correct base prep for brand-new out of box Head i-speeds ?

[Don Canard]

so new they still had the sticky sticker on the base of one describing all the great features of the SuperShape family... I took the sticker off since I assumed I wasn't supposed to ski on it...

Shop told me that they come from the factory with an all-temp wax penetrated into the base and you can just go out and ski them.

Particularly because the i-Speeds advertise that they have race-quality base material, I want to get this right.

What to use ? My habit is to iron in Swix F4 from a cake I crayon on, scrape the next morning, then crayon on the right color Swix wax for the day and cork. If that's all a bunch of stone-age crap, or cheap junk, pls educate me ?

TIA!

 

[James]

You can use a base prep wax like swix bp88 or 77 if it's cold. Dominator has them too or Race service 1 has a good one with graphite. Do a hot scrape, re wax, let cool 30 min plus, repeat or scrape and brush and wax with whatever. The F4 is fine unless it's cold.

https://www.artechski.com/swix-base...MIv6PV9L6q4AIVE4zICh21bgp-EAQYAiABEgJa_vD_BwE

 

[trailtrimmer]

First, do you do any tuning or edge work? Now is the time to put the side edge on them.

Then it’s wax time. I like to start with BP88 or CH10 or hydrocarbon warm wax. Wax a layer of the warmest stuff you have, hot scrape. Now dribble lots of BP88 on, iron in, let cool off a bit. Hit it with the iron again, let cool. Add a little more wax, do it again. New skis get at least four or five base prep heat cycles from me.
Then they get a scrape, light brushing then a layer of moly followed by a scrape and brush and finally the final correct temperature wax with fluoro if desired.

The more you saturate the base with hydrocarbon wax when new, the better.

 

[raytseng]

Agree with trailtrimmer and james

All the features of the full wax job and cycles are important for speed, however, unless you have a race you need to win tomorrow, you can just go out and ski them now, and the factory wax should last at least 1 day.

You should do at least 1 full saturation wax job (i.e. drip or hottouch on) instead of going straight to crayon and cork and being frugal with the wax. After that, it's up to you, just wax at a more frequently schedule until you tire of it or get diminishing returns for your work.

Additionally from what is commented, why are cycles needed? Why not just reheat slathered wax to melt it in again or hotbox? Beyond 1 cycle, I don't believe more saturation is happening. My belief and understanding is the cycles perform the following actions that increase speed and glide:

• remove contaminants and ptex particles from the factory grind or the subsequent tuning processes (see below).
• The full hot wax and scrape portion of they cycles actually shaves and hones off Ptex hairs and ptex peaks in the base for more speed

 

[Don Canard]

keep it comin', gurus ! I was on epicski for a little and was sad to find it gone (a victim of corporate crapola ? o, I forget, that's called decisionmaking...) but this place is great! (thank you for your info)

 

[raytseng]

Not sure what else you are looking for, doesn't seem like you have a subsequent question.
You also would get a better response on tuning by posting in the tuning area.
Here's an hour+ of youtube on new ski tuning from resident tuner and videographer jacques: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADABC267A2F54961
Or you can also just turn off the computer and go out and do some skiing

 

[trailtrimmer]

Before slathering the bases in wax, did you have any type of prep work done on the skis besides a binding mount? I don't even put a race ski on snow until it has a full base grind, structure and edge set at .7/3

 

[Don Canard]

I'm a novice at this. thank you all for your input, I'll start with a tune using my humble edge tuner (I think it's set at 89 degrees ?) and waxing cycle as you describe, and see how that does. Still learnin'

 

[trailtrimmer]

I'm a novice at this. thank you all for your input, I'll start with a tune using my humble edge tuner (I think it's set at 89 degrees ?) and waxing cycle as you describe, and see how that does. Still learnin'

If you aren't racing on them or still getting better in the gates, it's not a huge deal. Most race/narrow skis are pretty good out of the wrapper.

I'd still consider a good prep on them next fall right before the season starts. Having a perfectly flat base makes the skis function correctly and machine set edges is far and away better than what a human can do. I have my race skis get a full work up at the start of every season.

before you let any shop touch them, pop back on here and ask where the best place is near your town. Not all tunes are created equal and just running the skis over a belt can do more harm than good if you have a hack at the controls.

 

[James]

A 1deg side edge, 89deg, is basically for a beginner.
You should go at least 2 deg, and maybe 3. Likely the base is at 1 deg so youl'll have an 89 or 88 deg edge.

 

[Dakine]

Just take them out and ski them.
Maybe cork on some wax if it is warm.
After you have a couple of days on them, come back to Pug Ski and share your experience.
You will be informed beyond belief.
...and stay forward or those skis will kick your ass.

 

[Marker]

The shop really should be able to tell you the tune on the ski. When I asked about my Rossi Heros, I was told 1/3, so have been keeping them in tune with the appropriate guides. I first saturated the bases using multiple passes of Dominator ReNew base prep wax at the start of the season, and try to apply the correct temperature wax for the day using an iron, but don't always get the right color wax! I got tired of the mess of scraping, so switched to the fiberlene method to remove excess wax. I do find I need a light scrape and brushing to remove the ptex residue after a base grind. At least something black is coming off at first...