The Reichmann machinery up at Tin Shed–totally Euro, totally cool, and right in your backyard.
I admit it–I neglect my skis. The edges get burred and dinged; my P-tex jobs suck; I don’t wax them enough; sometimes I don’t even dry ’em off and the edges get blotched by rust.
Ugh.
I’m lucky, too, because I have some skis I absolutely LOVE: my hammered Dynafit Manaslus (three seasons in and they are still great; skied ’em today); possibly my favorite backcountry ski of all time, a 186cm Black Diamond Drift (please note: these are the 2011 ones, the blue ones. BD added some tail rocker this year and given how much I love the early-rise version, I bought ANOTHER pair in the 176cm length. I would like to try out the newer one, too, though…). I also have some randodork 161cm Dynafit Performance skis (under 800g for the ski and do you believe they actually ski pretty well?).
Anyway, I dropped by Tin Shed Sports today, after a couple laps at Caribou, above Nederland. Tin Shed isn’t just the coolest building in Ned; it’s also home to Salto Coffee Shop, a spacious, gorgeous spot for a solid cup before or after a mountain binge. An old friend of mine manages the bike side of things and during our visit he offered to show me Tin Shed’s ski-tuning lab–and folks, all I can say is wow. Wow! No more ghetto skis–I’m getting my boards tuned up!
Turns out Tin Shed is the only place on the Front Range (and one of only a handful of ski shops in Colorado) with a full complement of euro-fancy, uber-badass ski-tuning machinery made by Reichmann, the legendary Bavarian company. For $40 you can drop off your boards (they also do snowboards!) and get them ground, put some structure in the base, hone the edges, and wax ’em ’til they’re faster than your date on senior prom. Now, when I say they’re tuned for $40, this is not your burnout, stoner job performed by a disgruntled kid fresh off the apple cart from Toledo–this is race quality, high end, Lindsay Vonn stuff. Darren Rahlves. You get the gist.
Next time you’re skiing at Eldora, touring in the Indian Peaks, or just on your way through Ned, give Tin Shed a try–these guys are serious and do a great job. Great bike shop, too!
