2024 catalyst

[Vern]

Most of those “cool kids” saying that nonsense are the ones just repeating crap they hear on the internets with no actual experience.

My group is mostly Polaris axys sleds and one matryx, I’ll admit the matryx felt ok and felt like it held onto a sidehill more solidly than the alpha, but I’ve still yet to see the poo poos do anything I couldn’t on my alpha. Let alone be light years ahead in any aspect. the only place the alpha is “years behind” is on social media. I just hope the cost of the 800+ matryx isn’t through the roof when it comes, so I can justify buying one.

 

[summ8rmk]

The podcast answered my question. I thought maybe a u-joint would come into play to get the vertical motion with removing a bunch of parts.....saweet!! It's going to feel like forever before '25 is here....ugh!!!

Like the 4strokes have been for a decade.
I almost put the 4stroke steering on my 14.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

 

[bkm20x]

 

[mn.nytronut]

The podcast has ended my patience on waiting for real footage and real numbers, brass tacks information. Seems this thing has been in a "groundhog day" press conference for 2 years. I personally am done waiting with baited breath for a 850 turbo killing 600 revolutionary artic cat.??

 

[turboless terry]

Apparantly they don't know that suspension settings can change handling characteristics? I don't feel the front heavy handling either......

There is plenty of truth to what you are saying. I don't know what you are riding but i will say if you are not willing to try something else, you wont know. They do have a heavy feel when not on the gas. I have also washed them out on steep sidehills, in deep snow, where my buddy with same track lenght kept going on his polaris. Narrower body might have stopped this.
I am in Ryan Harris's camp. I'm not brand loyal and ride everything. Pretty much agree with him. Even on skidoo being easier. He even did say really good polaris riders will say different and he is good with that. I'm in that boat. Where i disagree is he never mentions doos searching front end, which i complete hate. Feels like you are getting ready for a yard sale. Not a disagreement but he has never mentioned it. If he says this sled is awesome then I believe him.
Anyone that thinks a 600 is going to be an 800 killer is going to be severely disappointed.

 

[boondocker97]

I've never heard the 600 being touted as a 850/900/Turbo killer, but I can see a lot of guys updating the "wife sled" this year! When the M7 came out it flat didn't have the power the 900 did of the time, but the handling was so much better and it still got through the deep snow well so there were guys switching over. Might see some of that again.

 

[turboless terry]

I may get one for my daughter just to try.

 

[Jerry2star]

WTH i didnt even watch the whole thing yet and they deleted it?

 

[boondocker97]

WTH i didnt even watch the whole thing yet and they deleted it?

Looks like they edited something (down to 1:17 now) and re-uploaded 40 minutes ago. Edit from the comments: "We removed the intro and outtro, and added a caption that the battery is actually still mounted under the seat." Hopefully that means some underseat storage for the non-ES models.

 

[boondocker97]

I may get one for my daughter just to try.

That's how it starts... my dad bought the 05 M7 for me in high school. Bought his in 06.

 

[BeartoothBaron]

Just listened to the hour and twenty minute long SW podcast on spotify. Here are the main points:

1. Tested all 154 length tracks. Some 3" lug and one 2.6" lug. 3" was the definite choice in the deep snow they were in. 2.6" trenched a little more.
2. SW staff does not like the current Alpha Ascender. Like at all compared to a Polaris or Ski-Doo. Catalyst feels nothing like the current platform. It's lighter, more balanced, predictable, and the Alpha skid in this new chassis doesn't feel like the Alpha in the current chassis. They had one current 800 Alpha and no one wanted to ride it after being on the Catalyst.

I wonder how many of the complaints about the monorail will be addressed with the new chassis. I haven't rode an Alpha, so I have to go off what others who've rode them extensively say, but whether it was a step forward, backward, or "just different" seems to depend a lot on conditions, riding style, and so on. It could be that the Ascender chassis and monorail were kind of a mashup (despite Cat's best efforts), and a chassis built around the Alpha concept will address most of those issues. It's hard to imagine there being no circumstances where the Catalyst is better with a twin-rail though. Hopefully they've nailed it if they're not going off a twin-rail; otherwise, they're just giving up sales for stubbornness' sake.

6. There is no "breakover point" in handling. It's an even feeling rolling from one side to another and easy to compensate or make changes.

That's particularly intriguing. Obviously, on old iron like my EDGE, transitioning to a sidehill is a very deliberate move - making the sled do something it wasn't designed to - but neither my Pro, nor any newer sled I've been able to ride eliminated that "breakover" feel, even in good snow. I'm sure it's still there on crusty snow, but if they've got to the point where the transition is imperceptible in most conditions, then they've really hit on something. It always seems there's a tradeoff: a sled that's easy to roll and initiate is harder to control and less predictable; to get that consistent and predictable feel, you have to build more effort into it. Time will tell if they've managed to hit on the playful and low-effort feel without sacrificing controlability and predictability on edge, but I'll be impressed if they're taken as big a bite out of that trade-off as they're suggesting.

 

[turboless terry]

That's how it starts... my dad bought the 05 M7 for me in high school. Bought his in 06.

Won't start for me. I have a turbo shredder and a 9r. This last storm the 9r felt like a turd after climbing off turbo. Give up your supercharger for a 600. Not going to happen. It would be for my daughter. I would ride it and have fun for a minute. If they don't come with boost it is a mistake.
My buddy went for the m7 and great sled but underpowered. Had an 06 rev he was always trying to beat. Didn't happen. He even tried an m7 to m8 kit. Ran worse than stock. My rev was set up different. Only doo i ever seen that you could tree ride like m series. Best sled i ever built.
On anothe note, the alpha and doo don't have a brake over point. Only the polaris. So that is nothing new. Alpha is almost like a ball bearing.

 

[hansenmac]

I'm 155 lbs and have had a few shoulder surgeries so hearing that this thing requires a ton less effort and is MAYBE the lightest thing on the snow intrigues me. I'm on the fence about a 600 for a year then get the "big" one.

 

[SnoPro1000]

So hear me out. ?
I was sitting here and thinking.
Why would they make it so easy “split down the Center” tunnel to bulk head it comes apart.

Is it because they’ll have a “wider” catalyst to accept the legendary 998?

Or is it because we now have a one piece not fastener frame.
Could a more premium model now come with a full carbon fiber front frame?

Just thinking out loud. Would be cool

 

[Vern]

The alpha has its quirks, but it’s nowhere near as bad as social media makes it out to be once you understand how to ride it. The biggest issue I have is my fat a$$ not being able to keep up on occasion when it turns a bit quicker than I was expecting or trying to climb on the sled from the downhill side. As turboless terry said, the alpha doesn’t have a break over point, it feels like riding on a ball going side to side whereas the poo feels like your riding on a cube where you have to pull it past the corners to get on edge.
Not that it’s relevant to the calatyst discussion, but my m7 experience was quite different than his. My m7 never had an issue holding its own with the 06 rev 8, or any of the edge 8’s in the group at the time. That sled is what converted me and a few others from Polaris to cat guys. Best sled I’ve ever owned.

 

[Pinchecharlie]

Dude on podcast said,” riding the alpha assender is like riding a dirt bike with a flat rear tire.” As a really new rider with a aloha all I know is you need to be calm and smooth. Which is hard lol. It is front heavy to me and I just assumed all snowmobiles where?

 

[sno*jet]

too bad skinz is done because imho, the helium kit addresses a lot of the differences they talk about. Makes the sled feel much smaller, also switching to SLP mohawks gets rid of the gnarly keel bite that makes steering feel heavy and you can pull them back a bit which makes wheelbase shorter. I would tell any ascender owner whos a little hurt by the comments in that vid to do those two things, makes a much tighter and lighter sled and you also get to look like a spaceship- added bonus

 

[TurboSportTSi]

I wonder how many of the complaints about the monorail will be addressed with the new chassis. I haven't rode an Alpha, so I have to go off what others who've rode them extensively say, but whether it was a step forward, backward, or "just different" seems to depend a lot on conditions, riding style, and so on. It could be that the Ascender chassis and monorail were kind of a mashup (despite Cat's best efforts), and a chassis built around the Alpha concept will address most of those issues. It's hard to imagine there being no circumstances where the Catalyst is better with a twin-rail though. Hopefully they've nailed it if they're not going off a twin-rail; otherwise, they're just giving up sales for stubbornness' sake.

I'm glad someone finally said it. I, for one, am very intrigued by the Alpha skid but don't at all understand why it gets so much hate. I've seen plenty of folks say they'd buy a new Cat, but only if it had a twin rail option. The way I see it, this skid is probably the single most revolutionary design change in all of snowmobiling going back nearly two decades. Everything else has just been a tweak...a design change that optimizes the last iteration. CoG changes, dropped and rolled chaincases, belt drives, turbos, t-motion, air shocks...none of that is anything new. There's nothing like the Alpha skid (skinny twin rail, maybe...which came first?) and it's bound to not be perfect the first go 'round. It's crazy to me that so many people just write off the whole concept forever because the first generation had some issues. I understand not wanting to be a beta tester, which is why I never buy the first model year of anything, but this is just wanting to stick with tweaking old tech forever.

I'm hopeful that a second iteration will prove to be much more refined. I just wish that people would give it a chance. I'm sure plenty have and just aren't vocal about it. Yeah...let's go with that.

 

[turboless terry]

I'm 155 lbs and have had a few shoulder surgeries so hearing that this thing requires a ton less effort and is MAYBE the lightest thing on the snow intrigues me. I'm on the fence about a 600 for a year then get the "big" one.

I too have shoulder woes. Both need replaced. I notice things others don’t such as pull starting a sled or a skidoo steering twice as easy but having to steer it three times as much to keep it going where you want.

 

[turboless terry]

The alpha has its quirks, but it’s nowhere near as bad as social media makes it out to be once you understand how to ride it. The biggest issue I have is my fat a$$ not being able to keep up on occasion when it turns a bit quicker than I was expecting or trying to climb on the sled from the downhill side. As turboless terry said, the alpha doesn’t have a break over point, it feels like riding on a ball going side to side whereas the poo feels like your riding on a cube where you have to pull it past the corners to get on edge.
Not that it’s relevant to the calatyst discussion, but my m7 experience was quite different than his. My m7 never had an issue holding its own with the 06 rev 8, or any of the edge 8’s in the group at the time. That sled is what converted me and a few others from Polaris to cat guys. Best sled I’ve ever owned.

My 06 rev was a 151 with fabcraft tunnel, cmx belt drive, slp 163hp kit, 2 wheel kit, 50 hp boondockers nitrous kit, mountain addiction rear suspension. Definitely didn't need nitrous to handle m7 or m1000. Buddy's 900 twin would get me out of hole but i would catch him halfway up hill and go on by. With the nitrous it would beat my buddy's $8000 crankshop twin but had to hold the button longer than you were supposed to. Figured i deserved a good sled after a year on an 05 rt1000.