Mine always skipps when i am just riding about, but never whilest trialsing.
Mine is stiff aswell, makes your cranks spin when walking along side your bike, hitting you in the calfs :) But you can't feel it on your bike, untill you get on a bike with a different setup and it just glides...........weeeeeee.
But the match points are great, and its strength seems to be ok. Feels much more solid than an ACS.
B)