SkiBike Tour 2013-14 - Geneva Base Camp
Posted: Wednesday, 26 March 2014 by Mark Kinnon in Labels: 2013-14 Tour, D.I.Y., France, SkiBike
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Today looked to be another stunning day for riding, but once again I was confined to barracks. This time it was for the long awaited arrival of not one, but two pairs of demo skis, sent by Royce McDaniel of NISM. The courier could have arrived at any time from 8 till 6, but the door bell finally rang in the early afternoon and after handing over an extortionate French customs fee, I could get a first look at these skibike specific skis.
My first impressions were, "whoa these aren't skis", one might call them skis, but skiboards would be a closer description. In the picture below I have included a first generation Salomon SnowBlade for comparison, no doubt you will appreciate how much wider these items are.
The first pair is an "All mountain" design, approximately 1 metre long and with a distinctive rubber tread graphic. The second pair is slightly shorter at around 90cm and is supposed to be more suited to snow park riding and those who are creating BMX framed skibikes. In spite of their girth, they appear to be reasonably light and give the impression that they will have plenty of flex.
Both designs are asymmetrical and feature wide tips and narrow tails, ironically I had this arrangement on my first D.I.Y. skibike, but only because the skis were full length items cut in half! These are designed so that the rear ski can be mounted back to front and in theory at least, give the performance of a single 2 metre ski with a shared side cut. Lastly, they feature mounts for the common 4 x 4 spacing, so should fit straight on to my Alpine SkiBikes adapters and also a longer spacing which I would guess is a LenzSport spec.
I hope to be able to test both designs over the next few days on my smaller silver skibike, as it is such a safe and predictable "test bed" that I can almost ride it with my eyes shut. Both pairs will be available for sale after testing is complete, at a special, once only, price; although one pair is already "dibbed" for an enthusiastic Frenchman I ride with.
My first impressions were, "whoa these aren't skis", one might call them skis, but skiboards would be a closer description. In the picture below I have included a first generation Salomon SnowBlade for comparison, no doubt you will appreciate how much wider these items are.
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| NISM - skibike specific boards |
The first pair is an "All mountain" design, approximately 1 metre long and with a distinctive rubber tread graphic. The second pair is slightly shorter at around 90cm and is supposed to be more suited to snow park riding and those who are creating BMX framed skibikes. In spite of their girth, they appear to be reasonably light and give the impression that they will have plenty of flex.
Both designs are asymmetrical and feature wide tips and narrow tails, ironically I had this arrangement on my first D.I.Y. skibike, but only because the skis were full length items cut in half! These are designed so that the rear ski can be mounted back to front and in theory at least, give the performance of a single 2 metre ski with a shared side cut. Lastly, they feature mounts for the common 4 x 4 spacing, so should fit straight on to my Alpine SkiBikes adapters and also a longer spacing which I would guess is a LenzSport spec.
 |
| Looking forward to testing out these NISM boards |
I hope to be able to test both designs over the next few days on my smaller silver skibike, as it is such a safe and predictable "test bed" that I can almost ride it with my eyes shut. Both pairs will be available for sale after testing is complete, at a special, once only, price; although one pair is already "dibbed" for an enthusiastic Frenchman I ride with.