Chopped up some OLD skis to see the construction

AllgäuSki · Post by **AllgäuSki** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:59 am

Thought it's time to revive this old thread, as i cut open some snowboards.

The snowboards are (from left to right)

Völkl Squad Impress (the Squad for the ladies)
Burton Charger
Völkl Squad
Völkl Stroke

[img]http://bergstreicher.de/boards.jpg[/img]

I have been riding the last three. Burton Charger was a verly longlasting board of good quality. Völkl Squad had good torsional stiffness and a nice pop. Which is two points that the Völkl Stroke lacked completely. To make it worse i broke the stroke (nice rhyme) after a few days - can be seen here
http://bergstreicher.de/stroke.jpg

So the questions that i asked myself was: what is the difference between the male and female Squad and what the f... is wrong with the stroke.

http://bergstreicher.de/kern1.jpg
http://bergstreicher.de/kern3.jpg

In the cut-open picture its Squad Impress, Stroke, Burton and Squad from top to bottom...

Let's begin with the stroke:
What cannot be seen on the picture, but what i found is that the core is made from two different parts - a harder wood under the bindings up to maybe two thirds of the running length and a very cheap nearly sort of plywood looking stuff from there on to tip and tail - and thats where i broke that bitch...

Difference i could see between the Squad ans its female version (didn't ride it, but flexed a lot softer and weighed less) is some carbon stringers in the male board (to be seen, where i cut diagonally)

The one thing that got me to think is the Burton. What is all the black stuff (pigmented epoxy, ABS???) and why did they cut out all around the insert and have the insert sit in the black stuff instead of the woodcore?

Maybe somebody can help me here - and maybe somebody can help me put the picture in the thread. I know many newbies here have difficulties doing that and it's been explained a hundred times, but i got mine on a public serve, so there shouldnt be a problem. What am i doing wrong??

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:34 pm

Black stuff looks like foam perhaps. On the Stroke board, pick at the stuff that looks like plywood and see if it crumbles or flakes off. Looks like mdf or particle board but hard to tell. Can't imagine anyone using mdf or particle board, even an DIY guy. There's no strength.

AllgäuSki · Post by **AllgäuSki** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:17 pm

Just because i stuumbled across this:

We are looking inside the Atomic Beta Race 10'22 with "Titanium Power Channels"... Wow!

and i finally figured out how to post photos... took its time

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:22 pm

Huh, foam and metal. I have a pair of Volkl P50's I may cut up this summer. I'll post pics when I do.

MontuckyMadman · Post by **MontuckyMadman** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:44 pm

Those beta series skis are some of the wprst skis i have ever ridden. The p50 is a great ski and should not be cut. Unless they are toast.

falls · Post by **falls** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:30 pm

Look at the shift to one side of the lower metal layer on the betas. Obviously not built by an OCD garage builder!

AllgäuSki · Post by **AllgäuSki** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:13 pm

and the worst is that those skis used to be really expensive... marketing does the trick obviously...

twizzstyle · Post by **twizzstyle** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 6:36 am

MontuckyMadman wrote:Those beta series skis are some of the wprst skis i have ever ridden.

D'oh! The skis I had when I really started getting good at skiing (in high school, when I was able to drive up to the mountain on my own) were atomic beta something somethings

I thought they were so badass, I think I still have them somewhere...

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 3:33 pm

MontuckyMadman wrote:Those beta series skis are some of the wprst skis i have ever ridden. The p50 is a great ski and should not be cut. Unless they are toast.

I remember thinking the beta ski was awesome, only because of the 3-d look and the hype. I noticed the shift also, I thought maybe it was the angle of the photo, but if that's real, Wow thankfully you cut them up so they'llnever be used again

The P50s are still in excellent shape, but they're 188cm. I raced on them and they were a bit too long. But now that my technique/skill has improved since I bought them maybe I should race on them again. I've had better luck on skis 175-180cm. They've been sitting idle for 2 seasons.

MontuckyMadman · Post by **MontuckyMadman** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:28 pm

I might be inclined to buy the p50's from you.

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:50 pm

MontuckyMadman wrote:I might be inclined to buy the p50's from you.

I'll send you pics.

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Chopped up some OLD skis to see the construction

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