Spent the past four days in Rogers Pass using a new set of the Geckos. I cut them for a narrower ski than I was using (6mm underfoot difference), but still considered them to work fine. Adhesion (ski/skin) was as if I was still using my BD Ascensions, glide was significantly better, snow/skin traction was solid in the the relatively mild temps we experienced.
I've run all my skins without tailclips for years and chose the same approach with the Geckos. Four days is a small sample set to work from, but there was no indication that it was going to be a problem to run these clipless either.
Evidence of a little more wear than I would have expected from crossing over a couple tree branches, but I'd agree with the initial review 4.5/5.
Got mine out of Europe for ~$180CDN to my door.
Feb. 25 Update
A few K Country days followed by another 7 days of use in Selkirk powder.
Wear concerns are increasing as the edges are fraying more than expected. So far I haven't experienced the 'glue' sticking to the ski issue that the next poster (joelf) refers to – despite the fact that I've executed the cardinal sin of leaving my skins on the skis for days between uses. A couple nasty uptracks resulted in the last 15cms or so flopping around (I'm still running without tail attachments), but it never got any worse over the course of the next hour of climbing on either occasion.
My wife is on a set too – she's loving the fact that it's not a wrestling match for her each time she goes to mount them on her skis, but more surprising to me was the fact that she commented on how comparitively (again versus BD Ascensions) lightweight they are – this from someone who'd rather suffer with equipment shortcomings than spend ANY money on new alternatives!
My rating remains the same 4.5/5.
January 2013 Update
Rating has plummetted courtesy of the adhesive material slowly abandoning the skin and sticking to the ski - the result is that after ~75 days of use I've abandoned them and gone back to a different brand. Hope that it's an isolated case, but I'm not holding my breath.
We'll see how/if the warranty service provides any satisfaction.
Updated rating 1/5.
The adhesive on the Geckos is a rubbery compound that works by sticking to smooth, flat surfaces only. The skin does adhere to itself, though the effort required to pull your the two sticky interfaces apart is far easier than any type of traditional glue skin. The make up of this adhesive has not been advertised, but the words 'molecular fusion' have been floating around various online discussions. The closest description I think of is the patch of rubbery glue that magazine publishers use to stick Cds and booklets onto the front of their publications. When you peel that yellow strip off the magazine it leaves no residue, you can screw it up into a ball and then unfurl it again. It sticks to flat things and doesn't get contaminated with hair, dust and other inconveniences, such as snow.
