Full vs. 3/4 Wrap Edges
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 5:36 pm
Wanted to see if anyone could shed any light on this....
I just finished bending some of my edges and than this came up. I was talking to a guy at moment skis and noticed they do a 3/4 wrap on their edges, as does igneous. They stop a few cm after the tip begins to rise.
So I asked him why, as I had always been under the assumption that a full, 360 degree edge wrap is more durable. This is what Kingswood does, same with capital, PM gear, plus a lot of other companies.
What he told me was there were two situations that make the 3/4 wrap more durable:
1) When you hits the section of edge in the tips on a log, tree, rock, etc, it pushes the edge in, acting like a wedge, resulting in a crack in the edge (could be very small) and behind it a space for water to collect, eventually resulting in a delam. A tip made of without an edge and just UHMW would be better able to absorb these blows.
2) When riding park or dropping stuff onto very hard landings, the tips and tails bust have the ability to expand and contract as they absorb the impact. There are a lot of shearing forces experienced by the tip when it lands, and by not having a solid edge, the tip can better abosrb the slapping motion. I guess some companies use a 4 piece edge to combat this.
Anyone have any experience or comments about this? I am thinking of doing several pairs with a full wrap and several pairs with a 3/4 wrap to see what happens, but the explaination given to me seemed very good. And the guys at moment really seem to have their stuff down. Their skis look amazing, everyone who has skied them likes them, shapes are great! So I really trust what they say.
I just finished bending some of my edges and than this came up. I was talking to a guy at moment skis and noticed they do a 3/4 wrap on their edges, as does igneous. They stop a few cm after the tip begins to rise.
So I asked him why, as I had always been under the assumption that a full, 360 degree edge wrap is more durable. This is what Kingswood does, same with capital, PM gear, plus a lot of other companies.
What he told me was there were two situations that make the 3/4 wrap more durable:
1) When you hits the section of edge in the tips on a log, tree, rock, etc, it pushes the edge in, acting like a wedge, resulting in a crack in the edge (could be very small) and behind it a space for water to collect, eventually resulting in a delam. A tip made of without an edge and just UHMW would be better able to absorb these blows.
2) When riding park or dropping stuff onto very hard landings, the tips and tails bust have the ability to expand and contract as they absorb the impact. There are a lot of shearing forces experienced by the tip when it lands, and by not having a solid edge, the tip can better abosrb the slapping motion. I guess some companies use a 4 piece edge to combat this.
Anyone have any experience or comments about this? I am thinking of doing several pairs with a full wrap and several pairs with a 3/4 wrap to see what happens, but the explaination given to me seemed very good. And the guys at moment really seem to have their stuff down. Their skis look amazing, everyone who has skied them likes them, shapes are great! So I really trust what they say.