• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

Why You Should Pull the Trigger on the LEKI Trigger 3D Poles

Philpug

Notorious P.U.G.
Admin
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
Posts
42,624
Location
Reno, eNVy
Regarding breakage, here is @Eric Edelstein's 24 year pole review....

https://www.skitalk.com/threads/24-year-LEKI-ski-pole-test-whaaat.11276/
 

MNskier

Booting up
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Dec 15, 2018
Posts
155
I'm a little confused by their glove lineup. What are the advantages of the Griffin Tune S vs Patrol 3D vs the Xplore S, for example?
 

tazdevl

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Jan 20, 2020
Posts
158
Location
CO
I'm a little confused by their glove lineup. What are the advantages of the Griffin Tune S vs Patrol 3D vs the Xplore S, for example?
Warmth rating and fit. Also the Xplore has a small gauntlet vs the griffin/patrol which do not.

I’ve got 2 pair of LEKI and agree with others the quality of the gloves is solid. I do think the warmth ratings and fit is a bit wonky and inconsistent.

In the end I prefer a longer gauntlet, so use the trigger straps with Reusch spirit lobsters.
 

MNskier

Booting up
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Dec 15, 2018
Posts
155
Warmth rating and fit. Also the Xplore has a small gauntlet vs the griffin/patrol which do not.

I’ve got 2 pair of LEKI and agree with others the quality of the gloves is solid. I do think the warmth ratings and fit is a bit wonky and inconsistent.

In the end I prefer a longer gauntlet, so use the trigger straps with Reusch spirit lobsters.
Thanks. Their web site doesn't do much for comparing the models.
 

Pajarito-bred

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
May 20, 2020
Posts
142
Location
Grand Junction CO
Trigger pulled!
I visited my local ski shop this week and ordered a pair of LEKI 3D Carbon-14's to replace my 24-year-old original LEKI trigger-grip poles. I'm not sure I could tolerate going back to regular straps, or even Scott grips. I'm in the market for new gloves/mittens for super-cold days, would like to upgrade to LEKI's but will need to visit a resort shop later in the season to try those on first- not buying any gloves without a fit test.
My old LEKI's will be my "Rock Poles" this season.
I don't know that this implication about "affordability" is accurate. There are several models in a variety of price points.
Not that I think I can sway you but don't want there to be an automatic assumption that they are all pricy.
Skiers complaining about how much their ski poles cost? Really? (It's the best argument I've heard in favor of snowboarding, though)
My old poles cost me about $120 (on sale) in 1997 so that's $5 per year, amortized. New poles: $160 (not on sale)-- I did not however, upgrade to the carbon HX, those are $60 extra.
Who thinks cheap poles are worth the minuscule savings? Someone who's never taken an opportunity to ski with decent poles. Good thing I don't bother to keep track of my après-ski beer expenses..... I might find out it's more than $5 per year.....

Carbon or Aluminum? There are numerous grades of carbon fiber and aluminum alloys, design is just as important as material, plus falling hard onto my pole is gonna break it, no matter what it's made out of. The carbon-fiber on my old LEKI poles has taken numerous hits from my ski edges, I've slapped the packed snow off my boot soles a zillion times without worrying about the ski pole, and they haven't broken yet, so my take is to trust that the LEKI folks know what they're doing with regards to designing a pole that can handle hard use.
 

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
12,618
Location
Maine
Comments about breakage. As stated above, I've broken two carbon poles in the last six months - one skiing and one hiking. One LEKI, one not. Both were definitely in the category of user error.
In the case of the hiking pole, I fell on it awkwardly. Snap. It was a Bean-branded Komperdell. No, they would not replace it.

The LEKI ski pole ... I fell, but not so awkwardly. At first I assumed I'd broken the pole in the fall, but after replaying the scene in my head s few times I've come to suspect that what actually happened is that the snowboarder immediately behind me kindly tried to pick it up for me as he was riding over it with one of his edges and broke it in the process. So, again, either way, user error.

The point of my post is simply that users make errors. They're not rare. In 50 years of alloy pole use I've bent a couple, slightly, but never snapped one. Ymmv. So when my LEKI carbon pole broke I replaced it with a LEKI alu pole exactly like the old ones I'd left at home across the continent. :rolleyes:
 

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
12,618
Location
Maine
PS: Why is this site insistently capitalizing "LEKI"? Please. My writing is my own. Don't screw with it. I meant what I said and I said what I meant.
 

dbostedo

Asst. Gathermeister
Moderator
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
18,095
Location
75% Virginia, 25% Colorado
PS: Why is this site insistently capitalizing "LEKI"? Please. My writing is my own. Don't screw with it. I meant what I said and I said what I meant.
Because that's the name of the company, in all caps. They never write it with lower case letters.
 

Pajarito-bred

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
May 20, 2020
Posts
142
Location
Grand Junction CO
Yeah! What TonyS said! I'm sure I wrote big "L" little "eki"
PS: Why is this site insistently capitalizing "LEKI"? Please. My writing is my own. Don't screw with it. I meant what I said and I said what I meant.
HEY! I'm doing the typing, spel-chek git yer grubby paws OFFA my keyboard. All CAPS implies LEKI is an acronym for something, like "Long Edging Kontrol Implement" or "Losers Evade Keeping It" (Planted)

I'm NAFOAA. (Not A Fan Of Acronyms Anyway)
They never write it with lower case letters.
Who is the "they" you're referring to? It feels like there's a literary equivalent of a snow-snake grabbing at my fingers as I type.
I do love to snicker at writing where the author has over-estimated the capacity of spell-check to catch their errors.
 

Lauren

AKA elemmac
SkiTalk Tester
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Jun 7, 2016
Posts
2,589
Location
The Granite State
I was curious...so I had to look it up:

"In 1970, he used these raw materials to produce his first ski poles to be sold under the LEKI brand, which stands for the owners and the company headquarters, i.e. Lenhart in Kirchheim."
 

Tony Storaro

Glorified Tobogganer
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Mar 2, 2020
Posts
7,805
Location
Europe
I was curious...so I had to look it up:

"In 1970, he used these raw materials to produce his first ski poles to be sold under the LEKI brand, which stands for the owners and the company headquarters, i.e. Lenhart in Kirchheim."
So it should be LEKI right!

P.S. Haha yes the site automatically capitalizes it , I meant capital L and K only
 
Thread Starter
TS
Tricia

Tricia

The Velvet Hammer
Admin
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
Posts
27,297
Location
Reno
H
Trigger pulled!
I visited my local ski shop this week and ordered a pair of LEKI 3D Carbon-14's to replace my 24-year-old original LEKI trigger-grip poles. I'm not sure I could tolerate going back to regular straps, or even Scott grips. I'm in the market for new gloves/mittens for super-cold days, would like to upgrade to LEKI's but will need to visit a resort shop later in the season to try those on first- not buying any gloves without a fit test.
My old LEKI's will be my "Rock Poles" this season.

Skiers complaining about how much their ski poles cost? Really? (It's the best argument I've heard in favor of snowboarding, though)
My old poles cost me about $120 (on sale) in 1997 so that's $5 per year, amortized. New poles: $160 (not on sale)-- I did not however, upgrade to the carbon HX, those are $60 extra.
Who thinks cheap poles are worth the minuscule savings? Someone who's never taken an opportunity to ski with decent poles. Good thing I don't bother to keep track of my après-ski beer expenses..... I might find out it's more than $5 per year.....

Carbon or Aluminum? There are numerous grades of carbon fiber and aluminum alloys, design is just as important as material, plus falling hard onto my pole is gonna break it, no matter what it's made out of. The carbon-fiber on my old LEKI poles has taken numerous hits from my ski edges, I've slapped the packed snow off my boot soles a zillion times without worrying about the ski pole, and they haven't broken yet, so my take is to trust that the LEKI folks know what they're doing with regards to designing a pole that can handle hard use.
I really like the swing weight of my Carbon S 14 poles far better than the swing weight of my TGS aluminum, but I can comfortably ski with either pair.

One thing I noted last year was a day when Phil put the pink aluminum poles in the car on a powder day because they had powder baskets on them at the time. I was still recovering from breast cancer surgery and the difference in swing weight of the poles, compounding it with the added weight of the powder baskets caused some significant stress on my pectoral muscles.
Its crazy how little things like that can make a difference. Now that I'm fully healed, I don't experience the same kind of stress.


Let me know how you like the new poles when you get them.
 
Last edited:

dbostedo

Asst. Gathermeister
Moderator
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
18,095
Location
75% Virginia, 25% Colorado
Who is the "they" you're referring to?
LEKI themselves. The correct spelling is in all caps. So the site is setup to spell-correct it that way.

(It will similarly put the umlaut to fix "spelling" for Stockli. And Kastle and Volkl I thought were supposed to do that too, but they don't seem to be working. @Dwight?)
 
Last edited:

dbostedo

Asst. Gathermeister
Moderator
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
18,095
Location
75% Virginia, 25% Colorado
Isn’t Stoeckli correct also?
I guess so? Their website is https://www.stoeckli.ch/ ... so presumably that's OK. My guess is that's an attempt to render the "o" with an umlaut, in languages that don't have an umlaut.

If you write Stoeckli, the forum software doesn't change it either. :ogcool:
 

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
12,618
Location
Maine
I really like the swing weight of my Carbon S 14 poles far better than the swing weight of my TGS aluminum
I really liked that, too, which is why I bought them. If you ever break one let me know and we can haggle over making a complete pair.
 

David Chaus

Beyond Help
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
5,529
Location
Stanwood, WA
I liked them so much that when I broke the poles, I took the grips off and put them on Grass Sticks poles. I had to whittle down the poles so the grips would fit. I
Now this interests me. I love my Grass Sticks poles and I've not heard of anyone breaking one. So is there a way to buy a set of LEKI pole grips, or do I have to buy a pair of poles and remove the grips?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

James

Out There
Instructor
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Posts
24,425
Removing LEKI grips from carbon = not easy. Many shops refuse.
Try boiling for a good while.
 

Sponsor

Top