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That sounds absolutely brutal. One of our employees just had a month off due to stones. Sounds miserable. Yeah the lack of elevation in my immediate area makes for good endurance baseline training where you need long rides with a consistent heart rate. I use my road bike (and peleton in winter) to build that foundational endurance. Get plenty of climbing on the mtb.

Just saw Herf's FB story and he's got the side panels off his Soo mod... belt drive and all. Oh and ADAPT primary and BOSS secondary too.

At the end of the video the vbox times suggest the 858 bests that highly modified ZR8000 in everything but top speed.

The last time I gave the stock Cat ski a chance was when I got my 998 turbo. Threw some Stud Boy shapers on there and sent it. That setup is good in very specific trail conditions only imo..they're just not a versatile ski. Mashed potatoes or fluff? Forget about it. Put Mohawks on with a shaper and it was huge how much harder you could hustle that pig through the corners in any condition.

It was a Procross 4 stroke that Paul Brown was riding too.

If a market is stale (like the sled industry), then you can make money by stealing marketshare (innovating) and/or increasing margins (pretending you're innovating and/or reducing manufacturing costs). You decide which combination favors long term viability vs short term profit.

So I got my Catalyst skid out and compared the IFP front track shock that came on my ATAC sled to the AC5S I'm replacing it with. There is no obvious stiffness difference between them when the AC5S is in position 3, and the AC5S feels softer in 1 and 2. I came to this conclusion unscientifically by simply cycling them against the floor with one in each hand...they seem most comparable at setting 3. Both shocks needed about 50-60 lbs of force to get them moving. I measured this a basic bathroom scale.

Had this playing in the background for awhile. He's clearly impressed with the sled (and so am I!). He does a really good job of qualifying his opinions and not preaching. I vehemently disagree with the stock ski praise...to his credit I do think the R-XC version comes with a single carbide runner vs the std staggered 4" which likely helps...but what I really think is showing here is the new front suspension on the Catalyst really is that good. From cornering precision, to bump steer, steering effort, etc. It just works better than the Procross IMO. But that ski is a typical Cat generic "good enough" stock equipment and would certainly be outmatched in basically any scenario by the Camso Ice Arrowhead 130 currently installed on my 858. Secondary clutch for sure needs attention as the Textron scrooges felt a one size ( a big and steep size!) fits all approach was best. Light, rigid, predictable, yet super fun. I don't regret the purchase whatsoever. The Cat engineers being strangled by Textron Corporate still managed to put out a phenomenal product

I have an AC5S front track shock on the bench right now, waiting to replace the basic front skid shock that came on my ATAC. It doesn't seem overly stiff to me and as Palu said, the 5 adjustments are very distinct. There are some grumblings about the sno pro ride quality though so I suspect the rear track shock may be the culprit if true.

I installed that track from day 1 on my 858. Definitely very impressed so far (300 miles on the sled) and I've always used traditional push through style studs on all my sleds.

"Affordable" sleds have existed forever but they're never the top sellers. IMHO most people who bitch about the cost of a new sled will never buy a new one anyway. What they are talking about at that time stamp doesn't actually drive business to the company (outside of initial sale) or create repeat revenue. A cheap, dead nuts reliable sled that never needs fixing/parts and lasts forever doesn't make any money. Innovation has always driven the game, and that's exactly what Textron refused to bankroll.

Already have more miles on my 858 than I put on all of last year. Finally releasing the Catalyst into the worst winter in recent memory combined with an economy in shambles is about the worst case possible scenario for a comeback tour for Arctic Cat.