Grippers vs 19 Cat skis
- Thread starter CO 2.0
- Start date
U will need the 12-15 spindle bushing or cut urs down.
I believe the 12-15 rubber and 19/20 rubber are all the same. 16-18 are different.
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id like to compare some grippers to Mohawks in powder. Mohawks are full 7.25" wide, maybe not quite as long. I like the floatation without the longness. long and narrow will float as good as shorter and wider, but will be harder to turn when sunk in snow, just physics.
The mohawks are shorter? I loved my mohawks on my pro after i put an x3 track on it. It just pushed too much with the grippers and the stock rubbers on the grippers folded up too much.
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those grippers must be damn good, I love the off trail predictability of the SLP skis. not sold on wide tip skis other than going straight ahead into stuff.
What didn't you like about them?
Even the new "less aggressive" Mohawks are way too hard steering for me. They do dive a little less than stock skis. I have been pretty happy with stock skis all season but last weekend in really heavy snow I experienced exactly what CO is talking about. There is literally a spot on edge where the ski catches and it takes some serious effort to turn it and get it out. If you weren't on your game it would toss you straight over the bars.
CO and I are both running elevate spindles. I highlty doubt that is the issue but I do wonder if anyone with stock spindles has experienced this on the stock skis? I will also be swapping my grippers on for my next ride.
CO and I are both running elevate spindles. I highlty doubt that is the issue but I do wonder if anyone with stock spindles has experienced this on the stock skis? I will also be swapping my grippers on for my next ride.
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Rode a supercharged 165 Alpha with an Elevate kit and Mohawks for a bit about a week ago. Snow conditions were a fresh foot+ of heavier snow on top of a hard base layer. Had less feedback through the bars from the hard layer underneath than my lightweight 900 with 2017 MC chassis, 162 kmod, 38" ski stance, current spindles, and 2019 cat skis. I didn't ever feel like my 2019 skis were going to grab and throw me by any means like the older Cat skis, but steering effort on edge was different. Chassis wise the front of our running boards are even in height on a flat surface, rear of my running board is slightly higher, and the front of the Alpha obviously sits higher.
This is almost as apples to oranges as it can get, but it does show that optimal ski selection is going to vary a lot depending on sled setup and snow conditions. That's why I'm going to keep my powder pros around and run them when I know it's going to be a deep snow day when bite and flotation are more of a consideration than steering effort.
Going back to a longer vs. shorter ski discussion: the shorter one will probably steer easier, but a longer rear section should give more push off when counter steering. Similar to increasing steering angle.
This is almost as apples to oranges as it can get, but it does show that optimal ski selection is going to vary a lot depending on sled setup and snow conditions. That's why I'm going to keep my powder pros around and run them when I know it's going to be a deep snow day when bite and flotation are more of a consideration than steering effort.
Going back to a longer vs. shorter ski discussion: the shorter one will probably steer easier, but a longer rear section should give more push off when counter steering. Similar to increasing steering angle.
Are you running the elevate on the Alpha then? Can you share the experience with the kit. You always have great reviews, so I figured I would ask.
I have been considering the elevate kit for my Alpha. Sounds like they have been night and day worth it on the 18 twin rail mountain cats. Is it the same for the Alpha? There just haven't been quite enough guys running them to get me to bit on it yet. Sorry for going away from ski's...
yeah ive seen some grippers fold over. I nailed a tree with a mohawk and it tweaked it permanently. tried the hot bath trick, no change. it still works fine tho.
here's one next to a 17 ski. SLP starts to taper in where the cat ski is just starting to get to the 7" width they advertise.
in the pic you see I run the older loops, I like them better, I think
https://www.snowest.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=293866&d=1520028671
yeah ive seen some grippers fold over. I nailed a tree with a mohawk and it tweaked it permanently. tried the hot bath trick, no change. it still works fine tho.
here's one next to a 17 ski. SLP starts to taper in where the cat ski is just starting to get to the 7" width they advertise.
in the pic you see I run the older loops, I like them better, I think
https://www.snowest.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=293866&d=1520028671
Older loops way better. Can't believe cat still runs zig zag crap
I just installed it and rode once in pretty questionable snow. I will post a full review on the Elevate thread when I feel I can make an honest review. So far I can definitely say it overall made the sled feel lighter and more reactive to input. Its an obvious improvement but to determine if it is truly worth the cost I will need to get some time on it in the technical.
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Just looking at all the stock skiis, you can easily see why the Ski-Doo is the easiest to steer since the keel is directly below the spindle with minimal cross sectional side area for and aft. The gripper looks a little shorter down below than the cat ski. If Cat would reduce the height of the upper forward rib and trailing edge rib it would reduce steering effort! Also they need to flatten out the front radius to slice thru the snow like there track approach angle. Then bring back aft the lift handle and flatten out for less side resistance! Maybe they can just lay the upper rib at a 45 deg. angle to reduce effort? Mike
Skis are one of the most patentable, and easily defended, parts on a sled - it's why there's quite abit of differentiation between each dimension-wise. In many cases its not the cost of engineering or tooling change as much as legal risk. With skis in particular having such a noticeable impact on how a sled "feels", it's easy for an OEM to get trapped in a box. Waverunner hulls are a similar challenge, as I recall, but cost of change is much higher.
