I have been meaning to get out a bit more this winter during lulls to test different products, applications, or equipment. This is the first time that I have had so far this season to get out on a weekday to get in some testing.
I decided that I wanted to do a small application and product test this week focusing on paraffin and paraffin application. Roto-wool has been becoming more popular and is a very simple way to apply some paraffin waxes. There are waxes that are specifically designed to be used with a roto wool tool like the blocks from Star as an example. Many do not know that you can also use a roto wool device to apply standard melt on paraffins. We tested three different melt on paraffins and also tested both melting and roto-wooling those paraffins to see what the differences were. In addition, we did a durability test to see if the application method affected the glide over a long period of time.
December 28th
We tested on both the man-made and natural trails at Elm Creek. Durability testing portion of the ski ended up being a little over 15km. It has been cold up until just a day or two ago. It was cloudy with temperatures hovering at around 30 degrees while we were skiing.
1A – Rex Blue Melt-on
1B – Rex Blue Wool
2A – Swix Marathon Melt-on
2B – Swix Marathon Wool
3A – Rode Endurance Melt-on
3B – Rode Endurance Wool
This was one of those tests that I didn’t really know what to expect, but wasn’t really surprised with the outcome. It was pretty clear from the get-go that the melt-on application was better on each of the skis. It was fairly close right away, but as the ski went on the roto-wool application wax clearly dragging behind and the gap was widening as we kept on skiing. I am uncertain if it was due to the conditions, or the waxes not being designed for roto-wool application. Regardless, I would be highly suspect of applying these waxes with this method.
The product test was much more interesting to us. We have had a ton of success using Swix Marathon as a go to paraffin underlayer for race waxes and Rex Blue has always been a staple in the wax box. Rode has developed a new “universal” type wax that seems awfully similar to Swix Marathon in both name and intended use. This was the first time I found time to play around with the sample we were sent. It applies fairly easily with a strange milky look compared to most paraffins. We found during the test that Rex Blue and the new Rode Endurance were closer together and felt clearly better than Swix Marathon. I have typically had Swix win tests or be very competitive in colder conditions, so this may have been a bit warmer than it is intended to be used in. It was really close between the Rex and Rode wax though. We leaned towards Rex wherever the snow was starting to transform more and especially on the man-made sections. On the more natural snow sections of the trail Rode Endurance felt slightly more slippery. If I were to have to make a choice between the two, I probably would lean towards Rex Blue as I have more experience with the wax and know how safe of an option it is. I was happy to see how well the Rode product tested during our first test and will continue to try it out as the season progresses.
Final Results:
1. Rex Blue – Melt-On
2. Rode Endurance – Melt-On
3. Swix Marathon – Melt-On
4. Rex Blue – Wool
5. Rode Endurance – Wool
6. Swix Marathon – Wool
