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planning on bying the j-skis metal ski, only worried about the recommended binding point location thingy, since they recommend it being 6cm behind true center, and i dont want a ski witjh a binding THAT far back. will i kill the ski if i set the bindings to true center or 2cm back? otherwise the skis seem perfect
Totally not on the point but Sander Hadley told me a bit bout how he was treated by J and I ain't gonna support their product and will go out of my way from now on to discourage others from supporting them as well.
Also.. please don't mount that ski true center if you do get it.
Luksiplanning on bying the j-skis metal ski, only worried about the recommended binding point location thingy, since they recommend it being 6cm behind true center, and i dont want a ski witjh a binding THAT far back. will i kill the ski if i set the bindings to true center or 2cm back? otherwise the skis seem perfect
I'd say moving it forward 2-2.5cm would be fine. Ask them, I'm sure they have experience with different mounting points.
I mounted the 4FRNT Kye 110 (recommended is -6.5) at -4 from center and it's awesome. Are you planning to ski the metal in the park? If not there's no reason to center mount, it will be detrimental in soft snow.
I'd say moving it forward 2-2.5cm would be fine. Ask them, I'm sure they have experience with different mounting points.
I mounted the 4FRNT Kye 110 (recommended is -6.5) at -4 from center and it's awesome. Are you planning to ski the metal in the park? If not there's no reason to center mount, it will be detrimental in soft snow.
ColingarnesTotally not on the point but Sander Hadley told me a bit bout how he was treated by J and I ain't gonna support their product and will go out of my way from now on to discourage others from supporting them as well.
Also.. please don't mount that ski true center if you do get it.
That's capitalism for you. Why did he "help" them design a ski and not get a contract ro become employed to design skis? It sucks either way but you can't do anything in this country on a handshake these days.
Did he get some free skis?
I don't think J Skis is making a ton of money off anything. I think they're probably providing employment for some industry folks and scraping by, but that's just my opinion.
mystery3I don't think J Skis is making a ton of money off anything. I think they're probably providing employment for some industry folks and scraping by, but that's just my opinion.
i don't know if that sounds like a safe bet to me. they sell skis for the same price as any given big brand but seemingly without a lot of the typical aspects of a large company. if this story is true, it's a little fly-by-night for my taste considering the very premium prices they sell skis for
I put mine at -4. They're definitely more of a slightly beefed up freestyle ski, not a charger. So I like them closer to center than my Supernatural 115.
Gnar_Shralp406I put mine at -4. They're definitely more of a slightly beefed up freestyle ski, not a charger. So I like them closer to center than my Supernatural 115.
I see what you're saying, but I'm not sure I completely agree. For a freestyle ski they'd be quite heavy, and they have a very tapered tail that isn't as high as the tip. To me they are definitely more of a directional freeride ski, but I also agree that they aren't stable enough to be big mountain chargers. They sort of occupy a weird space in between which makes them good for a lot of regular skiers who don't specialize in park or charging, but do a lot of regular skiing in variable conditions.
If I were considering mounting them further forward I guess I would be wanting to do more switch skiing and spins, but if that were the case I would consider other skis first: something lighter and more symmetrical, maybe Kartel or SFB or something.
TLDR: I'd consider a different ski before mounting the metal further forward.
SofaKingSicki don't know if that sounds like a safe bet to me. they sell skis for the same price as any given big brand but seemingly without a lot of the typical aspects of a large company. if this story is true, it's a little fly-by-night for my taste considering the very premium prices they sell skis for
But they don't have economies of scale nor the volume. How many pairs of skis would you guess J Skis sells annually? I'm genuinely curious, I have some working knowledge of small business ops but no manufacturing experience.
SharkoI see what you're saying, but I'm not sure I completely agree. For a freestyle ski they'd be quite heavy, and they have a very tapered tail that isn't as high as the tip. To me they are definitely more of a directional freeride ski, but I also agree that they aren't stable enough to be big mountain chargers. They sort of occupy a weird space in between which makes them good for a lot of regular skiers who don't specialize in park or charging, but do a lot of regular skiing in variable conditions.
If I were considering mounting them further forward I guess I would be wanting to do more switch skiing and spins, but if that were the case I would consider other skis first: something lighter and more symmetrical, maybe Kartel or SFB or something.
TLDR: I'd consider a different ski before mounting the metal further forward.
100% agree that they occupy that strange in between space.
mystery3But they don't have economies of scale nor the volume. How many pairs of skis would you guess J Skis sells annually? I'm genuinely curious, I have some working knowledge of small business ops but no manufacturing experience.
i won't pretend to have a good guess at that but you're right, im sure econ of scale and the lower volume sold are worth noting. but they sell a good amount of skis and i always find myself thinking, "why can he sell skis for 100% premium prices (sorry but there's no way im buying a pair of Js for those prices when it could easily get me almost any top of the line ski from another company) but no one minds that otherwise he acts like he's some fledgling startup in a garage?
if, e.g., armada or even Line didn't have a paid team and used google images, many probably copyrighted, on their skis, im pretty sure people would be like wtf? idk, maybe presenting yourself as a boutique brand means you can do whatever the hell you want
also, full disclosure, over the years i've always had a ton of respect for J lev (when i was a kid i daydreamed of riding the ostness dragons lol) but he also seems to be kinda fly-by-night sometimes and willing to kinda bullshit on things sometimes. so i must admit i'm a little more skeptical of him in things like this than the next guy
Gnar_Shralp406100% agree that they occupy that strange in between space.
i agree with you and sharko but i think sharko made the important point-- for the casual skier, that's not a weird in between place, it's just a kinda nice do-it-all ski for someone who doesn't take charging or park super seriously, they just wanna be able to do it all at a decent level
mystery3But they don't have economies of scale nor the volume. How many pairs of skis would you guess J Skis sells annually? I'm genuinely curious, I have some working knowledge of small business ops but no manufacturing experience.
I'm guessing that JSkis sells about 4-5,000 pairs per year. They don't own their own factory, they sell direct, and they don't have any major athlete contracts or media properties. They're a pretty barebones operation from the looks of it, I'd guess ~5 full time employees who're probably just in customer service roles (low paying).
Based on my limited knowledge, J is probably paying ~$200 per pair of skis from Utopie and selling at normal market prices. Which means their margin is by fucking far the best in the industry. If anyone in skiing is getting rich, it's JLev and it sounds like he's doing on the backs of others.
Luksiplanning on bying the j-skis metal ski, only worried about the recommended binding point location thingy, since they recommend it being 6cm behind true center, and i dont want a ski witjh a binding THAT far back. will i kill the ski if i set the bindings to true center or 2cm back? otherwise the skis seem perfect
wait for fall and get the new JSkis Hotshot. It looks like it will be better
First off, Sander is an awesome guy and it was really rad getting to know him, skiing together and working on developing a ski together. Sander AND Giray Dadali were both equally driving the design of the new Friend ski working with our engineer Francois and I and together the team created a really awesome pow ski!
Sander joined us in the fall, and by February the ski was 100% ready to go, it took a ton of our resources to make that happen in such a short time but it was well worth it. I promised Sander we would create a graphic collab with him as we had done in the past with other athletes. However I already had been working with an artist to create a graphic for this ski and being that a ski that wide sells far less than any other models we couldn't justify creating 2 graphics, twice the quantity at that time. So I planned on adding one potentially in season with Sander's graphic depending on how sales went and definitely by the following year.
Sander is correct we did not pay him for riding our skis, instead we always pay athletes royalty on collab product and since there was none for the upcoming season there was no plan to pay him at that time. Unfortunately Sander never brought up his financial needs, and I never asked so instead we went 6 months working together and one day mid summer he called up out of the blue and said "I just accepted sponsorship from Dynastar".
I've worked with ski athletes one-on-one for over 25 years and this was the first time an athlete ever left telling me it's because they needed to be paid more... WITHOUT ever having a conversation about it prior. It was weird to me and made me wish we had what would have been a super easy conversation prior because it honestly we would have worked out a fair compensation but at that point he had already made up his mind, so there it was.
JLevFirst off, Sander is an awesome guy and it was really rad getting to know him, skiing together and working on developing a ski together. Sander AND Giray Dadali were both equally driving the design of the new Friend ski working with our engineer Francois and I and together the team created a really awesome pow ski!
Sander joined us in the fall, and by February the ski was 100% ready to go, it took a ton of our resources to make that happen in such a short time but it was well worth it. I promised Sander we would create a graphic collab with him as we had done in the past with other athletes. However I already had been working with an artist to create a graphic for this ski and being that a ski that wide sells far less than any other models we couldn't justify creating 2 graphics, twice the quantity at that time. So I planned on adding one potentially in season with Sander's graphic depending on how sales went and definitely by the following year.
Sander is correct we did not pay him for riding our skis, instead we always pay athletes royalty on collab product and since there was none for the upcoming season there was no plan to pay him at that time. Unfortunately Sander never brought up his financial needs, and I never asked so instead we went 6 months working together and one day mid summer he called up out of the blue and said "I just accepted sponsorship from Dynastar".
I've worked with ski athletes one-on-one for over 25 years and this was the first time an athlete ever left telling me it's because they needed to be paid more... WITHOUT ever having a conversation about it prior. It was weird to me and made me wish we had what would have been a super easy conversation prior because it honestly we would have worked out a fair compensation but at that point he had already made up his mind, so there it was.
