Discussion: Ski-O lengths

Does anyone have recommendations for the ideal length of ski-O skis? I more or less ruined my skating skis at Windblown so I need a new pair.

Some people recommend going a wee shorter, but you also have to think about how often you're going to be racing ski-o compared to pure skiing. In an ideal world, I might have a pair of really stiff skis that are too short for me (in my case, I ski on a 190, so maybe a 180) However, the shorter you go, the slower they are. Top skis are well over $200, so depends on how many you want to own.
There's probably a bunch of skiers with Fischer Revolutions in their basement, try those for a spin.

When I skied in Norway, there were a *lot* of snowmobile trails, so shorter skies would defininitely be good there. But in my (limited) experience, US races don't have as many of the smallest trails. Is this a shared observation then?

I'll read up on the Fischers...

I have used some Atomic micro Arc 146s.
They work well on narrow trails and are nearly as fast on packed trails I think.
Short skis sacrifice stability at speed and on hard tracks, so maybe on downhills they'd n
be worse.
I think Sharon Crawford has used the micros also.
Many Fisher Revolutions are waxless,, and slow.

From my last year experince at the Ski-O WOC in Sweden , where I saw the "snowmobile" trails that are probably similar to the ones in Norway, if you are are somewhat experinced/advanced skating skier you will have to use the same lenght of ski as on groomed trails if you want to have decent speed.I' v raced on shorter skis and I lost lots of time and manny(15- 20) positions in the individual races where I placed(49 th in both middle and sprint), so getting the right lenght and flex ski, is verry important for how fast you will be on those skiis, also will reduce considerably the effort you will have to put in the get going.

Mikkel, I just bought a pair of brand new Visu top performance skate skis from a internet site (Reliable racing) for $ 157. 00 total price delivered to my house(in one day!!!) that is the 2004 model, at discount price(regular $ 259.00+).They say this skis are verry competitive with the top brands, just a bit heavier(~ 2 ounces or 70- 80 grams) whih is barely nothing.I did not had a chance to ski on them yet, since we dont have any snow, so that is all I can tell you.They only have limited sizes/flexes at this price.I weigh 160-165 and bought a pair of 186 cm medium flex,warm base, this was the only one available close to what I need.

That's a good deal, where did you order these?

Last year I bought a pair of Fisher SCS classics for $84 and a pair of Atomic RS-8 skate skis for $74 (no bindings)at Ragged Mt shop in Mt Washington Valley on Feb 14.
It's getting close to closeout season if you can wait a month. Also REI has a garage sale on the 29th, sometimes ,but rarely they have some high performance skis....

The skis are on sale on Reliable Racing web site :http://www.reliableracing.com.They also have the 2005 model at regular price(about $ 260.00 or so) but if you find a pair to fit you from the 2004 batch I don't believe there is any diff. between 2004 and 2005 model exccept $ 100.00 .