How Stiff?

[Zarb]

Greetings,

I have one season under my belt now on my tele gear, and loving it. I run with Black Diamond Push boots and 22Designs Vice bindings. Since starting, I have gone with the stiffness settings that the shop set for me, which are middle pin on the Vice bindings, and the cables screwed in just tight enough to give a nice satisfying 'snap' sound when throwing the lever (but by no means super tight when flexing).

It served me well on the softer snow in Japan and learning how to telemark, but my upcoming season back home in Aus will see me facing much more solid snow conditions, and hopefully advancing technique.

1) What are the situations in which I would want to start playing around with binding settings? (In terms of advancement of skills, terrain type, snow conditions, etc etc?)

2) What about where to adjust tension? Do I start adjusting the pins first, or the cable tension?

3) Lastly, is there a good trick to remembering settings on the cable adjustments? I was thinking about wrapping some tape around the cable so I can quickly change between tightness at a glance, but perhaps it's easier to keep the cable tension at one setting, then change between pin settings instead to make it easier?

Many thanks!

[Johnny]

Hey Zarb,

More stiffness means more control. If your set your bindings very stiff, power will be more easily transfered into the ski. The bindings itself (instead of your muscles) will be 'working' to edge the skis.

So basically, you want more control/stiffness when you need to dissect hardpack terrain... If you need to carve at eye-watering speeds... Or if you need to bust through crud...

But you might not need that much stiffness if you're skiing powder all the time... or softer snow or spring bumps... It might become an unpleasant experience if your bindings are too active under certain conditions. But on the other hand, it also becomes a matter of taste at some point... And whether you're an aggressive skier or not, your weight etc...

I never tried the Vices but I'm sure there's a lot of people in here who can help you...

Have fun!

[skizix]

I ski Axls, which at least look nearly identical to the Vice (except for the free pivot), though I've never checked out a Vice. I ski the Axl in the least stiff pivot point position - but they are mounted on freaking gigantic powder skis that I only use on the biggest days (plus my personal preference is for not so super-active bindings).

As far as question #3: when I first got the Axl's I wound up the spring preload (how tight the heel latch is) pretty tight, like I always do. The first couple of times out on them, I had some very sketchy, unwanted releases (almost fell off a cliff, and almost lost a ski). Never had anything like that with any other binding. So now I ski them as tight as I can possibly get them and still be able to get my boots in (like, it takes some effort, and put the little semi-step-in lever to maximum use). There is enough spring travel to get away with this, and from my experience, it's essential. YMMV with that, but in any case, figure out a setting that works and stick with it. IMHO you should definitely not be adjusting that for performance. Set correctly and forget.

[Zarb]

Skizix,

I have tried tightening the cable as you said, to the point where I really had to wrestle to get in to the position where I could throw the lever, and I could barely flex in to a tele position. Do you find it super stiff when you tighten it to that point?

[skizix]

Not at all. These bindings have tons of spring travel, and as a result are very linear compared to my others (like, it doesn't ramp up resistance as much as you go through the travel). Which actually feels a little weird, but I got used to it quickly. Since I'm in the least stiff pivot point position, the whole thing feels quite un-stiff and very smooth.