Track Swap Choices

"Dear Ralph" December 11, 2006 0
Dear Ralph: I want to install a different track into my Ski-Doo Renegade. Currently it has the 16” wide 1.25” lug height track from...

Dear Ralph:
I want to install a different track into my Ski-Doo Renegade. Currently it has the 16” wide 1.25” lug height track from Ski-Doo. I was considering the Ski-Doo 1.75” track, or one of the Camoplast 1.5” options. I ride mostly in the U.P. of Michigan, so you know the variety of snow conditions we can run into from hard pack to all-out deep powder. Thanks!
Dan Nelson

Two options come to the top – the Ripsaw 1.5 and the Intense 1.5. The Ripsaw will be better on hard packed trails, the Intense will be better off trail, specifically as the snow gets deeper and will be better out west. You state 70-30 on trail / off trail, this is a usage percentage, how do you rate importance of each usage? Go Ripsaw 1.5 if the 70 trail is more important than the 30 off trail……and if the trails are hard packed. Soft packed trails and the Intense will likely be equal, and then better as the snow increases. Flip a coin for what kind of snow we’ll have this year……it likely comes down to a crap shoot. The Intense will be more aggressive in straight line, like running more studs, where the Ripsaw will allow some cornering stability. Either will likely require more carbide or better skis to balance it out front and rear. 70-30 I say Ripsaw, 50-50 I say Intense.

I would not suggest the 1.75″ 16-wide track for the U.P., I don’t think it will live on the hardpack IMO. Lugs this tall tend to get somewhat squirrely on hardpack, so it isn’t really a good trail track. We pulled one of these off a 600 SDI Renegade two years ago and installed a Ripsaw 1.25, which was a much better choice for the U.P. at that time. The two 1.5s above are as tall as I dare go for any length of time on hardpack.

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