Do you prefer the new optimized slalom rope?

[ski6jones]

I've heard mixed reviews from people about the new rope. Which do you prefer?

[MISkier]

My opinion is that the optimized rope is far better than the previous black rope.

[Bill22]

You should have an opinion for haven’t tried it yet.

[JackQ]

I can not tell the difference between the “optimized “ rope and my “normal” rope (Brenda/intow), I have skied behind the optimized line in tournaments and practice, from 22 to 39. I find the loops on the intow easier to use and the colored line less likely to be put on the wrong length by my boat crew.

[Golfguy]

Without a doubt the Intow loops are easier to use and the colored sections are great.

 

[thager]

Yet another BS marketing gimick!

[ToddL]

The optimized rope is harder to see from the shore as to the current loop the skier is on. That is for sure!

 

I skied it for the 1st time at SCR Regionals - couldn't feel too much different. Just a tad "softer" as the boat came on. I heard some 38 off & better skiers commenting with mixed reactions.

 

I would assume that a skier who has perfected a style of relying upon instant support from the boat at the finish of the turn might not like this new rope.

[Zman]

But, leaning toward "Prefer standard rope" because at my opener (22 off) at tournaments these ropes have felt like bungy cord. Soft is one thing, but waiting for the stretch to come out is another.

Not so bad by the time I get to green or (sometimes) blue.

I like ML products. So, hopefully this will improve.

[S1Pitts]

Compared to what I used in the past I really like what it feels like especially as the rope shortens.

[sunperch]

I don't care which rope I ski with - have had 2 tournaments with the new rope and did not notice it. What I do hate is I cannot tell what line length others are skiing at from the shore. Makes watching slalom boring!!! We usually ski with an In-tow rope from Brenda, just ordered a new one.

[Buxrus]

I purchased one based on the hype that was generated regarding the new rope. can't really tell a difference with any other rope I've used in the past. The major negative with this rope is it gets twisted easily. one fall and I notice the rope is significantly twisted as it comes back to me. after every set, i have to untwist the entire rope. not experienced this with previous ropes, which were intow ropes.

[rayn]

I do not notice much difference skiing with the new rope. I do notice my body feels better and less beat up after a two set practice set.

[Dacon62]

@Buxrus both me and one of my ski partners have an Optimized Rope. His twists up mine doesn’t.

I have the Fluid Motion webbing in the V of the handle, he doesn’t.

I think the prop wash spins his while mine stays flat and doesn’t twist.

[dave2ball]

@Buxrus the prop wash is the culprit for the rope twisting. Weather it’s an in tow Masterline or HO ect all ropes are going to twist the same. The only thing that will help prevent twisting is to idle back to the fallen skier. Will handle guards prevent twisting this not quite sure.

[Buxrus]

@Dacon62 thanks for the reminder. I just got a new ML handle and I have not added my handle guard. I will add it tonight and report back.

@ Dave2ball. I have had all the different ropes in the past, for some reason this one twist. because I am on my own lake and have plenty of time, we always idle back to skier, no power turns. not sure why this one twist, and when all is said and done its first world skier problems. my incentive not to fall.

thanks guys for input. appreciate.

[teammalibu]

We have a few different opinions here at the Ridge so at our next tourney we will have both ropes measured and ready to go so the skier can pick which rope they prefer!

[Andre]

Coming soon : Different ropes for each Zero Off letters and numbers...

 

[ski6jones]

Rope twist is only important to your OCD. Less than 40 turns correlates to less than 1" shorting.

[jayski]

@ski6jones calming my OCD IS important...don't diminish the correlated effect of rope twist vs. performance of a set :D

[Buxrus]

@ski6jones. LOL. you called it!! for me....it "looks" bad. my other "thought" about the twist is it could take some of the "give" out of the rope.

I'm not hating on the rope, just my observation that this one twist more than others I have had in past.

[Andre]

I need every inches...

[teammalibu]

@ski6jones I guess I am ocd as I have become the official rope unwinder at the tourneys I ski in most drivers know I am going to unwind it when it gets tight!

[The_MS]

Buys a few more seconds at the end of the lake

[thager]

Boing....boing....boing!

[ToddL]

@Andre - "that's what..." yeah I almost went there.

[Andre]

@Toddl ,Yep,that's what she said too! :)

[skierjp]

Funny thing I noticed the other day. I don't think my new rope twist as much as my last Masterline. About the colors and not being able to see the line length from shore, most of the time there is a shock tube in the way. Other then that, my elbows do seem to have less pain. I've heard the real test is when you go back to the old rope.

I have a brand new never used still in the zip ties last year Masterline rope for sale if anyone is interested? $75 you pay shipping.

[thager]

I find it funny that almost nobody would buy a strechy ski rope on purpose, but call it "optimized" and people line up in droves. Hmmm, maybe PT Barnum was on to something?

[teammalibu]

At 22 into 35 and being light on the line NOT, my new ML rope is not streachy!

[MISkier]

I thought the black ropes were far more spongy than the optimized. I also thought it skied like the InTow ropes I’ve had and the rope made by our local guy here. I didn’t need any time at all to adjust to it.

[Buxrus]

@Dacon62 You called it. Put my FM handle guard on, twist problem went away. Thanks again for reminder.

[TEL]

Skied with the rope today it only had a few sets on it just, felt like any other new rope. I skied the same, I ski with a year old In-Tow

[lpskier]

In apparent response to dissatisfaction with certain new ski ropes, the IWWF granted a rule exception for L/R tournaments for the remainder of 2019 allowing a LOC to offer a choice of different ropes within a division in the same round. Thus, if you don’t like Brand M, you can select the other tournament supplied rope for your set. This exception is in response to the request of several individual LOCs for a rule exception in order to address skier concerns about inconsistencies in a certain new rope product (some stretch significantly more than others).

 

On a similar note, I boat judged a tournament this weekend that used ropes with traditional spliced shortening loops that easily move off the pylon. Boy, was that nice.

[Orlando76]

Can’t stand the optimized rope. Too hard to shorten. Too hard to decipher colors. Seems to thick and heavy, stiff and full of memory. I’m not a Masterline fan anyways but for first time ever I started bringing my own rope (in tow) skiing with the guys.

[APB]

just skied a tourney in tx. no optimized ropes.... lots of talk about inconsistencies.

[Brewski]

180+ hard to tell colors, difficult to change lengths, bungee effect at longer line lengths, (same story)

[Jody_Seal]

Same old story. Some things just dont change.

Straightline vs freestyler vs masterline vs whatever the same story continues with the rope products we utilize and this story has been going for 30 years or more.

My contention with the optimized ropes is that there may have been be some scores produced that were incorrect due to the line length loops not being readily identifiable.

The slide loops can be hard to utilize and those stupid plastic identifiers on the rope move and clog up against the slide loops.

 

[APB]

I agree with hard to read. The 32 loop has 2 green and one blue strand.... the 35 has 2 blue and one purple, etc. Why? And def makes no sense.

[The_MS]

Unless we get a response to the sponsorship questions it is all In-tow for me. Hope the LOCs start using in-tow

[BrennanKMN]

I have the original slide loop rope from ML and I agree with the other comments here. I will not buy it again. I expected the slide loops to be like In-Tow's where it easily fit over the pylon and made for a sleek look. The ML slide loop is much too difficult to change compared to the competition.

I personally prefer the look, quality and feel of a ML rope, but prefer the operation and ease of loop identification from In-Tow.

[mshaw200]

For some reason the poll skipped by without me being able to vote.

 

I'm around 172 and can't stand the new rope. The ropes we used for Big Dawg Finals were the ropes they had been using on the Turnpike lake for several days by that point and they still felt like a rubber band.

 

Boats have to be approved before they can be used. New ZO software has to be approved before it can be used. But this is the one key tournament supplied piece of equipment that does not have to be approved.

 

Russell's already complained to me once because I voiced my opinion about his new ropes but it makes no sense to me how such a significant change can be made to a tournament supplied piece of equipment and we are forced to accept it.

 

IWSF has instituted a new for the remainder of the year allowing an LOC to offer two types of slalom ropes. If it wasn't an issue, do you think they would have done that?

[6_Buoys]

NO.

[dave2ball]

@mshaw200 not a bad idea. How would someone do such a thing? As you know a rope weather standard or the new ML rope will feel different behind the big 3 used at tournaments. Who would make or allow the approval? What standards would be use of developed? Ropes can be so personal as far as feel may be a good idea just don’t know it would be imposed. Maybe we have come to the day where we do what jumpers do. bring your own rope

 

[klindy]

@dave2ball it's already common for jumpers to bring their own rope. Most with varying lengths of different types/Spectra for a personalized preference.

[mshaw200]

@dave2ball @klindy The big difference between jumpers bringing their own ropes and slalom skiers bringing their own ropes is that to measure a jump rope it is one measurement of overall length including the handle. TC's (in my opinion) would vehemently fight the approval of slalom skiers getting to bring their own ropes as they have to measure each individual loop not just the overall length.

 

Maybe there needs to be standards for how much stretch is in a rope. To me last years black masterline rope and this years white masterline rope are night a day different.

[Drago]

Here are the spec's. Ropes should be tested and certified .if the bungee ropes meet these elongation specs, we should change the rule. (I don't understand those that feel the optimized ropes are stretchy and in tow aren't)

 

[dave2ball]

@klindy I am well aware of what jumpers do. I was referring to the slalom ropes.

[dave2ball]

@mshaw200 you are right. The black standard rope is different material then the new optimized rope. It is also braided differently.

[RAWSki]

We have found that some handles twist the same rope more than others. Good tip about a handle guard calming the problem.

[buoyboy1]

This is the first year in the past decade that I have had no elbow issues skiing and the only thing I changed was to use the optimized rope all season. Buoy count has also increased. I weigh 180.