Birkie Fever Wax Competition #3

This will be our final wax test competition prior to the big dance! We would have liked to have been able to do this test on the Birkie trail, but with everyone coming down with a fever we are just too busy at the shop. We tested earlier in the day on Friday where the conditions seemed to be closest to what we expect the race day to be like. We wanted to see if we could learn anything, but knowing that the snow at Elm Creek is much different than the Birkie trail, we are going to take these results with a grain of salt.

We wanted to test both paraffin and underlayers, so we split this test into two different competitions. We also had a lot of fun with our previous “fantasy wax draft” so we ended up doing that once again using the reverse rankings of the current order. We each had the option to pick either a race layer or base layer when it was our turn to pick. Below are the results of the “fantasy wax draft” and what ended up in our test:

Pick 1.01 - Jeremy - Rex NFX00 Sisu White Powder - Base Layer

Pick 1.02 - Jakob - Start SG10 Paraffin - Base Layer

Pick 1.03 - Matt C. - Swix TSP5 Powder - Race Layer

Pick 1.04 - Ian - Star Durable Powder - Base Layer

Pick 2.01 - Ian - Star Durable Powder - Race Layer

Pick 2.02 - Matt C. - Rex NF31 Paraffin - Base Layer

Pick 2.03 - Jakob - Rex NF31 Paraffin - Race Layer

Pick 2.04 - Jeremy - Toko Jet Blue Powder - Race Layer

For the base layer test, all skis were covered with Rex NF31 as a control. For the race layer test, all skis were waxed initally with a base layer of Rex NFX00 Sisu Black. We choose these two products because it meant I could add one additional product to either the base layer or race layer test. I really wanted to get more information on the Rex NFX00 Black wax compared to the White, so I choose that as the additional product.

We went to Elm Creek in the AM. Air temp was ~10 when we tested and warming up. Snow was mostly dirty/mixed, but a good hard skate deck. We were able to ski in each ski a little prior to doing glide outs. Below are results from both tests.

Base Layer Results:

1. Rex NFX00 Sisu Black Powder + Rex NF31 Paraffin +0cm - (BONUS TEST)

2. Rex NF31 Paraffin + Rex NF31 Paraffin +25cm - Matt C.

3. Start Green Paraffin + Rex NF31 Paraffin +40cm - Jakob

4. Rex NFX00 Sisu White Powder + Rex NF31 Paraffin +45cm - Jeremy

5. Star Durable Powder + Rex NF31 Paraffin +70cm - Ian

Race Layer Results:

1. Rex NFX00 Sisu Black + Star Durable Powder +0cm - Ian

2. Rex NFX00 Sisu Black + Rex NF31 Paraffin +10cm - Jakob

3. Rex NFX00 Sisu Black + Swix TSP5 Powder +25cm - Matt C.

4. Rex NFX00 Sisu Black + Toko Jet Blue Powder +50cm - Jeremy

The standout results that I found interesting were the Star Durable, Rex NF31, and Rex NFX00 Sisu Black. We had both Star Durable and Rex NF31 in both the Base Layer and Race Layer tests. Star Durable which I typically find to test really well as a base layer did really poorly in that test, but excelled when used as a race layer. This was a very unexpected result and I can only guess that there may have been an odd interaction between the two waxes maybe. Rex NF31 did well in both the base layer and race layer test, which gives me a lot of confidence to recommend that for the upcoming week. The final one that was a bit of a surprise to me, but I was really happy to see how well it tested was the Rex NFX00 Sisu Black. This wax is designed more for natural/new snow, but it ended up winning our base layer test. I believe that it was because the snow was really dry/cold from our recent cold spell, in addition to a small amount of new snow mixed in from an earlier snow storm. We will almost certainly be recommending this as one of our race options for Birkie week. 

After all the testing was done, Ian and I did one final bonus test. I brought out the new Rex test product I have mentioned before (TK-501) and applied it to the second place ski in the base layer test (Rex NF31 +Rex NF31). Prior to applying the wax to the second place ski it was +25cm behind the winning ski (Rex NFX00 Black + Rex NF31). After applying the TK-501 and retesting, the second place ski went from +25cm behind, to +10cm ahead, meaning the wax moved the ski +35cm faster than the original test. This wax will potentially be available as early as next week (prior to the Birkie!) you can learn more about it HERE and find it at the Birkie Expo for purchase.

Overall Ranking

1. Ian - 0cm

2. Matt C. - +10cm

3. Jakob - +20cm

4. Jeremy - +70cm