I haven’t tried for a long time, but found the Voile cables (the old expansion spring ones) and the Voile hardwires didn’t help so much in increasing downhill capabilities of the rig. Instead, they tended to squash my foot in the soft boot! Not much when the heel is down on the ski, but as soon as I’d lift up the heel. Yikes. So I gave up on the idea. Of course the cables are a huge help on plastic boots, also cables on those heavier duty leather tele boots they used to make, increasing downhill performance and stability over straight pins.
But fisheaters post (quote below) in another thread got me thinking, maybe the Rotte 3 pin cable works better for this? My XC/BC rig is Fischer BCX 675s on pins and Outback 68s. It’s abysmal downhill in any kind of difficult conditions and even near impossible to use on uneven refrozen XC trails due to the soft floppy boots. Way too easy to go down on ice.
What say you all? It’s interesting that he says the Rotte cable is more laterally stable. But my main concern is just squashing my foot! Or not.
Now onto my more important point. I view the Alaska 75 as a fairly soft soled boot. What makes the Rotte ST cable unique is that it makes that laterally (and most other directions) floppy sole stiff and reliable.
Since you own a Rotte ST cable, pull it out of the box and hook those cables up. It’s kind of a PITA, isn’t it? However holding the binding secure try to move that cable laterally from the heel piece. You’ll find very little movement at all. Of course the Voile 3-pin cable moves all over as would a Targa type cable. Even the 3 pin Hardwire type cable doesn’t compare to the lateral stiffness of that Rotte cable.
That is why I believe even a floppy boot like the Alaska 75 can become such a powerful boot in that Rotte ST cable.
In full disclosure, I hated that cable when it first arrived. I carried in my pack in a lot of situations when I should have been using it. Only when my skiing embarrassed me, did I pull it out. I went immediately from not being able to control my inside ski as I expected, to skiing exactly as I expected. I was skiing on the road, I thought I was going back to a motel room to get a different boot.