What are your opinions on XC ski gear improvements in recent years? Post your comments down below! Go back as far or as recent as you like. But recent might be more cool. Cover different aspects if you like as well. Like, have racing skis improved in the past 10 yrs? 15? How about racing poles? Boots? Bindings? Wax? Accessories? Where and when have the break-thru’s been? Pick any area you like: racing, touring, BC, kids… Have fun with it!
People like making “best of” lists in most sports. I notice that XC stands out in this regard as having nearly ZERO review material or gear discussion. Odd.
So let’s change all that!
I’ll start by posting my own druthers.
Let’s go way back. OK, I’ll rank mine, even…
1* NNN, NNN-BC, and SNS-Profil bindings. 1992, say. Maybe 2000 for the BC. So much control! (The new Rotte Accelerators seem sweet, too, but how much difference do they really make? Offhand, it seems like they might be QUITE stronger than the previous NNN-2. Maybe halfway to NNN-BC for the lightest-ever binding?)
2* Synthetic skis. 1975? Yeah, wood is still way cool, especially for soft, fresh snow, but modern skis are sweet.
3* Carbon poles. 1983? They’re great.
4* Classic boots with cuffs. 2000? Wonderful control.
5* Midlength skis. 2000? The mtbike of skis. Easy to handle. Use em on singletrack. They come in many flavors. Go narrow for tricky speed. Get ’em with plenty of sidecut and at least 68mm and you can do BC link tele turns with them. Plus stride for miles. Powerful edging even with models with integral non-metal edges. Use metal-edges for max control. …Now, these haven’t been marketed much at all and are often considered ‘beginner’ skis.
6* 80mm+ BC midlength nowax skis. Maybe even those over 100mm up to 125 or even with rocker. 2005?
7* Rossi X6 BC boot up to the light plastic boots like the Garmont Excursion — let’s not go all the way tele here, should we? (2005?)
8* Quality adjustable length BC poles. (And, heck, maybe quick-shorty skins.) 2000?
9* There are some way cool BC/Tele bindings out there, right? Probably fairly newish, maybe 2010 even.
(MAYBE LET’S KEEP THIS TO SKIS THAT STRIDE OK, AND TO BOOTS THAT AREN’T DBL-BLK DIAMOND ALPINE LEVEL. But the general idea might be that BC Nordic has had really cool innovation, and more of it post-2000 than plain striding XC.)
10* Skis flexed to weight and trail condition. 1985?
11* Fluoro waxes. …Coz they so fast. 1988.
12* Rillers and rotobrushing. …The dark side but sweet for speed. 1985 and 1995.
13* Cap construction. It’s kinda neat. Probably stronger. Allows for cheaper manufacture? Doubt they’re lighter. 1990.
14* Full-hand cuff-straps with easy clink-in/out. 2000?
15* Groovy waxes of so many flavors. Not sure it matters very much but waxes are fun. It’s a blast to HIT THE WAX.
16* Start Grip Tape. That stuff rocks. 2005?
***
Notice anything? …Not that much new of significance in Regular Nordic since 2000. Hmmm…
(BC isn’t doing badly, though. However, word is that Tele has kind of done a disappearing act in comparison to AT. Like Tele is now heavier and more expensive than AT while offering less control. Or something.)
Here’s another wrinkle: I’ve heard that the US XC market is considered hardly worth bothering with by Euro companies. That is, we ALMOST don’t get any skis. They’re serving us as a favor. …My impression, anyway. This might explain the near-zero amount of marketing and PR in the US for the sport.
There are zero US XC ski makers. Not even any re-labelers.
Compare to bikesport: booming in every direction with a lot of US companies innovating.
Anyway, offhand, it seems that with ski gear that fits you and the snow and the weather that it’s likely that a setup from, say, 2000 would be just as good as anything made today.
