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Icelantic, ptex sidewalls?
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so i'm getting some da'nollies and they have the ptex sidewall. what are the benefits or the reasoning behind this? can you fill them or something if they get big gashes in them? thanks.
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i was wondering the same thing i work at eskimo ski shop and some of the guys that work there and i were discussing wtf ptex sidewall meant?????? it makes no sense. Ptex is a soft and relativly weak plastic compared to abs which is normal sidewalls. as i was fondeling some icelantics and poking at the sidewall it seemed very sturdy and well built
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i heard something about it being so that you can fill in any chunks you might get in them. Not to sure though. Ive been wondering the same thing.
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Tons of ski companies use P-tex, aka Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW)
plastic. Same material as base material. PMgear, Praxis, Liberty, and
tons of other companies use it as opposed to ABS, the other plastic
used in sidewalls.
I will be using it for the ON3P sidewalls next year.
Anyone saying base material is soft is wrong, first off. It is an incredibly strong and incredibly resistent to damage.
IMO, it is the best sidewall material out there. Again, material is
incredibly resistant to damage, in a case where the sidewalls recieved
a serious impact, it will often just slightly warp instead of cracking
and blowing out like ABS will, which will allow for an easier repair.
This is not new technology or anything, companies have been using UHMW
for years. A lot of times they refer to it as UMHW I think for the
sole reason of avoiding this confusion.....
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And no.....this isn't really true. I suppose you could, but they use
UHMW sidewalls because they are stronger and more impact resistant than
anything else.
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I figured I would just add a bit more.
UMHW is definitely more impact resistan, more resistant to grinding,
and less prone to cracking. The difference in the materials is that
ABS sort of has a more solid feel, but it is way brittle compared to
UMHW.
UMHW doesn't have the same cracking issues.
Again, look around and see which companies are using UHMW sidewalls. Moment, Igneous (in its prime), PMgear, Praxis, Icelantic, Liberty, Libtech.....ON3P if I can get us funded. Basically all the companies out there trying to use the best materials to make the more durable skis possible.
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This is good to know. I dont know how many of my park skis I have cracked my sidewalls on and eventually had them fall off and reveal the core from disastering rails and hitting rocks.
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awesome. thanks for all the info
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