Question is this black part on the toe cosmetic or necessary? Thanks
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Question is this black part on the toe cosmetic or necessary? Thanks
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Cosmetic
and thus, totally necessary
Thank you just wanted to confirm that. Thanks
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That would be awesome thank you
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I have some in blue, yellow and black.
Wait ... wut?
The black part is a bumper that the front of your boot engages to open the toe in a forward release. They came in different colors for cosmetic purposes at one time, but my pair came with two sets of black ones to adapt to different boot toe profiles. These were the 2nd gen Vipecs (Vipec Black, as I recall).
What changed after that, I can't recall, but if your boot doesn't force the jaws to open when it's a bit forward of 90 degrees, then the binding isn't functioning as designed.
... Thom
The OP's pic is earlier than the blacks, either the originals or the updated 12s. But as an early adopter of Vipecs that was my understanding as well with regard to that piece. Wildsnow has an article that touches on it, and I seem to remember them discussing it more in other articles.
https://wildsnow.com/14680/diamir-vi...ges-2014-2015/
If I recall, the different heights were to allow boots with little/no nose welt, but I purged info like that when I decided saving a few ounces on gear doesnt matter when you're 230lbs.
Either way, I would want it for forward release reliability.