Best gliding skins?

Maybe there is already a thread on this somewhere that someone can link me to?
I need new skins. Am looking for the best glide and light weight. Best glide in cold temps.
No concern with grip, I get grip on skins in any conditions.

Mine are the old purple ones. (Ascension?) They ice up even when I wax them before leaving the parking lot. In cold weather -20c last week in B.C. they were very slow. much slower than the new G3 skins.

I've heard and seen that the new G3 skins seem to glide well in cold weather.
Anyone know if the Glidelite Pure mohair are similarly durable to the Glidelite Mix mohair?

thanks!

I've only used them once, but the new Dynafit skins fold up to a pretty small package and seem to glad very well. You'd have to do some modifying to get them to work with a traditional tip/tail setup, but it might be doable.

My Volkl skins drag more than my Ascensions which drag more than my Climbing Skin Direct which drag more than my G3 alpinists which drag more than my BD Glidelite mix. I haven't used pure mohair in a while but the consensus seems that pure mohair glides the best and if climbing steeply is not that important, going to a narrower and straight skin provides greater glide and directionality than wall to wall custom fit skins. I haven't tried the Dyanfits, too spendy for me.

www.colltex.ch

My G3 alpinists have noticeably better glide than Ascensions, and roll up smaller. I also have a pair of Ascension mohair mix, which do not feel to have appreciably better glide than my G3 alpinists.

However, these are all on different width skis, so hardly a controlled test.

My G3 alpinists have noticeably better glide than Ascensions, and roll up smaller.  I also have a pair of Ascension mohair mix, which do not feel to have appreciably better glide than my G3 alpinists.

However, these are all on different width skis, so hardly a controlled test.

funny- cause i was going to write that my new G3 skins glide worse than my six year old G3 skins (or any other skin i've used before), but i figure thats more likely due to the fact that the new skins are on substantially wider skis so theres a lot more material on the snow to drag along.

This is purely subjective, and in most cases the skins were not used under identical conditions (ie. same day, same skintrack, close to the same time) but of the skins I've used in the past few years my old purple Ascensions had the worst glide (though they lasted forever and had great grip).

The BD mohair-mix glides a little better with neglible loss of grip.

The BD mohair pures and Dynafit Speedskins glide noticeably better with some loss of grip.

Sources who should know have told me the Dynafit plush is sourced from Colltex, so it is possible that it's the same as the race Colltex light blue skins; they definitely fold up smaller.

At any rate, try waxing your skins before you hit the parking lot - I use whatever I'm using on my bases, rub it on thick in both directions, and iron it on with an iron before brushing it out tip-to-tail. Seems to work well for the rando racers (that means you, Monika). PS  At -20 degrees you might expect to start having trouble with Colltex glue . . .

I just purchased a pair of dynafit skins for my Stoke skis. I used BD orange ascensions for a bit and they had nearly zero glide-Due to just the ski width.
I am impressed by the glide of the mohair skin, they are half the folded size and a few oz. Lighter. They glide better but not perfectly mostly due to the width. I was climbing cold and warmer winter corn. Great climbing even on steeper angles. The downside is their glue seems to be not as sticky as BD skins. The mohair gets scarred or compressed when walking on branches and such. I can see how the plush would be less durable. Overall I wonder how they will do/stick when the skins get wet in the Spring. Since I bought them from backcountry.com I am going to hold on to them and if they take an unreasonable downturn just return them.

Having used a lot of different mfg's skins .i'd say the BD mohair mix is pretty damn good for glide and a little down on grip. Maybe better priced as well.
For grip I find BD acension rules.

Now if your intent is low angle approaches logging roads etc. Swix special blue extra 40 or 45.
One other trick is to carry a pr of Bikini skins 50mm. I have used these successfully up to Cowlitz rocks and logging rds. on 88mm waisted skis.
Happy gliding !

Based on your post, "looking for the best glide and light weight. Best glide in cold temps.
No concern with grip"

The clear winner here is Mohair skins.

Colltex skins are OK, but the backing material on their race skins isn't so great. Favorites at the moment for glide/compactness are Pomoca. They're not as easily sourced here, but better /more durable backing material and worth it if you can get your hands on some.


Lots of great tips here:

theseskisarewings.blogspot.com/2009/11/m...t-2-of-buy-your.html

Euro skins glide better, period. Euro glue (and G3's here in North America) adhere to stricter environmental standards and don't hold as well as Black Diamond. Solution is easy, add Black Diamond glue to your euro skins

Adding glue:

travisscheefer.blogspot.com/2010/01/moha...-ii-adding-glue.html

And here:

getstrongergolonger.squarespace.com/jour.../skin-tech-tips.html

You can get Pomoca race skins here:

www.verticalworld.it/magento/index.php/s...omoca-race-nero.html

No hardware and limited widths, with 90mm being the widest. That's 19 euros per meter.
They also have cool Dynafit-type tip pulls in colors:

www.verticalworld.it/magento/index.php/tirante-amplatz.html

Sk'Alp has some Pomoca skins listed as well, though it looks like they only have race skins in 62mm off the roll (no price).

www.skalp.fr/matos/rando-ski/peaux.php

stretching the definition of skins, but the best answer to logging road approaches. not that compact.
skizee.ca/

I must agree that the mohair is the best gliding skin I have used over the purple and orange nylon ascensions and the G3. I have been told they won't last long but I have yet to see any wear difference and they glide wonderfully.

Racers usually have multiple pairs of skins for each ski (or if they have more than one set of race skis, the dimensions are usually 65mm at the waist and the skins are straight anyway). Mike Traslin showed me his collection of race skins a couple of years ago, all Colltex Special with varying degrees of wear - new (slowest/grippiest), worn (medium) and really worn (fastest). He picks the one he thinks will work best for the conditions and takes one other set as backup.

I've heard of serious racers riding the lifts on icy days and skiing down with skins on to wear down the plush . . .

^^^^^
I did notice that the glide on the Dynafit Speedskin improved from day one to day three on them. I assumed it was the skins breaking in, but the uphill grip was still remarkable. Given the snow was cold (Upper teens and low twenties) for these woods, there was a little more grip from the snow properties.

Value wise the BD Mohair combo could be the best for us NW skiers. Great glue, improved glide.

CAMP Mohair skins are nice as well and more readily available, but only come in limited widths.

rockandrollsports.com/campmohairskins.aspx

CAMP Mohair skins are nice as well and more readily available, but only come in limited widths.

rockandrollsports.com/campmohairskins.aspx

Got some skinny ones from Marmot Mountainworks that they were able to special order through CAMP. It only took a week or so for them to come in.

The glue on them sucks, but otherwise work fine. I will probably slop some gold label onto them at some point. I find myself mainly using them to abuse my nordic skis and climb things that one shouldn't try to ski on nordic gear. They work great for that.

Anyone has any experience with the Voile skins? Comments? Thanks!

So what did you decide Monika?
I bet you went with the mohair mix didn't cha?

I notice that the glue on Dynafit Speedskins are pretty weak. They do the job, but if cold powder gets on them or they get damp the glue loses all adhesive qualities. I'm not into putting skins in my jacket to warm the glue, but found after many pairs of skins that the BD glue is the gold standard in the industry.
I like the fit and reduced pack capacity of the Speedskin though and they tour well for fatter skis.
How many people here pulled the manufacture glue off the Speedskin and replaced it with the Black Diamond Gold Label?

It seems that many Euro rando racers paint a thin layer of Gold Label right over the factory Colltex and Pomoca glue on new skins, particularly when they anticipate cold temps . . .