Author Topic: Re: New Approach to Binding Mount position; split from Stockli Laser SX review.  (Read 3284 times)

HighAngles

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Jim - I have long trumpeted the fact that skiers with different BSLs would end up in different positions of their BoF over the ski if they all mounted at the factory mark.  This was especially an issue for women (and guys with small feet) since their BoF would be much farther rearward.

But here's where things get interesting (and I need more data) - many ski manufacturers do NOT put their factory mark at the narrowest point of the ski sidecut.  When they don't it's almost always rearward by a large margin.  I believe that HH's point was that it isn't about the positioning of the BoF any longer (not in modern skiing style), but more about being centered over the narrowest point of the sidecut.  I didn't get into exactly why this is important previously, but I'll lay it out now.  Pretend you have a machine that can bend a ski into a complete arc while stationary on the snow.  While the ski is bent deeply, place your ski boot on it at your chosen mount position.  If this position is forward of the center of the bent arc then the mere act of bending a ski will put you in the back seat.  Can you see why?  Because the toe will be more "up" and the heel will be more "down" into the center of that arc.  By the same token, a rearward point will have the toe down and the heel up which obviously wouldn't necessarily put you in the back seat, but it certainly wouldn't be in balance against the arc of the bent ski.  So the idea is that a bent ski will have the deepest point of the arc (the apex) at the narrowest point of its sidecut when skied on hard snow.  Now clearly, many skiers never really bend their skis much at all so the degree of the effect of this situation will vary with the skill level of the skier.  The corollary to this is make sure that you can actually bend your skis at the speeds you typically ski.  If the ski isn't really getting bent in a turn then you're really not taking advantage of the design of a ski to make it turn.

Another point, consider the design of women's skis.  Manufacturers should be doing a lot more than just making them softer/lighter and changing where they print the mounting line on it.  They should be adjusting the sidecut position relative to the Center of Effective Edge.  That means that they should not just be putting pretty colors and chick-inspired graphics on the same ski that's in the men's line.  They should really be developing the skis differently from the ground up to work better for lighter skiers with smaller feet so that the sidecut and the ski profile mesh well for a smaller skier.
« Last Edit: January 03, 2013, 07:48:52 am by HighAngles »