Nordic Ultra-Tune Update 18529 Olympic View Drive, Edmonds, WA 98020, Nat Brown, Editor see our website at www.ultratune.net e-mail (except subscriptions): [email protected] subscriptions: [email protected] Fall Edition, September 2003 Volume 6, Number 1 Welcome! And…I’m very pleased to announce that Welcome to the 2003-2004 ski season! This NUTS will now officially be providing newsletter marks the fall re-opening of grinding services for Alpina/Madshus Nordic UltraTune; by the time you receive Racing (see www.alpinaracing.com), this, we will be up and running – so get APU Nordic Ski Center (Jim Galanes’ those skis in now and avoid the rush! program in Fairbanks, (see http://nordic.alaskapacific.edu/), Torbjørn All skis* received prior to October 1 will Karlsen’s training group (see receive free hotboxing! Another incentive http://www.fasterskier.com/), and the to do pre-season tuning before the snow Toko Tech Team (www.TokoUS.com). flies. We’ve worked closely with Madshus, APU We are offering no new grinds or services and Toko for some time, and welcome this year, but I am in the process of Torbjørn’s group to the NUTS “family” with developing and in-line water-cooling pleasure. system. In the past, I’ve added ice to the reservoir before final structuring, as really To accommodate each of these teams better, cold water/bases make for a cleaner final we will now be stocking Solda, Star, Swix, finish. The in-line system will allow the and Toko waxes for base impregnation. work to remain cold throughout the entire Customers with preferences for any one of process, which will contribute to an even these brands are invited to let me know, and more “open” base and better wax post-grinding base soaking will be done with absorption. the wax brand of your choice, at no extra charge. As the various ingredients of one Other good news is that prices will remain brand may interfere with the properties of the same for the immediate future. (Should the ingredients of another brand – and as there be in increase in FedEx shipping especially initial base wax goes deep and charges, I may need to increase shipping lingers long – it may well be a very good cost). idea to do initial base work with the wax brand you will be using later. (NB: World Cup Plus waxing will be available in Star and Toko waxes only, owing not to any * with thanks to Zach Caldwell, who informs me statement about quality, but because I that “skis” is not spelled “skies” as it was in the simply cannot stock large quantities of high- first draft, nor “ski’s”, skii’s”, or “skie’s”. For fluoro waxes). more on Zach, see his well-spelled website at http://www.engineeredtuning.net/heatbox.html 1 Rilling structure will “heal” itself to some degree, as the base is ironed and scraped. You’re stuck It may seem odd for a stone-grinding service with cut-in structure, which means that for to be writing about rilling, but there are two in-field, emergency wetting-up of a base, is observations that need to be made, based on there for life, making the ski less effective both ski in-take, and on questions received. when you return to colder, dryer conditions. To address the latter first: Several rilling structure: Finer grinds, such as LJ03 will often work well up into conditions with more water 1) Simple linear: simply press in a .75 or present that they are designed for. However, 1mm structure, tip to tail. if a grind is simply too fine for the 2) Simple combination: press in a 1 mm conditions you find yourself racing in, structure, then press in a .75 structure rilling may well be in order. over it: this will give you a “interrupted” pattern as the grooves feed in and out of To “wet up” an LJ grind, please use a riller eachother (don’t worry about going too that presses structure into the base, as straight) opposed to cutting it. I favor four rilling 3) Combination structure: interrupted rills devices, each of which has its own (medium – not coarse!) down the back advantages: 2/3 of the ski; coarser liner (.75 or 1mm) down the back 1/3 of the ski, over the 1) The Swix Super Riller (the red plastic interrupted rills; .5 or .75 linear rills one) – this presses in rills, and because down the front 1/3 of the ski. The idea of the springs/guides on the sides, is is that not much structure is needed at easy to use in a straight line. I like to the tip, the interrupted rill break suction, have a .5, a .75, and a 1 mm “blade” – and the final linear over-lay “drains” the the 2- and 3mm “blades” are simply too ski. coarse (see below). 2) Any rilling bar: there are very simple, But what sparked all this of was that linear and the cheapest rilling tool you can rills are not the best thing for wet snow. find. Get a long one however – 6” or Especially in the form I sometimes see them longer – as the really short ones are hard when the skis come into the shop with very to hold, press, and steer. coarse, linear structure pressed deep into the 3) The Toko “rolling riller” – inexpensive, base. At times, it takes a good deal of effective, compact. Will do linear or grinding to get this out at all, the more so as interrupted structure. it is hard to get rills in evenly: one side may 4) The Jenex “rolling riller” – the most be much deeper, or one section of the skis “benign” and sophisticated riller on the may be far harder to smooth out. As the market, with both cross and true linear person who has to rescue the skis, then, a structure. Does linear and interrupted few words of advice if rilling is needed: structure 1) More, finer structure is generally better (Note that there are a few “Rolls Royce” than less, coarser structure. The old tools out there, usually described as a “black Swix “barbecue” brush could be very box” – but these are very expensive good in wet snow because it created machines, and cut, rather than press in, “more rills to the inch” than a coarse structure.) riller (hence more actual rill, and less “blank area”). This is why various The advantage of pressing structure into the combination structures work better - base, over cutting, is that pressed-in they “drain” the ski better 2) It is not necessary to go too deep. 2 except during the kick phase. For this Nonetheless, no matter what rilling tool or reason, a good kick with full weight technique you use, you can’t do much, if transfer is needed. These skis are not any, permanent damage, so if conditions do for all-purpose touring – they are fast, swerve of in unexpected directions, plunge and they will kick well with good in, practice, learn. As Joshua Reynonds technique and in the snow for which remarked, ”If you have great talents, they are designed. industry will improve them; if you have but 2) The Hypersonic Multigrip ski was moderate abilities, industry will supply their designed to function optimally in 0° deficiency.” snow, right around freezing, where it is difficult to get a grip wax to work. I And you can always send them in for have tested them in this kind of snow, grinding! and found the kick to be quite good. It is less good in wet, coarse snow, or in No-wax skis loose snow. 3) Fit is very important. Although Nordic Ultratune is primarily a racing service, we do get no-wax skis to For optimal performance, please treat the work on from time to time, and indeed, more kick pattern with a commercial paste wax. I and more of the ski producers are coming up strongly recommend Toko Dibloc high- with very good no-wax racing skis which, in fluoro paste wax, but most wax companies those horrible conditions around zero have a similar product, such as Swix F4. Celsius, are starting to win races. Indeed, at Avoid the most liquid products, as they the Gunnar Hagen Memorial race last season come off easily. -- And please treat the (Kongsberger Ski Club, see glide zones as you would the base of any http://www.kongsbergers.org/), Madshus racing ski: frequent waxing will be rewarded no-wax skis won the first two spots in the by improved performance. Masters’ category, and a silver in the Juniors. Hotbox Construction The following is from a note I sent to I’ve had a lot of inquiries about how to build customers who had bought Madshus a hotbox. I’ll be glad to help out in any way Multigrip skis last season, and here pass it I can, and I have photographs that I can e- along for general information: mal to customers on request. No-wax skis need to be stone ground! Just My hotbox is the simplest possible as with a “normal” ski, the structure put into construction, and took me only an hour or the base by grinding relieves suction and two to throw together. Following are some produces a much faster, “freer” ski. general directions, but there are probably as Generally I use the LJ03 grind, but some many ways to put one together as there are experimenting at the end of the 2002-2003 people who want one… season seemed to indicate that the R2.3 grind was even better.