Marker bindings

A snowHead

is there any difference between the bindings listed on this page http://www.sport-conrad.com/index.asp ?disp=kategorie&kat_id=40&art1=70005109?
Is it worth paying for the more expensive ones? specifically is it worth paying for the m14 over the m12 or 11.

A snowHead

The link doesn't work for me.

It used to be the case that it was always best to try and get your normal DIN setting in the middle of the DIN range... so if you were a 9 a 6 to 12 binding is perfect.

Some people, especially Americans for some reason hate Marker bindings. I however have never had a bad experience with them.

The difference is mainly in the springs, but in some cases higher DIN bindings are made from better quality materials based, this is due - higher DIN = heavier and / or more aggressive skier. And therefore I would recommend getting the higher DIN versions providing your DIN is still on the dial...

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

Link should work now, i'd included the question mark in the link when making the post quickly, anyway thanks for the advice parlor.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Yah, Marker is part of the Technica / Volkl / Marker massive.

They've had a pasting.

They've listened hard.

New bindings = very good.

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I bought the 12, as it seems to be identical to the 14, bar the DIN springs. The 11 has a different toe piece and seems as much cheaper construction. Keep in mind that the MARKER free series has lower standing height than the Look binding, available from them - higher standing lets you edge faster, lower is better in deeper snow.
I've never had a problem with Markers before, and it seems to me that most people bashing on them over at TGR have never skied one

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

Never had a problem with the Markers I've skied over the years.

I've brought Marker this time round

After all it is free

I've skied marker bindings for as long as I can remember - never once had any problems. My family has used all sorts of marker bindings from very low din probably only 2.5 (so long ago can't recall exactly - right up to comp 20's which as you might expect go up to 20 din. Never been used on more than 15 though and that was for downhill racing. Can't recall ever needing to complain.

sugardaddy - the construction basically gets "tougher" the higher the din setting and as you say changes around the 11 -12 area.

my current marker 12s have been great, only had one small issue of unexplained releasing on one trip, but got it sorted that day and never had it again.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I have been using Markers for 20 years and have never had an issue -
I started using them when I was an assistant coach on the British team so have tested them side slipping the rutted iced up Streif in Kitzbuhel (only place on the circuit that I ever bothered to sharpen the edges) and free skiing world over and have never experienced pre release.
Used to have 24 DIN (World Cup)bindings when I was young and fit but now I have 14's set to 10 as dont' do anything too mental anymore. As advised by Parlor best performance from any binding is to set it to the middle of its DIN/ISO range.

If you are fitting the bindings ensure you use someone experienced (my shop in Harrogate if you like!!! not sure if I'm aloud to mention business name so will resisit this time) Also has anyone else noticed that on a few of the K2 skis the fit between Marker bingings and ski is really poor.(alot of play) We serviced a couple of pairs this spring and wasn't impressed. The Volkl Marker combination is superb if buying Ski and Binding.

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Jonners, welcome to snowHead

snow reports

All ski / binding systems suck.

You know it makes sense.

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

This thread touches on something I was tempted to post on myself. I can see the wisdom in the above comments re: construction and binding range, but I still think bindings are a subject that seem to get much more said about them than I would expect. At the end of the day they hold the boot to the ski. Depending on what you do - I guess, touring, piste skiing, ski jumping....maybe one or two others there should be maybe 4-5 different types, but within each type they all must function in more or less the same way. All the skis could theoretically feel different ergo, there could be a reason for them to generate huge amounts of discussion. However, is there really that much to choose between the bindings?

Personally I'm pleased that my skis came with their own built in binding system, I wouldn't have had a clue what to have asked for had my skis been empty planks!!.

A snowHead

Jonners, evenin' Mr McG wink

A snowHead

Sadly we were very quiet today in the shop and the Marker bindings topic caught my attention. I have been meaning to contribute for a while.
Back to subject -
Bindings are always overlooked and never reviewed in any ski test.
It is a vital bridge between boot and ski.
No point buying skis with great good old sidewalls if you don't have a binding to transfer the pressure directly down onto that edge.
I guess you need to be careful as to whose advice you take due to skiers wanting a few different things from a binding.
If you ski very hard (genuinely ie. race/big mountain etc) you don't want release until you really hit hard or the rest who should be focused on safety.
However Ski Sunday should run a race each week like Top Gear do with the Suzuki Leana and use the worst pair of skis and bindings on the market.
Who dare suggest which ones they are - I don't want to burn any bridges with suppliers however a french brand would be my first choice.

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

I like the thinking.

But is it the binding interface systems at fault usually, or the bindings themselves?

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Megamum, at the end of the day it's a great discussion point really. Bindings get the blame as much as ski technicians when people have accidents and the bindings don't come off. You would have thought that it would have been quite straight forward to actually get a binding, that as you say just holds your boot to the ski... some bindings do this better than others...

For instance, when you hear us talk about 'slop', or the amount of movement in the actually binding itself before it starts to transfer the movement to the ski. I don't want any slop. I move my knee, which moves my foot, which through my boot should should move the ski. Sadly sometime the binding gets in the way and decides how much movement my ski should actually get. I hate it, you might not have even noticed, yet.

Also release consistency is a massive factor. I ski with my bindings set between 12 and 16 depending on which bindings I'm skiing, where I'm skiing and how I'm skiing. When I'm skiing very hard there are occasions when loosing a ski could be VERY bad, even if I fall over or land a jump badly. This is very true of DH racers, who need their skis to stay on at very high speeds on very bumpy courses but then come off at that exact second that means they won't need their leg amputated if they do crash and the binding doesn't come off. : Shocked

So like F1 fans discussing engines and tyres. Skiers discuss bindings. snowHead

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Just remembered last season when Austrian Matthias Lanzinger lost his lower leg due to a non release. This accident does seem very unlucky as the gate isn't a hard enough object to hit and once his leg broke on impact with the ground it had no chance of putting any leverage on the binding. Think it was a Salomon binding but that doesn't have much relevance. It is popular with downhillers because they don't pre release. I can remember in the early nineties when I worked on the circuit servicemen at the start hut always re-tightening bindings until they could pressure the spring no further. Sadly I think he was very unlucky. Click on the following to watch if you dare - seriosly if you are a nervous skier do not watch.
After watching I bet a few who really crank the DIN up might loosen off a little!

youtube.com/v/sj-N9n6esuQ

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Jonners, that was who I was thinking when I wrote my post. I think a lot of snowHead

have watched, or had a chance to watch that tragic video. It turned my stomach the first time I saw it, and I shan't watch it again...

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

Jonners,

Can you narrow it down?

Are they currently French (in name only), originally French, or perhaps, as I last heard , French and in voluntary liquidation?

We must be told!

After all it is free

Jonners, Lanzinger obviously on Fischer skis, looks like matching bindings, but I suppose that could be just a paint job to make them look the same?

robboj, They were Fischer (Tyrolia) bindings.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

What is also critical is whether the binding actually releases at it's stated adjustment & in each release mode. This is were I often see a difference between the models & I've often seen inconsistency in the lower model Marker toe pieces that doesn't appear in the higher models.

Today I tested a pair of M11 bindings on a pair of female specific ski. The heels released at spot on their stated DIN of 5. The toe pieces when set at 5.5 actually released on 7! To get them both to release at an average 5.5 I had to adjust one toe piece to 4 & the other to 4.5. However both the toe pieces released at 5 to the left & 6 to the right to give the average of 5.5. This is not a one-off & I've seen this several times.

My testing has proved to me that a high quality binding will work equally consistently wherever it's adjusted to within it's range & that a lower quality binding is equally inconsistent throughout it's range of adjustment, even when set to the mid-range.

Lanzinger's binding has come in for critisism but as his leg was already broken, probably from the impact with the gate, there was no resistance to act against the binding & release it, especially at the high setting that he'd be using.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Hello again Spyderjon, Ihave just checked your website and you are not who I thought you were-sorry.

snow reports

Its Jonners, Was it a Nottingham guy you're thinking of? There was a local AT trained guy who set up in 06 but soon disappeared.

Yes - he used to work for a store which closed and then set himself up in his garage.

Good to see you tuning by hand - you will probably already know but all World Cup service guys do everything by hand.
We have invested in a machine as customers do tend to have more damage than myself or a racer say but we do polish off edge's and do side edge by hand.

When I add a workshop section to my site I will have to give you a link.

You know it makes sense.

Help!!

Marker bindings

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