D3 Quest Mid Review report

[Horton]

If it seems that I have not said much about the Quest for a few weeks that is because I have not skied much in the last three weeks. Today I changed the settings and then skied 3 sets on the Quest.

 

This ski is very sensitive to fin and binding setting but seems to very tolerant to imperfect skiing technique. The two major tweaks I have made on the ski are a little unintuitive and I owe a few Ballers for helping me work it out. Below is a rough history of my “Quest” for settings.

 

As a starting place, I used a mix of Fusion numbers I got from Bob Edie, Ward McLain and Joe Darwin. I messed around a little and got to 2.500 /6.937 / .760 8 degrees / 29 7/8. As I was looking for the perfect fin settings I found that moving the fin forward smoothed out the finish of off side turn. With all other settings the same, a DFT of .745 would result in a momentary hitch or sticky spot 2/3 of the way through the radius. I saw the same issue with 2 other skiers on the Quest. A DFT closer to .760 fixed it for everyone.

 

At that point I was pretty happy with the ski and just trying to understand it a little better. What I found was the ski is easy to ride but for some reason I felt frantic. What I eventually realized was that I was absurdly early but narrow at every ball. A simple binding adjustment roughly 1/8th of an inch back was like flipping a switch. With the above settings but front binding at 29 ¾ (ish) I am still crazy early and getting my hips around the ball at 35.

 

It is still too early in the year for me to work at 38 much but I promise I am going to run into 39 before I move to the next ski.

 

[Horton]

The above notes are for the 67. My niece tried the 65 this weekend and freak'n loves it. She was on Fusion. It is going to suck when she starts beating me in slalom. She already tricks a thousand points more than I ever did.

[MattP]

@horton you can still jump farther?

[Skoot1123]

@horton - did you really just say "tricks?"!! WOW - never thought I'd hear that on BOS, especially from you!

[Horton]

@skoot1123 Key phrase is "than I ever did"

[Horton]

@MattP I jumped far enough that if she goes farther she would be pro. I would be cool with that.

[Skoot1123]

@horton - got me there!

[Horton]

@skoot1123 and I am talking 20 years ago

[Skoot1123]

@horton - haha. Your forgiven....

 

On the flip side - I have had a couple coaches tell me that trick skiing will greatly increase your ability to put your weight on the front of the ski....something I have been working on.....

[bishop8950]

@Horton we are very close with the fin. I am 2.505, 6.935t, 0.740f (maybe 0.745f cant remember), 8, and 30" Reflex. The boots number can probably vary 1" depending on what bindings you are using. The ski feels amazing at my longer line lengths and I cant wait to get fit enough to take it shorter. I am leaving the settings alone for now. I need to add in weekday rides because this weekend warrior crap isnt getting me there.

[Texas6]

@Horton- How is the spray? Will the chicks notice?

[Horton]

@Texas6 that is a problem. My spray draws so many ladies to the shore that it is distracting. That it why I look at the next ball and not the shore.

[ForrestGump]

Obviously, @horton has had more than his share of the Kilo Kai tonight.

[jdarwin]

The bindings back one hole from stock was the magic this ski was lacking. I was getting great turns and incredible angle but the leading edge was engaging too quickly off the 2nd wake. I tried the typical fin adjustments to remedy with no luck. Went back to my original fin numbers and simply moved my bindings back one hole - Viola!! Ski still has the great turns (especially off side) but creates great width off the 2nd wake. If you are a regular D3 skier, you have to throw out all previous notions about ski set up. This is a completely different animal. My numbers on the 68": 6.925 / 2.507 / . 765 / 7 deg. Binding 30.25". This may replace the RCX as my favorite D3 of all time.

[Horton]

FYI- Will Bush pointed out a typo from my first post. Front binding at 29 3/4ish

[schroed]

@jdarwin - I agree with what you've found. I found the Quest to be a bit sensitive to binding placement as well. I struggled a bit with my bindings at 29.5" on my 66 as recommended by D3. I moved my bindings back to 29.25" and the ski is working really well. I'm actually running my fin pretty close to my Fusion settings with this binding placement and I'm really happy with it.