22 Designs Vice/AXLE limitations.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 7:59 pm
Last season I switched from long term use of various NTN setups back to duckbills. It took a few runs to regain my bearings but ultimately I vastly preferred my duckbill setup and the NTN is now somewhere deep cryo storage.
My first "back to duckbill" setup was 160cm Racetiger World Cup SLs with Vice bindings pinned to the 3rd most active setting. Initially the things were a blast, but when visiting my nephew in Maine I discovered two problems with the setup.
My nephew is an alpine racer but is starting to get a thing for double black bump runs, which in my youth was my main fare on tele (mogul runs; I grew up in Steamboat, which is really the only thing it is known for besides occasion great powder). So we are skiing at Sunday River on a 50 degree slush day and he wants to hit this long, super deeply developed, steepish bump run. I'm like "sure." And I'm thinking I'm going to destroy him on it. Ten turns in trying to zipper I'm cussing like a sailor. Two problems, the skis are too short and I'm catching the tips under the bindings. But the real bugger was that I kept losing my skis. They would just come off. It took some figuring but the cause was that in the VICE most active setting when I would impact the troughs, and deep knee drop, the boot would lever itself out of the toe bales. Since then I've learned to live with and love the bindings in their 2nd position setting and haven't lost a ski since.
I know one other TT member who ran into this problem. Anyone else?
My first "back to duckbill" setup was 160cm Racetiger World Cup SLs with Vice bindings pinned to the 3rd most active setting. Initially the things were a blast, but when visiting my nephew in Maine I discovered two problems with the setup.
My nephew is an alpine racer but is starting to get a thing for double black bump runs, which in my youth was my main fare on tele (mogul runs; I grew up in Steamboat, which is really the only thing it is known for besides occasion great powder). So we are skiing at Sunday River on a 50 degree slush day and he wants to hit this long, super deeply developed, steepish bump run. I'm like "sure." And I'm thinking I'm going to destroy him on it. Ten turns in trying to zipper I'm cussing like a sailor. Two problems, the skis are too short and I'm catching the tips under the bindings. But the real bugger was that I kept losing my skis. They would just come off. It took some figuring but the cause was that in the VICE most active setting when I would impact the troughs, and deep knee drop, the boot would lever itself out of the toe bales. Since then I've learned to live with and love the bindings in their 2nd position setting and haven't lost a ski since.
I know one other TT member who ran into this problem. Anyone else?