The old Elite gets a facelift.

[ScottScott]

Finally being tired of skiing on an old oxidized and chaulky ski (the black doesn't help in attracting that.) I decided to give the Elite a little facelift. Stripping boots and fin block off giving everything a good cleaning, used a dark gray 2 part epoxy to repair a couple nicks on the edges, then some wet sanding on the top surface to clean up, and a couple coats of Clear Coat.

 

Extra bonus was finding a new Obrien fin block. I little change of color and modern set screw adjustment....

 

 

 

[ScottScott]

Question now is.....as nice as the top looks, I'd love to do something with the bottom.....but.

 

I know there are aspects of the finish that effect drag that could effect how the ski performs. This ski already has a pretty smooth finish. What are thoughts on a clear coat on the bottom.....maybe not buffing it perfectly smooth, or buffing at all, or a little sanding with medium grit? The current surface doesn't have any texture to it, though may not be totally buffed perfectly smooth. Thoughts? Experiences? Anyone seen a Wone up close.....pretty glossy finish top and bottom.

[MattP]

@AdamCord could tell you. He was one of the brains behind the production of that ski.

[lakeaustinskier]

In my opinion the Elite was the best looking ski ever made.

[AdamCord]

Nice! @ScottScott you can sand the bottom without effecting the performance so long as you use fine enough sandpaper. I'd suggest starting with 600 grit and wet sanding to your liking. You can go up from there if you want. I wouldn't suggest you clear coat it though.

 

Looks good!

[The_MS]

Suddenly my elbows started to hurt again.

[skidawg]

Now.......put that beauty on the wall and get some new technology

[ScottScott]

@MS Expand?

[The_MS]

No matter what fin/binding set up, that ski would not slow down and I always skied into slack. After a month of slack shots I darn near needed Tommy John surgery.

[MattP]

The Elite was a fun ski. I had 2 of them. Every now and then I get the urge to boot it up and go for a ride.

[ScottScott]

@skidawg. Thanks for the input...... In time, yes. I have no doubt i would add balls with a new ski, but for those of us with a limited budget, i have decided to prioritize my expandable ski money toward lessons and stay with what i have for now. But thank you for the thought.

[skihacker]

Definitely one of the best looking skis ever, i skied one for 3 years, I'm not a technique guru by any means but i always felt like that ski was right on the edge of "ornery". One thing i think it helped me with was needing to be still. I recall if i started scrapping it got worse. First ski i owned that i started looking for fin moves that made it turn slower. Mad fast.

[ScottScott]

I haven't messed with fin any, just confirm at stock occasionally. It does turn quick on my onside, working on slowing it down to be more like my offside. Part of why I stay with it is its going to force me into some good technique to be able to ride it right. I'm not so concerned about how many buoys right now.

[RazorRoss3]

I ran an Elite for a little over 4 seasons I think, it was my first big boy ski after a O'Brien Sixam 2.0 (also a great ski but I struggled with it at 36mph). Ran it fairly deep int0 -32 by the end. I recall that if you could stay really still on the ski and not move forward and backward on it then it would rip but could be very punishing to a form break. I switched to a Razor 2 in the fall of 2012 and picked up 3 buoys on my first set running -32 for the first time so I switched to the Razor and stayed there until I got on @Razorskier1's Mapple 6.0 which I took my first set on in November of 2014 and have been on since.

[skihacker]

If you were running late it could snap an offside turn that would rinse your eyeballs if you weren't ready, just lean on the tip a hair and hang on tight.

[block]

I skied on an Elite, it was very hard to stay balanced. It was the fastest ski I have ever skied on.

I believe skidawg rode it very well.