Tele free pivot touring bindings.

[gorms]

Does anyone have input on the tele touring bindings?

I have skied g3s, R8s, HHs, and Hardwire 3 pins and I didnt care much for the HHs. I would imagine my preferences fall on the less active range of bindings.

Are they worth the investment?
How do they compare to the tourability of an AT rig?
Are there durability issues?

If this has already been discussed can someone post a link..i looked but couldnt find one.

Thanks

[twodogs]

I've been skiing on the Voile Switchbacks all season and have them mounted on Team 100's, a rather burly ski weight wise and I have skied them pretty rigorously. Bashing them off trees and rocks on steep N.H. backcountry runs. A few lift access days mixed in. I have been more then pleased with the performance and reliability thus far. Not a single instance of a sticking mechanism. Easy to switch between tour and ski mode. I've been a fan of the hardwire for years now so no problem there.

Someone on Ttips awhile ago started a thread with a title somewhat angled toward suggesting durability issues with the switchback. Pages later no one had posted of any problems and the OP changed the title of the thread to that of less assuming nature.

I've been on strictly tele gear since the new millennium and have never been on AT gear so I can't compare to AT tourability. This is my first free pivot experience and I've been blown away by the difference touring in these compared to traditional telemark equip. So much better. Worth every penny and then some. Do it.

[Tye 1on]

I've heard the exact same story on that exact same binding from a buddy who also gets after it pretty hard. I had just bought bindings, so really didn't need to hear him go on and on how much better they were on climbs. I'll admit to being biased toward Voile binders. Lightest and cheapest, and plenty strong.

[Rontele]

I've had no problems with either pair of my BD O1s

[bio-smear]

The only stories you'll hear about the BD01's are that they can rip out of skis, and that they get a little sloppy after many days. I don't have enough time on mine to notice any slop, and I took measures to prevent the rip out, which occurs from bad mount techniques and/or running excessive preload such that the springs can bottom out.

I think the free-pivot tour mode tele bindings are an outstanding idea. They do seem a bit overpriced though for what they are.

[~mikey b]

just started skiing Targa Ascents - I like them a lot - not enough time on them to comment on icing, durability, etc...

[heyyyou]

I only have experience with 7tm Tours.

They've been more than adequate AFAIC. Gripes mainly have to do with getting into the binding. It can be a bitch when you're standing in deep snow and if you don't have them on properly you risk popping out when you start cranking turns. Once you get them dialed in though they are golden.

The tour mechanism is simple and reliable. Free pivot is the way to go if you plan on putting distance behind you.

If I didn't feel the need for releasable I'd definately look closely at the Switchbacks. However, I've had several releases that I'm pretty sure would've hurt a lot more had I been in a non-releasable.

[gorms]

thanks guys!

[hop]

As much as I'd like to say otherwise, I'm not exceptionally thrilled with my R8 Tours. They get a pretty substantial amount of play after a bit of use and they put you 40mm off the ski, which is serious nosebleed altitude. They do tour great though.

From what I've seen, the Voile looks to be the cleanest, simplest option out there. Not to mention cheapest.

[hick]

The advantage of the O1's in the slop department is that the pivot can be tightened through the hex bolts on either side of the pivot. The Switchbacks have small rivets on either side that once play develops you are stuck with it. This is one of the points that recently sold me on the O1s (and hearing of people that destroyed the Switchbacks). The local shop where I live has dealt with some bent wires, so far that seems to be it. Really, I think both bindings are solid, the O1s just looked beefier to me and worth the weight penalty. Either way get some pivot bindings, they are well worth it, but what do I know my other touring rig for the last 8 years has been Day Wreckers.

[TeleThor]

I've got some time on a number of these bindings.

Voile SBs are sweet. They're the lightest of the bunch. The tour mechanism is elegantly simple. I've never had snow build up problems. And they ski similar to a 3pin hardwire, so somewhere between active and neutral. I've got these on some last year's Verdicts and they have no problem driving the boards.

BD O1s are also sweet. A bit heavier, but significantly more active. So they're very nice for larger skis. I've got them on a pair of Zealots and it's a great setup. I haven't had any snow build up issues, but have heard of other who have. The button for changing to and from tour mode takes a bit more effort to push that the SB, but it's no big deal. The nice thing about the mechanism, is that if there is some catastrophic failure, the binding defaults to ski mode, so you can ski out of wherever you are. Some people have reported problems of their cartridges spinning/loosening between uses.

I got hooked up with the Rottefella Cobra tour adaptor last year in a group buy and modified my R8s to be tourable. Tour mode is simple but there are some problems. The free pivot range of motion is not as large as the above two bindings. Also, if the mechanism fails, you're f-ed. And after about 7 not to intense uses, one of the bindings has developed a bunch of slop and now I'm afraid to ski them because I think the latch will fly open on the downhill plunging me into free pivot downhill death.

No experience with the G3 Ascents, but based on G3 Targa performance I'm staying away from them.

If you're gonna tour at all, free pivot is definitely worth it, if not a necessity.

[XXX-er]

[QUOTE=TeleThor;1771033] Some people have reported problems of their cartridges spinning/loosening between uses.

QUOTE]


on the weekend some TT.ers from cali had the BD's and I think at least 2 skiers had the cartrides loosening off a couple 3 times in a hill day of skiing to the point they were popping out of the binding.

one of the crew had a ductape bridge between the cartridges ,just once around the cartridge sticky sides together and over to the next cartridge and he had no probs sking all the same runs ... it doesnt take much to hold the barrels in place .

Free pivot is alot faster ,when free piv was new in town I rememebr a guy pointing to that hot gal and saying " see that girl over there she is really fast on the uptrack,not just a little fast like a whole switchback faster ."Now she is no slouch but afterwards I realized she was on the jsut released ascents and free pivs were not yet popular

[bio-smear]

I was aware of the issue with the cartridge barrels spinning and unloading themselves prior to my first use of my O1's, so I took a tip from some other maggot who recommended using the thick blue rubberband that often comes on the head of broccoli to wrap around the 2 cartridge barrels. With that in mind, I spied some perfectly matching green brake holder rubberbands by Wintersteiger at REI one day. They work great and I've had no problems with un-preloading.

[mtglider]

Off-Piste mag just did a review of the top touring bindings.
Check out page 24

http://www.offpistemag.com/themag/pdfs/op37.pdf

[gorms]

thanks guys.
Triggered pulled on some Voiles