I know this thread is a bit off season, but I'm wanting to be serious about staying in shape this winter. I like running outside, but once it turns cold, I find I don't stay active enough to keep the lbs off, even if I try not to over-eat on holidays. Plus the roads don't stay ice-free consistently enough to keep a regular running schedule. I have a treadmill but it's been buried and I don't really like running on it. We have a snow mobile trail that runs right through our town and I intend to use it with cross country skis to keep the heart rate up while still getting outside.

I see skis for sale at pawn shops all the time (I'd like to keep the price down), so my main question is what kind of boot lock should I be looking for? OR does it matter. I see there are at least two different types of cross country ski boots, but if it doesn't matter, I figured I'd get the skis first, then order some boots on amazon or something.

Thoughts?

I was in your situation.  I was given a pair of classic skis and then purchased a pair of xcd skis both came with 3-pin bindings.  Then I found a pair of like new rossi backcountry 3-pin boots.  The rossi boots fit the voile bindings on the xcd skis however they don't fit the 3 pin on the classics, the duckbill is too thick.  Then I bought a third pair of skis,  another set of xcds.

If you arent skiing a groomed trail a wider xcd ski will do better.  I would recommend a waxless ski as well as you arent having to fuss with wax right away.

The xcd's I have are the madshus epoch bouth at play-it-again for @$200, and fisher s-bound 98's for $45 at a consignment store both came with voile 3-pin bindings with cables.

I am partial to the 3 pin because they are pretty bomb proof and offer more control.  Both can accept climbing skins however the s-bounds also have e-z skins that you can use if you need more traction.  Boots can be expensive even on the used market whitewoods are apparently pretty decent and low priced and will be able to help you decide if you want to stick with it or not.

Thanks for the advise!

I think the only grooming that gets done on the trail is once or twice a winter they run a packing trailer over it and the packing from the snow mobiles themselves. About what width constitutes a "wider" ski? Also, are bindings easy to replace or switch to a different style of binding?

Have you considered snowshoes? Equipment choice is simpler IMO, based only on your weight and the terrain you’ll be on. On groomed trails you can go a size or even 2 smaller than what you’d use off-trail. There’s nothing like breaking trail in fresh snow for a workout, plus it’s just more fun weaving between trees and over hills than following a busy trail. Snowshoes are less expensive since you don’t need special boots, and like they say if you can walk you can snowshoe. The learning curve is about 2 minutes if you use poles, less if you don’t. They’re definitely slower than skis, especially on downhills, but easy to just keep in the trunk or back seat for use whenever you see a promising place.

I've considered it as something to try, but not necessarily as a work out method. The trails really aren't that busy here. After a good snow, you'll have small groups of guys pass through every once in a while, but you could probably go an hour or more without any traffic on it. I'll consider it though. Thanks.

I am no where near an expert but I believe that 60mm is where it starts getting tight.the bindings are secured with screws.  The screw pattern is different with each binding.  If you switch styles just fill the old holes with epoxy.

Telemark talk is a good spot for xc ski questions.

I am swutching from snowshoes to skis.  After talking with multiple people they all said the same thing.  Skis will take you anywhere snowshoes will generally easier, especially up, if used in conjunction with skins.  I'm not getting rid of the snowshoes just adding to the quiver.

I’ve been contemplating XC skis for a while now, but in probably 80% of the places I go they wouldn’t be very practical due to how tight and switchbacked the trails are or trails being nonexistent. There are a lot of XC ski areas, though, and most of the golf courses groom out trails for them, too. They’re usually pretty busy, though, and while I’ve snowshoed there quite a few times (always off piste) my favorite thing is still heading directly into the trees or following game trails that are kinda tight for my 8x30 ‘shoes.