Dreaded crust + yeti ski

Norma Stitz · Dec 23, 2018

Finally experienced the yeti ski crust snow combo that I’d heard about and yes it sucks! All last year even in crusty conditions it did great, but today was gross. Bike was riding me not me riding it. It would basically track straight at random and unexpected times. It would also take a lot of effort to push into a turn, would not hold a line.

Was wondering if any fixes were out for this yet? I like the ski most other times, but today the TS and the mototrax were running circles around me and I was nearly relegated to spectator mode.

One thing I noticed is the side steel runners are placed pretty far back behind the spindle, which seemed like might cause this type of handling. Has anyone moved them forward?

mikew5945 · Dec 23, 2018

The CMX spindle takes some of that out. The prototype CMX ski got rid of the rest. Skis are coming next month, hopefully. The Yeti spindle has too much twisting flex.

Norma Stitz · Dec 23, 2018

I’m tempted to try it. ALso, I don’t use the yeti spindle, I’m using the mototrax spindle which may also have too much flex.

Any pricing on cmx ski available yet?

byeatts · Dec 23, 2018

Norma Stitz said:
Finally experienced the yeti ski crust snow combo that I’d heard about and yes it sucks! All last year even in crusty conditions it did great, but today was gross. Bike was riding me not me riding it. It would basically track straight at random and unexpected times. It would also take a lot of effort to push into a turn, would not hold a line.

Was wondering if any fixes were out for this yet? I like the ski most other times, but today the TS and the mototrax were running circles around me and I was nearly relegated to spectator mode.

One thing I noticed is the side steel runners are placed pretty far back behind the spindle, which seemed like might cause this type of handling. Has anyone moved them forward?

Yeti has had 4 different ski runner configurations since 2017, I have them all,. The 19 works soo good even in crust , bar feedback is minimized to a fraction of the 18 skis. Worth the 19 update.

Sheetmetalfab · Dec 23, 2018

byeatts said:
Yeti has had 4 different ski runner configurations since 2017, I have them all,. The 19 works soo good even in crust , bar feedback is minimized to a fraction of the 18 skis. Worth the 19 update.

Is the 19 ski still cracking like the 18’s?

Norma Stitz · Dec 23, 2018

byeatts said:
Yeti has had 4 different ski runner configurations since 2017, I have them all,. The 19 works soo good even in crust , bar feedback is minimized to a fraction of the 18 skis. Worth the 19 update.

Hmm I wonder which one I have. Could you describe what changed on the 19 version? Thanks for the input.

My shoulders are sore today from the pushing on the bars to try to get it to turn. At the end i couldn’t side hill at all and had to climb straight up and then turn and go down at and angle instead. It was weird.

There’s a lot that can be improved on these things. It will be great to see what happens over the next few years.

eric82930 · Dec 23, 2018

I believe the problem is the curved parabolic side keels. I trimmed the front of the side keels off and it helped a bunch but then the ski cracked because I made a weak ski even weaker. The new cmx has straight side keels. If you have the mtx spindle try ordering a set of c plates. It will add more trail and possibly help. I wouldn't risk buying any new yeti ski until they get rid of the curved sides it's ruined too many rides for me.

Norma Stitz · Dec 23, 2018

mikew5945 said:
The CMX spindle takes some of that out. The prototype CMX ski got rid of the rest. Skis are coming next month, hopefully. The Yeti spindle has too much twisting flex.

Can you confirm wether or not the cmx ski has side cut or not?

Never mind Eric just confirmed it above lol. Thx.

Norma Stitz · Dec 23, 2018

eric82930 said:
I believe the problem is the curved parabolic side keels. I trimmed the front of the side keels off and it helped a bunch but then the ski cracked because I made a weak ski even weaker. The new cmx has straight side keels. If you have the mtx spindle try ordering a set of c plates. It will add more trail and possibly help. I wouldn't risk buying any new yeti ski until they get rid of the curved sides.

Yes I struggle to understand why a parabolic side cut would be good and in fact I think that this also sucks power out of the engine by increased drag as well.

For the plates I re drilled the hole which swung the spindle back quite a bit, so I think I’m good there. I also added the stiffener tubes that tie the plates together but I don’t think those do much.

Timberview01 · Dec 23, 2018

Norma,

I have the 2017 Moto Trax spindle, and on any icy / crusty condition I was REALLY struggling to keep a side-hill going. One of my buddies told me that he thought my bars were bent because I was visibly steering into the hill, but the ski was straight. So I repeated the run and watched the ski. There was easily 12 - 15 degrees of twist in the spindle and ski mount under those conditions. I put several braces in between the webbed struts which helped, but did not alleviate the issue. I think that flex adds to the dartiness on the trails as well.

I decided to give the Camso set-up a try. As ugly as it may be, it just flat out works. Not sure if that one is an option for you, but in my opinion it is one of the better designs available.

mikew5945 · Dec 23, 2018

Norma Stitz said:
Can you confirm wether or not the cmx ski has side cut or not?

Never mind Eric just confirmed it above lol. Thx.

Yes the CMX is straight. I rode a Yamaha in Cooke last year that had the CMX spindle with Yeti ski. Just the spindle was an improvement. I then road Mark's bike with the ski and spindle from CMX. It was like power steering.

Norma Stitz · Dec 23, 2018

Timberview01 said:
Norma,

I have the 2017 Moto Trax spindle, and on any icy / crusty condition I was REALLY struggling to keep a side-hill going. One of my buddies told me that he thought my bars were bent because I was visibly steering into the hill, but the ski was straight. So I repeated the run and watched the ski. There was easily 12 - 15 degrees of twist in the spindle and ski mount under those conditions. I put several braces in between the webbed struts which helped, but did not alleviate the issue. I think that flex adds to the dartiness on the trails as well.

I decided to give the Camso set-up a try. As ugly as it may be, it just flat out works. Not sure if that one is an option for you, but in my opinion it is one of the better designs available.

Cool thanks. It is ugly that’s true. But I’m all about that driving feel over looks any day. I’ve tried to look at the ski while riding and I don’t notice a ton of flex but it can be hard to watch during times of distress like yesterday where I was focused way too much on not hitting trees lol.

chumbilly1 · Dec 24, 2018

Im going to try the ARO spindle ski combo on my yeti and cmx kits this year. Price point and feedback from the ARO guys being the reason. <$500 for the pair. Also going to warranty a couple yeti skis and see if I get the 19 replacements.

Norma Stitz · Dec 24, 2018

chumbilly1 said:
Im going to try the ARO spindle ski combo on my yeti and cmx kits this year. Price point and feedback from the ARO guys being the reason. <$500 for the pair. Also going to warranty a couple yeti skis and see if I get the 19 replacements.

aro ski was kicking ass.

KAWGRN · Dec 28, 2018

Norma Stitz said:
Hmm I wonder which one I have. Could you describe what changed on the 19 version? Thanks for the input.

My shoulders are sore today from the pushing on the bars to try to get it to turn. At the end i couldn’t side hill at all and had to climb straight up and then turn and go down at and angle instead. It was weird.

There’s a lot that can be improved on these things. It will be great to see what happens over the next few years.

I also would like to know the difference in the 18-19 skis? and which way does the ski rubber snubber go? big side back or front?? one way has the ski almost level parallel with the track and the other way has the rear of the ski dragging the ground with the wheel kit????

byeatts · Dec 28, 2018

KAWGRN said:
I also would like to know the difference in the 18-19 skis? and which way does the ski rubber snubber go? big side back or front?? one way has the ski almost level parallel with the track and the other way has the rear of the ski dragging the ground with the wheel kit????

I drove one handed on frozen trail just to show how much of an improvement the 19 ski is.The trail super easy to ride ,This is on a 19 SS 129. the rear of the runner is inches shorter and front profile much different and not as tall throughout.. The SS is high geared tall and was out running sleds through the woops in fifth wide open. The 18 ski is a handful in these conditions. Also the 19 runner can be added to the older ski.

Norma Stitz · Dec 28, 2018

byeatts said:
I drove one handed on frozen trail just to show how much of an improvement the 19 ski is.The trail super easy to ride ,This is on a 19 SS 129. the rear of the runner is inches shorter and front profile much different and not as tall throughout.. The SS is high geared tall and was out running sleds through the woops in fifth wide open. The 18 ski is a handful in these conditions. Also the 19 runner can be added to the older ski.

How do the side runners compare?

Norma Stitz · Dec 28, 2018

mikew5945 said:
The CMX spindle takes some of that out. The prototype CMX ski got rid of the rest. Skis are coming next month, hopefully. The Yeti spindle has too much twisting flex.

I got pricing on the cmx ski/spindle and let’s just say it’s probably out of my budget. Let’s also say that an aro ski and spindle would be considerably less. Not bashing them at all, just can’t spring for it for myself.

byeatts · Dec 28, 2018

Norma Stitz said:
How do the side runners compare?

sides are same

Norma Stitz · Dec 28, 2018

byeatts said:
sides are same

That’s weird because the side runners seem so far back to me.

Dreaded crust + yeti ski

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