“Shaper” Control Wear Bars

Carbide wear bars have remained relatively unchanged for about the past twenty years. Sure, there’s been some development in the lengths, angles, and materials used, but for the most part the carbide wear bar has been built in the same basic fashion for years.
The new “Shaper” wear bar is a radical change to wear bar design; rather than mount carbide into a round or square host bar, the Shaper utilizes a concave shape to the side profile of the host bar. This is not a gimmick; it works. To fully realize the benefits, let’s take a step back into how a wear bar operates.

The function of the wear bar is to provide vehicle control and wear resistance. On hardpack and ice, it is the sharp edges of the carbide that provide the majority of the control. As the conditions move more towards snow and away from the ice and hardpack, the actual carbide portion of the wear bar has less and less of an effect on the handling; the host bar and the ski bottom profile start to have more of an influence. It is in these snowier conditions where the Shaper wear bar is designed to and really does improve the handling of the vehicle; the concave side profile grabs and holds snow as you’re sliding across it, rather than letting the snow slip by like a plain wear bar. In snow conditions where the ski and wear bar tend to push, these wear bars will catch, compact and channel the snow, with the result being improved handling.

Normally, improved handling and better ski bite comes at the cost of steering effort and darting. Field testing last season indicate the Shaper wear bars will not increase the steering effort like so many of the “aggressive” ski designs do. The concave shape runs the entire length of the runner. As for the darting issues, the Shaper wear bars provide better straight-line tracking on the trails and help to reduce and minimize darting, an added benefit to the design that wasn’t originally expected.

The whole idea of a shaped wear bar started with Kevin Metheny at USI, the recognized inventor of plastic skis. Kevin was looking for a product that could improve his line of skis in snowcross, trail and mountain applications where the snow is deeper and skis tend to push. Kevin approached Stud Boy with the idea, and together they worked on the development, design and construction of this unique and effective change to wear bars as we know them.

The Shaper wear bars are a result of design and testing over the past three years. They were first introduced in 2001-2002 as an aluminum control bar for use in snowcross racing and mountain riding, with the main purpose being to test the patent-pending hourglass profile. On the snowcross tracks, the Shaper bars were able to hold tighter corners than 1/2” round steel host bars. Actual testing in soft snow conditions yielded a two-foot tighter turning radius than a 1/2” host bar with carbide on the same machine. By using what was learned from the aluminum bars, steel Shaper bars are now being offered for this season.

Stud Boy got some real life experience with the Shaper wear bars in their racing efforts as well as on the trail. They found the Shaper wear bars improved the turning radius in snow, but also reduced the wear bar weight by 20%. When used in hardpack, the 60 degree carbide provides the expected excellent turning as always. It was in the snow and the slop; racing, trails and in the mountains where the Shaper bars were impressive. With their Sno Pro 440s (Firecats) they really noticed an improvement to the turning characteristics. One manufacturer even stated that the Shaper wear bars, when added to their “old” steel skis fitted with plastic ski skins, performed better than their current plastic skis with “normal” runners.

The Shaper wear bars are zinc plated (they’re not painted), providing corrosion resistance and a showier, more pleasing appearance. They’re being offered in four lengths of 60 degree carbide; 4.5”, 6.0”, 7.5” and 9.0” as well as a four carbide wear pad version for extreme durability applications. They are available for most recent OEM plastic skis, as well as the popular USI and C&A Pro plastic skis. They will provide more positive steering in snow without the typical side effects of aggressive ski bottoms and profiles.

Look for them at your local dealer, they’ll be handled by many major distributors who supply parts to the dealer network. For more information you can contact Stud Boy (231-853-2323) or USI (765-423-2984).