After reading Ian’s post (Far West Seniors blog, 8/21/09), I was even more relieved and pleased that I went with Pursuit rollskis instead of the Proskis I had been lusting after. And I thought the wheels on my old (very very old) Proskis were challenging to change. Sounds like the new ones provide a challenging endurance training session at no extra charge.
I sprung for the 6002s, $20 more than the 6004s and 30 gms less. I went with the 2/2 wheel setup and am very pleased. Even the downhill to Rainbow lodge felt fairly reasonable and I’m impressed with how well they snowplow turn, they actually feel like they carve - at first the turnability startled me but I’m sure I’ll get used to it and love it. I had considered going with a 2/3 (1 is fast, 3 is “ultra slow”) but wanted to make sure I would have a better chance of keeping up with others, or at least not being even farther behind. Clayton (rollerskishop.com) was very helpful and tolerant of my numerous questions.
The skinny wheels felt alarmingly tippy at first (I do like the old wide Proski wheels) but they quickly felt OK. It is harder to not be on the “inside edges” - I really have to pay attention to keeping the ski flat. I did notice a slight susceptibility for the ski to squirt out to the side at the end of a skate pushoff but that seems OK if you concentrate on keeping solid pressure on the ski and not lighten up at the end of the stroke thus losing pressure and adequate grip to prevent side slip. One event almost took me down and I hopefully have learned to avoid that.
I might tape some fenders on for wet weather skiing but, as you know, that’s not a big concern around here.
