Salomon Mtn tech "Pin" binding

Just got these and took some pics. Here for the gear porn. Will mount them up on Salomon Mtn Explore 88 skis and try out some Mtn Lab boots (which are unchanged for all intents and purposes from last year)

http://mtn.salomon.com/products/adve...in-binding.htm

http://mtn.salomon.com/products/free...n-lab-boot.htm

Not pictured yet - Salomon Mtn Explore 88 skis and skins

http://mtn.salomon.com/products/adve...ore-88-ski.htm

Thanks to Stefan Brierley for entrusting me with the gear and to Mike Douglas for giving me the idea

http://www.leelau.net/Misc/2017/salo...027_132220.jpg

http://www.leelau.net/Misc/2017/salo...ngDSC06442.jpg

http://www.leelau.net/Misc/2017/salo...ngDSC06444.jpg

http://www.leelau.net/Misc/2017/salo...026_205916.jpg

http://www.leelau.net/Misc/2017/salo...esbindings.jpg

No flat touring mode a la Dynafit superlight?

do the boots fit you, I am assuming they have more volume thru the heel/ankle area?

One of the salomon crew was up 2 years ago and he had put an extra buckle over the instep

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Originally Posted by Andyski

No flat touring mode a la Dynafit superlight?

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It has it. See the first heel piece picture.

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

do the boots fit you, I am assuming they have more volume thru the heel/ankle area?

One of the salomon crew was up 2 years ago and he had put an extra buckle over the instep

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I think Im just lucky to have average feet

Good ankle retention without crushing the instep

Was thinking Salomon would come out with something exciting in the tech binding. From the photos, that does not look too exciting.

Why do companies make leashes without a weak link?

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Originally Posted by LeeLau

It has it. See the first heel piece picture.

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Thats not flat? (neither is the superlite though)

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

do the boots fit you, I am assuming they have more volume thru the heel/ankle area?

One of the salomon crew was up 2 years ago and he had put an extra buckle over the instep

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If you want a narrower volume heel check out the Zero G. MTN Lab has low volume toebox and mid volume midfoot/heel (similar to the QST without the crushing instep). Zero G has largish volume toebox, medium volume midfoot and low volume heel (similar to the new Cochise).

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Originally Posted by Andyski

No flat touring mode a la Dynafit superlight?

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Heel rotates 90* for flat on ski mode.

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Originally Posted by cat in january

Was thinking Salomon would come out with something exciting in the tech binding. From the photos, that does not look too exciting.

Why do companies make leashes without a weak link?

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The weak link is in the pins, as soon as you take a turn on a slope greater than 30 degrees it falls out.

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Originally Posted by Lindahl

Thats not flat? (neither is the superlite though)

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Originally Posted by Banquo

Heel rotates 90* for flat on ski mode.

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Yes - I should've taken a picture. The heel rotates. You can flip up the lifters with the pole. Can't figure out how to rotate the heel back to ski without lifting the ski back up (for rip the skins quick transitions) but I'll try different ways when I get them mounted

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Originally Posted by ml242

The weak link is in the pins, as soon as you take a turn on a slope greater than 30 degrees it falls out.

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Ohhhhhh, shots fired!

That being said, I'm sure as shit not lining up to beta test anything Salomon pin tech related.

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Originally Posted by zartagen

Ohhhhhh, shots fired!

That being said, I'm sure as shit not lining up to beta test anything Salomon pin tech related.

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The bindings have been out for a year in Europe already but I'm definitely taking it easy on them to start - as with any new product

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Originally Posted by LeeLau

Yes - I should've taken a picture. The heel rotates. You can flip up the lifters with the pole. Can't figure out how to rotate the heel back to ski without lifting the ski back up (for rip the skins quick transitions) but I'll try different ways when I get them mounted

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I spent a week skiing Frey with Chris Rubens and Hoji this summer. I wasn't really paying attention but I think he just leveraged his pole grip between his boot and heel to pop it out of flat mode.

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Originally Posted by Banquo

I spent a week skiing Frey with Chris Rubens and Hoji this summer. I wasn't really paying attention but I think he just leveraged his pole grip between his boot and heel to pop it out of flat mode.

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Ok. That's what I used to do with TLT speeds brakeless. Will try it out. - thanks!

Heel piece rotated

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...9ebcd8a92c.jpg

I'm assuming the boot is a 27.5?

Are you running the "Expert" spring? If so, could you put it on a tester and see what sort of upward release value you get?

I wish they would sell it in the USA...

Great looking light weight binding. Shame companies seem to think they need a functional brake to sell tech bindings in the USA...

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Originally Posted by XavierD

I wish they would sell it in the USA...

Great looking light weight binding. Shame companies seem to think they need a functional brake to sell tech bindings in the USA...

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Is that the only reason it's not being sold here?

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Originally Posted by aevergreene

Is that the only reason it's not being sold here?

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Dealers are being told there will be a version with brakes offered at SIA in December. The brakeless version was not offered to US dealers for the 2016-17 season, though it's mentioned in the Salomon/Atomic tech manual already.

Looks like Plum is making the toe chassis and wings for Soli? Or Salomon licensed the toe design and gave it a few tweaks?

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Originally Posted by 1000-oaks

Looks like Plum is making the toe chassis and wings for Soli? Or Salomon licensed the toe design and gave it a few tweaks?

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This binding is made by ATK.

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Originally Posted by XavierD

I wish they would sell it in the USA...

Great looking light weight binding. Shame companies seem to think they need a functional brake to sell tech bindings in the USA...

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MEC has them here in Canada: https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5049-567/MTN-Binding

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5049-4...d-Tour-Binding

or buy the Atomics also for 700$ if you want a different color

or the speed turn for about half that price

Yeah, MEC even has this note:

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Note, Salomon and Atomic both provide the same binding under a different name.

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I always come out of my dynafit unless I crank in one extra DIN (like) not having the ability to do so sets up a red flag for me

i would just take the 180 gram hit and buy the speed turn for much less $$

Isn't it a 40g hit? Aren't the speeds 350g?

They should have licensed the ATK RT model instead (with accessories). Now thats a sexy lightweight binding.

^ 342g I guess.

Ya not sure what the appeal is here unless you get a proform for Salomon. Also not sure why every fucking company has to rebrand either Dynafit/ATK bindings. Can't we just buy them from the fucking mfr?

Cheaper and easier for them to license to say they have a full product line versus actually R&D'ing something new for the brand.

and no adjustable RV? Steel or aluminum toe wings? (didn't the gen 1 alu plum guides have some failures?). I'll take speed turns for $300, Alex!

upspend for the radicals for better toes

I like the direction Salomon is going I was just hoping for something more. Weird they don't give USA shops the ability to purchase this without the brake. Where is the loss for the company on an existing product?

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Originally Posted by gregL

I'm assuming the boot is a 27.5?

Are you running the "Expert" spring? If so, could you put it on a tester and see what sort of upward release value you get?

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Yah 27.5. I'll get hold of a tester for the RV

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Originally Posted by Lindahl

Isn't it a 40g hit? Aren't the speeds 350g?

They should have licensed the ATK RT model instead (with accessories). Now thats a sexy lightweight binding.

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According to prices and specs on the MEC site which is canadian $ of course but the numbers are relative :

740 and 389$ for the speed turns
565 and 699$ for the solly mtn tech
350 and 579$ for the speed lites

so in addition to giving up weight & money you also give up changable release values and the ability to adj for different boots and that would be for any minimalist brand of tech binding which are pretty much all the same more or less maybe underline less?

So THE LARGER QUESTION in my mind is why did salomon choose the minimalist entry point to enter the tech binding market

some people who had their scarpas recalled last season might have wished they bought a binding that can adj to BSL

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Originally Posted by skiitsbetter

and no adjustable RV? Steel or aluminum toe wings? (didn't the gen 1 alu plum guides have some failures?). I'll take speed turns for $300, Alex!

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Rv adjustable via a spring in the heel. Mine are "expert" which is apparently approx 11 but I'll try to get it on a machine to test.

Toe pins are steel. Magnets stick. EDIT - Wings are alloy though. Trying to find out what type of alloy and what testing was done on the toe winds

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

According to prices and specs on the MEC site which is canadian $ of course but the numbers are relative :

740 and 389$ for the speed turns
565 and 699$ for the solly mtn tech
350 and 579$ for the speed lites

so in addition to giving up weight & money you also give up changable release values and the ability to adj for different boots and that would be for any minimalist brand of tech binding which are pretty much all the same more or less maybe underline less?

So THE LARGER QUESTION in my mind is why did salomon choose the minimalist entry point to enter the tech binding market

some people who had their scarpas recalled last season might have wished they bought a binding that can adj to BSL

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It wasn't my intent to do a binding shootout. But i did want to go between 297 to 311 mm bsl. The Speed turns are 13mm iirc? I think that barely does it for me.

That 565g for the Salomon was a bit understated and probably without leashes. See real world weight in the pics.

Brake versions out for next season fyi

Keep the questions coming. If I don't know I'll accumulate and get answers from Amer

Personaly I like a full service binding with the brakes and all

Everything gets compared but I'm more speaking to how far one wants to jump on the minimalism wagon and what it costs?

That price speaks to weight/money/adjustabilty and in conjunction with adjustability one could argue safety, so yeah I did compare 3 bindings but notice I wasn't really comparing the bindings I was comparing what they did

Thought from the pictures the bindings were adjustable on a track with a rear worm screw.

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

........So THE LARGER QUESTION in my mind is why did salomon choose the minimalist entry point to enter the tech binding market......

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I'd take a guess that it was because the Rad 2/Vipec/Ion competitor they were working on couldn't get through the din certification.

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Originally Posted by cat in january

Thought from the pictures the bindings were adjustable on a track with a rear worm screw.

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They are. 30mm adjustment as originally stated.

It would be interesting to see if this new pin binding shares some of the same holes as the kingpins. I have kingpin inserts in my touring skis, and may have the opportunity to swap this in as a lighter weight option.