Swix Triac 1.0 – The Difference Between Silver and Gold

Combining the most advanced materials and technology available today, the Swix Triac 1.0 is stiffer, stronger and lighter than any Nordic poles ever designed. The Triac technology will debut in 2010 and provide an advantage for Swix athletes competing at the Vancouver Olympic Games.

“The Swix Triac 1.0 pole is revolutionary. “It has increased my speed, improved my movement and has given me a totally new control of the pole swing. It has definitely made me a better skier”, says Petter Northug, the present leader of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup.

The future is triangular

The Swix Triac 1.0 introduces many new innovations and technical improvements. The strap has increased thumb support providing 100 % power transfer to the handle and less energy loss, in addition, a new strap retention system allows better adjustments to different hand sizes.

The shaft has a new triangular shaped carbon composite construction. By using triangle geometry instead of a circle, less material is needed, and weight is saved. Improved stiffness is also achieved by orienting the corners in optimum directions, and superior strength is secured by the ultra high modulus fibers in the carbon composite.

“We have had placed a priority on reducing swing weight, placing as little weight/material as possible in the basket end of the pole. For example, the print on the pole is adding weight; consequently, there is no print on the lower end of the Swix Triac 1.0”, ”, says Lars Karlöf, the Research and Development Manager of Swix Sport.

No tools, no glue

The Swix Triac 1.0 introduces a new and unique basket system with 2 outstanding features.

· A no glue attachment system

· Interchangeable baskets for different snow conditions

This exchangeable basket system is a breakthrough. No tools or glue are needed. The result is a 100 % reliable connection between the basket and the shaft, and Swix utilized superlight materials to reduce weight in the critical tip section for optimum swing weight, says Karlöf.

Kris Freeman training with the Swix Triac.

Olympic ambition

The Swix Triac 1.0 is now available for world class cross-country skiers like Petter Northug, Lucas Bauer, Kris Freeman Kikkan Randall and Andy Newell.

Tim Burke racing with the Swix Triac during the Oberhof Herrer Sprint.

Tim Burke used it this past weekend in his 2nd place in Oberhof. More information is available at www.swixtriac.com

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21 comments

lsiebert
January 11, 2010 at 10:43 pm

Didn’t Swix learn anything from the Force 10?
mnfinnkidd
January 12, 2010 at 12:25 am

They did…This has a real handle on it. It’s not as stiff as the Force 10 was. It’s like a CT1 but stiffer. There is a little shock absorption in there too though. It’s not a giant sail. It’s more aerodynamic from all angles than the CT1 and it swings easier too. I think it’s a giant leap in pole tech.

The only thing I don’t like about it is that you can only cut it down by about 3cm or so.
Mike Trecker
January 12, 2010 at 7:40 am

Isn’t the grip removable and the same shape as the shaft, making it infinitely cuttable? These poles look good and I’m anxious to try them.
Tim Kelley
January 12, 2010 at 12:07 pm

Swix says that this pole is has the lowest swing weight. But the whole concept behind the physics of low swing weight is minimal mass at the end of a moment arm, to reduce momentum. Yet look at the basket. It sure looks like it has much more mass than previous baskets. And it’s clearly wider where it connects to the pole and less aerodynamic. The removable basket is a great idea (as long as it doesn’t remove itself during a race). But if you want to truly minimize swing weight it seems that you should probably use lighter glue-on baskets.
Mike Trecker
January 12, 2010 at 12:51 pm

I’ve heard now that the above from mnfinnkidd is correct, 3cm or so. Yes, kind of a bummer.
T.Eastman
January 12, 2010 at 1:52 pm

Dang, I keep getting slower faster than the gear gets better…
Tim Kelley
January 12, 2010 at 2:08 pm

What is most comical about this Swix press release is the part about removing the paint from the pole to make it lighter. Some history: When carbon fiber poles first came out in the 70’s they were “raw”. The shafts were carbon composite and epoxy with NO paint, just a small sticker with the company name and logo on it. But then Swix started painting composite poles. Back then I wondered why they did that, because paint adds weight. Now 30 years later Swix gets the revelation: “Hey, let’s remove the paint from the pole to save weight!” That’s too funny.
kris freeman
January 12, 2010 at 2:58 pm

This pole really is an improvement. It feels just like the star only lighter and stiffer. I would be racing on it already except that swix hasn’t manufactured medium straps for the new grip yet.
lsiebert
January 12, 2010 at 4:02 pm

Good to hear from an athlete that has actually used it. Thanks Kris!
Cloxxki
January 12, 2010 at 6:01 pm

Could someone sum up the “failures” of the Force 10 please? I’ve come close to ordering them on sale.

Handling it in a shop, it felt way natural and powerful to me. I’m a big guy and supposedly athletic, need 175cm poles.
In bicycle handle bars, even MTB, I’ve found that angled-in wrists are definately worth it. The Force offers that.
See all the wide-swerving poles, even in V2alt, even from the best skier in the world? Such angle-in grips would reduce that directly. Imagine the air friction from swinging just 8 inches less outward all race. If pole weight adds up, friction does so even more.

I like the screw-on basket, for all the obvious reasons. I’ve found myself poking the gold course underneath through over a foot of snow in Davos, and found it to get old already the second time. Let alone all week. I’d surely carry a range of baskets, even on longer tours. What gets to me most of the baskets…what took them (all the pole brands) so long? Every garden hose in the world works this way. Most every house has such a connection for the washing machine. Great application of existing connection technology.

I wonder how this pole would compare to my Carbonlite. I ather have additional stiffness than lightness. I learned that from having Rossignol WorldCups.
lsiebert
January 12, 2010 at 9:16 pm

The force 10’s broke really easily, you couldn’t change out the handles at all, and their flat sides made them like sails in a sidewind.
ADS
January 13, 2010 at 1:12 am

The Force 10’s were also horrific in any sort of condition which involved cross-winds or winds coming in on an angle as the aerodynamic structure only benefited from wind head on. Cross-winds would catch the pole and pull them across your body behind you when you extended…IMO.
Cloxxki
January 13, 2010 at 2:55 am

I underestimated the wind thing, thanks.
fontana92
January 13, 2010 at 2:57 am

The Force10s are only bad and really heavy crosswinds. But even on a windy day, once you got in the trees, they’re fine. And they weren’t exceptionally fragile. I’ve owned two sets. They taken direct falls on them. The one pole I broke came from a collision with two skiers and multiple trees. I’ve broken OneWays with less.
lsiebert
January 13, 2010 at 8:22 am

Well a a OneWay will break with a strong double pole and an unfortunately timed gust of wind…
Tim Kelley
January 13, 2010 at 2:38 pm

The fact that Swix ever produced the Force 10 in the first place proves that Swix has a revolving door of engineers that are clueless to past ski industry product failures. In the early 80’s Concept II (makers of carbon fiber oars and ergometers) made a wing shaped carbon fiber ski pole for a year or two. But it didn’t catch on with racers because (surprise, surprise) … it was a sail in crosswinds. (It also had a basket that was part of the pole, so if you broke the basket you had to replace the entire pole … which was a dumb design move). It amazes me how the xc ski industry can so rarely come up with any genuinely new ideas. Their marketing departments keep rehashing old ideas with the hopes that people have forgotten that these ideas have been tried before, and failed. I bet Swix will again be coming out with paddle grips for ski poles by the next Olympics.
OldManWinter
January 14, 2010 at 12:18 pm

TK – Too funny! I wonder how many FS.com readers have even seen the Swix paddle grip. Now, new (or old) for this season, we have the high-end Salomon skate boot for (gasp) $450 that features a strap that Alpina added (then later removed) from their high-end skater almost two decades ago!
Swix paddle grips? If we’re going to dream, let’s dream big. My nominees include: 1) The original yellow & purple Salomon skate boot (ugly as sin, but imho the most comfortable boot ever produced) 2) The purplish Adidas skate boot (Want stability? How about a cuff that extends to nearly the top of your calf muscle?) 3) Any clear p-tex ski from the 80’s (my
favorite: the white & pink RCS. They were cold temp rockets.). Come to think of it, I would actually be willing to pay $700 for a ski that melts at a higher temp than the waxes I’m trying to use…
ksweeney
January 14, 2010 at 11:44 pm

The Triac will come in 2.5cm increments. You can cut basically as much as you want from the top of the pole. You can not / should not cut from the bottom.
Ben Arians
January 15, 2010 at 2:42 am

Thanks for the clarification, Sweeney, it’s funny how rumors get started. The poles looked and felt pretty sweet, I can see folks paying for them whereas I just laughed at the Force 10s. Interestly, I do think that the enamel paint on poles helps make them a little tougher, albeit heavier for sure. I’ve bashed on some Exel World Cups of mine pretty bad a few times in mass start races and been surprised that they held up, due to the fact that the carbon fibre wasn’t affected. And to all you readers out there in blog-land, Tim Kelley really isn’t as grumpy as he sounds, he’s actually a really nice guy (sorry Tim!).
mike62xc
January 24, 2010 at 11:14 am

Round is the stiffest thing you can do. I don t trust this new shape. I had a pair of Force 10 from swix and it broke during the first week…(: . Today I have a really stiff Oneway . the swing is fantastic. Same thing was with my old exel pole, the oval shaft broke with a first crash..
Mike Trecker
February 2, 2010 at 8:50 am

Much thanks Kevin, that only makes logical sense. Removing the grip and cutting from the top is the only way to go. I’m confused by Kris’ comment about the straps though. What makes the new grip different from the old grip as far as the straps are concerned? They look the same and I would think that Swix would be trying to make all their straps for any grip the same…