Your current blade: HO and O'Brien have adjusted their blade thickness somewhat over the years. Goode, KD, Connelly and D3 appear to have settled in on relatively thick (Stiff) blades. As the Aluminum fin blade thickness varies the skier may feel that the ski is faster or slower and or more or less forgiving. Conventional Wisdom says that these perceived changes are because of the width of the leading edge. This is not completely untrue but the performance characteristics that are associated with thickness are actually more a function of flex. (With Aluminum as thickness increases the blade becomes stiffer.) It is true that the as frontal surface increases so does drag as well as lift but these factors are not the source for most perceived difference.

Flex Matters: An extremely stiff blade like those made from stainless steel or titanium will result in a very fast feeling ski that offers very good performance but only if the skier is in 100% perfect body position. By comparison a overly soft blade will most likely make the ski feel sluggish and cause the skier to be narrow. Another analogy is that a overly stiff blade feels like a very aggressive and fast Cruse Control setting and a overly soft blade feels like a slow boat time. The optimum blade for any skier is somewhere between these two extremes.

Carbon Fins l Contact

C.B.R. l 2412 Lomita Verde l Bakersfield CA 93305 l 661.378.1402