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Best Ski

B
Feb 28, 2011
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So I've hunted the forum for a bit but lots of dead conversations. What's the best ski right now? CMX's ski looks a lot like the Yeti but has no dimensions. I've ridden the ARO and Backcountry and really neither seem to be wide enough and have enough float. I've not ridden the Yeti in real powder to actually try it. And have never seen a Camso or CMX.

Thoughts? Skis are changing and I need a new one.
 

needpowder

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Dec 4, 2007
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I think the Aro ski is the widest but I’m not sure about the CMX as I have not seen the new one. It is possible you’re set up with a little too much ski pressure? I feel like the Aro ski floats pretty well. It is not the best on hard pack and trail but not terrible in my opinion.
 
T
Nov 1, 2011
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Kingston, Idaho
From my experience, the Yeti ski is about the best in really deep powder, but it is one of the worst in set up snow or trails. I really like the Camso ski for overall performance. The spindle is ugly but functions well. The flotation is good, traction when carving is predictable, and is fairly stable on trail.
 
E
Dec 19, 2007
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All around the ARO ski with the outside edges trimed down to 50% hight with a taper from 0 to the 50% hight by mid point and the dual runers in the Middle does everything well and is by far the best on the trail.
Are you talking about just cutting the steal? Or the plastic?
 
M
Jan 14, 2004
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If you go back you will see there are a ton of these Best Ski threads. Its not to say its a bad topic but as time goes on we are seeing more and more guys that are mixing and matching brands of kit, spindle and ski. A ski discussion IMO is incomplete without a discussion of what the ski is being used on. So many factors affect ski performance from ski pressure, spindle height, fork height in the tubes, limiter straps ,fork rake, fork springs, rear shock preload, ski trail, mods to the runners, the list goes on and on. All the skis out there have their inherent strengths and weaknesses, if there was one that clearly was dominant everyone would have it already be using it exclusively. Again, IMO, so far there isn't a bolt it on and go magic ski bullet you probably need a couple of skis depending on your setup, I have 2.
 

CATSLEDMAN1

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Premium Member
Nov 27, 2007
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Missoula, Montana
As M5 says, lots of options..............for set up. If you want to bolt it on and never look at it, there are no answers. For me the ARO hands down. More float ? Been there, no good. Do I run the ARO the way Polaris sold it to me, not after the first day. If you ride enough and pay attention you can fit the ski to the bike. I have ridden some skis that I wouldn't want to try and tame. I think of them as one dimensional skis............good for one condition. Ski development has come a lot further than drive units from day one until now . WOW, after building our own skis the first 3 years of snow bikes the handling NOW is so good now by comparison, skis are almost a non issue by 2020. A better ski to come, for sure, I hope so, for me now, 6th on tracked up mtn roads headed back to the truck tired and going down hill and nice relaxed riding, years back I thought sno bikes would never get here.
 
A
Jan 4, 2015
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Canada
As M5 says, lots of options..............for set up. If you want to bolt it on and never look at it, there are no answers. For me the ARO hands down. More float ? Been there, no good. Do I run the ARO the way Polaris sold it to me, not after the first day. If you ride enough and pay attention you can fit the ski to the bike. I have ridden some skis that I wouldn't want to try and tame. I think of them as one dimensional skis............good for one condition. Ski development has come a lot further than drive units from day one until now . WOW, after building our own skis the first 3 years of snow bikes the handling NOW is so good now by comparison, skis are almost a non issue by 2020. A better ski to come, for sure, I hope so, for me now, 6th on tracked up mtn roads headed back to the truck tired and going down hill and nice relaxed riding, years back I thought sno bikes would never get here.
What did you do to the ARO ski ?
 

needpowder

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Dec 4, 2007
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All around the ARO ski with the outside edges trimed down to 50% hight with a taper from 0 to the 50% hight by mid point and the dual runers in the Middle does everything well and is by far the best on the trail.
That sounds pretty similar to what I am running on mine. I wouldn’t say I am down to 50% height on the outside but I took a little off. More importantly was grinding down the front of the middle runner so I didn’t hang up on stuff. Early season, logs rocks or whatever. Late season, dirt pavement whatever. Grind that thing down!
 
E
Dec 19, 2007
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I'm still gonna say the old back county ski is best all around especially for 2 strokes or riots that have less ski pressure. The Aro is real close 2nd and probably better for heavy bikes and people who don't ride in the spring. Camso and yeti both have Jekyll and hyde conditions. I wish the cmx was around for me to test but I've never seen one in the wild.
 
P
Nov 28, 2007
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Yukon Canada
I agree with both posts above the old ski has an edge in the hardpack and the Aro ski has the edge in the pow both are good all arround and above average on trails as long as the runners are massaged properly and the suspension and bike set up is right.
 

CATSLEDMAN1

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Nov 27, 2007
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If the " old back country ski " is the TS ski before the ARO ? Is that what we call it ? If thats so, that ski is only good to cut up for plastic chain guides and other shop projects. Side by side tests with the ARO and that ski switching back and forth, its a poor cousin. Stock out of the box setup on that ski/spindle, first good wide ski.......yeah, its a ski on a trail that sent a lot of guys back to the sleds........bad. I can make that ski and spindle a one hand 6th gear cut up trail ski, but any other condition when the snow is more than 3" deep and tracked up a little, just bad old superseded design/construction. The old ski worked great in deep powder, most all bad skis work in powder. OK, I been locked up in the shop too long.
 
N
Jan 3, 2008
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Northern Utah
If the " old back country ski " is the TS ski before the ARO ? Is that what we call it ? If thats so, that ski is only good to cut up for plastic chain guides and other shop projects. Side by side tests with the ARO and that ski switching back and forth, its a poor cousin. Stock out of the box setup on that ski/spindle, first good wide ski.......yeah, its a ski on a trail that sent a lot of guys back to the sleds........bad. I can make that ski and spindle a one hand 6th gear cut up trail ski, but any other condition when the snow is more than 3" deep and tracked up a little, just bad old superseded design/construction. The old ski worked great in deep powder, most all bad skis work in powder. OK, I been locked up in the shop too long.
Please send me all these skis before you cut them up......
 
B
Feb 28, 2011
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As the season closes I've learned the Timbersled Backcountry ski does work really well, at least better than the ARO, in the heavy slush and old snowmobile trail crud. So I guess it does have a use after all.
 

Hawkster

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:) There is no do all ski , conditions vary as does the required ski pressure and flotation for those conditions .

Congratulations Boneless by that comment I'd say you just took your riding to the next level .

Have you noticed if it helps alleviate some arm pump ? Doesn't flex as much as it's older faster Gen II but has a lot more traction . The Gen II is still my go to ski for speed , you won't believe how much more throttle the machine has with a faster ski till you experience it .
 
E
Dec 19, 2007
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I still have a gen 2 and can attest to it's speed and no arm pump but it has no corner grip until I added some wings. But I wonder why no one notices the camso acts like a gen2 with wings? it's kinda the same but more banana shaped.
Neither was very good on trails. Something about the dual runners just don't feel like a tire to me at all.
 

jrlastofthebreed

It seemed like a good idea at the time
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Oct 24, 2016
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Coeur d'Alene ID
Ive been playing around with the CMX ski and the ARO ski both with stock skags and swapping them between bikes and in different conditions. This is very unscientific but 2 poor riders agree 100% on the findings, so take it as you will.

Swapping between the kits was interesting. Ive ridden several ARO’s and they all have a similar planted feel so before you ask if my suspension/geometry is tuned, it is. The ARO kits is very planted and heavy steering. The CMX is very light in the front. Even crusing down the road it requires far less effort to turn no matter what ski is under it.

We swapped just the ski between an ARO 120 kit and a CMX 120 kit and spindle. We had to add material to the rear of the TS ski when mounted to the CMX spindle to get it to sit level. Both ski's are the same height from skag to pivot bolt so we didn't adjust anything on the bikes. Just swapped them. For reference the TS ski is 1" wider. We tested in 8-10” of powder with a very crusty base and on groomed/wooped out roads.

In the powder the TS ski does float a little better (just barely) but its more noticeable when jumping as it dons’t sink/dive as much as the CMX ski does. Other than that both are easy to turn, don’t wash out, and predictable. We couldn’t notice any difference tree riding on those snow conditions.

On the road the TS ski is “twitchy”, its always hunting. In the corners it bites and grabs at random. Occasionally trying to shoot me off the road. Its heavier to steer overall as well. The CMX does hunt a little but not much. its fairly easy to maintain a straight line and dons’t wear out your arms as much. Cornering it digs in and it holds much more consistently and predictably.

In my opinion for the average backcountry rider use the ski you have. The CMX ski is about double the cost of the TS ski and while its better on the road thats not where we want to be in the first place! For ditch bangers and racers? Well I'd by another one....

PS anyone have a yeti ski I can barrow?:ROFLMAO:
 

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