Saturday, December 28, 2013

SkiBike Parts For Sale - Footskis with Bindings #1

I knocked up this pair of foot skis a couple of years ago, exactly at the point at which I was making the transition from ski bob style riding to freestyle riding as a plan B in case things didn't work out quite as planned.
As it happened, plan A worked and they never got used, so two years later I am putting them up for sale in the hope they will find a home with a dedicated ski-bobber.

Made from the tips of my ancient 80's Fischer skis, with some brand new old stock bindings from the same period. They are adjustable bindings, so should fit you regardless of boot size and could be useful if you were switching between different riders.

Up for sale in the hope they will find a new home

If you're in a hurry for some cheap foot skis or just not handy enough with tools to make your own I would like £30 for them.

You can collect, or they can be sent out by courier for £10 to most locations in the UK.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

SkiBike Parts For Sale - Tyrolia SP 100 Ski Bindings

Up for sale are a pair of pre-used Tyrolia SP 100 adjustable ski bindings. They came fitted as standard to a pair of Head Big Easy ski boards, which were subsequently re-purposed for my skibike. Prior to removal they had a few weeks use and as can be seen in the pictures, are still in very good condition.

For Sale - Tyrolia SP 100 adjustable ski bindings

Use these bindings if you are looking for an adjustable binding suitable for a large spectrum of people, or just as a cost effective quality binding replacement. This very dependable binding is lightweight for a fully adjustable adult binding. Great for families wanting to share set-ups, or if you are starting up your own rental shop. Perfect for DIY foot ski builders!

Summary of Features:

Din range:3-10
Skier weight range: >67lbs
Weight (both bindings): 2440g
Boot Lift (toe/heel): 27/33mm
Boot Adjustment Range: 263-391mm

Other Features:

Movable toe ABS
Both Toe and Heel pieces move so that you will always be centred.

Tyrolia SP 100 - movable toe ABS

This is a good inexpensive choice for the skier who needs adjust-ability in a binding for changing boot sizes, resale, multiple users, or whatever.

The retail price for these was originally around £100, but you can get these for just £30, which includes delivery to most locations in the UK.


Saturday, December 14, 2013

SkiBikes, Skis, Snowboards And Other Equipment Sales

It's shaping up to be a very busy pre-Christmas period with a lot on, there's roughly one new skibiker related enquiry each day. This might not sound much, but in previous years it was more like one a month, in relative terms that's a 3000% boost.

Skibike.me.uk - shaping up to be very busy

This site has evolved so rapidly from a simple personal log of my skibing trips and other adventures, into more of a shared resource about European skibiking; to reflect this change the site will be expanding into some new directions.

One new area will be sales related, I have recently created a skibike sales page, which I want to fill with a selection of hard to find "skibike essentials" that are so useful to both old timers and those just getting into the sport.

Footskis - hard to find "skibike essentials"

I also sense that there has also been a pent up demand for a place to carry out private trading of skibikes and skibike parts. For the past three months I have been experimenting with Facebook Groups related to buying and selling and I was pleasantly surprised to find that, bar a few Chinese fake goods spammers, on the whole they are currently an excellent platform for trades. Best of all, they are free to join and completely free to use, whatever you sell will be worth 10% more, as you won't be paying any auction site fees.
To this end I have created a skibike buy/sell/trade group here.

As the observant have already noted, it doesn't mention skibikes in the title, but there is "method in my madness" to this tactic.
Firstly, I am expecting that there will be far more volume for normal ski and snowboard items and with all these groups you badly need volume to reach critical mass. Secondly, I am hoping that by mixing skibikes in with "normal" winter sports equipment, it will help to spread the skibiking word to a larger audience.

If you have a free moment and are on Facebook, follow the link, join the group and see what's on offer.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Start 'Em Young - Building The Next Generation Of Skibikers

The end of November is a dreary time of year in London, England. Autumn gales have stripped the trees of their foliage and the weather is cool and damp. Any precipitation is going to be wet and not the least bit white. Furthermore, this far North, sun rise is around 8am and dusk arrives somewhere around 3.30pm and that's if you can see it. This is the season of low cloud, mists and fog; admittedly not the "pea soupers" familiar to anyone who has watched a Sherlock Holmes film, they went with the introduction of the Clean Air Act of 1956.

In the USA the same time of year heralds Thanksgiving, a festive season without much of an equal anywhere else, although Wikipedia claims the German Harvest Festival or Erntedankfest to be very close in spirit.
It is a time for families to gather, count their blessings and be thankful for what they have, as the growing season ends and winter begins. For those lucky enough to live in, or near to, the high mountains, this provides a wonderful opportunity to head to the hills and get in the first runs of the new season.

And this is exactly what Colorado resident and NISM team rider Brian Embick did with his son Wyatt Cash. Wyatt was riding one of the Strider Balance Bikes Skibike Conversions, as featured right here on the blog a year ago. The Strider kit uses plastic moulded skis, so to make things a bit more "grown up" Brian has added Salomon Grom 61cm SnowBlades, just about the shortest twin tip ski made with metal edges.

And does Wyatt appreciate his dad's efforts, of course not, he was just 2 years old on November 20th and got his first day of riding in at the resort when he was still one! He even has his own season pass, valid at all epic resorts, including; Verbier in Switzerland, Arlberg in Austria and The 3 Valleys in France.

As Brian put it...
They really take care of the kids here in Colorado, with free or cheap tickets, his was free because of age and my season pass purchase.

Wyatt Cash and Dad - the top of Dercum, Keystone resort

A day or so later Royce Alan McDaniel founder of NISM Ski Bikes posted this gorgeous picture of his kids showing off at Strider Ski Bikes. They both love ski biking and even his wife Charity has had a go and thought it was fun.

The McDaniels - the whole family loves skibiking