I do a lot of climbing with light cable bindings and find that on steep stuff I miss not having heel risers more than not having free pivot. The higher and stiffer my boots are the more I need free pivot. cool, well right now my eyes are on the Voile Hardwire which does have heel risers. the conclu...

thanks to everyone for your contributions here! some very nice, detailed information that i appreciate greatly. Theme yeah i dunno why I thought the XP-12 was so much heavier, perhaps it just "feels" heavy compared to the Free? But looking at the numbers, I'm clearly wrong, theyre in a similar range...

I am surprised that you can get the Free on your foot at all @aclyon; It is quite narrow and tight fitting on my feet, and toe pinch is just mm away from being a problem with even my rather standard/slim feet. Otherwise it is very precise and supportive, so I too really like the boot concept. It fe...

telerat Sorry I meant the Voile Traverse, which is $195 new on Voile's website. Transit is not relevant here since I am no where near putting together an NTN/TTS setup. I don't think my Free's are defective-- I think my super wide hobbit feet just really stress out that lacing system. On my Fischer...

There's also a giant amount of used boots to choose from in the 75mm (and NNN-BC) universe, and I live in a ski town with lots of second hand shops around. So much more choices than what you list. Also I find all 3 of the boots you list totally capable for downhill. So for the record-- i have extens...

Well, my whole objective (which I didn't really mention in my OP) is that I want a system, downhill oriented, where I can choose between soft or hard boots. 75mm is the only system that allows for this. NTN-- one day, for a truly steep and deep setup, yes. But I really don't like spending those kind...

The Voile 3-Pin Hardwire lets you climb without the cable attached, though the duckbill is still clamped down, so you're still flexing the boot every stride rather than pivoting it. (This may not be the worst thing in the world, depending on your boot model/condition, the terrain, your grip situati...

I've been really enjoying the 22d Axl bindings on my new Altai Koms. one of the things i love the most about this binding is the free pivot mode. i know the Voile Switchback also offers this feature. but both bindings are "heavy"... is there a 3-pin binding, like a Voile Hardwire, or Traverse, or Ro...

okay, managed to get a around 10 days on this setup, mostly in the back country or closed/ungroomed resort. these skis are awesome. truly awesome! i got some BCA skins and now i can go any where with ease. they absolutely slay spring corn and the soft flex just makes them incredibly fun to ski in ge...

dropped about 12k of downhill on the 112's yesterday with my buddy, on a legit powder day at heavenly. it was fantastic. i went in and out of the woods and other black diamond terrain, i even dropped milky way bowl at one point-- it was really hard and i don't think i looked like the best skier but ...