What's Wrong with My Bases?

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:29 pm Post subject : What's Wrong with My Bases?

Just a couple weeks ago these straight, shiny lines started to appear on my 04/05 RCS Colds (skate). They run perpedicular to the length of my ski and are mostly in the middle third of the ski.

I've been waxing a ton for 15 years or so and have never seen this. These are my first Fischers though, which I got last fall. Could they be more prone to sealing from the iron? They do not get white or dry looking after I ski, even after the 33km COLL yesterday.

Tough to get a good picture, but this should give you a good idea. Some of the lines are extremely straight.

--

xcskiforum 10K Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 11

Generally
shiny = polished wax
Non-shiny = base
grayish = hairy base

My bet.

The base is perhaps not perfectly flat.
A bad stone-grind where the ski didn't move at constant speed over the round stone will have such perpendicular areas where wax will not be removed by skiing because of less friction.

Another option is the reverse : Bumps in the base are blacker because scraping over and over removes more hairs and minimize the structure. Bumps may also be created by an excessive speed over the stone, removing less base at that point.

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:43 pm Post subject :

I got a lot of it to go away by Fibertexing (3M Scotch Brite Green) and a vigorous brass brushing. It's possibly a bronze brush; I have long since forgotten what it actually is. Smile

Also, I did all this after putting down a layer of Swix CH4 which may have helped some too.