to those who rode the skinz front end on nytro

[yammi4ever]

Ok, My xtx rides just fine here at home in Iowa (keep it in 144" form for here", I have no problems with ill handling, so I am not interested in the wider version of the spg front that is coming.

Most of our riding these days is west where I stretch my xtx to 162, timbersled rear and swaybar unhooked. Even this way i find it plenty manageable on the trail (other than heavy steering). In the Powder it is easy to lay over, and sidehilling is not that bad for a so so mountain rider (thats me).

If I spend the coin on this new front end what am I really going to gain, will it make the sled a lot easier to sidehill, a lot easier to turn in the powder or only big gains in the hard pack. Will this make me a better rider in all conditions? Really like to hear from those of you who got to ride it. If I do buy it I will be sucking it up and buying the exit shocks to go with it since my xtx shocks won't work anyway.

Thanks in advance.

Kirk

 

[christopher]

I have 2 Nytros to compare it against.
My 2010 SE and a 2009 MTX.

In stock configuration that 2009 MTX is MUCH easier for me to roll over on an edge and either sidehill or make aggressive carving turns with.

The SE simply doesn't like to do that without a LOT more input..

The prototype SKINZ sled put the 2009 to shame.

Both ON and OFF the trail, it simply handled "Better".
It was easier to maneuver and required less effort to get it to do what I wanted.

It was simply more enjoyable for me to ride.

 

[scmurs]

Here's my ride impressions of the new SPG front end:

While it may be hard to quantify and describe a "feel" that you have when you're riding a sled, I'll do my best to give you my impressions. I was asked to test this front end and had a set of arms put on my 2010 162" Nytro MTX. I honestly did not have a lot of complaints about my sled to start with. Yes, it feels heavy at times and it did not always do what I wanted it to do, but I liked the sled. It has no boost, the only performance upgrade to this point was to put a 2.5" Challenger underneath it. That, and a relocator of course

We went out to the Beartooth's Northwest of Cody Wyoming in January for my first ride on the new front end. It is about a 12 mile trail ride up to a warming house at "Top of the World" from where you have to park the hauler. I hopped on the sled not having a clue what to expect. I had looked at the radical change in geometry and thought in my head that it was going to be squirrelly on the trail with all of the positive caster that was designed into the new front end geometry. I started out gingerly and progressed from there. The sled handled extremely well. It soaked up small moguls and stutter bumps like they weren't even there. I looked down at one point as I came out of a long, left hand sweeping corner and saw the dreamometer at 73 m.p.h. Keep in mind, this is a 162", 2.5" track, no sway bar mountain sled. I'm getting a really good feeling at this point.

We arrived at the warming hut and went out in to the back country from there. We found some open areas and I spent a lot of time doing gentle side to side rolls on the sled to get some more feedback from it. What I felt was a sled that was easier to get started in a roll, and when you were working the "zen" of the track, brain and thumb, it was way more predictable in the roll, throttle, and body english needed to do what I wanted it to do. We climbed up through the trees in to a higher, more challenging area that was completely untracked. I took the sled through some side hills and downhill powder turns and it reacted with significantly less effort, a lot faster and much more predictably than it had with the OEM front end. Have you ever been in that spot where you have one chance to do it right and get out of the situation that you were in without doing some serious damage? I found myself in one situation stopped, pointed down hill, way off camber and looking at open water. Ever had the feeling you're about to go downhill and sideways/forwards over the bars? I easily flicked the thing over, gave it some happy handle and it responded by turning on a dime, and doing exactly what I wanted it to do. This sled gave me way more confidence than I had before. After that, I went out looking for more of those "sticky" spots to get myself into and was pleasantly surprised each time by how well the sled responded to my input. Tight tree riding, open meadows, long sidehills, whatever I found , this front end flat out gave me more confidence with what I was doing with the sled in every situation that I put it in.

The rest of the trip just got better from there.

Scott

 

[christopher]

this front end flat out gave me more confidence with what I was doing with the sled in every situation that I put it in.

That sums it up very nicely!

 

[dmc]

Good review Scott...thanks.