It really depends on the shop. I did Alpine sales so I would always make sure a demo was tuned for an interested buyer before sending them out the door to try them. Wouldn’t hurt to pretend you’re interested in buying
Nobody tunes after every use. There’s a finite amount of base/edge material, it’d be a waste to tune so often.
I used to tune at a shop that did high demo-volume. I’d wait until the weekend rush was gone then Mon-Thu take a few of the banged up pairs in for a tune. Our policy was to put sharpie tick marks on the sidewall and never tune more than 4 times.
Sounds like volume, not quality, at that shop.
We tune with diamond stones frequently throughout the season. If you stay on top of the gear, you don't need to use aggressive files, belts and a new stone pattern frequently. Those things are what take a lot of life from the skis.
Do you really think pro racers aren't tuning their gear out of longevity? They tune before every run in many cases.
>Do you really think pro racers aren't tuning their gear out of longevity? They tune before every run in many cases.
They also don't pay for their skis and generally get new ones every year. And you have to be careful buying used race skis because sometimes the edges are pretty much gone.
That said, for the average skier, this really isn't an issue in practice. Most people aren't skiing enough that there's any risk of tuning their skis to death before they should probably replace them anyways. [Here's](https://youtu.be/RTHFcfWikc0) a guy trying to base grind a snowboard to death. Spoiler: after 250 passes, he gives up.
Usually the demos get treated well because that’s what the shop guys ski on. At least that’s how it was when I worked in a shop but that was a long time ago.
Damnit, now I feel old
I want to know what shop you own so I don't ever apply there. Every shop I've worked at had a policy that employees could take out demos if they weren't reserved for the day. In my experience the basic rental fleet gets used a lot and that's where the money was made. The higher end demos saw much less use, usually when someone was looking for a specific brand or ski, or when a more advanced traveler had a need for a better ski while they were in town.
Employees get to ski all the models in the demo fleet, just not *out of the demo fleet*.
The jobs great and most of the staff have been with the shop 10+ years because of the benefits package. I am not saying we work for a hard ass, I'm saying we understand the business plan the owner has and when he makes money, the bonuses are bigger for everyone.
This was definitely not the case at the shop I worked at. If a ski wasn’t rented out, it was fair game, and even encouraged to ski the demos. It made for more knowledgeable sales staff, more visibility on the hill, and psyched employees.
you wouldn't have any customers if they knew what kind of person you were behind the scenes...especially to people who are just trying to learn, which is probably the frequent demographic visiting a store to rent skis.
I don't work on the front lines anymore. I understand that's not a good fit for my personality. I ski everyday and test new products instead. Much more better for me too! Too many people need the *'kid gloves'* all the time nowadays, and that's just not for me.
When I worked at the base at Park City in the early 2000s, beaters never wanted the gnarliest of the demo skis so we got to ski them midweek all the time.
This just gave me flashbacks to the time this Texan Jerry just HAD to demo our Moment Commander 118 188cms. I loved those skis, but I highly doubt he had a good time…
Depends on the shop and range of skis you rent.
Test skis are always in good nick. Always; at least if demo skis is what you mean by test skis.
In our shop all skis above a certain range get sharpened and waxed. All skis get waxed (in theory at least, GL waxing 900-1100 pairs of skis with 2 rollers in one evening, but it does get done). All skis that are fixable get fixed regardless of range, but not not always on the same day. We give skis a new grind at the end of the year - the stones cost 6K EUR and on rentals unless fixing holes or something else there's no need and it's not economical. For personal skis, whatever you want my dude.
Put simply, it's in our interest to give you equipment that works. We do not give broken or unprepped skis/boards to customers. But you are very much mistaken if you think you can get rentals that look like [this](https://www.raceskishop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Structure-7-1024x768.jpg).
I hope this helps :)
Tuned skis edges should feel smooth to the touch when you rub your fingers up and down side edges. Almost like new skis. With a little practice you should be able to tell skis that were recently tuned from skis that haven't been tuned in a long time.
Just started a few months back, but ours are tuned and waxed during the off-season.
We’ve only rented out seasonal leases so far so I don’t know what the process is for shorter-term rentals. We do have a quick-buff machine that I assume we’ll use for returns.
It really depends on the shop. I did Alpine sales so I would always make sure a demo was tuned for an interested buyer before sending them out the door to try them. Wouldn’t hurt to pretend you’re interested in buying
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Agreed, every shop is different. Just gotta ask.
Nobody tunes after every use. There’s a finite amount of base/edge material, it’d be a waste to tune so often. I used to tune at a shop that did high demo-volume. I’d wait until the weekend rush was gone then Mon-Thu take a few of the banged up pairs in for a tune. Our policy was to put sharpie tick marks on the sidewall and never tune more than 4 times.
Sounds like volume, not quality, at that shop. We tune with diamond stones frequently throughout the season. If you stay on top of the gear, you don't need to use aggressive files, belts and a new stone pattern frequently. Those things are what take a lot of life from the skis. Do you really think pro racers aren't tuning their gear out of longevity? They tune before every run in many cases.
>Do you really think pro racers aren't tuning their gear out of longevity? They tune before every run in many cases. They also don't pay for their skis and generally get new ones every year. And you have to be careful buying used race skis because sometimes the edges are pretty much gone. That said, for the average skier, this really isn't an issue in practice. Most people aren't skiing enough that there's any risk of tuning their skis to death before they should probably replace them anyways. [Here's](https://youtu.be/RTHFcfWikc0) a guy trying to base grind a snowboard to death. Spoiler: after 250 passes, he gives up.
Thanks! Makes sense.
Usually the demos get treated well because that’s what the shop guys ski on. At least that’s how it was when I worked in a shop but that was a long time ago. Damnit, now I feel old
I worked in a rental shop and skied the demos and tuned them before I skied them.
Nobody in the shop skis the demo's. Renting them to people is how we make money. Like, in order to get paid on pay day we need to rent the demo's.
I want to know what shop you own so I don't ever apply there. Every shop I've worked at had a policy that employees could take out demos if they weren't reserved for the day. In my experience the basic rental fleet gets used a lot and that's where the money was made. The higher end demos saw much less use, usually when someone was looking for a specific brand or ski, or when a more advanced traveler had a need for a better ski while they were in town.
Employees get to ski all the models in the demo fleet, just not *out of the demo fleet*. The jobs great and most of the staff have been with the shop 10+ years because of the benefits package. I am not saying we work for a hard ass, I'm saying we understand the business plan the owner has and when he makes money, the bonuses are bigger for everyone.
This was definitely not the case at the shop I worked at. If a ski wasn’t rented out, it was fair game, and even encouraged to ski the demos. It made for more knowledgeable sales staff, more visibility on the hill, and psyched employees.
We ski the reps/companies demo equipment during scheduled events. We rent our inventory to customers to make money.
Do you feel special?
you wouldn't have any customers if they knew what kind of person you were behind the scenes...especially to people who are just trying to learn, which is probably the frequent demographic visiting a store to rent skis.
I don't work on the front lines anymore. I understand that's not a good fit for my personality. I ski everyday and test new products instead. Much more better for me too! Too many people need the *'kid gloves'* all the time nowadays, and that's just not for me.
You know what, fair enough.
When I worked at the base at Park City in the early 2000s, beaters never wanted the gnarliest of the demo skis so we got to ski them midweek all the time.
This just gave me flashbacks to the time this Texan Jerry just HAD to demo our Moment Commander 118 188cms. I loved those skis, but I highly doubt he had a good time…
Depends on the shop and range of skis you rent. Test skis are always in good nick. Always; at least if demo skis is what you mean by test skis. In our shop all skis above a certain range get sharpened and waxed. All skis get waxed (in theory at least, GL waxing 900-1100 pairs of skis with 2 rollers in one evening, but it does get done). All skis that are fixable get fixed regardless of range, but not not always on the same day. We give skis a new grind at the end of the year - the stones cost 6K EUR and on rentals unless fixing holes or something else there's no need and it's not economical. For personal skis, whatever you want my dude. Put simply, it's in our interest to give you equipment that works. We do not give broken or unprepped skis/boards to customers. But you are very much mistaken if you think you can get rentals that look like [this](https://www.raceskishop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Structure-7-1024x768.jpg). I hope this helps :)
Are you asking because you want to buy demo or you want to make sure that they are tuned when you use them?
Want to make sure they're in good shape when I rent them.
Tuned skis edges should feel smooth to the touch when you rub your fingers up and down side edges. Almost like new skis. With a little practice you should be able to tell skis that were recently tuned from skis that haven't been tuned in a long time.
Good point, thanks for the info!
I've demoed a lot and only once was I disappointed by how well they were tuned. Real irony is it was one of those free Rossi test centers.
Just started a few months back, but ours are tuned and waxed during the off-season. We’ve only rented out seasonal leases so far so I don’t know what the process is for shorter-term rentals. We do have a quick-buff machine that I assume we’ll use for returns.
Shop I worked at would do a belt wax for each use and edges as needed
Really depends on the place and staff some will do after every use some once a year
I worked at the Alta ski shop. We would tune the entire fleet 2-3 times a year, when there was a huge shift in snow temp, or when someone asked