Demo Tracks

[byronm]

Hi Folks,
 
With regard to demo skis and bindings;
 
I have demoed some skis and really do not have enough experience to speculate on how a demo track might impact a ski's performance intention.
 
1) How do bindings mounted on demo tracks affect a skis performance...or do they?
 
2) If so, is there a particular way in which they affect ski types, rockered, cambered, both etc.? Positively/Negatively
 
3) Would it be advisable to remove a demo track and "remount" or roll with what you have?
 
Seems a viable consideration if one is demo'ing a ski, later purchases and wishes to mount conventionally or if one is considering purchasing a demo ski.
 
Thanks for your thoughts

[jbotti]

Demo bindings are fine. The tend to be a little heavier. In recent years some of the newer demo bindings are preferable to fixed mount bindings and some are even as light (Marker Jester demo bindings). I actually only put adjustable bindings on my wide/powder skis because I want to be able to play around with the mount position (fore and aft). If I bought a pair of skis that had demo bindings on them, I would keep them.

[Svend]

Agreed.  In my experience, some of the demo bindings are of very good quality.  I bought a pair of Fischer skis with a very good Fischer XTR Pro 13 demo binding.  The only reason I swapped them for a regular binding was that with the binding mounted on the ski's race plate, the stand height was too high. 

Which leads me to some general comments:

-- watch out for stand height; if the demo bindings raise the stand height, this may be a good thing if you want more edge-to-edge quickness, say on a wider ski, or a bad thing if there is already a plate on a narrow ski.  The Fischer binding mentioned above, had a 10mm higher stand height than a standard binding, and made the total stand height (ski/plate/binding) at 63mm -- that's quite a bit, and for a 70mm wide ski it was way too high and made the skis really twitchy; swapping them for the standard binding calmed things down.

-- on some demo skis, the bindings are the same as retail; eg. Dynastar/Look/Rossi Fluid system is a type of sliding rail system (toe and heel piece slide individually on a rail), and every Dynastar or Rossi demo/rental that I have ever had has had this system -- and it is exactly the same as a ski on the store wall.  Nordica may be likewise -- I recently bought a pair of demo Mach 3's in great shape that have very good adjustable bindings, and I don't plan to replace them.

-- having fore-aft adjustability is a good thing, and may be worth keeping the demo binding just for that reason, unless the other afore-mentioned drawbacks lead you to replace it.

-- if the ski would benefit from a fixed-mount bindings (flat or lifter-mounted; no plate) for flex pattern reasons, then the demo binding rail may make the ski stiffer, and definitely heavier.

Bottom line: if you really like a demo ski and want to buy it to save some money, you will have to evaluate the quality of the binding and whether it will help or hinder your skiing.  If the latter, then the money spent on a new binding won't make the ski such a great deal in the end.

Hope this helps...

[jim-ratliff]

And, following up on Svend's comments, you will probably outgrow the ski's before you would notice some of those constraints.
I agree with everyone else, demo bindings are no longer an impediment to a purchase.

[HighAngles]

Current demo bindings (in the past couple years) are no longer an issue when testing skis.  Most are very similar if not pretty much identical to their retail counterparts.

[byronm]

Thx all....good information.
 
I was indulging myself in "window shopping" and spotted what would appear to be a good deal on some volkl kendo's with marker griffun bindings. The skis are new, never been skied but have the demo plate.
 
While I don't really need another pair of skis right now and there will no doubt be other end of season deals, the subject sparked my curiosity. So I thought I would ask.
 
Thx again.....