signfan Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 What's everyone's experience been with these ski's? Good, bad, indifferent? Can you still add a second carbide to these skis same as the old pilot ski's? Or are you stuck with a single carbide setup if you go with these ski's? How has everyone found the durability? At $150 a carbide they look like they could be expensive if you wear them out too quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 45 minutes ago, signfan said: What's everyone's experience been with these ski's? Good, bad, indifferent? Can you still add a second carbide to these skis same as the old pilot ski's? Or are you stuck with a single carbide setup if you go with these ski's? How has everyone found the durability? At $150 a carbide they look like they could be expensive if you wear them out too quick. First off these ski's have a carbide blade. It is quite thick and can be adjusted using dial. After 1000 Km's they show very little wear. Since they are mounted in middle, can't add a second blade either. Since you can adjust blade height very easily, they work will in a variety of snow conditions. They seem to work better with longer track sleds. Only down side is, when they do wear out replacement is more difficult then traditional carbides. Ski has to be removed and you have to play with that spring loaded adjustor, to get blade out of them. I see no reason they won't last for 10,000 km's or so, if riden in good snow conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake G Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 I haven't tried the tunable skis yet, but I've read many positive reviews. I suppose the runners would last longer if they are retracted prior to running on pavement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techdenis007 Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 44 minutes ago, Blake G said: I haven't tried the tunable skis yet, but I've read many positive reviews. I suppose the runners would last longer if they are retracted prior to running on pavement? Won't help much, in fact it'll cause the ski itself to wear if you retract them too much. Pavement doesn't wear the carbide so much as gravel ... gravel eats away at the base rod each side of the carbide insert, then the insert chips off and breaks when going over rail crossings. Not much feedback on the TS skis up here, a few people have them on but no news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ski-dog Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Well no experience but they are coming on the new sled whether I want them or not. I like the QA on the rear and marketing for 18 when you order adjust it comes with the TS , naturally at a higher cost as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo Doo Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 13 hours ago, ski-dog said: Well no experience but they are coming on the new sled whether I want them or not. I like the QA on the rear and marketing for 18 when you order adjust it comes with the TS , naturally at a higher cost as well. You will like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperG Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Yes I have them this year and what a difference from not having them. To be able to adjust your runner throughout the day according to the conditions is the best. After riding only 2300kms this year with them so far so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricky Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 On 2017-05-16 at 6:41 AM, Denis007 said: Won't help much, in fact it'll cause the ski itself to wear if you retract them too much. Pavement doesn't wear the carbide so much as gravel ... gravel eats away at the base rod each side of the carbide insert, then the insert chips off and breaks when going over rail crossings. Not much feedback on the TS skis up here, a few people have them on but no news. I tried this past winter to get some feedback on this forum, and elsewhere, on the performance of Pilot TS skis. I got surprisingly little, and what I got was mostly positive, which surprised me since I had issues on my TS equipped 2017 900 Blizzard. To me, the sled pushed excessively but at the same time was heavy to steer. I was used to those being opposites, where fixing one tends to cause the other. My dealer, other dealers and Denis suggested that I experiment more with the sled set up, which I did. I got it almost acceptable to me. I am not a suspension and steering guru, but neither am I a dummy, and I could not get the TS skis to turn like I thought my new sled should. My previous three 600 Ski-doos, two SDI and one Etec, two renegade and one standard, all steered to my liking. I like my sled a little loser (some understeer) than normal with low steering effort. That sort of set-up stuck with me thru Polaris and Yamaha IFS sleds and served me well as very few people could get away from me even as a senior citizen. Then this year I buy the sled I know was correct for me, but either it won't steer precisely enough, or in getting there, it becomes too heavy for my old body to manhandle. I stuck with the TS skis for about 3500 km in mostly good snow conditions, before I bailed and installed some used standard 5.7 Pilots with two carbides per ski. Immediately the steering was better for me, although initially still heavy, with the suspension somewhat messed up trying to accommodate the TS issues. Fortunately for me, I got a second ride with the 5.7 Pilots, where I went back to basically the same chassis set-up that I had used on my 2015 Renegade. Voila! Just in time to put the sled away, it realized the potential that I knew it had. I love the 900 ACE and now I look forward to next year with it turning correctly from day one. What I learned, and you can find it said in other forums if you search hard enough, is that TS skis are good for a lot of riders, but not all. That can be said of many skis. There is a reason that you can find the whole TS ski set up, including the adjusters, for sale on kijiji. If anyone with an RAS 2 front end wants to add TS skis to their sled, let me know. I am sure we could make a deal. When I confronted my dealer again at the end of the season about steering concerns with TS skis, he conceded that a few customers had changed away from them, but added that 'they were racers on XRS sleds' - not normal sledders. I am not sure of the percentage, but 10 to 15% of us won't be happy with the compromise that is Pilot TS skis. The other 85 to 90% seem to love there TS skis. I admit that riding a friend's deluxe 2-up 1200 with TS skis was a better steering experience than my Blizzard had been, but I wasn't pushing his sled as hard as I do my own. That is just one person's long winded opinion, but I offer it because I could not find good information 5 months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake G Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Thank you, Tricky. Very well explained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 6 hours ago, tricky said: I am not a suspension and steering guru, but neither am I a dummy I like this explanation as well - fits most of the people here eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 Seems most people with longer tracks love TS adjustable ski's. I don't know anyone with a short track that has them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irREVerent Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 7 hours ago, Viperules700 said: Seems most people with longer tracks love TS adjustable ski's. I don't know anyone with a short track that has them. Could be because (IIRC) they don't come from the factory on any short-track (120") sleds. They are stock on certain spring-order (X) and other 129" models...including Mrs. irREVerent's Blizzard, which she loves to death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrizzlyGriff Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 I think any single carbide ski will dart previous pilot 6.9s work well when set up right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techdenis007 Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 I have 5.7's on my new XS TNT, and 6.9's on my 99 S chassis. Both do much better than any single carbide ski ever could. The 03 Rev will be getting fitted with a similar set this season too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 On 8/25/2017 at 7:00 AM, Denis007 said: I have 5.7's on my new XS TNT, and 6.9's on my 99 S chassis. Both do much better than any single carbide ski ever could. The 03 Rev will be getting fitted with a similar set this season too. Denis, is it possible to change the front shocks/springs on that early model REV? I think 'doo got rid of the progressive springs for the '04 MY. I posited on DooTalk a few years ago that the corner cutting started about the same time the REVs came out (I'm probably wrong but bear w/ me). I rode an '03 & it handled horribly. I think if riders wanted to ride fast w/ the Indecisons, they had to cut the corner to stay on the trail. After the updates in '06 (lowered front end/Pilot skis) I liked my '07 right out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techdenis007 Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 You can upgrade those shocks/springs. These are gas shocks, fully rebuildable. One feels soft to me, I might delve into rebuilding them this fall. It seems to handle/steer fine to me, needs a minor suspension setup/adjustment, but for normal trail riding it does fine. And no issues with the skis, other than the steering is heavier than I like. Any attempt to lighten up the steering will result in a loss of steering control, not something I want on a sled my wife or son might ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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