Skis with bindings at the tails? --Vandel

[Jeff Potter]

The below was posted at the homemade skis thread. The website shows a
ski with bindings mounted with the pivot at about the rear one-third
mark. What's up with that? The post below suggests it gives higher glide
speed. There's no English version of the site yet. Can anyone translate?

****

Check out http://www.skis-vandel.com/ (The english version seems to be
under construction, sorry)
This is the oldest french skis make.
Some of you may remember the F72 (for 1972) which hit many races.

Craftsmen producing wooden-based skis for glide-lovers and racers.

This year they came out with the L101. Very interesting approach :
bindings positionned on a quite rear position. Nevertheless well
balanced.( Balance specially designed for the heavy pilot bindings)
and very light.

They are also very thin (39-43-41-41).

Not for beginners, but no compromise for glide. They may really be the
fastest ski ever, as they cleam it to be..

--

Jeff Potter j...@outyourbackdoorNOSPAM.com
http://OutYourBackdoor.com -- a friendly ezine of modern folkways and
culture revival...offering a line of alternative books and a world of
bikes, boats, skis...plus shops for great sleeper books, videos and
music
...plus nationwide "Off the Beaten Path" travel forums for local fun,
bumperstickers and a new social magnet stickers! ...Holy Smokes!!!

[Laurent Duparchy]

I've been skiing this winter with L101 Vandel skis.
Mine are just great : glide, uphill and also rarely mentionned ;
downhill. I say "mine" as they have been selected by Vandel according
to my weight (65kg), and desire (cold snow oriented : i.e. quite
soft).

I'm interested in all technical approachs of skating. I also used to
do amateur
races in downhill. Just to say that even though I'm not a world class
racer I
can feel how ski behaves. I have them done the Transjurassienne (82
kms, this year ; Man, it has been really hard : windy and snow ; One
eye partly frozen ; Masculin attribute not far from frozing as
well..), Ranking 348 over 2084 finishing.

So how the L101 are done :

If you place them next to, say, a pair of rossi, the pivot is 4 cms
behind.
(for 180 cms).
They are nevertheless well balanced when mounted by the (quite heavy)
pilot binding. They have an unmatched softness on snow at the tip. The
ski seems always to "fly" on the snow. One never feels any resistance.
It allows a real "go forward" position without "falling" over the ski.
The
ski always accelerate when you weight on it.
The thinness and the rear binding position can be tricky in slush,
though.

I'm not sure if they have a kind of distribution oversea. I can ask
them.

I also played a bit with old skis by putting the bidings over an
homemaid
adjustable plate (allowing -2 to -7 cms adjustments). I made some
tests on a pair of Fisher "revolution". With thoses old and short skis
, I felt a great improvement in glide.

So I have to say that from a glide point of view anyone would benefit
to place
bindings a little bit behind that usual. Not too far to respect the
balance
and stability.
If you're a hard core racer, don't hesitate.

My opinion is now that one should pay great attention when
positionning bindings on skis (and that either bindings or skis should
allow an adjustement.)

Laurent.

[Jeff Potter]

Thanks, LD.

I recall some folks here were recently teasing Bert at Ski Research News
for believing that binding placement was vital.

It seems like you and Vandel also think that it is.

These Vandel skis seem interesting. Narrow with rearward binding. Hmmm!

It's interesting that you find big improvements from careful placement
which is more rearward than usual. I've tended to mount my skate bindings
a bit forward to keep the tips out of the snow. I don't use Pilot.

It looks like you find benefit even with other brands?

Any other views or experience?

[Laurent Duparchy]

I have had some good talks with Medhi Vandel, the head of Vandel.
Don't hesitate to ask him technical questions (and let us know what
you learned). He will surely be very helpful (in...@skis-vandel.com).
He assures that L101 are 5% faster than any other skis.

He promised me that the new model for 2004 will be even more
performant and will be a real breakthrough... I can't wait.

Also they have always been and the forefront of innovation (they were
the first to introduce plastic bases that retain waxes and the first
to introduce honeycomb) Vandel have had some problems, due to
depressive market, lake of snow and internal organisation problems. As
far as I know they paid more attention to construct good skis than
protecting themselves with correct patents and deliver them in proper
time to resellers. That led them to some problems that seems to be
solved now.