Author Topic: Hart Pulse - Better late than never  (Read 3896 times)

HighAngles

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Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« on: March 11, 2012, 09:54:25 am »
I'm following Heluva's lead and cross-posting this review I just put up on the PMTS forum.  ;)
Most Epic skiers aren't interested in 77mm underfoot skis these days...

I test quite a few pairs of skis each season, but in all my testing over the past few years I've never skied on any of the revived Hart ski models.  This past week I stopped into one of the small ski shops in the Denver metro and was surprised to see a quite a few Hart models on their ski wall.  In talking to the owner I learned that he had demos available for each of the models so I decided to take the Pulse out for a day and see how they performed.  I knew that Heluva has spoken highly of these skis so I was excited to see what they were all about.



I've been looking for a replacement for my beloved Stockli Rotor 76 skis (124-76-109, 14.0m @169cm).  They have a lot of days on them and aren't necessarily end of life, but I've still been considering what I should replace them with.  I purchased the Head Chip 78 earlier this season (124-78-110, 14.6m @171cm) thinking that they could possibly be a suitable replacement, but they ski nothing like the Rotor 76.  Hand flexing the Pulse in the shop I could tell that they were definitely stiffer than the Rotor 76 and the Chip 78.  I also performed a finger tap test that gives me a fairly good indication of how damp a ski will feel on snow.  I liked what I was hearing from Pulse - not too "pingy".  In fact, looking at the build quality, top sheet construction, and stiffer flex pattern, if the name "hart" wasn't on the ski I would have sworn it was a Stockli.  Everything about this ski seems to ooze Stockli.  Speaking of the top sheet, the Pulse has the 3D (or 4D as they call it) pseudo-holographic design that many Stocklis have - kind of like a dual-layer sublimated design that has a secondary texture and pattern in addition to the main graphic.  Photos don't show just how cool these skis look in person.  The Pulse is built in the Italian Blossom factory alongside the well regarded Blossom and Vist skis.  The length was 170cm with a 14.5m sidecut (124-77-110).

Unfortunately the factory mount point on the Pulse is way far back and the Tyrolia demo bindings didn't have enough adjustment range to get me where I really wanted to be on the skis.  I was only able to get about 15mm forward of the marked mount point before the heel track was spent.  I really wanted to get to 25mm forward if not possibly even further (to be determined through some experimentation).  So I knew going in that I was kind of limited for my demo testing.  The demos were in good shape; bases smooth and even with sharp edges.  However, I know from experience that almost every ski that I've ever tested, liked, and then subsequently purchased, has skied even better for me with my own tuning and preferred mounting point.

Were in a period of full-on Spring skiing conditions in CO right now.  So we're dealing with Spring re-freeze in the morning and softening as the day progresses.  It was a bright bluebird day at LL and luckily they groomed right down the middle of Scrub under chair 4.  This is one of my favorite steepish groomers at LL for testing skis and it gets total sun right from daybreak.  I decided to do a "level set" first by skiing my Stockli Rotor 76s for about 5 laps before switching the Pulses.  One of the traits I love about the Rotor 76 is its ability to ski nice tight turns at very low speeds.  The Rotor 76 is a very "compliant" ski and is quite comfortable at slow speeds as well as at higher speeds.  The Rotor 76 responds really well to working the ski from front to back and releases turns quite easily with its rounded turned up tail.  On the early morning hard groomers the Rotor 76 held edge quite nicely and felt very "user friendly" as my legs were getting warmed up.

Here's a quick note about the differences in construction between these skis.  The Rotor 76 has what Stockli calls an Isocore which is a kind of foam and fiberglass blend - no wood.  It has 2 sheets of metal and feels quite snappy - it bends readily, but isn't lifeless - it pops back with a good amount of power.  Many skiers hear "metal" and think that metal in a ski makes them stiffer.  This fallacy is perpetrated across many ski reviews and information provided on the web.  Unfortunately this is almost universally not true.  If you've ever picked up a Titanal sheet layer before it has been incorporated into a ski layup, you would find that the thickness used by most builders yields a very flexible sheet of metal that certainly does not increase the stiffness of the ski by itself.  When the metal layer(s) are included in the ski layup, the overall blend of the composite construction can yield a stiffer ski, but this is mostly due to the core type (and profile) and the fiberglass layers typically used.  The reason I'm pointing this out is that although both the Rotor 76 and the Head Chip 78 use 2 layers of Titanal, they are not as stiff as the Pulse which has no metal in its layup.

I switched to the Pulse after about an hour of skiing on the Rotor 76.  Just skating into the lift line I could already feel the power and edge grip of the Pulse, but I could also feel that I was going to have to work on finding the sweet spot for that grip because every now and then I lost the feeling of the front of the ski in a skate step.  After testing a lot of skis I've actually become fairly adept at already gaining an understanding of what a ski is going to do just from skating through a lift line.  As I headed down Spillway for my first run on the Pulse, I tried to ski them just as I had been skiing the Rotor 76s - big mistake.  I immediately had my "hand slapped" as the skis showed me just how much more power they had in their tails.  I knew from hand flexing them that they would be more of a handful on the mountain, but the power from the tails really surprised me.  OK, mental note - stay on top of these skis, check.  I took an easy green run, Mambo, heading over to chair 4 to feel out the balance point.  What surprised me is that they really wanted to be driven center-weighted.  A really strong pull back at transition that led to the majority of the pressure on the tips wasn't working real well for me on these skis.  My first run down the groomed section of Scrub bore this observation out.  I was dealing with a lot of edge chatter as the skis didn't like to be "forced" in the turns.  I was surprised that they weren't turning anywhere near as tightly as the Rotor 76, but then again I wasn't skiing very fast and not with very high edge angles.  It took me about 5 runs of trying different things before I found the magic missing ingredient - SPEED. I'm not sure why I didn't have that realization earlier since it only makes sense that a stiffer ski is going to want more "input" coming from additional speed to really bring the skis to life.  It wasn't until I skied over to chair 8 that this became apparent.  Coming into an easy blue groomer, Zip Trail, I had a bunch of speed off the cat walk traverse and started to really lay the skis over.  I was really floored by the stability and smoothness from the Pulse.  Once again, if I had been blindfolded I could have sworn I was on a Stockli.  The feel was almost identical to my Laser SLs, VXLs, or Globes.  I kept building up speed and the smile on my face grew bigger.  I hit the lift line and thought to myself - now I get it!  I took the next 4 laps on Zip Basin Street under chair 8.  With the higher edge angles and speed I was able to tighten up the turn radius, but they never felt as "turny" as the Rotor 76.  Anyhow, I hope the lift riders on chair 8  enjoyed the show because I was able to attain some of the highest edge angles (if not the highest) I've ever felt on a pair of skis.  The Pulses were just unflappable even when moving unexpectedly between the firmer sections and into softer sections of the run.

With the sun really baking the mountain I decided to head back over to chair 4 to test the Pulses out in some off-piste and mogul skiing.  At this point the snow was getting quite soft on top and I found that the Pulses would perform quite well making nice quick brushed carves.  Chair 4 didn't have its usual moderate sized moguls, this day they were more like "mini-moguls", but it was enough for me to realize that the Pulses, although a stiffer ski, have a really nice flex pattern for mogul skiing and I had no trouble releasing the tails between the turns.  This was confirmed in larger moguls on Nix Nox, one of the better bump runs at LL.  The moguls on Nix Nox had quite deep troughs, but I never felt caught up on the skis and they responded very well to strong pull backs between turns in the moguls.

Overall I was really impressed with the Hart Pulse.  They weren't what I was expecting, but in retrospect knowing how Heluva skis I totally get why these skis are in his quiver.  They really are kind of a "wolf in sheep's clothing" - a relaxed race ski feel with gobs of stability, power, and smoothness.  I liked them so much that I went back to the shop and bought a pair - even though I absolutely didn't need them in my quiver.  :D
« Last Edit: March 11, 2012, 10:05:25 am by HighAngles »

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Liam

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2012, 05:27:47 am »
That's a wonderful and detailed review.

I have skied the Pulses a number of times as the local shop I work at from time to time has a demo pair (mounted with a stellar VIST plate and binding: the perfect binding on these skis!). You are right, they are excellent and overlooked skis.

 It's funny if I read your review and saw only the word HART I would have thought you were reviewing the Phoenix. Which of the two Hart carving skis is the more powerful, demanding, speed oriented machine.  I've always felt that the Pulse was a fairly easy ski to ski and get very high performance out of.

If you get the chance (and have the coin) I do recommend trying a VIST speedlock plate/ binding on this skis-they bring out the best in them.

Liam

HighAngles

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2012, 01:18:52 pm »
Liam - I think part of why my testing felt that the Pulse was more "demanding" was due to the mount position.  After I ran through taking measurements and checking my calculations I will want my starting mount position to be 32mm forward of the factory mark.  I skied the demos at 15mm forward.  To some these numbers may sound like a lot, to others not so much, but I've found that shifts of as little as 10mm (sometimes 5mm) can result in a very different ski feel. 

I like to have my BoF smack on top of the center of effective edge and hopefully also the center of the sidecut (narrowest point of the waist).  My calculations show that I will be able to achieve that on the Pulse and then the ski will have more "tail" which in turn will actually allow the tail to have a bit more flex.  I've found that when I'm more centered on a ski I'm better able to bend it at lower speeds.

So I'll post an update to this review once I've had some time on my own pair.  As I said in the review, I almost always prefer a ski much more after I get the mounting point dialed in and have my preferred tuning applied.

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2012, 02:07:44 pm »
I have a whole new appreciation of High Angles ski reviews following our week in Tahoe. Very few pay attention to detail like he does and his verbal descriptions of skis amazed me, time and time again. He knows what he likes and how to describe it. Not only can he talk the talk, he can ski the ski!

In my 12 skis in Tahoe thread, I mentioned that I also got on Hart Pulse skis for an afternoon on hard snow. I, too, was very impressed with the 170's as the were rock solid and changed edges very easily. A quiver update may be forthcoming, we'll see.

I had the Pulse in a 178 several seasons ago when I dislocated my shoulder. I found them very comfortable to ski on an all day basis with great grip. Upon returning to skiing the season, I was conservative with respect to speed. Helluvaskier advised me to find a softer carver ski for the following season, so, following a trip to Greek Peak, my Pulse's went home with him. I believe the Pulse is made by Blossom in Italy and they are the makers of Vist skis, of which, Helluva now owns a pair. Speed helps bring them to life. A friend owns both the Pulse and and the Phoenix, as an eastern skier, prefers the Phoenix, and, can't find love for the Pulse. I wonder if binding location is an issues.

Teamed with the Vist system, my experience was they are heavy. I remember Gary picking up my skis on the way the Jackson airport (my arm was in a sling) and he went "wow" due to the weight. More of a problem carrying than when skiing.

Hart skis....can they survive?? My very first new skis were Hart Castle's in the early 70's.

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2012, 07:28:35 am »
I'm pleased to announce the first quiver change for next season is in progress and the same Hart Pulse skis that I enjoyed in Tahoe are soon headed for my house. They will arrive with riser plates pre-drilled for my Marker Griffon bindings.

Leaving will be my Kastle 88's - off to friend in Michigan. I just want something narrower for my small home mountain skiing. I really like many aspects of the Kastle 88's, but, I just fight with my technique on wider skis. So the quiver will include Blizzard Mag Sl's and Dynastar Sultan 94's.

jim-ratliff

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2012, 07:33:28 am »
Congratulations LP.


 :D   and the mounting position will be??   :-\
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Gary

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2012, 07:43:35 am »
Hey Mike....congrat's....sounds like a great ski choice for you....substantial enough at 77 underfoot for a variety of conditions and sweet turning radius....excellent .

Sounds to me that HA, like me is very critical about mounting point. Does your plate the plate you have coming with the ski allow you to move that forward and do you know how much?

Also, you said you were going with your Marker Griffons....just a question and a thought...

What bindings were on the ski when you tested it?

My thought is that the Griffons as flat as flat can be...toe and heel...no ramp....if the skis you tested have more delta, the response with the new skis mounted with the Griffons may not be the same...

Just something worth looking at I think...

Can't wait to see you ski those next year at Holimont...best, g


LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2012, 08:44:26 am »
Gary and Jim,

My Griffons are the adjustable, so, I my thinking was I could fine tune the mount via actual skiing. But G does raise a good point about flat. The bindings on them now are Tyrolia 18's and I would be skiing them at the lowest DIN setting, but, they are mounted for my exact boot size. I can buy them with bindings, do you think that's a better choice? Another option is to use the Tyrolia Free Flex that were on my Supershapes and still in great shape. Then again, I could just get the Powerrail's.

Whoever would have thought the binding decision was so complex.

Gary

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2012, 08:57:20 am »
Hey Mike....My thoughts are if you liked them with the set up you skied them with....as well as you know, feel and understand your feet....seems to me having the same set up would be prudent.

I just think the Griffons are HUGELY difference in performance....spea king from my own personal experience with my MX78's....

AND if the Tyrollia Free Flex are similar to design to what you tested....could be a great fit, but then ya got a naked pair of SS...what to do with those?

Yes..tough decisions but getting it right....priceless!  ;)

G

jim-ratliff

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2012, 09:02:35 am »



I would focus on staying with what you demoed and liked. 
Do they have any kind of plate on them now that would facilitate moving the SuperShape bindings without changing the nature of the ski?
I'm pretty sure that, for liability reasons, Tyrolia wouldn't advertise a binding for a DIN range if it didn't work correctly over the entire range, although I always try to get in the middle of the range.
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HeluvaSkier

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #10 on: April 05, 2012, 10:08:40 pm »
You're out of your mind if you mount that ski flat.
All-Mountain: A common descriptive term for boots or skis that are designed to perform equally poorly under a variety of conditions and over many different types of terrain.

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2012, 06:52:31 am »
You're out of your mind if you mount that ski flat.

I always enjoy Helluva's simple, direct (and very insightful) analysis. So let be done, there will be no flat mount. Thanks!

gandalf

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #12 on: April 06, 2012, 12:33:28 pm »
You're out of your mind if you mount that ski flat.

It's OK to be blunt -- if it's done respectfully.
In this case I translated "you're out of your mind" to mean "I highly recommend that ...".   ;D

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #13 on: April 06, 2012, 05:19:35 pm »
Just to be clear, the skis will arrive with riser plate attached to the flat ski, so there will not be a binding mounted on the flat top of the ski. My friend has one foot about a 1/2 inch shorter than the other, so, they were mounted with a plate on one ski, the other with a traditional Tyrolia mounting for the 18 binding. A matching riser plate will be added to the ski that was flat mounted.

And Jim, Helluva skis with riser plates, so, I think he was telling me to something similar to what he does. Now, if I could just mimic his technique..... ;D

HighAngles

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #14 on: April 07, 2012, 01:38:41 am »
I picked up the Tyrolia Speedplate Plus 13 and the Head Freeflex Pro 14 bindings to be mounted on my Harts.  The bindings were practically dirt cheap at Ski Universe and the plates were half price through Ramp skis (I bought the last pair though).

I may get them mounted up this weekend.  It looks like we may actually start getting snow again in CO over the next few weeks as they're predicting a cooling trend with snow.  If we get enough I may decide to actually get out on the Pulse skis before next season.

LP - I agree with others in that you should go with the Tyrolia plates and bindings - a much better setup IMO.

HeluvaSkier

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #15 on: April 12, 2012, 07:39:04 pm »
My pair is mounted with Marker WC Piston plates...

My new pair that is coming will be mounted with Head RD16's and Fischer WC Race plates.
All-Mountain: A common descriptive term for boots or skis that are designed to perform equally poorly under a variety of conditions and over many different types of terrain.

HighAngles

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #16 on: April 23, 2012, 09:44:12 pm »
With the recent snow we received in CO last week (LL got 16") I decided that the slopes were safe enough to take the new skis on their maiden voyage.

As I mentioned previously, I decided to go with the Tyrolia Speedplate Plus 13.  This is a new plate from Tyrolia that has been out now for 2 seasons, but is unfortunately really hard to get a hold of.  The design is quite a bit different than the older Carving Plates.  I would say that it's much closer now to the RDX race plate, but includes pre-drilled holes like the Carving Plates.  The Speedplate now has 7 sets of usable positions for the toe.  Thus if you setup your mount so that you use the middle position you'll have the ability to adjust your mount position further forward by 20mm or further back by 20mm (both directions have two 10mm increments).  Interestingly, the plate is 13mm tall right in the middle, but directly under the heel and toe of the boot the plates measures 12mm while out at near the ends of the plate it's about 14.5mm.

I decided to write in more detail about the plate I chose because I really think it adds something extra to the ski performance with its ability to provide a free flexing, vibration absorbing platform for your binding mount.  Using this plate my stand height ended up at 47mm at the heel and 42mm at the toe (a 5mm delta).  The Head/Tyrolia Tech manual shows this binding as having a 7mm delta, but I've never measured a single Head or Tyrolia binding having that much delta.  Most of my skis have a delta somewhere between 3-5mm so I felt right at home with this binding and plate setup.

I caught some of the fresh snow the weekend before, but warm weather has returned and the testing day was bright sunshine with the on-mountain temps in the 40s.  I purposely went out early unlike my normal mode during Spring skiing.  I normally hate skiing on Spring re-freeze - it's so much nastier than normal ice since it's generally not smooth ice and there can be lots of chunks due to the groomer cats.  However on this day I wanted to find some ice first thing in the morning to really test the edge hold and the ability of the skis to deal with severely crappy conditions.  As the day warmed the slope conditions continually improved until everything was turning to slop around noon at the lower elevations.  The snow conditions became fairly inconsistent, but more on the consequences of that later...

As I stated in my earlier post, my calculated mount position put me at 32mm forward of the factory line.  This was also 20mm forward of the position I was able to use when I tested the demo skis.  I triple checked my measurements after I tuned the skis and everything was still spot on for a 32mm forward mount position.  Since I mentioned tuning the skis I should say that the skis had fairly consistent geometry in their base and edge work straight out of the wrapper.  The bases were dead flat, but the base edge bevel bounced between 0.5mm to 1mm with most of the skis at 0.5mm.  I like a 0.5mm base bevel on ~65mm waist skis, but that's not what I wanted on a ski that's 77mm.  I reset the edge geometry to a consistent 3* side and 1* base bevel and kept them sharp tip to tail.  I also skyvered away the flange above the edges.  This exposes the edges so that they can bite into ice better.

On the early morning ice the Hart Pulse did not disappoint.  They have endless edge grip and are fairly strong torsionally.  I felt that I could totally trust the edges from my first turn.  However what really surprised me was that the tails of the skis felt much more compliant than the demo pair.  20mm further forward may not sound like much, but for me this difference really transformed the skis.  As the morning progressed I felt like the sweet spot on these skis just grew larger.  It seemed like I almost couldn't find a bad position where the ski edges would no longer hold.  On the demos I needed much more speed to really work the skis, not so with my own setup.  The tail didn't own me and the skis felt much quicker to initiate turns while I was able to get much more power into the skis at slower speeds.  I could actually bend them under 20 mph!  They weren't as damp and stable feeling as the Head Chip 78, but there are times when the Chip 78 can feel a bit like a battleship as they're not always responsive to skier input.  The Pulse gives up a little in that area, but gains the feeling of being more nimble and fun to drive.  I've found that it can be tough for some skis to equally handle different turn shapes (brushed round carves, edge-locked GS carves, short swing SL turns), but the Pulse was fairly adept at all of them.  The only thought I had as I was skiing some steeper terrain with a lot of softening chop was that I could have used a bit more length (the 176cm perhaps), but I think I would have that same feeling with any ski 170cm or less in dealing with those kinds of conditions.

On my last run of the day the snow was really starting to soften to the point of slush on the lower mountain.  On the upper mountain it depended on what aspect you were skiing, but it was still a crap shoot trying to guess what was coming next.  Coming down a fairly easy and wide open green at the top of the mountain I was laying over some high edge angle carves when near the end of the pitch, when I had a good amount of speed and angles, my stance ski dug into the snow more than I was expecting and I completed my binding check ;) (I released at the toe).  I flew through the air about 20-30' and landed on my left shoulder and back with the other ski still hanging on.  This was the biggest fall I've had since I was injured 5 years ago.  Luckily I was able to retrieve my ski and get to the bottom of the mountain without an injury.  I wasn't sure if anything was wrong so I decided to call it a day.  Too bad I didn't get any video of the fall because I'd love to see what it looked like.  It sure was a "heluva" release. ;)   In retrospect I remember really starting to get nice rebound out of the skis (with weightless float in the transitions) and working to stay on top of them.  Maybe I got a bit too aggressive in my re-centering foot pull backs or something.  Clearly I did something very wrong for the snow conditions I encountered.

Anyhow, as I expected the Hart Pulse is even better with my mount position and my tune.  I can't wait to get more time on these skis, but it looks like it may be next season before that happens.  I'd really like to get more time on them in off-piste terrain and moguls to really complete my assessment, but for now I'm resting easy with my investment in these skis.  Considering I didn't really need them I'm extremely happy that I pulled the trigger on a pair.  If you can find a pair at a reasonable price I wouldn't hesitate to give them a buy recommendation.  If this is the new Hart then they're clearly doing something right.

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #17 on: April 24, 2012, 06:31:32 am »
HighAngles

Nice review and I'm glad your last fall did not ruin your summer. For the past few seasons, my last day was known in advance, so, I always dialed back my intensity to assure golf/biking season was not ruined.

Phil found a pair of green Free Flex bindings that will be great color match for the Hart's. We've been discussing where they will be mounted. As there is no rush for delivery (Thanksgiving would be ok), I may see if I can score the new Tyrolia Speedplate 13 plus that you used. If you come across a site that has them, let me know.

If anyone else has a source, let me know.

HighAngles

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #18 on: April 24, 2012, 06:59:39 am »
I grabbed some shots of the new skis next to the Head Chip 78.  Took these in my garage right after I finished mounting them.

Tail shot:


Tip shot:

jim-ratliff

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #19 on: April 24, 2012, 07:31:21 am »



HighAngles:


Just curious.  Even though the Pulses are mounted +30 the picture looks like the Chip 78's are even farther forward?  True?  And where did you mount the Chips relative to factory mark. 


And since you have them side by side, is the factory recommended mark pretty similar for the two?
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HighAngles

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #20 on: April 24, 2012, 01:24:09 pm »
Jim - The Hart Pulse skis are 170cm while the Head Chip 78 skis are 171cm.  This fact can account for some of the difference you're seeing, but also keep in mind that I use Center of Effective Edge in my calculation - not Center of Running Length or Center of Base Length.  By using the Effective Edge (EE), the calculation works better no matter what kind of "interesting" tip or tail design may be employed.

So in the pictures I posted the skis are aligned by the end of their tails (standing up on the floor).  If you truly want to compare binding positions between skis, it is necessary to line up their Center of Effective Edge marks. 

I actually own two pairs of Head Chip 78 skis.  I have a 171cm with a mount point at +25mm from the factory mark and a 177cm with a mount point of +32mm.

I don't have much experience with Hart so I can't comment on where their factory marks generally land across their ski models.  However, I do have enough experience with the Head line-up to say that Head skis are almost universally marked rearward of where I think most accomplished skiers would prefer to be mounted with their skis.  This is quite common across Austrian/German manufacturers whereas the French skis are typically more forward with their factory mounts.  Elan was also notoriously much further forward, but I haven't been purchasing any Elans in the last couple years so I'm not sure if that still is true.

HeluvaSkier

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #21 on: November 27, 2012, 11:07:33 pm »
Just catching up with this thread now... sorry guys! Glad you're all on Blossom skis though. Love it!

I just picked up another pair of Blossoms (may have **** the core of the other pair on the last run of last season, see below, skis have a new flex pattern...) - the Windshear - same ski as the Pulse, but not green... red, black, and white... so it is cooler.  :P Anyway, I had to mount them so, I figured I'd share my mounting point. Against the manufacturer's mid-sole I am +15mm, same as my other pair. I ski in a child's sized boot (24), so not sure how this translates to real people when you calculate the BoF point. I'm also on the largest size, which is a 180. Perfect ski IMO.

All-Mountain: A common descriptive term for boots or skis that are designed to perform equally poorly under a variety of conditions and over many different types of terrain.

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #22 on: November 28, 2012, 07:25:02 am »

I just picked up another pair of Blossoms (may have **** the core of the other pair on the last run of last season, see below, skis have a new flex pattern...) -



Hellua,

Living Proof that you were never born to ski on ski marked "All Mountain". :D : I have a photo of that somewhere, I need to do some research, and prove to the world that, for one brief shinning moment, you dissed your signature statement.

HeluvaSkier

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #23 on: November 28, 2012, 02:05:34 pm »
Hellua,

Living Proof that you were never born to ski on ski marked "All Mountain". :D : I have a photo of that somewhere, I need to do some research, and prove to the world that, for one brief shinning moment, you dissed your signature statement.

I should have never allowed that photo to be taken...  8)
All-Mountain: A common descriptive term for boots or skis that are designed to perform equally poorly under a variety of conditions and over many different types of terrain.

HighAngles

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #24 on: December 31, 2012, 05:25:41 pm »
After putting in another 4 days on the Pulse on everything from icy groomers to soft chop and small moguls I can provide some additional comparison info against my other skis.  I have found that the Pulse is still probably one of the more "ballsy" skis I've ever owned.  It's unflappable almost to a fault - it makes me push things to a higher level that I wouldn't try with some of my other skis.  A 170cm ski without any metal shouldn't be as smooth and silky feeling on the snow as the Pulse is.  However, in comparison to the Head Chip 78, Stockli Rotor 76, or Scott Neo, I find the Pulse to be a much more demanding ski.  Skis that strongly reward good movements and correct input also can be the same skis that punish poor movements and mistakes.  I've found that I need to be much more on top of the Pulse and maintain that higher degree of focus at all times.  I'm thinking that it's really not an intermediate-friendly ski.  I find this trait really peculiar due to my observations when hand flexing the ski and looking at its construction I would have been hard pressed to say that it skis the way it actually does.  This of course supports the "demo, demo, demo" mantra.

I'm interested in seeing what LivingProof's thoughts are on his pair.

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #25 on: January 02, 2013, 04:50:42 pm »
High Angles,

Friday, if all goes well, will my debut of the Pulses on my, and formerly your, home mountain. I got Day 1 of this season in today and wanted to be on my trusty Supershapes to get the rust out of my technique. Presently, the Pulse binding center is 20 mm forward of the marked center position. As we both have 170's, could you please measure your calculated marking point from the rear of the ski. The reason I ask is that only one of my skis has center mark, strange! ::)

It does make a mere pedestrian skier, such as myself, wonder a little bit when you are having to pay attention.

jim-ratliff

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #26 on: January 02, 2013, 07:58:24 pm »
Living Proof: You have 2 skis, wouldn't the center mark be the same on both? Not sure why you can't just measure your other ski?
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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #27 on: January 03, 2013, 06:06:37 am »
Just a double check. I plan to attempt High Angles methodology of determining the narrowest point of a ski, and, as we have the exact same ski, another objective data point is of interest.

Only High Angles would base his methodology around a digital micrometer. I'm impressed by my fellow engineer need for high tech gear.

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #28 on: January 04, 2013, 02:33:35 pm »
I did my first day on the Hart Pulse 170 today. Conditions were typical of east coast groomer skiing, some decent, some scratchy, some pushed around granular piles. We still do not have any of the more demanding trails open, so skiing was limited to Blue type trails.

After putting in another 4 days on the Pulse on everything from icy groomers to soft chop and small moguls I can provide some additional comparison info against my other skis.  I have found that the Pulse is still probably one of the more "ballsy" skis I've ever owned.  It's unflappable almost to a fault - it makes me push things to a higher level that I wouldn't try with some of my other skis.  A 170cm ski without any metal shouldn't be as smooth and silky feeling on the snow as the Pulse is. 
I totally agree with HA assessment of the Pulse. It's a pleasure to ski, very stable and smooth, very comfortable on the body - a great ski to be on all day. I spent some time trying to ski with some buds training for GS. While I can't keep up, the Pulse likes speed. Clearly, it's not a Supershape type SL turn radius, but, I easily got it to tighten the turn radius with tipping movements.

However, in comparison to the Head Chip 78, Stockli Rotor 76, or Scott Neo, I find the Pulse to be a much more demanding ski.  Skis that strongly reward good movements and correct input also can be the same skis that punish poor movements and mistakes.  I've found that I need to be much more on top of the Pulse and maintain that higher degree of focus at all times.  I'm thinking that it's really not an intermediate-friendly ski.  I find this trait really peculiar due to my observations when hand flexing the ski and looking at its construction I would have been hard pressed to say that it skis the way it actually does.  This of course supports the "demo, demo, demo" mantra.
I can't concur that the Pulse needs high levels of staying on top of. High Angles pushes the ski much more to the limits than I, gets bigger edges and he as mucho more experience with other skis. I can only compare it to the Supershape I skied 2 days ago and they are somewhat similar to me with respect to staying focused. For sure, I never felt like I had to fight the Pulse, as I often feel when skiing wider skis than this 77.

I'm interested in seeing what LivingProof's thoughts are on his pair.

I'm skiing the Pulse shorter than perhaps typical recommendation of 178 for a larger skier. I liked it in Tahoe, liked it in Pa. Philpug did a Starthaus tune on it prior to sending it east, and, it was just a very neutral ski with no bad habits. Phil often states we ski the tune when demoing skis, so the tune may have played a part in my review, but, HA also does his own tuning so I know his skis were prepped. I'm pleased that I bought a "short" ski as I gain a shorter radius without high speed tradeoff.

I do agree with HA that the ski responds to good movements. I spent a lot of time working on fore/aft, counter balance and counteracting (Harbites know about what I speak) and the ski did better as I did better. Only 2 days in this season, so I've got a long way to go with technique.

Y'all who attend the Holiday Valley event in Feb. will get to see firsthand how it works.

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #29 on: January 22, 2013, 08:17:44 pm »
After putting in another 4 days on the Pulse on everything from icy groomers to soft chop and small moguls I can provide some additional comparison info against my other skis.  I have found that the Pulse is still probably one of the more "ballsy" skis I've ever owned.  It's unflappable almost to a fault - it makes me push things to a higher level that I wouldn't try with some of my other skis.  A 170cm ski without any metal shouldn't be as smooth and silky feeling on the snow as the Pulse is.  However, in comparison to the Head Chip 78, Stockli Rotor 76, or Scott Neo, I find the Pulse to be a much more demanding ski.  Skis that strongly reward good movements and correct input also can be the same skis that punish poor movements and mistakes.  I've found that I need to be much more on top of the Pulse and maintain that higher degree of focus at all times.  I'm thinking that it's really not an intermediate-friendly ski.  I find this trait really peculiar due to my observations when hand flexing the ski and looking at its construction I would have been hard pressed to say that it skis the way it actually does.  This of course supports the "demo, demo, demo" mantra.

Fun fact: My Blossom Windshear has a layer of metal in it... basically the Pulse with metal. My old Hart Pulse (Stage 1) was the version with no metal... same as the Blossom Snoras I think.

Heres a pic:
All-Mountain: A common descriptive term for boots or skis that are designed to perform equally poorly under a variety of conditions and over many different types of terrain.

HighAngles

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #30 on: January 23, 2013, 02:36:17 pm »
Very nice.  That's a sweet setup.

hobbes

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #31 on: March 10, 2013, 08:25:25 pm »
Very late to the game here ... and new to Peak Skier Zone.  Found some great info. when searching for reviews of The Pulse, so thought I'd join.

I skied the Phoenix from Hart as a primary frontside ski for 2 years and loved it.  Been demo'ing many skis this season in the 76-82 mm width range, and just decided to go with the Pulse.  Still in the plastic waiting to be mounted and hit the snow.  Got lots of feedback on mounting position from the folks at Hart and am going with their recommendation at +2cm.  Now looking for the right (and most cost effective) binding set-up.  Don't need more than a 12 DIN binding at my 165 lbs., and definitely will be using these on more than just groomed ... ungroomed, bumps, glades.  What do you recommend?

BTW, thanks for all who have posted about this ski ... just about the only place to find good, real-world info. about it!

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #32 on: March 11, 2013, 08:14:47 am »
First, Hobbes -welcome to the Peak Skiers group. Please join any thread that is of interest, we are a group of enthusiastic skiers and good (I think) people. Our one rule is to respect others - pretty simple.

All  Hobbes pm'd me via the Epic forums for some thoughts on the Pulse and I sent him a link to this thread, along with an invite to join. We now have, probably, the largest group of Hart Pulse skiers anywhere, with him, me, High Angles, and Helluva (who has retired them).

My recommendation was the Tyrolia/Head Powerrail bindings which are adjustable without remounting.

 

jim-ratliff

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #33 on: March 11, 2013, 10:40:56 am »
I certainly support the Power Rail recommendation. I have them on all three pair of my skis, so i only lug around one pair of bindings (and two pair of brakes).
You might consider mounting the Power Rails so they are centered at +1cm, and that way you can get +2 as well as back to 0 with the adjustment in the bindings (unless you have a boot sole length less than 300). Mounting the rails at default position probably won't allow you to move bindings forward to +2cm.
"If you're gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right."

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #34 on: March 14, 2013, 02:48:46 pm »
Hi All. I found this forum when searching for info on mounting Hart Pulses. I recognized a few of you big dawgs and decided to join.

The Hart Pulses 170s are fun! I mounted Head PRD12 powerrails so I can mess around with boot locations and allow my son and others to use them.

(If anyone needs a Power rail template: http://www.slidewright.com/Bindings/Tyrolia/Head_PRD12.pdf )

As a point of comparison for location HighAngles, can you pull a tape from the tail to your +32mm BSC location? After reading other posts and corresponding with others (including Bob Barnes) +2 from the '469' mark sounded like the sweet spot.

Before mounting the bindings I performed a couple wax cycles, including 'the poor man's hot box' approach (reheat and cool prep wax a few times before hot scraping, cooling reheating, cool, scrape & brush). It was noticeable that by the third round of reheating the wax, the bases absorbed a substantial amount of the wax. I'm not sure that I had noticed this before with other new skis.....

FWIW, As another trick for finding the arc center/narrowest part, lock calipers or other device to an arbitrary length less than the widest on the tail. Move towards the tails until it stops and mark. Do the same towards the tips and mark. Half between should be the center of the arc and narrowest part of the ski.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2013, 08:26:12 am by Alpinord »

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #35 on: March 14, 2013, 07:53:30 pm »
Alpinnord

Welcome to the Peak Skiers site. There are no big dogs here, just a collection of a few friends. I could not get that link to work.

For those who do not know of Alpinnord, he runs an internet ski tuning website called Slidewright. If you need tuning gear, or other stuff, check it out. Reminds me that I need to get some all purpose wax soon. I miss your presence in the Epic tuning section. He also has some nice video about how to tune skis.

and now that you have signed up, the Peak Skier Hart Pulse club is at 5 members. Skied them today at my home eastern mountain on some chalky snow. They continue to make me smile, stable, fast edge to edge, great grip. Ski them at +2

You are welcome to post here anytime.

Mike

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #36 on: March 15, 2013, 08:32:28 am »
Hi & Thanks Mike,

Is it the 5 piece 'Lonely (but happy) Harts Club Band'?  ;)

Due to an inaccurate mounting line assumption for the power rails, my BSC ended at +3.5mm which worked fine, but +2 seemed more 'right' and today I'll try them back another 16mm just to see how it feels.



Due to the spring thaw here in SW CO, I've tweaked the base structure on the Pulses to a coarser linear structure so I can surf the slop better, coupled w/some LF. I'll report back after 'product testing' today.

I fixed the link and in addition to tuning, waxing and repair stuff we have ramped up binding mount and insert installation tips and products.

http://www.slidewright.com/weblog/topics/ski-snowboard/bindings-ski-snowboard/

Terry
« Last Edit: March 15, 2013, 08:46:04 am by Alpinord »

LivingProof

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #37 on: March 15, 2013, 04:55:39 pm »

Is it the 5 piece 'Lonely (but happy) Harts Club Band'?  ;)

Due to the spring thaw here in SW CO, I've tweaked the base structure on the Pulses to a coarser linear structure so I can surf the slop better, coupled w/some LF. I'll report back after 'product testing' today.

Terry


Peak Skiers Lonely Harts Club Band.....I like it, anybody think the Beatles will sue for copyright infringement?

Please share how you modified your base structure. I've considered modifying the bases of the skis I will take to Big Sky next week. What is LF? Presume it's a floride? And yes, let us know how it worked out.

Alpinord

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #38 on: March 15, 2013, 07:55:31 pm »
Quote
Please share how you modified your base structure. I've considered modifying the bases of the skis I will take to Big Sky next week. What is LF? Presume it's a floride? And yes, let us know how it worked out.

LF = Low Fluoro. I just ran my Structuring Plane w/coarse stone over the the base a few times, followed by the steel blade.

Here's the SkiVisions Base Flattener & Structuring Plane instructions and videos: http://www.slidewright.com/weblog/ski-snowboard/bases-ski-snowboard/base-flattener-structuring-plane/

It was a mixed bag today. It was in the 50's, intense sun and like skiing in summertime, not springtime. The wet corn and packed groomers were fast. The mankey transforming, untracked snow was grippy as was plowing into sloppy crud bumps. I might try a more aggressive structure after the next storm.

The move back from the +2 position was a regression and now playing with small increments around +2 is next.

Another option I think will be fun to mess with on the Pulses is a radial base bevel after getting more miles and locked into a boot location.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2013, 08:21:59 pm by Alpinord »

Svend

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #39 on: March 20, 2013, 05:46:30 am »
Alpinord (Terry) -- welcome to our little forum! I have seen your contributions on that other forum, and visited your shop's website.  Very nice...some good stuff on offer.  Your tuning videos have been quite valuable in past -- well done.  No orders as yet, as I live in Canada.  Send me a PM if you ship up here, and I'd be happy to order some tuning supplies and tools from you (there are a few things on my wish list).

Keep checking in here, as your knowledge of tuning and all things technical will be a great asset.

Cheers,
Svend

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #40 on: March 20, 2013, 09:46:09 am »
Thanks Svend. (Yes we ship globally.)

The more aggressive structure did not disappoint, although the snow wasn't as wet as last week. I could plow through manky snow better. There was a wind keeping the snow firmer and fast, so it was not apples to apples. The +2.8 position was as fun as the +2.0 position as far as I could tell. While getting more used to the stiffer Harts in various bump types (soft, firm & covered with death cookies) and other variables, the skis responded well and were solid and love speed on super firm snow through corn groomers.  :D

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #41 on: March 26, 2013, 08:43:34 pm »
Just curious for those with PRD 12 bindings on the Pulses, what brake width you went with ... most places I found that have them in stock have no smaller than 88mm brake width.

jim-ratliff

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Re: Hart Pulse - Better late than never
« Reply #42 on: March 27, 2013, 10:13:33 am »
Other widths can be ordered if you find a friendly dealer. My Progresssor 800'a came with narrower brakes. I had to order wider brakes so as to use one set of bindings on all three sets of skis.
I think the available sizes were mid 70'a, mid 80'a, mid 90'a and 105?
But I can believe that 88 is the most commonsize shipped with the bindings.
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