• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

shop recommendation: South Lake Tahoe

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
3,330
Location
SF Bay Area
Rainbow Mountain on skirun is main tune shop for the powderhouse chain, so if you go there you can speak directly with the tuner who likely be doing the work.
Their alt. tune shop is at the Pioneer road location who you can also talk to the tuner who may do the work if that is still open/staffed for tuning

If you drop off at main powderhouse location, they still will will have 1 tune knowledgable guy there, but not a tuner; that will look it over and knowledgeably write up ticket with you; but it gets trucked over to one of the tune shops; then trucked back in the morning to the location you want to pick it up.

There maybe some coupons as well either in the local flyers or online, but coupons kinda hit-or-miss.
 
Last edited:
Thread Starter
TS
marsound

marsound

Skier
Skier
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Posts
35
Location
Tahoe
Rainbow Mountain on skirun is main tune shop for the powderhouse chain, so if you go there you can speak directly with the tuner who likely be doing the work.
Their alt. tune shop is at the Pioneer road location who you can also talk to the tuner who may do the work if that is still open/staffed for tuning

If you drop off at main powderhouse location, they still will will have 1 tune knowledgable guy there, but not a tuner; that will look it over and knowledgeably write up ticket with you; but it gets trucked over to one of the tune shops; then trucked back in the morning to the location you want to pick it up.

There maybe some coupons as well either in the local flyers or online, but coupons kinda hit-or-miss.

Thanks for the recommendation. This shop was on my radar. I assume you've used them and had a positive experience?
 

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
3,330
Location
SF Bay Area
yea they have all the equipment and do good work and have enough work to keep the staff employed. End of the day it comes down to the specific person doing your skis and what expertise they have.
If you are super particular though and like a racer you may need different recommendation.
 

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
3,330
Location
SF Bay Area
best of my knowledge from last visig their machines are already hand operated and work are already handtuned touched up as needed. Its not a huge automatic all-in-1 blackbox machine

Theres race tune and then theres real actual race tune for competition racers.
If you're actually comp racing they are still fine the head guys i think are exrace techs. but it is not the bulk of their work that would be a 1check box on the ticket, you would want to talk it over with the tuner them know exactly what you want and your expectations.

But how did you get a core shot on your race skis would be my feedback to you. Unless your setup costs $1000+ or you're racing for $1000+, you're fine at rainbow.

Lets put it this way if you dont know off the top of your head precise requirments for your desired angles, detuning/shaping parameters, structure type, wax and overlays, and if they are off by any amount from your requested spec you can tell and reject the work/throw away the skis, they are going to be fine.
 
Last edited:

Karl B

USSA L100
Skier
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
193
Location
SE Michigan
I've heard there is a shop in Truckee called Start Haus that is top notch. You may want to check them out. ogsmile
 
Last edited:
Thread Starter
TS
marsound

marsound

Skier
Skier
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Posts
35
Location
Tahoe
Yep, willing to pay a bit more for a hand/race tune.
best of my knowledge from last visig their machines are already hand operated and work are already handtuned touched up as needed. Its not a huge automatic all-in-1 blackbox machine

Theres race tune and then theres real actual race tune for competition racers.
If you're actually comp racing they are still fine the head guys i think are exrace techs. but it is not the bulk of their work that would be a 1check box on the ticket, you would want to talk it over with the tuner them know exactly what you want and your expectations.

But how did you get a core shot on your race skis would be my feedback to you. Unless your setup costs $1000+ or you're racing for $1000+, you're fine at rainbow.

Lets put it this way if you dont know off the top of your head precise requirments for your desired angles, detuning/shaping parameters, structure type, wax and overlays, and if they are off by any amount from your requested spec you can tell and reject the work/throw away the skis, they are going to be fine.

Not a racer, not race skis, and don’t need “actual race” tune, but I like a precise tune (I do know what bevels/detuning and structure I want) which is what most shops call their top tune.

Thanks for the info.
 

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
3,330
Location
SF Bay Area
I've heard there is a shop in Truckee called Start Haus that is top notch. You may want to check them out. ogsmile
agree or smoothrides, or granite chief. For race-specific, there def more race specific shop suggestions in north lake that spring to mind; (and plenty of good non-race shops in both); but not really worth the out of the way trip, unless you really have money or medals on the line.
 

skistudent

fond of wide rolling groomers
Skier
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Posts
8
Location
South Lake Tahoe
Hi, sometime early next season I'll need the following new skis and bindings set up for use. I'm in the Lake Tahoe area. Advice appreciated!

Skis: Rossignol Hero Elite ST
Bindings: SPX 12 KONECT GW B80

Eventually I'll be maintaining the skis myself, and can even do some of the set-up myself (sidewall planing, setting edge angles and tuning) but if there's a shop people recommend I'd be happy to have it done. (At least the binding setup should probably be done and verified with my boots by an experienced tech.)

Any recommendations near Lake Tahoe? (I'm in South Lake Tahoe but can drive to North if needed).

Thanks!
Ashok
 

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
3,330
Location
SF Bay Area
Those are integrated bindings. So any shop can set those up for you with no material difference in the result due to skill or technique.
Remember to bring your boots for the binding setup. Small clarification here that for the binding test, "experience" also has zero difference, certified/trained is more of a minimum requirement. If they are following procedures, results should be the same regardless of "experience" of the operator.

Unless you are very particular and/or have a racing background, id suggest you just save your money at first and ski your skis as they were from the factory at least at first. Save your tuning money for after a few days and have some fun on the skis.

It is the same as if you buy a new car are you the type to immediately throw out the factory tires because you very particular and want specific better tires.
 
Last edited:

skistudent

fond of wide rolling groomers
Skier
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Posts
8
Location
South Lake Tahoe
Those are integrated bindings. So any shop can set those up for you with no material difference in the result due to skill or technique.
Remember to bring your boots for the binding setup. Small clarification here that for the binding test, "experience" also has zero difference, certified/trained is more of a minimum requirement. If they are following procedures, results should be the same regardless of "experience" of the operator.

Unless you are very particular and/or have a racing background, id suggest you just save your money at first and ski your skis as they were from the factory at least at first. Save your tuning money for after a few days and have some fun on the skis.

It is the same as if you buy a new car are you the type to immediately throw out the factory tires because you very particular and want specific better tires.


Thanks very much! I'll take your advice -- will be sure to bring my boots in, look for a trained / certified tech, and will try my skis out as they came before re-setting edge angles etc. The car tires analogy resonates with me.

Cheers,
Ashok
 

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
3,330
Location
SF Bay Area
Thanks very much! I'll take your advice -- will be sure to bring my boots in, look for a trained / certified tech, and will try my skis out as they came before re-setting edge angles etc. The car tires analogy resonates with me.

Cheers,
Ashok
There's probably some useful info for you here I wrote the original post and post #7 which covers some advice on tuning and info for a person getting their first pair of skis:
 
Last edited:

skistudent

fond of wide rolling groomers
Skier
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Posts
8
Location
South Lake Tahoe
There's probably some useful info for you here I wrote the original post and post #7 which covers some advice on tuning and info for a person getting their first pair of skis:
Nice document, yes, very useful, thanks!

About trying out the skis as-is as they came from the factory -- for these skis Rossignol seems to set both the base and side edges at 1 degree. For base that seems fine, for side: do many people actually want to keep 1 degree side, or is the expectation that people will set the side edge angle to what they want anyway, so the factory angle should be small to err on the side of leaving more edge material? Or some other reason?

Personally I don't have experience with different edge angles (my existing skis have always had 2 degrees side / 1 degree base, which I believe were the factory angles from K2 and Volkl), though I appreciate sharp edges and believe I can tell when edges are sharp in firm snow.
 
Last edited:

Steve

SkiMangoJazz
Pass Pulled
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
2,338
Many of us here use 3 degrees on all our skis (side bevel).
 

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
3,330
Location
SF Bay Area
If i am reading your question right, if you asking if 1,1 is an "unset" tune, the answer is no.
1,1 is still very usable and falls into the category of my advice you should go ski it first. A true custom race ski that is unset will be like 0,0 and they come with an extra sticker on it that says requires edge tuning before use.
1,1 is a standard recreational tune and if you are a new skier this is same as what you had on all your rental skis and what you learned on. It actually maybe the most common setup in use if you were to count it all up.
1,2 in Tahoe is what the local shops will rec as optimal for the typical snow and allmtn terrain that people like to ski locally. so I'll go out on a limb and say 1,2 is the most common in tahoe.
You'll have to be very specific that you know what you want for a tahoe shop to put on a 1,3 or something else. (elsewhere 1,3 maybes the local preferred tune).

All that being said, there is variation with skis anyway, so your actual ski you have may vary.

But I recall my advice exactly to this mental trap that new buyers are going to get too caught up with tuning their ski vs not enough about skiing. Just go ski it is still my advice.
If anything I would suggest to focus on how to maximize your snow time, and your offseason fitness and ski technique rather than the skis. That effort will payoff more in having more fun.
Certainly you can still do whatever you want and people here are bored enough to deepdive into obsessive details with you if you like, but likely it isn't going to be what matters in a new pair of skis situation.
 
Last edited:

skistudent

fond of wide rolling groomers
Skier
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Posts
8
Location
South Lake Tahoe
Sounds good, thanks again for the reply raytseng@ and thanks too, Steve@. I'll definitely try my new skis as-is first (1,1), my questions about edges are more for my understanding, coming from curiosity. So, if you'll please bear with me, one more:

Base on my current mental model, having a small base angle will make the ski "touchier" and therefore maybe more challenging or less forgiving for a beginner. But side edge angle should mainly tradeoff edge hold for how long the skis stay sharp between tunes. So, I could imagine rental shops opting for 1 degree rather than more to reduce the needed frequency of tuning, rather than it somehow being preferable from a skiability perspective for beginners. Is this the main reason?

Again, I'll take the advice of trying out the (1,1) since that's what the skis already have from the factory, thanks for the suggestion. My question is more for my understanding. Probably there's another thread that talks about this -- apologies if I should have searched for one before posting (I'm kinda new to the forum) -- thanks for your patience, and again, for your replies!

Ashok
 

skistudent

fond of wide rolling groomers
Skier
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Posts
8
Location
South Lake Tahoe
Many of us here use 3 degrees on all our skis (side bevel).

Thanks, Steve -- I may try 3 degrees out on one of my older pairs of skis, seems interesting to play with. I'll try out the new Rossignols with the (1,1) they come with, then depending I might re-set them to more side bevel.

Best,
Ashok
 

Tricia

The Velvet Hammer
Admin
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
Posts
27,297
Location
Reno
That's quite a nice ski for carving up groomers. Enjoy
- for these skis Rossignol seems to set both the base and side edges at 1 degree. For base that seems fine, for side: do many people actually want to keep 1 degree side,
Its peculiar to see a 1/1 on a ski like that.
Many carving skis do well with something like 1/3 or .75/3 depending on how aggressively you ski.
Most all mountain skis do fine with 1/2.
 

Sponsor

Staff online

Top