Remember how Eagles put it back, huh, 40 years ago?
There’s talk on the street; it sounds so familiar.
Great expectations, everybody’s watching you.
People you meet, they all seem to know you.
Even your old friends treat you like you’re something new.
Well, that new kid is very nearly in town: say hello to Madshus RedLine 2.0, top-of-the-crop racing skis from Biri, re-invented.
As with all designed-to-win the Olympic Games/World Championships skis, there is a considerable amount of anticipation and even speculation.
We really felt like sneaking a peek – but wouldn’t ?
The skiing has not quite reached the level of auto-industry where paparazzis are making living taking grainy pictures of future cars draped in camo. No, the DailySkier visitors were shown just-made RedLine 2.0 pairs without any NDAs to be signed. But their essential characteristics are still kept under wraps.
Here is what we learned, however
– As expected, top Madshus athletes – including but not limited to Heidi Weng, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, Hans Christer Holund and Alexander Bessmertnykh took part in testing & adjusting the properties of the new top line skis.
Here’s Bessmertnykh giving them thumbs up
– There will be two major changes compared to the current Red Line version. Unfortunately – if understandably – Madshus keeps some essential bits of info under wraps. Still two things are known”:
– Red Line 2.0s will have totally redesigned geometry and side cuts – especially the skating version 2.0 where geometry changes the company describes as “revolutionary”.
– RL 2.0 will have totally new base material. No, there still will be old good Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWP) more commonly ( if wrongly) called P-Tex. The properties of the new base, however, will be very different to what we all are used to, Madshus says .
Perhaps, more significantly, for the first time in many years ( and please correct us if we are wrong here) any ski manufacturer would use for its top miodel UHMWP not supplied by storied Austrian Isosport!
Madshus would not say who is their new supplier . Would it be ( and it’s a pure speculation on our part) German Okulen?
– Visually, the new skating version will have much sharper noses than the current model.
– There will not be a price hike – RedLine 2.0s are expected to retail for the same money as the current model. Not a bargain by any means given that RedLine 1.0 MSRP is some NOK 7500 or almost $900!
Schedule of appearance:
“Prelaunch athletes” ( i.e. elite racers sponsored by Madshus) will get their first racing pairs early this fall.
Per Wiik, Madshus marketing & racing department boss says “We looking into very limited quantity introduction for loyal dealers with racing focus for late fall 2018” Translation: if you are one of those people who absolutely must have the latest & best, start schmoozing your local dealer already now!
The rest of the folk would see the RedLine 2.0 in the fall of 2019. That’s mighty long wait, of course – but the skiing industry still largely works in those 2 year cycles from inception of a new model to store shelfs
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