Originally Posted by
Jonathan S.
Wow, good eye -- I never noticed that!
So playing around with a pair, yes, you're correct: mounted the way on the ATK website, the contours of the binding allow for more clearance of the boot heel in flat mode.
Whereas on the BD and Outdoor Gear Lab websites, the contours will jam into the boot heel more readily.
(Or you can also increase the gap a bit to more like 5mm -- given the decent length of the heel pins, and the generally robust design, you can probably get away with it if you aren't stomping monster jumps, etc.)
For the pics on the BD and Outdoor Gear Lab websites, the plate needs to rotated 180 degrees, and then the binding needs to be spun 180 degrees on its pedestal.
(Or for an already mounted setup, unbold the binding from the plate, rebolt the binding at 180 degrees to its original position, then spin the binding 180 degrees on its pedestal.)
And amusing as always to see the Outgear Gear Lab ratings for weight (which already has its own inherently quantified rating in the form of a standardized systems of weights and measures), downhill performance (where if anything it's more secure than any of the other relatively traditional heel pin bindings), ease of use (what is reflected in the missing three points?), and touring performance (6 out of 10, really?).