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guidlite tail clip install


gapertimmy

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Make sure you have something solid to hammer the rivets on. Measure three times before you cut. wave.gif

 

Size 'em so you have plenty of adjustment range. I cut mine too long at first, and they stretched too much in the warmth of spring.

 

Mine were pre-riveted. If they weren't I'd juse a vise & hammer.

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First, have a beer handy. bigdrink.gif

 

Then, with a utility knife, cut the skins 2" or 3" shorter than your skis. Stick both skins together for the cutting and drilling ops. Cut out the paper template and use it to trim and punch or drill the rivet holes thru both skins at one time. After that the only tricky part is making sure you have the tail buckle oriented correctly* before slamming home the rivets.

 

*With the tail stretched out behind the skin, think: glue down, tab up.

(I'd hold off on the mushsmile.gif'til this part is done.)

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Forgive a newbie, but what are the advantages, disadvantages to tail clips? I used a borrowed pair of skins once and it seemed like it was a little easier to get the skins off with the clips. The skins I own do not have the tail clips and they stay on just fine. I suppose if your glue is getting weak, the clips could be an asset.

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Forgive a newbie, but what are the advantages, disadvantages to tail clips? I used a borrowed pair of skins once and it seemed like it was a little easier to get the skins off with the clips. The skins I own do not have the tail clips and they stay on just fine. I suppose if your glue is getting weak, the clips could be an asset.

 

If you are a slob with your skins like me, you're constantly dipping the ends in the snow, sticking them to your self, and otherwise abusing them. If your skins get snowy in the middle it's not such a problem, but if they get snow at the back end and you don't have a tail clip, you are F-U-C-K-E-D. I have friends who never use tail clips and never lose their skins. I am not as disciplined. Also as you say, they are easier to remove. Especially if you use a Euro-kit (as I always do) where the stretchy thing is on the tip. You just bend over (I'm good at that!) grab the tip, and pull (sounds kinky!). Then you just lift your foot up, peel real fast, and take your buddy's eye out behind you. Simple.

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Tail clips, if they are too tight, will make the skin peel. I have never used them. Put your skins down yor shirt while skiing down.

Bullshit. Just make sure you attach the clip, then stick the skin to the ski, so the glue isn't stressed.

 

I don't know about you, but my 110mm skins are a bit bulky to put down my shirt. hellno3d.gif

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IME, tailclips come into their own on longer multi-day tours in the soggy Spingtime when your glue is already a coupla seasons old and you haven't gotten around to re-gluing because you've been too busy skiing. Also, having something to grab onto when you're stripping is just plain faster. Anything to avoid the extra step of having to take your gloves or skis off. YMCV

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cracked said:But I don't have a huge amount of experience, either.

 

Then

 

cracked said:

Dave S. said:Tail clips, if they are too tight, will make the skin peel.

Bullshit. Just make sure you attach the clip, then stick the skin to the ski, so the glue isn't stressed.

 

Dave's right, young 'un. Been there, done that.

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How would it 'make the skin peel'? It's a shear force, which is perpendicular to the direction that the skin peels. So how would it do that?

 

I don't know how, but I do know it happens. The ski is not flat remember, so if you pull the skin tight, the n you are trying to pull it off so it can follow the chord from tip to tail, creating some perpindicularish force...

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Then either the tension in the skin must be HUGE, or the glue must be very poor. Or maybe it results from the skin peeling up at the edges when the middle is stretched?

 

Weird. Either way, the rat tail rules! fruit.gif Though I have used the euro tip thing without problems, too.

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I have also given up on those strechy green rubber things on the tips. I've seen them rip and they get stuck when you try to go over dips or get through tree wells in the spring. And no mater how big your skins are it's well worth stuffing them down your shirt, it melts any ice or snow. This is very true when it's realy cold. If it's above freezing I don't bother.

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The rat tail doesn't increase drag, that's the nice part of the system.

 

RIP IT UP! LOL!

 

And I quote: "Bullshit" wave.gif

 

Studies have shown that the rat tail does increase drag. Significantly less so than the stretchy weird green things of course, (but those're sooo '02 anyway.) Also, having to cut the skins off short decreases the overall fur surface area, negating some of the "wall to wall" effect. But still, less than the stretchy weird green things...

 

boxing_smiley.gif

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