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Skin XC skis for training and exercise are now introduced among all ski manufacturers since last season. Their promises are clear and unequivocal: throw away the wax and spend the extra time in the tracks. For anyone who does not love sticky fingers and clothes, this sounds attractive. Turrenn.net have tested Madshus’ Terrasonic Intelligrip skis.
Expectations were great on the way up to the ski tracks this day. My thoughts circled around spiky grip and the end of time spent on waxing in the future. All manufacturers have now introduced their own versions of skin skis, with slight variations in their technical solutions. Thus, one would of course think that this technology is more than a hype, and not a desperate gimmick from one single brand who wants attention. All manufacturers use mohair (ie hair from goat) in the skins, and most have solutions that allows you to replace the skins when they are worn out. Atomic has perhaps the most interesting solution, using magnets to attach the skin; although it also makes the ski somewhat heavier. It also has two different skin sizes depending on the conditions.
-This is a ski for 98% of skiers out there, I can attest that.
Vidar Igeltjørn, nr. 152 in Vasaloppet on Madshus Intelligrip.
Progressively shaped skin with nylon/mohair mix
Back to Madshus Intelligrip. The skis cost about 2700,- NOK (300,- USD) – and are built on the Terrasonic » base » , ie the least expensive of the models created for training and racing ( not hiking or mountaineering, etc.). The skin is shaped progressively, ie it is slightly higher / thicker at the middle of the ski and thinner up front and at the rear, on the same «pyramid principle » applied when waxing skis. The Intelligrip concept is also, to my knowledge, the only one that has mixed the mohairs with nylon, reportedly for less icing. The skis are, in my impression, very light weight, even with the integrated skin. They weigh 1,100 grams ( 190 cm) , and is thus fully competitive with regard to weight.
Read about 2015-/16 season news from Fischer here.
Madshus Intelligrip is delivered with NIS base for bindings
Madshus Intelligrip also comes with a NIS base from Rottefella – a simple technology that is used on many kinds of skis, allowing you adjust the binding back- or forward om the ski, depending on the conditions and whether your skis have excessive grip ( and poor gliding abilities) or gliding abilities (and poor grip). Regretingly, but not surprisingly I forgot the adjusting key that comes with the binding, which made sure I did not have any opportunity to adjust the binding during the work out session.
Madshus Intelligrip delivers to (high) expectations
My Madshus Intelligrip skis was tested at 3-4(+) degrees Celsius and strong, warm winds (gale), with old transformed (from cold) dry snow. It was getting icy in the tracks, and they were of mostly medium (minus) quality. So the skis had a challenge to meet.
My first learning point was, the skis are very directionally stable (not like other with «a little too much» wax that often and accidentally slide sideways instead of ahead), a big plus for skis designed for extra good grip. They still tugged a little bit now and then, but no more than you expect from skis that are (preferably) prepared primarily for good grip. Also, the tugging was quite mild and not interrupting my pace and style too much.
Somewhat surprisingly I found that the skis slipped a bit sometimes, but it could probably just as well be because of my technique, and not the skis. It should also be noted that the test was done after several days of hard training, and that my legs were slightly exhausted. Most of the time, I experienced a very good grip under the prevailing conditions. The good grip also made me dare to rely more on skis, thus allowing me to stride more correctly technically, and even more relaxed. It was easier to find a nice position for my whole body and a more effective technique.
With the conditions from the test day, and with a thin layer CH-gliding wax from Swix, I had slightly lower top speed (33.3 km/h) in the downhill part of the track than I had had earlier with skating skis (36.8 km/h, 6.7 degrees below zero) and old Fischer classic skis with ice paste wax (36.8 km/h, 6.7 degrees below zero) down one of the skis tail. It is obviously unfair to compare directly, but especially the Fischer Skis with ice paste wax underneath were not optimally prepared. Besides, I did not experience a particularly big difference compared with people around me on that actual day I was out with the Intelligrip skis.
Previously I mentioned that Madshus has mixed mohair-hairs with nylon in the skin. This might be a very successful move. I experienced no indication of icing / snow in the skins, despite the very good opportunities for it in the uphill parts of the slopes, where I stepped firmly in the loose snow. This is one of the elements that could have been a great objection to skin skis, but Madshus seem to have solved this in an excellent way. I was in fact not at all bothered by icing in the skins.
To summarize: The skis did feel a little bit «sticky» with the current conditions – and no possibility to adjust the binding – compared with conventional skis with dry wax and good conditions. But this was weighed very nicely up by good and safe grip, light and stable skis, and fully acceptable gliding capacities.
Especially when considering the price I would run (again) and buy such a pair at once if I was the type who do not enjoy spending hours waxing skis. Madshus Intelligrip responded definitely to my expectations (which were high), and this was under not the worst, but demanding enough, conditions.
Steffen R. Larssen / turrenn.net (XC-marathon.com)
<h4><span style=»text-decoration: underline;»><span style=»color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;»>PS, i reklamevideoene under er Madshus selv fortelleren om sine Intelligripski:</span></span></h4>
