Wintersteiger Jupiter -- For an out of this world tune.

[Philpug]

Do we know the cost of one of these new machines?

I would contact your local Wintersteiger rep. The machine is modular and you can build it to your specs and options. The last I hear, the wait was almost two years, but that might have changed but yeas, these can be in the $500K range.

 

[Philpug]

I'm pretty sure that the main benefit of a variable tune os to make it impossible for the small off-the-mountain shops to compete.

dm

Or that it creates a new level of performance. Winterstieger and Montana both still offer machines, at many price points, that are not variable edge tuners, they are not making their own products obsolete.

Edit... I'd like to add that many of these small off-the-mountain shops buy new and refurbished machines from these companies so by alienating their own customers. For every shop that buys a Jupiter, there are another dozen smaller shops that buy other machines and services.

 

[James]

Variable side edge- pretty laughable. Makes little to no difference. The machine writing your name in base structure has more purpose. You know it’s your ski.

Very few shops scream about their machines. Frankly, the public doesn’t care. Any justification of purchase price is based on throughput.

 

[DanoT]

Variable side edge- pretty laughable. Makes little to no difference. The machine writing your name in base structure has more purpose. You know it’s your ski.

Very few shops scream about their machines. Frankly, the public doesn’t care. Any justification of purchase price is based on throughput.

Given that most skiers are intermediates, I strongly agree with the above. Who really needs a variable side edge? Not enough members of the skiing public to justify a $500k machine. OTOH an machine that tunes a high number of skis, with the least amount of employee labour, is the one that will be most in demand by high volume ski shops.

 

[Yo Momma]

@Philpug I'd like to suggest a "Sticky" w/ updated lists of where can we find Jupiter or Crystal tunes for the public. Is this possible or already on the site somewhere? Thanks in advance!

 

[GregK]

I saw a list for automated machines for every country but see some missing from my area so not sure how often it’s updated.

Our references for automated ski service machines

Take a look at our references in the ski service sector. More information about customers for Wintersteiger automated ski service machines is available here.

www.wintersteiger.com

Places with a machine like this will posts pictures and even videos of them on their “tech shop services” web page.
Knew the place in Reno that some have bought lots of gear on in this site got a new Jupiter and when you go to their site it’s filled with videos and pics.

BOBOS Ski Board Patio - Services Pricing

BOBOS is a full service, family owned and operated specialty ski board and patio furniture store. We've got beautiful outdoor patio furniture collections from OWLee, Tropitone, Berlin Gardens, Telescope, Hanamint and more! ... and it's all in stock! BOBOS has a rental fleet that accomodates...

bobos.com

Many run early season full tunes at deals on them with heavy online advertising and it’s unreal how many skis come in for their yearly tune ups in the Fall.
In Collingwood, Ontario there are now 3 fully automated machines at 3 different shops within a mile of each other now.

 

[James]

God, no more stickies. It’s a weak area of forum software that that’s the only solution.

 

[cantunamunch]

God, no more stickies. It’s a weak area of forum software that that’s the only solution.

Tricky zone. If a stronger bit of forum software (say, a modified ski selector) is dedicated to accessing a shop list, it creates implicit recommendation of those shops by the site owners.

Actually vetting shops is a ginormous rabbit hole no one has the time, energy or will to go down.

I think the only reasonable option other than stickies is for Wintersteiger and Montana to create and maintain a list of robot machine shops on their dime. Of course, that might cause hard feelings from their other clients.

 

[James]

It’s a worthless list anyway.

The two best guys, the most reliable output without question, in the East, never used fancy machines until the volume of their business could support it. It’s not like the grinds suddenly got so much better either.
Labor is the problem.

 

[Yo Momma]

Totally understand how murky this can all get. I've only had my skis tuned once since Graham closed up shop years ago. Just not sure where to go at this point and after Graham quality, I'm too picky to start experimenting... The guesswork creates a frustrating process.

 

[jwilli]

Variable side edge- pretty laughable. Makes little to no difference. The machine writing your name in base structure has more purpose. You know it’s your ski.

Very few shops scream about their machines. Frankly, the public doesn’t care. Any justification of purchase price is based on throughput.

Also a great advantage for places with large rental fleets that need everything tuned over a summer.

 

[cantunamunch]

Also a great advantage for places with large rental fleets that need everything tuned over a summer.

How do you mean?
Because they get a different level of machine service from the supplier (instead of the small shop owner rebuilding the machine himself every Aug/Sep) ?
Or because they can put a lower paid employee in charge of rental tunes?

 

[Toddski13]

I'm pretty sure that the main benefit of a variable tune os to make it impossible for the small off-the-mountain shops to compete.

dm

If you haven’t skied it, then I suppose I can understand your perspective. If you have then you would know the main benefit is a dramatically better, easier-to-ski tune for all abilities. And there are plenty of small shops who are investing in this technology… it’s all a question of how savvy the owner is and how much money they want to put where their mouth is. I’ll also offer that for shops this technology will only become more accessible as Wintersteiger has started at the top with the release of V-Edge with Jupiter… plenty of holes to fill further down the line and with more attainable price points for the truly low volume shops. We wouldn’t be the leading partner we are if we alienated a wide swath of our retail partners.

 

[Toddski13]

At this level, I cannot say one is better than the other, IMHO the difference will come down to the technician.

 

[jwilli]

How do you mean?
Because they get a different level of machine service from the supplier (instead of the small shop owner rebuilding the machine himself every Aug/Sep) ?
Or because they can put a lower paid employee in charge of rental tunes?

Simply for the ability to set the machine for a rental tune and have it quickly process a large number of skis per hour. I imagine some large rental fleets can number several thousands of skis and boards that need summer maintenance.

 

[dovski]

I have not read through this thread completely so if this point has been already made please ignore. With any machine both maintenance of it and having a skilled operator/tech is crucial. You can have the best tuning machine in the world but if the stone is out of balance it can eat your skis. Likewise if the operator/tech does not know what they are doing it also impacts the quality of the tune. Last but not least a great tune may start with an automated machine but always ends with a skilled hand fine of the edge ... etc. As already stated the advantage of some of these automated machines is the volume of skis they can tune per hour, but quantity does not always equate to quality. That said there are some shops that do everything by hand and do a great job tuning your skis. At the end of the day the quality of the final tune is what matters most. It just so happens that my preferred shop has a relatively new Montana and does a great job hand finishing the tune.

 

[cantunamunch]

I have not read through this thread completely so if this point has been already made please ignore

It has, but it bears repeating.

 

[James]

If you have then you would know the main benefit is a dramatically better, easier-to-ski tune for all abilities.

Yeah, ok.
How about mentioning how expensive this drama generator is, $500-700k depending on configuration?

 

[Near Nyquist]

Yeah, ok.
How about mentioning how expensive this drama generator is, $500-700k depending on configuration?

You trying to buy one on a ski instructors pay
Cause you can’t afford it

But i know you secretly want one
Cause I do as well

can we keep our secret ?

 

[fatbob]

At the capital cost of these things they are always going to be few and far between. I suspect you need to be doing a large book of paid for tunes and have the potential to bring in more on the basis of quality/word of mouth. Servicing one own's fleet is slightly different economics chiefly avoided cost and utilisation of spare capacity. Feels that capacity is largely dictated by having numbers of skilled technicians so is linked to willingness to pay a living wage or better which in turn pushes up price to consumers. So all told quite a commitment for any single store.