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Demo Ride! Alpha 1 YAY !

iroc1132

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
YES! Cat is doing demo rides in West at the expo! Not just idling around on the flats either. 7-8 miles down the trail then thru the trees and up on a few hills. Found some fresh snow to ride. Nothing too steep so didn't get to test washout.
Handles on the trail better than expected. I wouldn't call it ski lift as much as body roll. Could have been helped with a little stiffer set on ski shocks.
While side hilling, old packed tracks were barely noticeable. Downhill u-turns are very nice. The sled still requires input but holds it's line once ski's come out of snow. In comparison, the 850 doos that I have ridden seemed so unstable and kept you guessing which way they were going. Unpredictable is my word for the doos. Predictable but easy is best I can do for Alpha. Compared to my '14 proclimb it requires way less body language, but I didn't find myself overriding it like a doo. Also rode the Mtn cat. Much nicer than my '14, but I would have to go with Alpha over the Mtn cat. Don't take that to mean the Mtn cat is inferior, it certainly is not. In my opinion the Alpha is just easier to maneuver at slow speeds in the trees, uphill, downhill, sidehill.
Not that I would base my sled purchase on donut ability, but that's the real deal too. It does donuts tighter than I have the ability to hang on. Tried twice, got bucked off twice. WAY tighter than what I can pull off on my own sled. It comes around sooo fast. Going to take some practice to pull it off like the videos show.
 
Any thoughts on 165 vs 154? Assuming it was a 165 you test rode. How did it compare to a traditional 153. No dought I’m snowchecking an alpha just can’t decide between a 165 or 154. Really leaning 165 right now.
 
Yes it was a 165. They had 2 Alphas, both 165. I didn't ride any of the 153 sleds, and haven't for several years. I have been on 162 since '09. I probably can't give great advice on that. I'm partial to longer tracks. I can say however, it was more responsive and quicker than my 162. I refuse to say fli...ble! Poo can keep that term. I didn't notice it pushing thru corners, it did fantastic thru the tight lodgepole that surrounds west Yellowstone. And when you lay it over and grab a handful, it's coming around and I mean NOW.
 
I don't know why it was such a secret. One would think they would want to get as many people on them as possible to spread the word. However, there was always a line waiting for a chance to ride. Maybe they figured if they advertised it they would be overrun with hopeful riders.
Maybe they will have early release sleds too, since that wasn't going to happen either.
 
A friend and myself rode the Alpha yesterday in West also. Didn’t get to spend much time on it, due to the amount of people Cat had waiting to try it. Spent 10 min or so on it.

Felt a lot like my G4 as far ease of transition/ lay in its side. Just a touch easier I’d say. Once on edge it felt stable enough.

Though the front ski shocks were most likely pumped up a bit more on air pressure than I like.
 
Funny you say that about the shocks. I seen a video of a gal just pulling one on its side just using her forearm. Not jerking or using her foot or countersteering. I tried it at the expo and I couldn't do it that easy so something was different.
 
Funny you say that about the shocks. I seen a video of a gal just pulling one on its side just using her forearm. Not jerking or using her foot or countersteering. I tried it at the expo and I couldn't do it that easy so something was different.

If they set the shocks up from the factory anything like they did the MC then no wonder. Those things come set for hill climbing.
 
Big difference on the qs3 between soft and hard really going to be a nice feature on this sled to quickly stiffen it up for trail and soft for playing
 
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