Hi All,
Skis ground and structured and side by side test complete. Both Phantom and Giga Glide performed very well after the grind. Without have the exact same ski with the two separate treatments side by side it is hard to say which ones truly perform better, but compared to each ski with no wax or the wrong wax, both permanent glide treatments performed better. The aggressive structure also appears to have increased performance as both skis where skiing much faster. With both products I am noticing a greying of my ski base, which is indicative of both oxidation and the base drying out. for that reason alone I am going to continue waxing my skis though not as frequently as before.
Like everyone else the skis have been a little grippy while standing in the lift line, but that goes away once you start moving. My hunch is that you need enough friction to create water under the ski for either treatment to work well. This would also explain why DPS shows Phantom performance increasing in warmer weather.
The big question is which product is better, and that is a tough one as both deliver very similar performance both before and after a grind. Here are my pros and cons for each:
DPS Phantom Pros:
- performs as promised
- excellent customer support from DPS
- readily available for purchase both online and in some stores
Cons:
- Time intensive application process
- Application process dependent on the weather - you need 6+ hours of direct sunlight
- High price point - $100 per application
Giga Glide Permanent Pros:
- Performs as promised
- Very simple application process - application takes 2-3 min once ski is prepped and then 24 hours to cure with no outside dependencies
- Reasonable price point - they claim around $10-15 per set of skis
Cons
- No US distribution so very hard to buy
- Targeted at ski shops not consumers - They want professionals applying this and using a stone grinder before and after to deliver the best results so do not have a consumer product for Giga Glide Permanent or consumer customer support - that said they were very helpful and engaging when I reached out to them, but can that scale?
Bottom line is that if you know what your are doing either of these products will deliver excellent results and can easily be applied at home. Both products claim to harden your ski base and according to Giga Glide their product will help the base better accept wax should you chose to wax. For those of you who apply these treatments make sure you also put in a nice structure on your base as that makes a huge difference to their performance.
On a personal note I really preferred the application process for Giga Glide as compared to Phantom as it was quick and easy with little room for error and no weather dependencies. As you may recall my first attempt to apply Phantom did not go well due to weak sun in Seattle, but DPS customer support was amazing and made things right very quickly as they have done for several other folks who had challenges with the application process. DPS is working on an indoor solution for curing Phantom which I think will be key to its long term success. I still have 2 phantom applications left and plan to apply them to skis this summer when it is nice and sunny
In the mean time I am going to ski the heck out of my skis to see how both applications hold up over the season. I have also applied treatments to my wife and older kids' skis (so 5 pairs total) and will track their feedback too.
Don't worry we will be coming back I and I will definitely hit you up for some turns. What part of the mountain were you skiing?
