Rando Racers I need gear advice

So, I am thinking about getting a Rando Race set up, and I am a little overwhelmed by the options. So far I am looking at Scarpa F1 Race boots, ski trab skis, some type of mohair skins, and dynafit low tech bindings. My many questions are as follows: For the boot binding set up, is a shim kit needed because of the toe bellows in the F1, if so are you all making your own or does dynafit or scarpa sell one? Is anyone running the dynafit tech low? If so how do you like it? What about the other dynafit race bindings? Which ski trab ski is good? Should I spend the money for the lightest or just get the duo freerando? For skins I have heard that a lot of racers use coll-tex, but, with a different tip attachment and no tail attachment. Where can I find coll-tex skins in the Seattle area, and what type should I get? Do they have a velcro tip attachment to change out the tip attachment like dynafit skins? What about dynafit skins? Sorry for all the questions, any info to help me decide would be greatly appreciated.

Just curious. Does BK stand for Brandon Keen? If so, what are you thinking? Save your money for reverse side cut, rockered fatties. Everything else is sooo obsolete.

This years standard F1's come with front shims that slide into the dynafit crampon slot.  They're great for touring & switching out for ski crampons. But they're heavy enough that you might want use a shim instead. I don't know if the Race F1 comes with them or not.

www.telemark-pyrenees.com/shop/product_i...309&products_id=5151

I'm finding the standard F1 to be a great everyday boot - surprising amount of support.

So far I am looking at Scarpa F1 Race boots, ski trab skis, some type of mohair skins, and dynafit low tech bindings.

That sounds like a pretty good starting point, if it's intended to be a dedicated rando race setup. You will want skis in the 160cm, sub-900 gram range (think Trab Duo Race Aero or similar), straight mohair skins (CollTex are hard to find here, try Telemark Pyrenees), and cut-down Nordic poles. Pretty much everyone uses some iteration of Dynafit Low Tech bindings or clones.

Most racers use home-made bungee cord tip fixing hardware, and cut their skins about a foot up from the tail of the ski (no tail hardware). You need to have some sort of shim under the ball of the foot; the Scarpa slide in ones work well but homemade are lighter (see Andrew McLean's site for tips on making them out of 8mm thick plastic cutting boards).

If you aren't sure how seriously you will get into racing (or have less than unlimited discretionary income) you might think in terms of a light spring/summer rig that will serve for racing also. Regular F1's or F3's,  1100-1200 grams skis in the 170-175cm. range, Dynafits.  Not quite so light, but more versatile and a little easier to ski in poor conditions.

If you aren't sure how seriously you will get into racing (or have less than unlimited discretionary income) you might think in terms of a light spring/summer rig that will serve for racing also. Regular F1's or F3's,  1100-1200 grams skis in the 170-175cm. range, Dynafits.  Not quite so light, but more versatile and a little easier to ski in poor conditions.

This has been my approach. I come from the minimalist side of the sport, so I've had lightweight skis (less than 100mm shovel) ever since I've been backcountry skiing. The pair I'm currently using for racing are 175cm Atomic TM11s with Dynafit Comfort bindings. They're light but not the lightest thing you could find. They were my late brother's skis, so they have sentimental value for me.

I recently got Scarpa F1 boots, and they're good for racing, but I really got them because I like this class of boot for backcountry skiing. (Previously I was skiing Dynafit TLT4 boots, which are also very light.)

I was unimpressed by the Scarpa shims that Russ mentioned because I thought they were too heavy and not thick enough to really shim the boot. So I made my own by cannibalizing a pair of ski crampons. I cut off the crampon blades with a hacksaw and bolted on a plug under the ball of my foot. They work quite well. I haven't bothered using these during rando rallies however. You're typically doing sweeping turns during a race and I don't find the shims necessary then.

For the first few rallies I did, I just used my backcountry skins. These had normal tip and tail hardware and were slow to change during transitions. This year I converted a pair of skins into more specialized rally skins. I cut about a foot off the tail and rigged up an easy-to-remove elastic tip. I also bought the cheapest pair of Nordic poles I could find. (I'm a cheapskate, basically.) The ones I have are about 75% of my height. I curse the tiny baskets in soft snow, but when the snow is firm, which is typical during rallies, the special touring tips and baskets grip really well.

Have fun!

Brandon Keen is my alter ego rando race name.  I am interested in a rando race setup mosly just for racing and maybe spring conditions, I have two ski set ups currently and don't mind packing them around, I just want lighter gear to be able to even the odds against my asthmatic ski partner (neil turner) who recently got an inhaler (a third lung he calls it), and who recently kicked my butt at the Alpental Vertfest, on heavy tele gear.