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Twenty years ago slalom ski performance was tuned by moving bindings
or by sanding on the bottom of the ski. As modern skis have become
more refined, fin adjusting has become the primary method of ski
tuning. Fins are measured in 3 dimensions down to the thousandth of
an inch. A setting error of a hundredth of an inch could be the
difference between a ski performing to its limit or riding like a
rodeo bull.
Recommended factory settings are generally in the literature that
comes with a new ski and revised settings can be found on various
web sites and internet message boards. Misunderstandings are common
because most fin setting numbers are not accompanied with the
measuring method the numbers refer to. If you ask the top slalom
skiers in the world how they measure their fins you will get at
least 4 variations. The same holds true for methods used to define
the factory settings. If you include the methods used by some of the
top coaches and gurus of the sport the number of possible variations
could go from 4 to 6 or more.
Using different methods a fin length measurement could easily vary
by a tenth of an inch (.100) and a distance to tail dimension
measurement can vary by a half of a tenth (.050”) of an inch.
|
Ski |
Fin Depth |
Fin Length |
Distance from Tail |
Applicable Sizes |
|
Goode 9700 & 9800 |
2.449" |
6.872" (1) |
.690"(3) |
64" through 69"skis |
|
Fischer #01 |
2.454" |
6.998"(2) |
.645"(4) |
34 mph setting |
|
HO Monza |
2.515" |
6.942" (2) |
0.715 (3) |
65" through 68" skis |
|
Radar MPD |
2.495" |
6.85 " (2) |
.770"(3) |
67" ski setting |
|
O'Brien Sixam 1 & 2 |
2.510" |
6.735" (2) |
.800"(4) |
66" & 67.5" skis |
|
Connelly F1 |
2.500" |
6.770" (2) |
.830"(4) |
65" though 70" skis |
|
NOTE: The above DFT #s are not necessarily the the same as the Factory Methods Check with the factory for current #s and Methods for any new ski or set-up |
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Professional quality Mitutoyo Digimatic 8” calipers were used for the 2007 Ski Tests to set the skis to factory spec. Using the same measuring methods as the manufacturer of your ski is critical to setting your fin. With the exception of method #1 used by Goode to measure fin length, the brand of caliper used is not critical. Eight inch calipers costing only $40.00 (www.harborfreight.com) provide nearly identical measurements as the top of the line calipers used at the Ski Tests.
Goode specs their fin length with the caliper jaws. The jaws portion of the caliper itself (see image below) is not consistent from brand to brand or even model to model. For this reason all Goode skis at the 2007 Ski Test were set with Goode brand calipers. To set a Goode ski to the factory spec a Goode brand caliper is necessary. It should be noted that a jaws measurement can be as much as a tenth of an inch different then a tips measurement (method # 2).
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