3 Pin vs. Rotte Xplore

[satanas]

Maybe Solomon will come out with a new binding? Many people will adopt it, Solomon will then discontinue it.

Tell me about it! I have numerous Pilot bindings and need new combi boots. Swapping lots of skis to NNN and buying two or three pairs of new boots does not appeal. I also have the now-extinct Salomon XA (previously SNS-BC) system. Sigh.

Rottefella seem to be a much safer bet in the longer term.

[wabene]

I have been told that there has been a growing demand for 75 mm at least in Finland and in the other Nordic Countries too. Due to the climate change related unstable snow problems etc, there has been quite lot of people who are changing from heavier tele and at setups to leathers, 75 mm and ”low angle freeskiing”. Rottefella is pushing XPLOR heavily though.

Crispi did not produce either new 75 mm boots at all or no Svartisens (I am not sure which one it was) for this season but for -25/-26 they will and the whole upcoming batch is already sold to the retailers.

Voile’s marketing is also doing its own part to keep 75 mm wire bindings still a considerable option for more dh oriented leather boot skiing.
https://www.voile.com/blog/xcd-gear-rundown/

Thanks for posting this webpage and videos. It is interesting to watch the Voile rep's technique on the different setups. I think it is telling, no pun intended, lol. If we had more vertical here that is the ski I would get, pho sho.

[JohnSKepler]

I have a lot of experience on Xplore gear and a little on 3-pin. One could say that I learned what little I know about XC/XCD in the past few years on Xplore. Last year I did some experimenting with other binding systems and picked up some decent3-pin gear second/third/fourth/? hand. I made binding plates for various skis to I could use both types of bindings. Here were my observation:

Gear:

• Voile Objective
  Falketind 62
  Xplore with Lundhags Abisku
  3-pin cable with Scarpa T-4

Observations:

• For wider skis they tour about the same
  For skinny skies Xplore was much better touring
  My Xplore setup is a lot lighter then my 3-pin setup
  3-pin with cable did a little better for downhill - might have been due to the stiffer, taller boots as much as the bindings
  Switching bumpers on Xplore was easier than putting on cables
  Bumpers do not give you the same level of activity as cables
  I prefer the feel of cables but have... improved past needing them, if that makes sense.
  3-pin tended to pack snow under the boot a lot worse than Xplore and was much harder to clear
  Clearing the pin holes can be difficult in the field
  Transitions in deeper snow were much, much easier and faster with Xplore

After playing with various gear on different skis and in different conditions I find that I don't use the 3-pin stuff at all. There are a few applications for which I prefer the 3-pin with no cable but it wasn't enough better than the Xplore to switch out the bindings.

[telerat]

...
After playing with various gear on different skis and in different conditions I find that I don't use the 3-pin stuff at all. There are a few applications for which I prefer the 3-pin with no cable but it wasn't enough better than the Xplore to switch out the bindings.

A couple of questions:
What applications would you prefer 3-pin with no cable for?
Do you use Lundhags Abisku/Xplore or Scarpa F1/TTS with your Voile Objective now?

Otherwise I agree with all your observations and I have used 75 mm for much longer than you. I started skiing on 75mm from childhood and also chose 75mm when starting rugged skiing/xcd in 1992, as well as on telemark in 1996. I have used both 3-pin, various cable bindings, as well as 75mm with wire shortly before switching to Xplore when it was launched. The switch was due to both needing new boots and finding 75mm a bit wide for touring skates. Except for the higher price, especially on bindings, I find no advantages of 75mm 3-pin, thus my first question above.

My only preference for 75mm would be 3-pin cable with stiff leather boots or Scarpa T4/Garmont Excursion, but I find that my Åsnes Falketind 62X with the Alfa Free and hard flex covers much of the that use and just I use my Scarpa TX and Meidjo with wider skis on steeper tours. There is a small gap where neither of my gear is optimal, but I find it too small to have 75mm gear for. I think I would miss nothing if I could get a slightly higher and more supportive boot for Xplore.

It is not many years ago that I would not expect to ever drop 75mm, but now I see no that I would not buy it unless I already had gear for it, or was on low budget, or buying used gear.

[JohnSKepler]

...
After playing with various gear on different skis and in different conditions I find that I don't use the 3-pin stuff at all. There are a few applications for which I prefer the 3-pin with no cable but it wasn't enough better than the Xplore to switch out the bindings.

A couple of questions:
What applications would you prefer 3-pin with no cable for?
Do you use Lundhags Abisku/Xplore or Scarpa F1/TTS with your Voile Objective now?

There are some low angle mountain bike trails in my area that are groomed in the winter. For me to really push it on these trails I like the non-cable activity of the T4 boots which are also stiffer than any Xplore boot that I own. Works great with FT62 if the snow is a few inches over consolidated and, if deeper, with Voile Objective. Honestly, it isn't enough better to switch bindings and I generally just go with the stiff Xplore bumper.

I picked up the Lundhags Abisku this year and they have completely replaced my Alfa Free, which I really tried to like. Not only did the Alfa Free give me a horrible blister on my right heel, the bend was too far forward. So, I use both setups on the Voile Objective depending on conditions. If we don't have a lot of snow (meaning more XCd) I'll use the Abisku/Xplore. In deeper snow where you're not really going to glide but the down hill is much better, call it xcD the F1/Transit is my go-to. There is also a use case for the F1/Transit on the FT62: a few inches of fresh over a refrozen base. You can really activate the edge hold of the FT62 with the F1/Transit and still get good kick and glide. In deeper snow the activity of the Transit will cause the narrow tip of the FT62 to plunge with arresting results!

Note: I've 'perfected' a fairly simple binding plate that allows me to use pretty much any binding on any ski. They take about an hour to make, less if you have a template. They are made of 3/8" polyethylene sheets I get on Amazon. Been meaning to try Meidjo 3.0 with TXPro on my Gamme 54

[telerat]

Thanks @JohnSKepler. It is a pity that Alfa Free does not fit more feet, but as always the boot is the most important part for comfort and support. The Free just barely fit me, so I am lucky, but I feels toe pinch is always lurking in the background. The support and light weight it is a great match with my FT62X, so I think a slightly higher and more supportive version, that is better fitting and flexing would be very welcome.

The Abisku seems interesting and I would like to try them some time if I can, but I think my Alfa Skaget can cover much of the same use, even without the waterproof lower.

If I ever get a wide and light backcountry ski, I might try switching between Meidjo/TTS and Xplore, but since only two bindings are relevant, I think I would go with inserts instead of your plate suggestion.

[JohnSKepler]

If I ever get a wide and light backcountry ski, I might try switching between Meidjo/TTS and Xplore, but since only two bindings are relevant, I think I would go with inserts instead of your plate suggestion.

The hole patterns for the Xplore and Transit are not as compatible as some. I use inserts for both the Xplore and the 3-pin and some of the holes overlap nicely. The Transit hole pattern is strangely narrow with 8 screws and I couldn't convince myself that adding inserts for those 8 screws alongside the Xplore holes was going to work without moving the pin-line waay forward or waay back. If you can make it work I'll be happy to copy you!