Binding Mount Question: How far off-center is reasonable?

[Talking Monkey]

Just had my new Legend Pros mounted with Axial 2 bindings and noticed that the toe pieces are off-center by about 3mm. Is this a reasonable tolerance or will it be a problem?

Also, the boot sole hash mark appears to be slightly forward of the line on the ski - the "A" on the boot (Hot Rod) is actually lined up with the ski's mounting line (I got an "awesome" mount). Is this what happens when you use the jig's center mark instead of the boot?

Should I make an issue out of any of this?

[Talking Monkey]

Bump for the Monday crowd.

[mntlion]

ski them and see if you can feel the difference left to right. If you can then make an issue with the store, if you can't tell, keep skiing.
also keep in mind that ski topsheets are not always centered. measure the hole to sidewall and make sure that you are right, before you talk to the store

[Talking Monkey]

Thanks for the input mntlion. Unfortunately, it's looking like I may not get to try them this year - just found out I may have to do some overseas travel for work for the next few weeks. My measurements were made from the sidewall/edge to various places on the toe-piece itself - not the holes. The thing is, no matter which feature I measure to on the toe-piece, I get approximately 3mm difference from one side to the other. I realize this is not a great way to go about measuring, but my results are pretty consistent. Anyway, if the holes were drilled at an angle, they might look centered, but the binding might be pulled over to one side when the screws are tightened down, no? Am I being too picky with all this? The shop owner did the mounting - since I probably won't be able to ski them anytime soon, is it reasonable to ask him to double check the mount while trying not to immediately accuse him of making a mistake?

[XXX-er]

so question here ... maybe stupid but why so many botched mounts or do we just see the very tip of the ice berg ??

Is it becuz of the overwhelming amount of really WIDE skis TGR folks ride?

When I had my verdicts (wide but not that wide)mounted the shop person didnt have em ready on time cuz they didnt fit her freeride jig ... so she left em for her dad to do freehand .

Do skis not fit the jigs nowdays ,is that why we see so many mounts off ?Might some shops not have upgraded to big enough jigs ... what is really going on here??

note:she gave me a set of el hombres to try gratus ... so i didnt mind !

[seanpistol]

Like said, the topsheet mounting points are often off. I refer to the boot center mark over the center mark on the jig to drill the first ski. Then I measure the back of the jig to the tail of the ski, and do the same on the right. Hopefully that's the way most techs go about it.

I would go back and try to get a new pair of skis if it were me. The shop can probably still sell the skis for at least what they paid anyway.

[Talking Monkey]

so question here ... maybe stupid but why so many botched mounts or do we just see the very tip of the ice berg ??
Do skis not fit the jigs nowdays ,is that why we see so many mounts off ?Might some shops not have upgraded to big enough jigs ... what is really going on here??

Having seen all the botched mount threads, I was very nervous about getting these mounted. I first called to make sure they had a jig. When I got to the shop, the owner/tech was there and took my skis in back to make sure his jig would work. I gave him an email I received from Dynastar saying that the factory line on the 186 LP is 799mm from the tail with a straight tape and told him that's where I want the mount. Right before I left, I said that I realize that it may take a little more effort to make sure the bindings are centered properly (this being a wideish ski) and offered him some beer for his trouble - he declined.

[300hp]

if the jig fits its really not any more effort, but freehanding is quite a bit more work. the only way your really going to satisfy yourself on this is go out out and get a cheap set of calipers, then pop the toepiece off and measure like mntlion said, hole to sidewall.

that being said, I bet you won't notice when skiing.

[Talking Monkey]

Just spoke with the store owner. He told me that he also noticed that the boot mark was forward of the ski's mounting line (5-8mm). He said that the boot mark, Jig mark, and ski mark were all aligned before he drilled, but after the forward pressure was set, it looked forward and that this sometimes happens. Does this sound right? Anyway, he agreed to buy the skis from me for what I paid. He was pretty cool about the whole thing so I would feel bad making him buy them if his explanation holds water. WWMD??

[Voltron]

Just spoke with the store owner. He told me that he also noticed that the boot mark was forward of the ski's mounting line (5-8mm). He said that the boot mark, Jig mark, and ski mark were all aligned before he drilled, but after the forward pressure was set, it looked forward and that this sometimes happens. Does this sound right? Anyway, he agreed to buy the skis from me for what I paid. He was pretty cool about the whole thing so I would feel bad making him buy them if his explanation holds water. WWMD??

This happens with some Tyrolia bindings where the jig is set with roughly 10mm increments. You can wind up a few mm forward or back depending on how you round. Throw in a slop factor and you can get even further off. Regardless though, mounting location (forward or back) is a matter of preference rather than something that needs to be dead on accurate to the line. You might even prefer the forward mount. Maybe you won't. That is if even notice at all.

[davep]

Just had my new Legend Pros mounted with Axial 2 bindings and noticed that the toe pieces are off-center by about 3mm. Is this a reasonable tolerance or will it be a problem?

Just to clarify - is the toepice 3mm off center? Or is there a 3mm difference between the amount of ski showing on the left of the binding compared to the amount showing on the right of the binding? (the latter would mean the binding is really 1.5mm off center)

[jerr]

As above I'm a bit confused. Are you saying 1) the binding is mounted twisted? and/or 2) one is mounted slightly forward or toward the rear from the other?

If it's 1) don't worry about it. I noticed a pair of my skis had the toe ~3-4mm to one side and I thought it was the end of the world. 05/06 gots ruined!!! Then I realised I'd done 30 days on them and hadn't noticed. So I measured up my other skis. Only one of the other 4 pair was perfectly centered down the length of the ski. most out by 2-3mm. And I imagine a lot of peoples skis are out by ~2-4mm. So don't worry about it unless you feel it.

If it's 2) like Davep pointed out, ski it . If you notice something then you have a problem. If not - chill out and have fun. IMHO it's very easy to get unnecessarily precious about skis. We have a lot of sentiment towards each one but they are just a tool we thrash around over an uneven falling medium with a furious enthusiasm. A few mm isn't the end of the world.

[Sockerfarsan]

Is it the race toe (DIN 15/18)? I've hade a pair of P18's (same toe) where the toe looked twisted, but it was just the AFD-piece (the whole plastic plate) that twisted when tightening the screws.

It looked like the toe was 2-3 mm off, but after taking the toe away and measuring the holes with a caliper, they were only off by 0,5 mm.

[Talking Monkey]

It's not the race toe - Axial 2 140s.

To clarify, there are two issues:

1) It appears that the toe pieces are off center (side-to-side) by about 3mm. Sounds like my original question was answered and that this is probably pretty normal. When accounting for my own potential measurement errors, it is possible that it is even less than 3mm.

2) Since starting this thread, I rechecked the fore/aft position of the boot on the ski and noticed that it's more forward than I originally thought. It looks like it's around 6 - 8mm. This is point I chose to discuss with the owner. He claims that everything was aligned correctly fore/aft (boot, jig, and ski), but when he set the forward pressure, the boot ended up being forward of the mounting line. He said that this sometimes happens with certain boot/binding combinations. Is this plausible or did he really screw up the mount? I know that most people are recommending going back a bit on the Legend Pro, so ending up forward worries me a little.

[Talking Monkey]

Can anyone comment on whether it's possible for the boot/jig/ski to be aligned before drilling and then have the boot shift forward 6-8mm after the fwd pressure is set? I'm going to talk to shop owner today and would like to know if what he is telling me is BS or possible. Like I said before, he already agreed to buy the skis, but I'd like to know if I can expect the same thing to happen with a new pair.