Fritschi Vipec review thread

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Got my bindings mounted up. Everything seemed to go well. I'm fairly new to tech bindings, just one pair of dynafits prior to these. The heels seem excessively difficult to step into. I have to stomp hard to get clicked in. With my feet out of the boots, clicking in by hand requires the boot heel to be slammed down with what seems to be too much force. My rv is set at 10. At the lowest value I can step in with what seems "normal" force. Any help or trouble shooting advice would be much appreciated. What the hell did I screw up?

It might be that your toes are mounted at a slight enough angle that the heel pins end up "off center" in relation to your boot so that they drag on the boot heel fitting.

Thanks for the reply. I thought about that. To my eyes the alignment looks fine... They were drilled with a jig. Is there an easy way to tell?

If you can't see it then that's probably not it. I slightly bunged one of my mounts and depending on which ski is on which foot there is a misalignment like I described.

Setting up my vipecs tonight for my new boots made me think of something else that might make it hard depending on manufacturing tolerances.

The very front of your pins, the circle bit of the cylinder, might be dragging on the rubber of the outsole. So if the rubber is glued on where it's not entirely flush with the plastic of the boot where the tech fitting slides in you might get extra drag.

Since dynafits (and G3's?) need the "tech gap" it probably wouldn't get noticed there.

Thanks for the reply. I've looked at that and that's not the issue. I took them to a couple of shops with some guys who know tech bindings well and have decent exposure to vipecs. They saw nothing wrong and confirmed that they'd never seen a set that stiff. So far this is baffling everyone. I was hoping to take them in and to be imbarassed by a stupid mistake, but everything checks out.

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Originally Posted by wwwllw

Thanks for the reply. I've looked at that and that's not the issue. I took them to a couple of shops with some guys who know tech bindings well and have decent exposure to vipecs. They saw nothing wrong and confirmed that they'd never seen a set that stiff. So far this is baffling everyone. I was hoping to take them in and to be imbarassed by a stupid mistake, but everything checks out.

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Mine are the same. Takes some force to get into. I wouldnt be surprised if a pin breaks at some point. I have seen some people push them into touring mode then reach down and pull the lever up to push the pins into the boot. Or you could also try putting the heel in first (push the boot into the pins, not slamming the boot down if you know what i mean) then step down into the toe piece.

Its likely the heel pins were bent too far. Maybe next years versions will be "the ones"....they also need to address the issue of the lifters on the heel piece which come off from time to time.

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Originally Posted by Smiley

I used the same jig to mount the black ones as i did with the white ones.

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Just got a test pair from BD of the black ones. Took my white ones off and the black ones just dropped into the pre-existing holes. Epoxied and done.

Now available in Noram. Just one ski on them so no meaningful impressions other than that they're a hell of a lot easier to get into. Only took three versions but finally done Fritschi! Now you can depress the toe lever and it stays down

Some measurements.

Dynafit toe inserts spacing (measured on Vulcan) 65mm

Binding opening black Fritschi (stays open without needing pole to hold the toe lever down) - 70 mm

Binding opening white Fritschi 2013-4; 2014 - 5 (does not stays open unless you have pole to hold the toe lever down) without toe lever being pressed down - 63mm

Binding opening white Fritschi 2013-4; 2014 - 5 (with toe lever pressed down) -68mm

Binding opening Dynafit Comfort - 68mm

I was talking with someone the other day who likened the Vipec's brakes to the Dynafit Vertical era. IOW, not very confidence inspiring. Does anyone have either positive or negative experiences regarding this?

Thanks,
Thom

Not at all. Vipec brakes are long and engage quickly. Ditto Kingpin Beast Radical 2.0 Ion. Seems like new bindings learned from the old

The only brake issue I've noticed is that the "120mm" brakes don't clear my 112mm skis and I had to bend the arms out to get them wide enough to engage. Really nice binding otherwise.

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Originally Posted by LeeLau

Not at all. Vipec brakes are long and engage quickly. Ditto Kingpin Beast Radical 2.0 Ion. Seems like new bindings learned from the old

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Thanks, Lee. Not knowing the guy, I'll treat him as an outlier.

Cheers,
Thom

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Originally Posted by Bean

The only brake issue I've noticed is that the "120mm" brakes don't clear my 112mm skis and I had to bend the arms out to get them wide enough to engage. Really nice binding otherwise.

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Yeah the 120's barely fit my Amperages (115 waist) with a +1cm mount

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Originally Posted by NorCalNomad

Yeah the 120's barely fit my Amperages (115 waist) with a +1cm mount

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x3

i have about 15 days on the black edition now and also think they are MUCH better than previous generations.
i put a lot of days on older vipecs even though i did not like them, but the black ones are pretty good now i would say. they really adressed the issues of the white ones (stepping in, releasing while skinning, heel piece icing up).
they ski pretty good (no difference to the earlier models here though), are light and over all work well. stepping into them still isnt as good as with other bindings, but its ok now (especially if the skis are on an flat surface). no releases while skinning anymore.
i still set my din at 12 (10 on other bindings) because they release rather easily (probably due to little friction?), kinda happy with them overall.

freak~[http://www.freeskiers.net/community/...ilies/fish.gif&http://www.freeskiers.net/community/...lies/ghost.gif]

Any prerelease while skiing?

cant remember any. but i generally dont ski hard and dont usually crash.

freak~[http://www.freeskiers.net/community/...ilies/fish.gif&http://www.freeskiers.net/community/...lies/ghost.gif]

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Originally Posted by rod9301

Any prerelease while skiing?

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Just like freak none also. Even used them on groomers

I've been using the black ones off and on this year with no issues. No problems with ski feel, odd ramp angle, vibrations. Pretty much plug and play. Piste skiing at reasonable speed with no pre-releasing. I'll be taking the skis mounted with the Vipecs to Europe as my only ski for three weeks of touring, off piste, and piste skiing. Confident that they will work well. I'll post if things turn out otherwise. Please note that I don't break stuff so I'm not representative of many who post here.

Thanks for the info on the Vipec Blacks. I've had pre-release issues before on Radical 1.0s, so tried out the 2.0s this season for the improved heel and rotating toe. I found they ski much nicer, but goddamn, stepping into the heel can be fiddly as hell due to the rotating toe. I'll be getting a new pair of skis next season to fill a quiver gap, so would either need to keep using Speed Radicals (ehhhh...) or get something with wider brakes. The Vipec seems to check all the boxes now... easier step-in (than Vipec white, Rad 2), better toe release (than basically everything), skis better (than Rad 1), lighter weight (than Rad 2), and the option to remove/swap brakes.

Just checked out the new Vipecs in a shop. They were mounted on wood, so I tried putting a boot in the toes. It seemed easy. I don't remember which boot, but not Dynaft branded inserts. I put the boot in at a moderate angle till it hit stops, pushed down, and the pins engaged with authority. Seemed easy to me.

Looking for something with brakes. Last year being tied to my ski was good for 4 stitches. Last week my ski stopped in a tree and I continued headfirst in deep steepish snow. I confirmed my inability to do an inverted sit up with ski gear and a pack.

Getting close to putting in an order. Gotta get clearance from the treasurer.

FWIW, they're on sale at Telemark-Pyrenees now (the '15/'16 Black version). I think with current exchange rate they worked out to be ~$360. Pretty good deal! I just ordered a pair, thinking they will replace both my Radical Speeds and Radical 2.0s. Rad 2 step-in is too fiddly for my taste.

Been skiing the last gen white vipecs extensively for the past few weeks. I pushed them in the resort to get their feel. At some points I was in ugly situations where I thought I'd loose the ski but they hung on. Especially on a nasty tail landing. They ski just as well as regular alpine bindings. No tech chatter. Moguls and all no problem.

Overall they tour great. Never lost a ski in tour mode.

Step in is easy. I just go slightly past the pins and wiggle the toe back. When the inserts are pack with snow wiggling the boot side to side clears the holes and the toe has a nice way of telling you it's engaged.

Complaints:

The brakes are pretty shitty when touring. They dont tuck in like alpine bindings. They just go up and hang outside the ski. Sometimes I touch them on the skin track. Not a serious issue.

The toe black clip popped off when I snapped them closed. Tape around it makes sure it won't happen again.

Maybe my biggest gripe with them is opening them with the wet snow around. It gets under the leaver and I have to snap it to walk mode and then down a few times before it releases. Not a big deal but it's a potential issues if seconds mattered when taking them off.

Love em, with the vectors I have a killer one quiver set-up from the treadmill to alaska.

Oh I am 150# so ymmv

1st day out on the new Vipecs. Lift serve.
Easy to get into and ski well.

But, I had a question about the "color plates". Funny name, as they are black.
My Spectres go in fine. I followed instructions regarding pin adjustment, and added loctite to the lock not.
I checked to see if a knee drop in touring mode will hit the lever, and it won't. But, is there something else I should be checking regarding the color plates? Are they also related to forward release in a fall?

Are anyone else's brakes super wide? I've got the 108's and they fit over my 114 mm Huascaran's with a lot of room to spare. Almost too much room.