Sidecut on Nordic skis?

[newfydog]

Companies have been putting a bit of sidecut in skating skis for ages. It makes for a nice stable ski with good grip, and great turning. It never became the norm, perhaps due to a bit less glide. My first skating specific skis were Landsems, with a good bit of sidecut. I loved those skis, and an acquaintance of mine won a biathlon medal on that model at the 1987 World Championship. Fischer came out with a ski called the "skate cut". They sucked and were darn slow, with decent stability. Atomic came out with a really good ski with a 48.5 44 47.5 cut. I still use them, and a good friend of mine used them in the Olympics to his best finish in multiple games. Their current ski does not have the cut, but my friend still calls the cut skis one of Atomic's best ski ever. Here's a photo of a pair of US Ski Team pool race stock skis with the cut diagram.

 

[Primoz]

@newfydog those "skate cut" might be slow, but were still faster then anything else, and that "skate cut" has been used for quite few years, and wasn't just one season try. But that wasn't really proper sidecut we are used to, but more like short, few cm long "cut" into edge.
On the other side, I really doubt anyone in xc was skiing Olympics on 48+mm wide skis, as all xc skis are in 44mm range for ages. 48mm would be pretty damn huge difference. In xc, I was always on Fischer, with one racer having Rossi during my serviceman days, so very very little experience with Atomic, but all Fischer and all Rossis were in about same range (+/-0.5mm), so I really doubt Atomic would be 10% wider then anything else.
As for graphics... top sheet graphics can stand anything... even Kers chips

 

[crosscountry]

A bit of side cut goes a long way to keeping the tip and tail engaged in a skidded turn, or even on a side hill.

Companies have been putting a bit of sidecut in skating skis for ages. It makes for a nice stable ski with good grip, and great turning.

Thanks very much for the explanation.

I'm glad I asked the question. It clearly falls into the territory of "something I don't know". But now I know a little more.

 

[newfydog]

@newfydog
On the other side, I really doubt anyone in xc was skiing Olympics on 48+mm wide skis, as all xc skis are in 44mm range for ages. 48mm would be pretty damn huge difference. In xc, I was always on Fischer, with one racer having Rossi during my serviceman days, so very very little experience with Atomic, but all Fischer and all Rossis were in about same range (+/-0.5mm), so I really doubt Atomic would be 10% wider then anything else.
As for graphics... top sheet graphics can stand anything... even Kers chips

Well Primoz, some day I'll explain to you how those skis got out of the hands of the service techs and into my garage, but my contacts are still coaching and commentating on the world cup, so I'll just ask you to believe me. The tip of those Atomics is so wide a standard ski tie won't fit. They are still my favorite skis when it is really soft, for the float, or really hard, for the grip.

 

[Primoz]

@newfydog that's not something I ever doubt anyway I know how easy is to get real race skis, so I have never been even thinking I could be the only one here with such connections. So no worries with that part. What I was wondering was sidecut, as every single ski I have ever seen in last 40 years or so, never had any sidecut similar to your measurements, and honestly, especially for skating, skis with such sidecut would be super weird. You simply don't want ski to "turn" inside on skate stride, and such sidecut would do exactly that, that's one of reasons, for exactly opposite sidecut of (especially skating) xc skis. But obviously Atomic went the other way... maybe it explains why noone was skiing them (just joking).

 

[newfydog]

@newfydog What I was wondering was sidecut, as every single ski I have ever seen in last 40 years or so, never had any sidecut similar to your measurements, and honestly, especially for skating, skis with such sidecut would be super weird.

They aren't weird at all. Four mm of sidecut over a 190 cm ski is not much. and the mark on the track they cut skating is essentially straight. They don't feather away at the end of the step, and they don't drift or flutter on a fast skidded turn. The sidecut just adds some pressure and stability to the tip and tail.

 

[slow-line-fast]

My skaters have 44-43-44 at 192, put into the little calculator that’s a 746m radius flat and a 373m radius when I tip it up to 60 degrees, as I often do in my nordic super G (NSG) turns

 

[Tom K.]

It's all nordic. At least three of us have been contending that from the beginning.

Right?! I mean we've all seen the fabulous painting showing Birkebeiner skiers carrying infant Prince Haakon to safety during the winter of 1206. He was in danger of being kidnapped and killed by an opposing faction in the rampant civil wars of that time. The prince grew up to be King Haakon IV, who reigned from 1217 to 1263, his entire adult life.

How much more "nordic" could all of skiing get?

So cool, but I'm not finding a jpeg immediately, and it's time to eat pulled pork!