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2019 Skis

john6719

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Dec 25, 2014
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I think they’re just as good. Didn’t do a side by side with grippers, but no issues with them at all. I ran grippers on my ‘16. Maybe a bit soft for the rocks I found under the snow...they don’t look so pretty any more.
 
S
Nov 26, 2007
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utah
250 miles on mine, don't see a problem with them, steer well on hard pack, carve very well, consistent, best ski from cat for quite a while..:face-icon-small-hap
 

Tahoepow

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The gripper and 19 cat skis are almost identical in shape. Gripper was maybe 1/2" wider at the mid point and the ski mount was 3/4" forward or back (cant recall) compared with the cat ski. The keel of the ski started a bit farther back on the cat ski too. Flex of the ski is the biggest unknown. I was gonna put my grippers on my alpha but decided it wasn't worth the hassle.
Id still favor the grippers just because of their all around great handling, but these 19 cat skis gotta be real close. Plus Arctic cat mounted them in the center of the spindle! Doo always had those crap spacers that weighted the outside or inside of the ski.
 

cpa

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I’m actually surprised with these new skis. Cat skis have absolutely been the proclimbs biggest issue since 2012 and the 2012’s had some issues. I would not even consider riding before putting grippers on all my cats. The 2018 was a decent ski and had less steering effort than the grippers in the hardpack but still didn’t float as well and wasn’t as predictable as the gripper. I only have 60 miles on the Alpha but I’m not sure I will even put the grippers on it. I didn’t think cat could ever build a decent ski but this one is pretty good.
 

kiliki

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Dec 27, 2008
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put a 100 miles on the new ski and just last ride out put the grippers on.
still like the grippers better but the new cat ski is about 85% of the gripper IMO
the cat ski I had arm pump not so much with the gripper.
 

boondocker97

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Sounds like if I had the gen2 already there's little argument for changing. For those of you that have tried both the 7 gen2 and grippers, is the gripper still slightly more predictable, or what do you feel is the difference still? I absolutely hated when a older Proclimb ski (16-17) would grab an edge and throw the front end out from under you. Is all of that gone or just "mostly". If there's still some twitchyness I'm not too keen on that. I'm basically trying to decide what the replacement for my powder pros will be. Predictability #1, floatation #2, turning ability #3, and steering effort #4 are my order of priority.
 

kiliki

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gripper has less steering effort buy about 10% and is a bit more predictable. darts less on the trail than the cat ski. the stock skis on the 16 are not even an option! the cat 7g2 and gripper float about the same. they are really not that far apart the gripper is just smoother all around over the cat.
 

john6719

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Dec 25, 2014
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This is getting comical. If it were actually possible to do, I would bet maybe one out of one hundred could pick out which ski was the gripper vs the G2 in a blind riding test. And probably not that many. You might pick it roughly 50% of the time because that’s your odds of getting a guess right. If it gives you the psychological impression that you’re going to be a better rider, have less fatigue, get thrown off the sled less, hit fewer trees, or whatever by putting a different set of skis on that are damn near identical to the ones you’re taking off...more power to ya.

There are no two lines alike, no two jumps, no two trails... this isn’t asphalt racing where there’s some sort of consistency. And there’s maybe 1% of riders that are good enough to have any amount of consistency in the way they ride to have any true baseline to compare.
 

madmax

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This is getting comical. If it were actually possible to do, I would bet maybe one out of one hundred could pick out which ski was the gripper vs the G2 in a blind riding test. And probably not that many. You might pick it roughly 50% of the time because that’s your odds of getting a guess right. If it gives you the psychological impression that you’re going to be a better rider, have less fatigue, get thrown off the sled less, hit fewer trees, or whatever by putting a different set of skis on that are damn near identical to the ones you’re taking off...more power to ya.

There are no two lines alike, no two jumps, no two trails... this isn’t asphalt racing where there’s some sort of consistency. And there’s maybe 1% of riders that are good enough to have any amount of consistency in the way they ride to have any true baseline to ccompare.

I would agree with you. If you could do a blind test, a very small percentage (if any) could reliably tell the difference.
 
M
Oct 4, 2015
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Montana
G2 on M8

If I found a pair of take-off '19 ProClimb 7 G2 skis,would they be an improvement over the stock skis on my back-up '10 M8? I see Country Cat has the complete (including wearbars) G2 pair setup for ~$300. I love the grippers on my'17 MC, but can't see any sense in putting the take-off G1 skis from it on my M8. Advice??
 

skidooboy

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anyone have the part number for the 19 ski skins? I am guessing the rubbers, bushings, bolts, loops, carbides are the same as the spindle is the same for the 16-19? Ski
 

summ8rmk

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anyone have the part number for the 19 ski skins? I am guessing the rubbers, bushings, bolts, loops, carbides are the same as the spindle is the same for the 16-19? Ski
'19 Rubber is the same as '12-'15.
I think the Bolt length is in between the '15 and '16 not sure. I know its the same as Gripper bolt.
Spindle bushing is .5" longer than the '15 and 1" shorter than the '16.

 

boondocker97

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Got the first ride in yesterday with the new cat skis that I replaced the powder pros with. Didn't turn quite as sharp on flat ground as the PPs, but steering effort was improved and they didn't push excessively either. Didn't do anything unexpectedly negative. I thought they made the sled turn slightly quicker in a carve in deeper snow. I only noticed this when I was being more aggressive and making sharper/harder turns. Making larger radius turns and carves seemed about the same. PPs maybe held the front of the sled up a little more when doing downhill u-turns. The Cat skis didn't totally submarine though. PPs are a little wider, but the Cat skis are slightly longer.

The keel on the new Cat ones are just as deep as the PPs which really surprised me. Spindle bolt location is higher on the Cat ski, maybe 1/2", which would hold the front of the sled up a little. Cat skis are 1lb lighter each than the PPs after trimming the excess bolt length off the runners above the nuts.

Ski loops, loop hardware, and runners are the same all the way back to 2014 (maybe even to 2012). The new rubber dampers are a different part number than the new set of 2014 dampers I had laying around, but they are the same visually when compared side by side. I'll use them when I wear the new ones out. Bolts and spindle axles are different length. The 2019 axles were out of stock from Country Cat, but they had the longer ones from a 2016/17 in stock so I got those and cut them down.
 
Last edited:
P
Sep 27, 2009
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Truckee
Has anyone swapped just the 19 ski bottoms onto 18 hardware, rubber, bolt, wear bars etc..? It looks like different part numbers but curious to know if anyone has swapped everything from the 18 ski set-up and just replaced the ski bottoms. $70 per ski is an attractive option vs. having to cut and buy new pieces to put on grippers.
 

jakey-boy

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Has anyone swapped just the 19 ski bottoms onto 18 hardware, rubber, bolt, wear bars etc..? It looks like different part numbers but curious to know if anyone has swapped everything from the 18 ski set-up and just replaced the ski bottoms. $70 per ski is an attractive option vs. having to cut and buy new pieces to put on grippers.

You will either need to cut or buy new pieces to put the 19 skins on. All of those parts are different they are closer to the gripper pieces but not quite the same as those even.
 
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