex. Previous years you could order 34-38. The numbers might be different depending on y/m, so what is considered what corresponds to changes in over all design. Tail numbers are typically 33-28. The lower the softer. Don't know if Atomic has an overall flex number nowadays, they used to be the same as Salomon's race skis with front+tail number. You might have tail flex sharpie number somewhere there, perhaps under the plate.

 

[Swede]

EDIT. The higher number is the softer and tail numbers some where 25-28.