Head Factory Wax and Tuning of Skis

Heads have been notorious for coming out of the factory needing a tune. Would suggest same, decide where you want your edges set. Then tuner or you can put on wax. Do a search for threads on edge angles for Heads.

You may or may not need to tune the edges, biggest problem would be if your base edge bevel is way off. Side edge is easy because you can just take more material off when going to 3 degrees for example. If you ski on hard snow and ice regularly I'd recommend 3 degrees side edge.

Wax isn't a huge deal, but the last pair of Fischers I purchased had some kind of wax on them out of the wrapper and they felt strange until it came off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevett 

I understand that skis when they come directly from the factory are prepared with a travel wax rather than a actual 'ready to ski' wax? Is this correct?

 

Normally not. At least not that I would see it till now. Until now I never saw ski, which would come from factory (racing service ski or normal store, no matter what level, ski) and would be waxed... not with "travel" wax not with normal wax. Btw... travel wax is normal wax, which just isn't scraped off, so that it protects base from damages. So personally, I would go and put skis through few cycles of waxing before I would put them to snow.

Next thing are edges... some companies tell their skis come from factory with edges done on this and that degree. I have seen many store skis from different companies (Elan, Fischer, Head, Atomic...) and not even one came different then with 0 base and 0 edge... even most basic beginner skis. So I somehow stopped trusting to this what companies tell.

PS: Race skis from any given company always come with 0/0 edges, since every races has his/her own preference with this, and everyone in race department know, racers (or better their techs) will do their skis to suite them, so they come out of factory without any preparation.

My own personal opinion is that any new pair of high performance skis - regardless of manufacturer - should be fully tuned before you ski them.  

I'm a mountain rep for Head and I know all about the reputation Head has (here in this little corner of the internet, anyway) for inconsistent base tunes from the factory, but I also know in talking to many other reps here in Jackson Hole that other skis from other manufacturers are not any better or worse consistently.  I also get the same feedback from the shop techs who work with many different brands.

That's why I think any new carving-type ski should be prepped by a good shop to ensure a flat base and the proper bevels.  It's a good investment.  Personally, I would bevel that ski to a 1-degree base and 3-degree side bevel.

Bob is on the money.  To get the most out of the skis, have them tuned (by hand) and waxed by someone who knows their way around a ski.  The little marks on the base from the skis rubbing together will come out with some scotch-brite which will be part of the ski tech's prep process.  A good tune will bump the performance 10 -15% over the out of the box finish.  Factory edge and base finish will vary across all brands and models.  The factory finish on the Heads may or may not be the best, but they all need to be worked on before skiing to get the most out of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Peters 

I'm a mountain rep for Head and I know all about the reputation Head has (here in this little corner of the internet, anyway) for inconsistent base tunes from the factory, but I also know in talking to many other reps here in Jackson Hole that other skis from other manufacturers are not any better or worse consistently.  I also get the same feedback from the shop techs who work with many different brands.

To be fair, you're right that a bunch of other brands tend to need same attention. But here's what I cannot figure out: Kastles come out of the same factory, and they come out with near-perfect 1/3 or more recently 1/2, totally flat bases. So somewhere in there, Head owns the proper stuff to do factory sets meticulously. Is this more that Head assumes everyone will want their own edge angles etc. while Kastle assumes not?

Let's say that's true. Head - or anyone else - assumes we all want to do our own. But then why are ALL edges not 0/0? Because in my experience, they're typically more like 1/1, or 1/2, but not consistent. Meaning that they - and other companies - are bothering to do the edges and bases. So why not do them well?