Prior WCR Metal

[bobdea]

that metal has been in skis for a long time

in fact since at least the late 80s probably earlier and I do know that it is in just about all race skis in one form or another, also in many other skis more targeted at your average skier

my point is that some people do feel it has a higher failure rate, this might be why you don't see it in a huge number of boards manufatured by companies that have been building skis with it for a long long time since all types of boards are probably more likely to be flexed much more than most skis

keep in mind this theory is based on hearsay, what a couple of the builders have said about the meterial in question, some of my own observations and also knowing how much of a pain it is to get epoxy to bond well to most metals

I could be way off base, but I might be right too

I have no way to test this but I would sure like to know because it interests me, maybe someone here has worked with the stuff in this application and can shed some light on it

[Jack M]

One thing that is important to note I think, is that the Prior is regular sandwich construction - not cap. I don't think I'd trust a metal cap after Volant's sordid history with them. Another interesting point about these boards is there is no glass in them - it's all unidirectional carbon fiber.

[felix]

told that the life span many skis with metals such as titanal are short and do break easily

I have seen a few "bent" pairs of Volkl P50s and P60s that seems to back up what some of these skiers have told me

it seems that its a issue that rears its ugly head when you flex the ski to a point and the metal shears away from the other meterials at this point eveything fails, the ski folds and is toast

I could be wrong but I bet that is a huge part of the failurs with anything with titanal in it

perhaps this will be sovled with new resins or something?

Huh - Never heard of it. All SuperG and DH skis are 2*titanal Sandwich - even Atomics (they've never used their beta system for the speed skis) however even for worldcuppers there on the skis for 2-3 years vs slalom skis that usually hold up only 1 year for racers.

I ride a Snowrider race stock slalom ski. Been on it for 20 days and its like new. Before i bought it I tested one which was supposedly around 150days old and still skied better than the Fischer Worldcup SL I tried out pretty new (as well race stock). That's as well 2*Titanal (4mm) and a solid wood sidewall construction. Never heard of any returns at Snowrider since they let Voigt build their skis. (Voigt does build race snowboards too - however not available to the public - you can say them the specs you want and they will build it - they have been using titanal since 97).

[Neil Gendzwill]

I do realize that metal has been in skis for a long time

in fact since at least the late 80s probably earlier and I do know that it is in just about all race skis in one form or another, also in many other skis more targeted at your average skier

my point is that some people do feel it has a higher failure rate [snip]

I had a pair of Spalding Squadra Course GS skis around '84 that had metal in them. Super-stable, damp, never found the top end of them although I scared myself trying a bunch of times. Bent one of them in the bumps and found out later that, well, you're not supposed to take metal skis in the bumps. Sent it back to the factory for repair and it seemed fine. They worked for a few years until I pulled the top sheet including the metal layer completely off the middle of one.