 Poster: A snowHead
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Has anybody got any experience of the wider Yak model, with forward facing brakes? I think they were called 'Phat Boys' last year......... which tells the community bit about the OP. 
http://www.fixation-plum.com/products-page/serie-yak-2/plum-yak-115/?lang=en
Have they designed their brakes like that because of a Dynafit patent?
I've seen Plum Guides with retro fit rearward pointing breaks but the Yak has a stomp bung where the break would mount. The forward facing breaks seen a bit weird to me but I might just be resisting innovation. If it doesn't effect the performance then I've got no problem with it but would be nice to have some first hand experience.
Thanks in advance.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yep, Dynafit have the patent on the heel mounted brake so Plum have had to go for a toe mounted brake. The forward facing unit looks scary & overly complicated. Not sure how much it actually 'cams in' when a boot's installed as otherwise is could easily catch.
The benefit of a wider mounting plates is all in the mind as in reality it makes no difference - the important thing for power transmission is the quality of the mount, the lay-up quality of the ski & the torsion stiffness of the ski. Wider base plates are just touted as a benefit by the marketing boys. The Pivot/FKS heel is widely acknowledged as one of the best, if not the best, alpine heels on the market yet is has by far the smallest mounting footprint both in width & length on the market. The wider mounting plate on the Yak is actually just a riser plate underneath the original narrow base so there's still the mechanical connection there anyway.
The wider mounting plate reduces the high delta angle of the regular binding which for most people is a good thing but that can be easily achieved with the Dynafits by using a using plexi/plastic shims for just a few quid.
The Yak with brakes is well over a £100 more expensive than a Radical ST/FT. On the Yak you can swap out the brakes (they're captive on the Radicals) but they're over £100 a pair & you can get a spare pair of Radical heel base/brake plates for less than that & just swap the heel turrets over.
Plum Yak is 1200g/pair. Radical ST 1070g/pair. Radical FT 1198g/pair but no-one fits the useless connecting bridge so that reduces the weight to 1102g/pair.
The Radical toe piece with it's new patented side towers is much easier to click-in. You get an additional climbing bar height on the Dynafit heel.
The Plum bindings are certainly beautifully finished with a certain bling factor. IIRC when they were originally launched they were touted as being machined from solid (ie a forged billet) but I'm 99% sure they're machined from a casting - nowt wrong with that but it's no different than Dynafit.
Yes I sell Dynafit bindings but I only started with them after the Plums were launched so I evaluated both before deciding which to carry. I couldn't quite see what the benefits of Plum were as they're making an old design which is both heavier/dearer than the original & from the issues they've had no more durable. I've always had the feeling that a few years ago they were looking at the forthcoming expiring Dynafit patents & thought we can build that better/cheaper etc & but the reality has been somewhat different.
Nuff said 
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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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Cheers Jon, very helpful mate, thank you. I agree with all. The financial argument might not be relevant due to decent discount. Maybe.
Has anybody actually used them day to day?
Some diehards tech guys may say why the need for brakes? = leashes.
Don't particularly want to ski a freeride ski with leashes. Not so much of an issue if you're touring low incline glaciated terrain but a slope with any sort of avy risk is a no no and the pain of bending over to clip in on a steep exposed slope I can do without. What do you think happens to the tip of the ski when it releases in a fall? It spins on the leash's connection point and clocks you right in the mush. I've had a fair few instances during my tele days when this was the case with leases. 
But the Plum forward facing brakes look frightening.
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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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We carry Plum, just as an argument alterntive, believe it or not, there are Dynafit haters out there that buy Plum for that SOLE reason. We've had Plum Failures, proper breakages in all areas. I've used them for a few years now, and to be honest the brakes are really just helpful when clicking into skis. The new brake system works, perhaps better than it looks, but it is a real odd way to skin this cat, albeit the thinking is limited due to Dynafit's system patent. They're pretty, need mouting correctly are are for me the second best system out there. Noises coming out of Plum suggest that we may see the end of the company, as it is currently running, think a buy out is on the cards. the development of bindings is sadly, at the moment, way behind that of boots, but it's all in the pipeline. 2015/16 will be the next big evolution of this range of products.
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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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