After 2 seasons on the snow, did the 2019 or 2020 Alphas end up with a better track record?
- Thread starter Frostbite
- Start date
The 19 alpha looks way better in person vs pictures. Wish I saw the sled in person before I snow checked. I would have left it purple. But ordered a bunch of green accessories at snowcheck and was to far down that path to switch back.
There is always a wrap too. Cats are pretty easy to wrap.
There is always a wrap too. Cats are pretty easy to wrap.
Happy Easter guys!
No arguments here on the looks of the 2019 but, I have to be careful. I don't want to make them mad when they are basically directing me to snowcheck a new sled.
I watched a couple videos last night and a guy from Japan was on a 2020 Hardcore 165. He said it was a great sled but, then he rode the 154 and said it was an absolute riot and he kept looking back wondering where the rest of the sled went.
I have been thinking I would get a 165 due to the majority of you guys recommending it and wanting to Elevate the sled.
Am I still on the right track? I am thinking a 154 would be fun but, an elevated 154 might be a little too much and one heck of handful?
I hadn't really thought about getting ATAC but, I guess it would be nice to be able to adjust your suspension on the fly. I will have to see how much more money it is.
No arguments here on the looks of the 2019 but, I have to be careful. I don't want to make them mad when they are basically directing me to snowcheck a new sled.
I watched a couple videos last night and a guy from Japan was on a 2020 Hardcore 165. He said it was a great sled but, then he rode the 154 and said it was an absolute riot and he kept looking back wondering where the rest of the sled went.
I have been thinking I would get a 165 due to the majority of you guys recommending it and wanting to Elevate the sled.
Am I still on the right track? I am thinking a 154 would be fun but, an elevated 154 might be a little too much and one heck of handful?
I hadn't really thought about getting ATAC but, I guess it would be nice to be able to adjust your suspension on the fly. I will have to see how much more money it is.
I can't believe grown men care what color their sleds are. All about performance for me, I don't care if is bright pink. Whatever sled works best is what I'll ride, for my style that's an alpha setup. I have a 2019 hardcore that I alpha swapped and the only time the twin rail goes back in is for hill climb racing.
Good job D1100T. You did a great job! It gives me hope.
richardderkevorkian, you must be single!
"She who shall be obeyed" and "Little She" are allowed their input. They may not win out in the end. However, if I ignore their input, there would be no peace at home for me with these two constantly making fun of my new "girl" sled.
It would be like taking your pink Dodge Diesel to work with the guys. They would ride you like a circus pony and be absolutely justified in doing so!
richardderkevorkian, you must be single!
"She who shall be obeyed" and "Little She" are allowed their input. They may not win out in the end. However, if I ignore their input, there would be no peace at home for me with these two constantly making fun of my new "girl" sled.
It would be like taking your pink Dodge Diesel to work with the guys. They would ride you like a circus pony and be absolutely justified in doing so!
frost, buy the 19 and elevate it, and you'll never look back lol....
In regards to spring snow it depends on how hard the snow is we know this accounts for a small amount of our riding generally, if its that real hard crispy top snow, it'll go along OK, key word is OK, all sleds suck at that twin rail or not and it takes more energy to hold it there. If you power it too much you get a drift but they all do. my opinion on that though is if snow is like that you shouldn't be doing much crazy anyways, I had one day out like that mid winter where it rained then froze and snowed a skiff, Went out with cousins on the doo and khaos, and I had my alpha, We all had the same result.... slow and careful, I was no better or worse. Late season spring snow when its on the wet side but set up, you know T shirt weather?, I had 0 issues, track will bite in and go, Its still tougher than powder for any sled.
Also those who complain about trail manners, Its a frigging mountain sled. I can still rip the trail decently and it corners good enough before a ski will lift. It is what it is and I find it foolish to make it a point on why they didn't buy one. Go buy a 42"+ trail sled then if you want to rip the corners.
In regards to spring snow it depends on how hard the snow is we know this accounts for a small amount of our riding generally, if its that real hard crispy top snow, it'll go along OK, key word is OK, all sleds suck at that twin rail or not and it takes more energy to hold it there. If you power it too much you get a drift but they all do. my opinion on that though is if snow is like that you shouldn't be doing much crazy anyways, I had one day out like that mid winter where it rained then froze and snowed a skiff, Went out with cousins on the doo and khaos, and I had my alpha, We all had the same result.... slow and careful, I was no better or worse. Late season spring snow when its on the wet side but set up, you know T shirt weather?, I had 0 issues, track will bite in and go, Its still tougher than powder for any sled.
Also those who complain about trail manners, Its a frigging mountain sled. I can still rip the trail decently and it corners good enough before a ski will lift. It is what it is and I find it foolish to make it a point on why they didn't buy one. Go buy a 42"+ trail sled then if you want to rip the corners.
First pull pressurizes the fuel rail, never heard of a ecu going to sleep.
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It is a mountain sled. It's the ride that sucks that i complain about. It is not stellar on corners. Mine is all the way narrow. I accept that. 10 times worse on trail and 20 times more fun off trail. I ride everything so i know how it compares.
I have been leaving this picture on the desktop of my computer so when the girls walk by they will see it and hopefully warm up to the colors.
Frankly, I am liking it more all the time!
Another reason for the Alpha is, I like the fact that the Elevate Kit costs 1/2 as much for the Alpha as it is for the twin rail sleds.
At least for now, I plan to keep my Proclimb as well. So on those days with crappy snow, I will just ride it.
Frankly, I am liking it more all the time!
Another reason for the Alpha is, I like the fact that the Elevate Kit costs 1/2 as much for the Alpha as it is for the twin rail sleds.
At least for now, I plan to keep my Proclimb as well. So on those days with crappy snow, I will just ride it.
Same here. Along with the '19 hardcore. I like black and green though as you can see. Also a fan of the '90s colors. This has been my computer background for a while.
I ride a 2019 Polaris AXYS 850 x 174. I got to ride a 2020 Alpha this winter and found it a fun sled. And although the Snowest review wasn't very friendly toward the Alpha my take-away from the article was that for the 3 brands they tested it was clear that the sled that the rider put the most effort into got the most performance out of it, I also found this on the Alpha. It felt heavier at slow speeds but open it up and the rodeo started, but not in a bad way. It would loop around really fast and had excellent traction too. The clutching was very good too but the motors still run slightly fatter than I would like. I found it also would heat up on the trail much faster than my AXYS and did not ride the bumps well but don't have a clue if the shocks were set up well or not. I also could feel the motor a lot through the chassis which made it feel kinda rough. Over-all I would give it a thumbs up as the dislikes were minor.
What’re you hitting for RPM? My 20 walks over my old 14 that had a belt drive, 3” and built clutches. Not even close. If you’re getting beat by a 14 in a climb, you’ve got issues
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It's always bounced between 78ish-8100. I've felt all season like there was something not right but could never find anything obviously wrong. Even had the dealer plug it in mid season and scan it but he said everything looked fine. It feels great on bottom end, but I feel like there should be more on top end. I also noticed it seems to use about a gallon of gas more per ride than my brothers '14 and we're similar size with similar riding techniques. I figure I just got one of the extra rich ones I've heard people complain about this season, and figure I'll do an aftermarket flash after warranty is up. Unless you got any ideas.
Yeah, that doesn’t seem right at all. Mine sips fuel as well compared to the zukes. If you haven’t touched clutching, you may try a shallower helix depending on your elevation. I had issues holding rpm under wot long pulls at 10k (clutches would get hot as hell) and dropped from the 48 to a straight 45 and it made a world of difference. My dealer claimed he was dropping in 68g into all of the sleds he sold and they were performing well but mine would not get to peak rpm either. I’m 205 lb - dropped to 66’s and they worked.
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