From: hugh@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Hugh Grierson)
Newsgroups: rec.skiing
Subject: Re: Opinions wanted
Date: 1 Oct 92 01:14:48 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

In article <1992Sep30.102330@is.morgan.com> sergei@is.morgan.com (Sergei Poliakoff) writes:
>That's fine , except Rossignol marketing  implies that you  and Tomba
>basically get the same skis.

Yeah, this is true.  A bit more honesty wouldn't go astray.  Mind you,
the problem isn't unique to skiing - if we were to believe everything
the marketers say...  Perhaps those who believe the marketing deserve the
products they get :-)  c.f. GoreTex (before I'm misunderstood, Gore Tex is
a great product, and I thoroughly recommend it, but it's _not_ the "miracle"
fabric it is claimed to be -- when it comes to the crunch you still get wet).

>At least one company , Volkl,  makes no distinction between 
>what is sold to the public and what it supplies racers with.

I wonder if this is entirely true.  Volkl will still produce essentially
custom made skis for their top WC racers.  It may be that lower racers
and the public get the same skis.

>|> >2) Edgar winning his mogul Gold  on Dynastar Coupe Du Mond's  covered 
>|> >	with Vertical topskin.
>|> 
>|> Sure, personal preference.  That doesn't say that the Assault is a poor
>|> mogul ski, but just that Grospiron prefers the SL.  No problem there.
>
>The problem is that everybody thinks that he  skis  and prefers Assaults.
>Grospiron prefers SL, but Dynastar wants YOU to prefer Assault,
>and uses a primitive card trick  to win you preference.

But if they told us that he skis on the SL, not only would they loose sales
of the Assault (their problem, not ours) but all of the intermediate to
advanced skiers who rush out to buy the SL would find that they _hate_ it
in the bumps.  Or at least, that's the theory.  I'm inclined to agree, and
would add that most expert skiers (for whom the SL might be a better choice)
are (a) able to make up their own minds on what ski they prefer, and (b) can
ski on anything anyway.

>|> In 7 seasons of skiing on Look's ZRC/Z Racing bindings I have had one
         ^^^^^^^
>I didn't realize Look had upward release for 7 years now. 
                                                ^^^^^
I started using the ZRC in '88 -which I think was when they introduced
upward release to their whole range.  The XM available before that did
not have such a good reputation.

>the way.  There are definitely falls in which there is substantial
>upward component, but if your binding didn't have the flip-out toe,
>wouldn't it release anyway ? 

Maybe, maybe not.  When something has to give it might be your leg, binding
mounts, or ski.  I have seen or heard of all three, and prefer my binding to
release in this unlikely, but possible, situation.

>Anyway, I find it rather hard to believe that such feature adds nothing to 
>the complexity of the design.

It is a cunningly simple design, where the toe unit is able to rotate sideways
or upwards around the pivot post which acts as a cam.  The cam shape
determines the ratio of sideways to upward release force (if I recall
correctly, it's a ratio of around 1:5 in the race model, less upward force
in the lower models).

>Besides, if it doesn't, why is it then so 
>much more expensive ?

Marketing?

>The fundamental  problem is that this industry, BS-ridden like
>many others,  has no independ publication to keep it in check, and it 
>shows. It is impossible to tell the difference between the manufacturers'
>advertisements and magazin's own articles in SKI or SKIING.

Don't you _hate_ this.  Our local mag "NZ Skier" doesn't run
independent ski tests (although I would have thought the importers
would be happy to provide demos, and there should be no shortage of
skilled volunteer skiers), and doesn't even buy test reports from o'seas
magazines, so relies entirely on marketing BS from the ski companies and
importers.
This is worse than useless.

Powder ran part of a test from a German mag a couple of years back, which
looked like the right sort of review.  The testers where mainly WC and ex-WC
racers.  "We are testing the skis, not the skiers".  I like this approach.

>Sergei

Hugh.

By the way, did I mention that the ski season is still going strong down here?
No? Oh, well it is :-)
-- 
Hugh Grierson          Fujitsu/ICL New Zealand - Software Development Centre
hugh@nezsdc.icl.co.nz                Speaking for myself only.  See figure 1.
I'm a masochist -- I like a cold shower in the morning, so I take a hot one.