Thanks for this. I have been waiting for over 40 years for discussion about tech in skis. Having a few pairs of skis selected by Caldwell Sport after decades of ski shop skis have shown what a difference your process makes. A question: sadly, I'm an old man and overweight, but what is the manufacturing difference between skis for a 90kg guy and a 40kg guy (understanding there is more to it than just weight but just for simplicity's sake)? Is it just manufacturing variance that makes one ski more stiff than another? Or is that properly designed in, at least to a degree? Thanks.

Very intrigued by this system. Since you've been using it this season do you have a follow up review in the works?

Hello! A- Atomic! ;) please don't forget about this great brand... Maybe you explain about this great skis

Very interesting and informative, thank you👏 would you say that these characteristics are persistent throughout the individual brands different range of skis ? I'm a beginner looking to buy my first pair of skate skis, but it's difficult to choose. Do you recommend any specific brand for beginners ?

Just got this system from you guys. LOVE it! The quick summary is that it just feels like a much more natural movement vs. tradition setups.

OK, how do you attach the ski/binding to a wax bench? The old way of using the binding doesn't work.

Great video, what is you opinion to the new Swix T0410 ? Did you already test it ?

Great summary, thanks Zach! To add some n=1 data points here, I have preferred Salomon skate skis for the past two decades. They just feel right. However, I also have Madshus Redline 3.0 F3s and have really enjoyed them, despite their opposite weight-balance characteristics, as you describe here. They do feel slightly less stable in the glide phase but it doesn't bother me. Fischers feel fine to me, just kind of mushy and boring. Rossis feel absolutely terrible to me (at least the pairs I demoed last year). Too springy and grabby, a completely different experience. For me Rossi seems like the clear outlier in terms of design/handling characteristics (not in a bad way, just not for me).

Yesterday I had the boot and the binding in my hands, also could fix it on a ski as in your video. I have one question for my technical understanding: the rubber bumper forces the boot in a kind of Stiletto mode, also being shown in your video. Forcing the heel down needs significant pressure. As soon as my heel gets lifted, the ski is forced away until this built in angle. I´m not sure how this feels in eg narrow turns, as the learned behaviour of lessening weight off the edge is immediate grip release. Hope you can shed some light on this detail. I´m sure you have lots of interested customers with built up quivers who are thinking about adding Race X but not necessarily skip briefly selected and approved skis beyond NIS standards.

Great info Zach. Any progress on getting any of these kits together? This is an area I really want to dive into this winter so let us know!

I love how the camera is pointing at you instead of what you are trying to show

Very interesting. I'm from Finland. There are quite light Karhu skis from the history, Racing Matrix and it's sibling Skating Matrix. I still use one classic pair during the spring time when double poling, if the conditions are dryer. My skis are from 1984, green ones (green Karhu logo, for cold conditions). The skis should be stone grind for better glide on wet conditions, but for 40 year old skis there is no sense. Maybe. Karhu made the first black base skis, blue Matrix, for 0C and new snow. Red one was for warm, with waxable sidewalls. The sidewalls were the same material as the base. Other Matrix models had painted sidewalls.20 years later Peltonen made waxable sidewalls to their Supra series...

Boy, this is long winded...sorry Zack !

A stupid question: Can you actually mostly, often, sometimes or ever use the same raceday grip wax setup for e.g. Rossignol and Fischer or Salomon? The pressures/cm2 on the grip zone just do not match. For that reason I wonder (doubt) if you could use the same wax for Marie Helene Fossesholm and Erik Valnes either. Still, I would bet the Finnish ski team has exactly that approach....😭

Awesome, informative and so well told. Just picked my first patch on a hike this morning.

I would be interested to know more about the materials and construction used in the edges of xc skis. It seems to me that if the material and construction of the edge is harder and stronger than the surface you are skiing on, that might help it hold an edge. If the edge is getting beat up by the surface, that doesn't bode as well for holding an edge. Especially in a longer race, where by the end of the race, the edges might not be in the same condition they were in at the beginning. I had some skate skis that I skied in very icy conditions and the edges got rounded, and another pair where the edges got cracked. Another pair held the edge better on ice and suffered less damage. I wonder what the differences are in materials and strength-related construction, in ski edges.

Gee, I would have guessed that skis with high local edge pressure would have more edge stability than long low pressure, and skis with long low edge pressure would do better, in soft conditions, especially speed wise. Wouldn’t high localized edge pressure make the ski plow and slow down in soft conditions,and give it a better chance to get a bite on the surface of hard plate conditions?

Those, gen 1 Redlines, tho...😁😁😁

There's that Punk Fleece, again.

Where can I buy these products in the EU?

Not new being by brother in law made a boot 20 ish years ago , showed it to Salomon, did it with cycling… just Just big company that gets credit 😢

Thanks. Its very disappointing for those who choose skis online.

This is an excellent video for someone who wants to understand more about how the attributes of the ski affect its performance in different conditions. Especially liked the Madshus part. You give a very good overview of the differences in the F2 and F3 lines. If we disregard the idea of only two pairs, how would you add the green-base LTD to the mix? What's the purpose of it and what makes it different from the other two? Is it possible to have a working two-pair fleet of a very good universal F2 for the "wintery" conditions and a green-base with a wet grind to tackle the moisture? For the record, I'm skiing in Finland so we usually have a cold winter with only very few warmer days until the very long spring where the snow gets super wet for ages.

so, the materials are basically still the same (core etc.), so burning the skis with iron will still be easy? :D

A former university coach here in Anchorage thinks that Madshus skis lose the strength of their camber rather quickly. Agree of disagree?

Interesting info on the bases and camber. Will you have to revisit your grinds?

Totally agree with you that Fischer bases are the ultimate. The best to wax. Salomon S-Lab (S-22) are next.

My opinion exactly ; way too complicated ! To simplify waxing, 2 products, one for above zero C. + one for sub zero. Case closed ! What a nightmare for wax tech. & average joes...

I tried a pair of "blue" model on cold hard pack conditions (Gatineau Loppet), they were terrible + slow. These skis are really meant for deeper soft snow. Hence the reverse chevron structure.

The screw-in binding system on Salomon's S-Lab is very secure but I have seen a few pairs with bumps in the bases exactly where the screws are located. Maybe due to heat from the wax iron (?). No wonder they went to a plate...

Amy does'nt seem so convinced...(?) Guss Schumaker's performance is definitely impressive...

Hey Zach, found this channel lately. Great content for us ski nerds, thanks a lot for good videos. Referring to the nerd files two ski fleet video what two rossignol skis would you pick in a similar scenario? I currently own a pair of a hard surface s2 s and im thinking of adding the sx or the s3 to my "fleet"🙂

Thanks for talking about the classic skis

Thanks for review but let Amy talk more.

What do you mean when you say the 902 klister ski is an n15 instead an n07 ski? I'm not sure if I've ever found an explanation for Fischer's "N" naming convention.

Rumour is true, spanish skate skis are now the go to on the worldcup, Minneapolis track suited the S2 perfectly. Meaning that customers have access to the exact same material as the elite, grind included

Thanks for the previews, Zach and Amy! Good to hear that you like the new Salomon plate and movable binding system. I am a fan of the screw-in system but if Salomon's implementation is better than other brands I'll be OK with it.

I hope the selection of products on the video doesn’t mean you’ll end things with Fischer - there’s no one else out there really explaining and helping understand the differences in behaviour of different skis!!

Are you hearing that 812 mold classic skis won't be offered by Fisher next year? Sign of climate change, no more cold snow, long snow contact skis.

Can’t wait

Do you think there's a risk of higher variance initially since it's such a different construction?

Screw in bindings are more solid than glued-on plastic plates that flex and fail over time. We've seen many bindings detach from skis this season, with very fragile, fussy binding constructions. You must have skis from the 1990's where the SNS or NNN2 bindings still work and are attached to the skis. The binding has one job- to attach the boot securely to the ski or rollerski. Will today's bindings still be working on skis in 30 years? Solomon bindings have always seemed more solid. Their shift binding seems intrinsically more substantial than Rottefella's version.

Zach, are you taking orders for Rossi next year?

Loved this series of videos 👍😄

I just bought a pair of Madshus top skate boot a month ago. Aughhh!!!

Again, great information. Though I'm mostly a recreational skier I love fast skis and you videos sure help. I have used the Vahuti pure Pro liquid products with good success, especially when I had a hot wax that was too cold or warm and no way to rewax. Is shipping of the liquid waxes an issue?

Nice presentation with lots of information. I really like this geek stuff to help understand ski glide. Empirical information would be good but I bet hard to get. I do Have one of the old Finite structure tools and would like to get some different rollers, are they available anywhere.the coarse ones I have work well in Mt Washington BC wet snow. but need more variety.

Hi! Why are you never explain about Atomic skis ? It's a good quality ski with history... I love them.

Thanks for the detailed overview of ski design. I appreciate your use of the term rocker to describe tip splay. Skis be skis and its useful to use the same terms for ski design from water skis to dh skis and xc.