Fritschi Tecton Toe Lever Problem

A snowHead

The toe lever on one of my wife's Fritschi Tectons started to play up on our recent trip. It was fine for the first 2 or 3 days, then after lunch one day the lever wouldn't click down and stay in the 'step-in' position prior to clipping in. She could still get in to the binding by holding the lever down with her pole, while she got the toe pins engaged. The lever then sat quite happily in the 'ski' position and she could pull it up to the 'walk' position no problem.

This problem then disappeared overnight, presumably due to the binding warming up. It didn't seem to be ice causing the problem, it seemed like the mechanism just couldn't tolerate getting cold. Happy to be corrected on that though. I'm wondering if it needs some grease / some other servicing work. Any other Tecton users come across this or have any advice?

A snowHead

@RobMcQ, Interesting, not heard of that one. But only yesterday, I had a 'momentary loss of stability' and when I picked myself up, I could see the toe binding had one jaw in the open position and one on an 'overclosed' position if you will, ie it was further over than it would have been in the locked into boot position. I was staring at it thinking Mmm when a friendly pisteur stopped and I pointed it out thinking it was broken. But a hefty Savoyarde thumb put it back into place for me. Asking around last night, it seems that things can get out of kilter (can't remember the words used) with the toe bindings so maybe is part of a similar problem. But it did have a lot of snow forced into its delicate parts, so maybe this was it. I know they recommend putting silicone grease on the well under the brake pad to stop that filling with frozen snow, preventing the brake lifting up when you step into it. Tigski is a bit of a wizard with these things I'll give him a nudge..

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I'm certainly not an expert, but was an early adopter of the Tecton. I previously had the Vipec with a similar/earlier version of the Tecton toepiece. I did occasionally have the problem described above with the Vipec toepiece and the only way I could sort it out when skiing was to clear as much snow/ice out of the mechanism as possible and move it by hand between the step-in setting and walk mode until it behaved. Quite tricky in some situations! It was only an issue in very cold weather. Another problem I have experienced with both bindings is the brakes sticking. I think icing up is again the problem. The use of a silicone spray into the areas liable to icing has resolved the problems for the last few years and I have great confidence in using the bindings. Hopefully the use of silicone is not causing any long term issues and someone on the forum with more knowledge than me could perhaps advise.

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@chocksaway, @Tigski, Thanks. I think I need to work out if I can get some grease into that lever mechanism.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I have had the same issue with the toe piece and brakes.

I found that scraping away the smallest bit of ice buildup at the very front of the toe piece (where the binding meets the ski) solved the toe piece issue. The smallest bit of ice was preventing me from engaging step in mode.

My main issue I have had is with the heel piece.
I had issues with the heel piece not completely clicking into place when setting it to walk mode, which was preventing the brakes from locking down. The heel piece would almost get into its vertical position, but won't click into place. It works fine when it's dry and not on the snow, so I'm assuming it's due to buildup of snow and ice.

Can anyone recommend what silicone product to use in the areas where the buildup is preventing the heel piece from correctly engaging walk mode?

Thanks dudes!

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@BennyDouk, Welcome to Snowheads!
I can’t remember what brand mine is, it’s in France and I’m not! But it came from SuperU.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Awesome!
Thank you, I'll look into what they have available.

After all it is free

@BennyDouk, I was advised to use this bike grease on my Fritschi Tectons by the technician at Anything Technical in Kendal (UK distributors for Fritschi) when I had them serviced this year https://www.sprocketscycles.com/products/motorex-bike-grease-2000-100g

I had a similar problem earlier in the season with getting the heel piece fully into walk mode (or it popping back out of walk mode and the brakes coming down). It seemed to be caused by ice clogging things up. No problems on a later trip after a liberal application of the grease!

That's a huge help @CathS, thanks so much.
I'm taking them for another spin next week, so will give that a go!

Going to pack a toothbrush as well just in case I need to get in there and manually remove ice.

Cheers!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@RobMcQ, @chocksaway, @Tigski, @BennyDouk, @CathS,

Would love to hear from other Tecton users. I’ve had Tectons for a couple of years on my touring/powder skis and I am starting to dislike them after a couple of scenarios where I have struggled to clip back in into the toes after having fallen in knees deep and sticky powder on steep pitches. I’ve sometimes struggled with clipping into toes even on flat especially when I think about it too much or trying to rush. Also had a runaway ski in last powder fall when brakes stuck (one of the toe “arms” was stuck in an extended /release position and had to push it back in place). I am thinking to ditching them and going back to Salomon Shifts where pins are not in use in ski mode (majority of use). Anyone else experience difficulties aligning the boot and binding with to clip in, particularly in difficult situations? Any tips are appreciated.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I have been using Fritshi Vipecs and Tectons for seven or eight years now, and have never had a serious problem with them in the field. I recognise the problem with the toe piece not opening fully either when clipping in or when trying to release. This is always due to snow accumulating underneath the toe lever, and can be resolved by clearing snow from this area.

I experience the problem with the brakes not deploying also, this can be resolved by spraying the area where the metal brake part hinges into the plastic heel piece with silicone spray.

As with any touring binding it is a good idea to spray all the moving metal parts with silicone spray occasionally.

snow reports

@Ozboy, I still have the same opinion as my origial post a couple of years ago . @john2, above has had a similar length of experience and deals with potential issues in the same way. (We've never met as far as I know).

I use my Tectons mounted on Navis freebirds as my normal every day ski through the season. Not the ideal choice on some piste days but I love the lightweight feel. I do occasionally have the boot alignment issue and it is frustrating when it happens, made worse if others are waiting! For me it's always the first ski I try to put on so I simply, where practical, switch to the other foot and that always seems to work.

I've found the same issue with the toe piece alignment.

I find it helps to keep your boot at about a 30° angle when stepping into the binding as opposed to stepping in with your foot flat. This seems to engage the locking mechanism better. I still have some clumsy moments doing this though. Everything had to line up pretty perfectly for it to work.

The toe piece mechanism can get a bit sticky and that is due to snow or ice build up where the binding meets the ski... underneath the lever, hopefully Nat makes sense.

I also had issues with the brakes not staying locked down due to the rear binding not completely engaging into walk mode... this is caused by snow buildup in the hard to reach gaps in heel of the binding. I get around this successfully by cycling the heel piece in and out of ski, open and walk mode 5 to 6 times by hand. This seems to release any built up snow/ice so that the heel then moves correctly into walk mode.

Bit finicky but once you get the routine of it down pat it becomes second nature and I have had no more issues since taking these steps Smile

Hope that helps!

You know it makes sense.

@Ozboy, A couple of years more use for us and still love the Tectons as an all round lightweight binding. Silicon spray seems to have fixed the toe piece issue that my wife was having. I have the occasional failed attempt to get the toe pins properly engaged, but it's never become an issue. I jut spend an extra few seconds making sure I've got everything lined up the second time around and it all seems to work fine.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

As with any tech binding, I think it's a good idea to bang it into ski mode whenever you take it off: clears / prevents snow build up. The tecton toes do sometimes bung up a bit - repeated cycling of the toes tends to work for me.

Help!!

Fritschi Tecton Toe Lever Problem

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