cuttin' em

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connyro
needs to take stock of his life
needs to take stock of his life
Posts: 1233
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:46 am

Re: cuttin' em

Post by connyro » Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:19 pm

Plastic heel lever on one of my Switchback bindings just broke off this weekend when engaging the heel throw. When I snapped it into place, it broke off the hand lever from impact on the boot(!). Weird, but that is the nature of all things plastic...the replacement is $10 so not a huge deal but it sucked when I was skiing all weekend and had to lever the heel throw from my boot using the screwdriver on my Leatherman every time I wanted to take the ski off.

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t-$
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Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: cuttin' em

Post by t-$ » Mon Feb 05, 2018 3:18 pm

hmmm,

seems like i'm not the only one to have some prob's w/ plastic? i guess i will have to start doing my bindings by hand, but i've just never had a problem with the drill.

so, taking some opinions. are there metal heel risers out there that would be better? if i am gonna pay for new ones i might as well get something that's more beefy. what is recommended, and can you buy these risers separately? i have looked at a few things but mostly seems like people cobbling together old bindings.



p.s. - what might one do if one wanted to add the option of a cable? are these omg things any good, and would the mount plate for those work with the bmd's 3p binding?? or am i better off making my own?

thanks for any input!!


HOLY shite! so i just went and looked at the OMG site to see what some options might be...are you f'n kidding me??? $150 for some plastic and steel rod (the partial heel kit)?? i know i'm cheap, but this is absolutely ridiculous. and i don't care if your friend designed them and spent 20 years doing r&d (aka, skiing). there is no way in hell that shit should cost that much. i thought the wax makers were bad... ok, getting off the box now...sorry...



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TomH
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Re: cuttin' em

Post by TomH » Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:43 pm

If you want a heel attachment, I would just add the heel tube that Burnt Mountain already offers for that binding, as it'd bolt right on - no idea on what that would cost though. I'm sure BMD also has replacement heels for a reasonable price. Otherwise if you're looking for an alternate, you really need to figure out the height and then shop around. If the height is right, I like 22-designs heels.



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t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: cuttin' em

Post by t-$ » Mon Feb 05, 2018 6:11 pm

yeah, i have sent the guy (louis?) an email earlier today...waiting to hear back. i'm sure the heels won't be a problem (i hope) but just looking at what some options are for this binding. this stuff is all new to me, so i am still reeling from info overload at this point. i've seen some really nice heel risers out there, but the kreutzspitze stuff i just can't do. too much moolah for something that i could shellack a decent hunk of oak and screw it on there. yeah, i would lose a wire lift option, but that's not too much of an issue in michigan (and if i was really bored and drunk i could probly design a simple one anyway). we don;t have mountains here, so not necessary. i think i might just go the carved hardwood option...kinda sounds fun!



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lilcliffy
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Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
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Re: cuttin' em

Post by lilcliffy » Sat Feb 10, 2018 9:21 pm

I'm afraid I am lost...

Why did you cut the tail off again?

Did you ski them before you cut them off?

Why wouldn't you get a shorter ski, if you wanted a shorter ski?
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



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t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: cuttin' em

Post by t-$ » Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:50 pm

ha! i'm lost myself, usually...

i cut the tails off cause they were actually wider than the tips by like 1-2 mm. i read a bunch of stuff on them and the concensus was they were a really crappy, jittery, and somewhat dangerous ski. so i just decided to make the tails thinner by removing the wide parts :)

no, i didn't ski them before i cut them. i got the chance to take em out on saturday, but i only got like maybe 2 laps on them and by that point in the day i was in full on drunk mode. i really can't tell you how they ski!! they must be more or less alright cause i made it down on em just fine. what i do need to get figured out are those plastic boots. had them on for just those runs and my feet are destroyed. they fit ok, but the bones on the mid, outside of my feet are both killing me. i was doing some duckwalking in them (cause i didn't put any wax on them) and i think doing that in plastic is a no-no. at least for me and these boots.

so, yeah, i'm more or less happy to use those skis for a minute. i had some problems getting into the bindings also. without brakes its a little tough with the ski sliding around on me. and then you really have to push down hard to get them to engage. but once in them i felt good. like i said though, i was pretty schnockered at that point.



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