Poster: A snowHead
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Last night I was shown a pair of last season's skis with Fritschi Daimir freeride bindings. The owner was concerned about the amount of up and down motion at the heel and thus side to side rocking of their boot.
I thought it would be boot heel wear but realised that the hold down that clamps the whole binding at the rear was so badly worn that there was over 1/8" of up and down play in the rear of the binding plate.
I then realised that the new binding had just plastic rubbing on plastic and went to look at some older Fritschi Daimirs on a well used my own skis. What did I see.. A steel pin running in a pair of steel slots. still tight as a duck's ***.
This morning I visited the local ski touring shop and YES! all the Frischis models now rub plastic on plastic at that point, none have a metal part(s) in the heel hold down. I looked at two pairs on skis that are new this year and could already see scouring and wear in the plastic.
So it looks like their beancounters at Fritschi have cheapened the manufacturing process to the point where yet another great touring binding system has potential problems. I wonder how much they saved per pair of bindings... 5Sf?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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colinmcc, prompted by your post I took my Dynastar 4x4's with Titanal II bindings (circa. 2001?) out of the cupboard. Sure enough the heel fixing is plastic on plastic, but there is no visible sign of wear. Am I not carving tight enough arcs? If this design has been around for at least 3 years did the guys in the shop reckon that this was a frequent problem?
I'm about to buy a new pair of touring skis. Is there a realistic alternative to Fritschi?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Mine are plastic and are fine. They are set on DIN 11 and get real abuse!
Fritschi are the only real choice as far as I can make out for hard downhill stretches...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Alan,
There probably isn't any other alternative to the Fritschi range especially if you want to use them as on piste bindings too. The naxo binding is well used here in Canada and although they had a problem with broken toe pieces last season they swear it is now fixed.
If you clamp your ski in a vice and put the boot in the binding, then push the boot shaft forward, is there a gap under the two rubber 'feet' that sit under the stopper? When new these sit tight on the ski and stabilise the boot/ binding/ski when the ski is put on edge. In the pair I was looking at it was possible to slide a 4mm thick ski wax scraper between the feet and the ski, with the ski clamped firmly and the scraper removed the heel moved up and down that amount.
In deep snow this wouldn't be a major problem, but on the piste I'd say it was unacceptable. They had a great binding when it first came out with a metal pin in a metal slot so there could be no wear, and the heel hold down remains tight, the only reason to have replaced that is cost/corner cutting. A big shame in my opinion.
Powderhound, I'm glad you're into ski abuse, I just bust a second pair this season, welcome to the club! We have had rain to mountain top this week and now -10 so it is boilerplate everywhere... Forcasting a big fall at the weekend though..
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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colinmcc, it's probably me but I don't appear to have rubber feet under the stopper; there is a light grey plastic fitting there and that does appear to be tight to the ski.
Powderhound, further to your "hints" on the other thread I have decided to go for the B3's, on the basis that I already have a "medium fat" in the 1080's. Since these new ones will only be used for backcountry stuff it seemed worth a try!
I'll let you know in January if it was the right decision!
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Alan Craggs, A good choice by all accounts. And I am of a similar opinion, but just like the look of the Tankers! Also, if you enjoy the 1080s then the B3 will be of the right characteristic for you, I am too heavy and strong for the 1080 and had to ditch my B2s for being too wet, but will test the B3s anyway cos they look good and skied well the last time I used them, a couple of years ago.
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So, you think the 1080 would be reasonable for a reasonable woman skier?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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TT? Yup, that's a girls car.. you need an A6 2.8 quattro like mine
I was on my Zags at the weekend and thinking how much fun that sort of thing was. I find the PR's and 1080's have a little too much flex for me. Easiski was saying how she liked the Scratch and it made me think about 1080's for Mrs Ise. There's plenty about I think.
My only reservation is how the Scratch or 1080 would handle on ice for he? My Zags are OK but are a handful on crappy glacier ice.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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ise, Agreed on the TT front. My Golf ABT Quattro is far more user-friendly, but being upgraded to an RS4 in the New Year! And she's using it because she is happy going slower than me (not the case if I am stuck here though!).
My experience of these skis on ice is that they are not great. Designed for the park and so have a lot of twist meaning they don't hold well at all. Any ski is a compromise in certain conditions, there is no all-round ski that can handle everything well I'm afraid. Although I do love my Volkl Vertigo G4s....!!!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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RS4 !!! That's a seriously cool car...... I'd not want to leave that in a ski station car park.
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ise, Hence having underground parking at the flat in Verbier! And the TT for the days locally...
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Discussions evolve just like they do in real life and threads spin off at tangents. It's what makes this such a good forum.
Happy Christmass!!
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