Bit of a scare with the Rottafella Xplore on a longer tour.

[randoskier]

On the sixth day of our ski tour in Norway my wife had a (thankfully) small problem with the Xplore pins in her Alfa Skaget boot. We had stopped for a break to read maps and eat something, clipped out of our bindings, and sat down on our pulks, When my wife went to clip into her Xplore binding only one side of the boot pin went in on the right ski. She looked at the boot and said a pin had sheared off. She gave me the boot and I looked at it, I could see the pin was still rounded on the end so it was not sheared off, but it would not come out its recess. I figured maybe there was some ice in it, heated it with a lighter, did not budge. I took the tip of my knife and pushed into it and it actually went in deeper and just stayed there. I pushed the knife tip in and out on it for about two minutes and it eventually popped out, she clipped in normally and it functioned well the rest of the days of the tour. I am going to write Alfa and ask them if they are having any issues with the pins retracting, scary for a couple of minutes there. Other than that she absolutely loves this binding/boot combo.

[エイダン.シダル]

On the sixth day of our ski tour in Norway my wife had a (thankfully) small problem with the Xplore pins in her Alfa Skaget boot. We had stopped for a break to read maps and eat something, clipped out of our bindings, and sat down on our pulks, When my wife went to clip into her Xplore binding only one side of the boot pin went in on the right ski. She looked at the boot and said a pin had sheared off. She gave me the boot and I looked at it, I could see the pin was still rounded on the end so it was not sheared off, but it would not come out its recess. I figured maybe there was some ice in it, heated it with a lighter, did not budge. I took the tip of my knife and pushed into it and it actually went in deeper and just stayed there. I pushed the knife tip in and out on it for about two minutes and it eventually popped out, she clipped in normally and it functioned well the rest of the days of the tour. I am going to write Alfa and ask them if they are having any issues with the pins retracting, scary for a couple of minutes there. Other than that she absolutely loves this binding/boot combo.

Thank you for this. The rest that follows please take with a large 'grain of salt': I haven't tried this system, will never buy it, and am happy with NNN BC, and Voile 3-pins with/without cables.

Futzing with three bumpers that are easy to lose, and now issues with the pins on a tour? No $##&ing thank you! I'm sure it skis as hard as Voile 3-pins, while having other advantages, but anything I'd have to fix 'in the field' better be simple. All this for treble the price...

[Stephen]

I’m curious if these pin problems could be averted by applying a drop or two of high-quality lubricant (not DW-40 — something very water resistant and long-lasting)?
Not suggesting the problem is user-error — just that there might be a work-around.

It is discouraging that the design of the boot pins may be an ongoing (and to some degree, random) issue for this system.

I have to think that Rottefella considered all the options for the engagement mechanism, but it seems like a fixed pin system would be much more reliable, but then the binding would have to be something like a tech binding with wings that clamp onto the bar.

I was hoping that people were being overly pessimistic about the pins, but maybe not.

Having to carry a spare set of boots would be a bit much.
Good thing the pin popped back out.

[telerat]

This seems to be an issue that has occurred some times, currently ~40 out of 12000 pairs, but I expect it to increase more. If you are experiencing problems, Rottefella is offering free returns and has spare parts for quick repair, so make contact via their webpage. The reason is a production deviation and they expect the problem to return if you have first experienced it. So if you experience stickiness or pins not functioning 100%, or are unsure before making longer trips, make contact. Open article on the issue in Norwegian:
https://www.utemagasinet.no/fjellski/fjellskisko/problemer-med-xplore-fjellskisko

I do have one pin that sometimes did stop 1mm before fully extended and was harder to press inn than the other 3, but it seems to have righted itself after lubricant and use, but I will follow it. If a pin got struck, I'd use the tip of my pole to try to get it out again. I'm happy that the system is repairable and knew buying new tech the first year is always a gamble. I have also seen reports of people breaking 75mm and NNN-BC bindings, pulling the bar out of the shoe on NNN-BC and breaking the sole of 75mm, so what system is better remains to be seen. I think Xplore looks very uncomplicated and durable as long as the pins work, so we will have to see how it works out, but I am satisfied and optimistic so far.

Bringing flexes and exchanging them is not the best solution, especially with the exchange being harder than necessary, but having the option before or on a trip is nice. I would prefer a bit stiffer flex for all-round use on skis, but also hope Rottefella introduces a binding with switchable mode from free touring to hard flex, or perhaps even a tunable flex. We will see what the future brings.

[Krummholz]

Six days of touring is probably outside of Rotte use case. I.e. once or twice a week. I would be worried that oil would just attract dirt and gum it up even more. I think it needs something more hydrophobic. Maybe a shot of dry silicone spray before use and given a little time to dry? It makes it easier to get the ice off my 3 pins.

[Johnny]

On the sixth day of our ski tour in Norway my wife had a (thankfully) small problem with the Xplore pins in her Alfa Skaget boot.

One of the spring pins in my one-week old Alfa Frees jammed after I took off my skis to peel skins at the top of a run last Sunday.

I am sorry to hear that... But thanks for the reports!

For the record, I have split 75mm duckbills more than once. I ripped the pinholes on pretty much all my 3pin boots at least once. ALL the metal bars on all my NNN-BC boots got severly bent after only a few weeks of normal use, sometimes to the point where they wouldn't engage at all. I have ripped out several bindings. I have broken oh so many skis. I have broken springs, cables and a dozen of NTN bindings. Broke bellows and duckbutts too.

And yes, I honestly expect to break a few XPLORE boots and bindings too. That's life.

We still read about Meidjo and Lynx failures everyday, and we sure will keep hearing about XPLORE failures too. If there was a perfect product out there, it sure would be the only one on the shelves...

I haven't tried this system, will never buy it, and am happy with NNN BC, and Voile 3-pins with/without cables.

All this for treble the price...

Dear friend, you have no idea of all the fun you are missing...

[bark-eater]

I think graphite would be the the lube to use on these. It has no grease or oil to be effected by temperature. The pressureised auto key unfreeze sprays work pretty good for spring plunger mechanisms.

[randoskier]

Six days of touring is probably outside of Rotte use case. I.e. once or twice a week. I would be worried that oil would just attract dirt and gum it up even more. I think it needs something more hydrophobic. Maybe a shot of dry silicone spray before use and given a little time to dry? It makes it easier to get the ice off my 3 pins.

Not sure where you get your "use case" from, but it is not from Rottafella or Alfa, these are made for long Nordic tours in Scandinavian conditions and extending the range of Nordic skiers on light touring gear into more alpine terrain. I will try some lube on them, the problem did not occur again on this trip. They worked fine the rest of the tour and my wife says for touring they are a drastic improvement over the 75mm 3-pin bindings she has used for the past 46 years (she never liked the NNNBC system). She thinks the medium flex rubber jobby is fine for all around touring.

[randoskier]

I think graphite would be the the lube to use on these. It has no grease or oil to be effected by temperature. The pressureised auto key unfreeze sprays work pretty good for spring plunger mechanisms.

After reading the article in UTE (Norwegian ski magazine) that was helpfully posted by Telerat I see that Rottafella has identified the problem as a manufacturing defect in a % of boots made to date. It has to do with the elevation and alignment of the pin and they are replacing the pin assemblies in the affected boots free of charge. They also state if it happened once it is likely to reoccur in that boot so send 'em in. So even though my wife's boot functioned fine the rest of the tour they will go back to Rotty on Monday for pin assembly replacements.

We had no problem with the pins sticking from cold during the coldest tour days, only the manufacturing tolerance problem. Teething problems.

[telerat]

Regarding pin trouble, see also BigRed's experience with the Alfa Free in the review thread:
viewtopic.php?f=19&p=49438#p49316
Return was quick at least.