Originally Posted by
Canuk1w1
A decent read but I reckon he's into promoting bespoke/boutique manufacturers rather than boosting performance. The majority of us can get away with off the rack kit, tweaked for our physiques. He doesn't qualify his point of view by admitting that the majority of performance is still conditioning and skill.
ANY UCI rider could jump on a Muffy and crush me over 50 to 100 miles.
ANY World Cup skier on rental skis would dust me on Kitzbuel (cries I probably wouldn't even go down the bloody thing).
Custom golf clubs? Might help me get under 100 more often (might...). But any tour pro would skin me with a set of bamboo shafted blades.
Don't get me wrong, custom kit is great but maybe only the final 5-10% of the result. There's still an awful lot of hard work that goes into excellence in any sport.
The above is true in most sports I suppose. But how is ice hockey not on the list while skiing is? There are intricacies to skates besides just the fit of the boot...e.g., length of the blade, curve of the blade, and variations in blade sharpening. Not to mention customized construction of the hockey stick. And each player's pads are (or can be) fitted to accommodate their comfort, and personal style of play.
Now...let's talk about custom equipment in America's Cup sailboat racing...
Dan