Ride Reviews of the ALPHA ONE

10003514 · Feb 25, 2018

Awesome new technology/idea from Arctic Cat now who has had some seat time on this sled ? With this radical new idea for a rear skid Cat better get everyone out test riding and in all snow conditions. I'm almost convinced to buy a Cat for 2019 over another Gen4 850. Let's see the reviews.

turboless terry · Feb 25, 2018

I would have to ride one first before I gave up my silber 850.

Sledbrain2 · Feb 26, 2018

I would say its going to be really tippy, lean to one side and the sled is going to tip that way, the front ski shocks are going to be at 100 psi or higher to keep sled stable just a guess. I will bet riders that have ridden a snow bike will feel similarities between the two.

89sandman · Feb 26, 2018

My guess is people who love to carve will love it and people who ride in a straight line, well why would you ride your sled in a straight line??? Seems all the folks who claim to have rode it were sworn to secrecy or face death :gossip:

Motorbreath_ · Feb 26, 2018

89sandman said:
Seems all the folks who claim to have rode it were sworn to secrecy or face death :gossip:

Yeah that don't sound promising to me.

madmax · Feb 26, 2018

My guess is it will behave similar to the T-motion, but a little more extreme. I know two guys who rode it in island park with Cat a couple weeks ago who loved it, said it’s the most amazing handling mountain sled ever. I may going to have to ride it for myself

Chewy22 · Feb 26, 2018

89sandman said:
Seems all the folks who claim to have rode it were sworn to secrecy or face death :gossip:

Yep - the longer this remains a big secret the more disinterested people will get. This is something so new a few videos on the website won't do it.

john6719 · Feb 26, 2018

madmax said:
My guess is it will behave similar to the T-motion, but a little more extreme. I know two guys who rode it in island park with Cat a couple weeks ago who loved it, said it’s the most amazing handling mountain sled ever. I may going to have to ride it for myself

I could see it being a little unpredictable/unbalanced like the t-motion felt to me me in the trees while climbing and shifting directions slightly. Those times you're basically just riding the track... maybe a little better since the rear bogies will still be stiff??? In a true sidehill, I'd buy into the marketing hype of being much better across old tracks having track flex to absorb the rut vs getting bucked. While I like several of the little upgrades of the '19, I don't think there's enough for me to upgrade this year. Hopefully ride one next week to get a feel for it and decide.

turboless terry · Feb 26, 2018

It just slays me that nobody has given a review on here. Polaris had a bunch ride their stuff and give a review on here. Cats marketing leaves a little to be desired of. I love my boosted 850 and would give it to my wife to try one of these if we knew it was cool. It would be nice to hear from somebody that has rode it but ultimately, I have to ride one.
I assume it is similar to the t motion and then some. Wondering if it has the downsides.

10003514 · Feb 26, 2018

You would think Cat would have endless consumer reviews posted to really hype up the Alpha Cat, the lack of content is discerning. Even the snowest staff rode one so where's the review ?

goridedoo · Feb 26, 2018

10003514 said:
You would think Cat would have endless consumer reviews posted to really hype up the Alpha Cat, the lack of content is discerning. Even the snowest staff rode one so where's the review ?

Seeing some reviews on facebook, sounds like its unreal easy to ride but some are concerned about handling in hard or spring snow.

They NEED to do some demos.

snowmobiler · Feb 26, 2018

half on here cant even ride a bendy track skidoo without tipping over and complaining.i dont need a review.

89sandman · Feb 26, 2018

Unlike Tmo the skid does not pivot. Would be nice just to get on one side or the other of the monorail and carve without having to pull so much on the bars. Seems like with more of the lugs actually in the snow the thing would keep going where a skid with half the lugs barely touching the pow would start to trench. Hasn't been 24 hours yet, so lets hope in the next couple of days some reviews start to come

I know in the dream I had about it last night it was a pow destroying animal. Woke up with my own monorail

05900 · Feb 26, 2018

No demo = No Dinero
Must want there customers to sell it for them? Yet didn't completely change the line up?

sno*jet · Feb 26, 2018

wow, polaris has not even shown us their sled yet and we have people b!tchin about cat demos. it was just released yesterday! LOL

MTsled3 · Feb 26, 2018

I want to try it out if i get the chance this spring, but in the meantime, here are my thoughts:

On the Ski-Doo Tmotion, the edge of the track flexes, so you have a few inches that bend with the slope on the outside of each rail.

On this, not only do you have about 6" on either side of the rail, but the rail pivots on the track itself, so you have a much larger footprint of track that is conforming with the slope of the hill. I saw a video of guys tipping one over on the show floor and the track doesn't leave the ground at all until the sled is tipped up pretty good. I think this will help a lot with lateral traction on a sidehill, when comparing to the Tmotion and flex edge.

My two cents, we'll see how it works once people get ahold of it in the real world.

turboless terry · Feb 26, 2018

Supposed to be quicker acting than a gen 4. Ride it straddled up. If you ride 17 or 18 cat input needs dialed down by at least 40%.
Not like t motion but wil lean 17 degrees before track comes off concrete. Solid rods and track for it. Not rolly Polly like t motion.
Working on it since 13. No durability issues. Track or skid. Hifax could be issue on hard trails due to no snow between 2 rails. 2 hifax.
Said easy for beginners and pay dividends to aggressive riders but will lay you out if you don't keep up.
Rides like a bike with skis.
Will turn inside any sled out there.
Can be dialed down with shocks.
10 inch wheels on axle
Better traction
Dealer not sure but doubting demoes.
Second hand info. Take it for what it's worth

10003514 · Feb 26, 2018

turboless terry said:
Supposed to be quicker acting than a gen 4. Ride it straddled up. If you ride 17 or 18 cat input needs dialed down by at least 40%.
Not like t motion but wil lean 17 degrees before track comes off concrete. Solid rods and track for it. Not rolly Polly like t motion.
Working on it since 13. No durability issues. Track or skid. Hifax could be issue on hard trails due to no snow between 2 rails. 2 hifax.
Said easy for beginners and pay dividends to aggressive riders but will lay you out if you don't keep up.
Rides like a bike with skis.
Will turn inside any sled out there.
Can be dialed down with shocks.
10 inch wheels on axle
Better traction
Dealer not sure but doubting demoes.
Second hand info. Take it for what it's worth

This is the kind of information that Cat needs to push to the public, why is their marketing so bad ? How easy is it to state everywhere that no sled can turn as tight, fastest responding sled, rides like a bike, half the effort of the 2018's. Hopefully they put all the black cat riders on one soon and get some media out there. Demos are going to sell a lot of guys if it works as advertised. This sled has me thinking about Cat again over another 850 for 2019.

turboless terry · Feb 26, 2018

I know rob Kincaid. Used to work around that bunch when we were in Victor and driggs. Went riding with that bunch. I would take everything he says with a grain of salt.

Stack · Feb 26, 2018

Like many, was expecting a bit more information on Spring Ordering and possible special spring colors/graphics, but nothing was touched on during the live feed. I still see no pricing on the 19’s via cats website?
Kennedy wasn’t really engaging and seemed out of his element, maybe he was just nervous. The video feeds for the new tech at the show missed the mark, didn’t sway me one way or the other. In the past they had an actual presentation with technical details. Time will tell I suppose, but the overall live feed left me with mixed feelings on both the dirt side and snow side going forward.

Some good looking sleds for 19, no doubt, but just want them to shore up there subpar media and marketing coverage.

Ride Reviews of the ALPHA ONE

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Embrace the BRAAAAAAP!

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