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It doesnt hold MORE edge, it just holds different edge. Instead of sliding and THEN catching edge, like the usual parabolic ski, it initiates the turn immediately, rather then having a drag. The drag is necessary for ski racing because of how they must go around gates so sharply. If the Magnetraction DOESNT work, then the ski still has exceptional edge grip from my experience... As for rails, out of the few I did, they felt perfectly fine and I never caught onto anything. I dont know whether that was luck, or not, but, it was alright.
As for it going slower than a straight edge ski? Are you talking about straightskis of old or the twintips we have today... because if you havent noticed, any ski you see today does NOT have a straight edge.. it is in fact a big elliptical curve. So your saying the edge will slow it down is based on there just being a bunch of smaller curves? Remember dude.. the edge of a ski is only effective if the ski is ON edge.. if you're just straightlining it, the bases pretty much take over..
I did occur a couple of problems with it though. (Note: I was on the NAS park series with a 85 underfoot) First off, its kinda inconsistant in its flex. Its stiffer in the tail and quite a bit more flexy in the tip. Then, sometimes, especially when I tried it on that icy day, it tended to catch and drag tail pretty bad.. which I reckon could really mess you up if you cant recover from a deviation like that. So, there are definitely some flaws, but with a little R&D taht could be helped.
Either way, you MUST remember... this technology has only been around for like 3 years, and predominately on snowboards. Yes, there are the skis... but only a few people such as myself have experienced them. You look back to the late 90's early 2000's when racers were transitioning from straight skis to parabolic... it was chaos dude. That was like 5 years after the first parabolics by Elan were marketed.. half the skiers didnt believe in the technology, half the skiers were on it. Racing is EXTREMELY traditional, and to deviate from the norm in a sport like that is like amending the U.S. constitution...
Who knows, with a little R&D work and some big bucks, it could be the way of the future.
You'll just have to try them man.