G3 ION tech binding

[hball]

Maybe it has been covered already but....
Any aftermarket availability of ski crampons for the ion that are a closer fit for a 112mm ski? Only seeing 85,105 & 130mm on the G3 site and in shops. I would rather have a closer fit. My other skis have Dynafit st binders and the 110mm crampon works fine with a bit of bending.
Any thoughts?

[xyz]

Also give it a shot of Teflon/silicon spray lube every now and then down around the brake mech and heel base. I've kept mine well lubed and haven't had the rust problems some people talk about.

Just as an update for the greater good: after regreasing the internals the icing issue disappeared. Ski touring bindings are just like any other mechanical system; they need to be maintained!

In other news, the heel pins were progressively developing a lot of slop, to the point of heel play when skiing. I took them back to MEC and they replaced the heel pieces with 2016 heels. They contacted G3 about it but they didn't respond (4 days). I'm not sure if G3 would have done the same free replacement under warranty.

[sf]

Initial impressions, day 1. Went for a quick "tour" on a local hill after work. 2 laps a 350 meters.
This years Ion12, mounted on BMT94s, skied with Sally Mtn Labs w/Beast insert.

Extremely easy to step into the toe, no need for rolling or any other technique. This might of course vary between boots.
Very easy to operate heel with hand, but no way to use the pole.....or am I wrong?
The shape of the toe lever eliminates every chance of pushing the lever down with the boot on steep kick turns. Not very common, but has happened to me with FT12/Cochise combo, and I've seen it happen on a Plum/Mercury combo.
As far as I can tell it works just fine with the Beast heel insert.
Had to slide down next to the slalom practice so can't really comment on how they ski.

Will hopefully get out on a longer tour on friday, and will be able to comment on how the crampons work and how they ski.

[retirwntm]

Dynafit Warranty has been shit this year. One of the worst hard goods brands with communication and follow up.

X2. I had great experience over the years and the warranty and group at salewa were what kept me coming back.

This season has been horrible. Never buying Dynafit products again.

[neck beard]

X2. I had great experience over the years and the warranty and group at salewa were what kept me coming back.

This season has been horrible. Never buying Dynafit products again.

x3

[Huckleberry]

Very easy to operate heel with hand, but no way to use the pole.....or am I wrong?

Not sure if this is what you mean, but I find it quick and easy to switch the heel from tour to ski mode with a pole. I hold the pole upside down, lift my heel, and put the end of the grip against the back part of the heel turret. Then gently step down against the pole grip and use the pole to rotate the heel turret back into ski mode.

I'm not sure I explained that well, but it's pretty quick once you get the hang of it.

[rod9301]

What is the release setting?
Mine are@11 and not so easy to turn

[AlpiNord]

Not sure if this is what you mean, but I find it quick and easy to switch the heel from tour to ski mode with a pole. I hold the pole upside down, lift my heel, and put the end of the grip against the back part of the heel turret. Then gently step down against the pole grip and use the pole to rotate the heel turret back into ski mode.

I'm not sure I explained that well, but it's pretty quick once you get the hang of it.

A couple images or a quick video to see how you do this would be great.

[stinkyclimber]

You don't need a video for my method: just lift your boot clear and bash the end of the binding a few times with the handle of a ski pole and the heel piece rotates around. It is pretty easy.

I am sure the pole lever method works too. I will have to try it this aft.

[swissiphic]

X2. I had great experience over the years and the warranty and group at salewa were what kept me coming back.

This season has been horrible. Never buying Dynafit products again.

good to know...also have been a dynafit diehard based on older models that worked and when they didn't the superb warranty/customer service I've experienced over the years... probably wait till spring 2017 to deal with present issues; see if they sort corporate stuff out during the course of the coming year.

[sf]

Initial impressions, day 1. Went for a quick "tour" on a local hill after work. 2 laps a 350 meters.
This years Ion12, mounted on BMT94s, skied with Sally Mtn Labs w/Beast insert.

Extremely easy to step into the toe, no need for rolling or any other technique. This might of course vary between boots.
Very easy to operate heel with hand, but no way to use the pole.....or am I wrong?
The shape of the toe lever eliminates every chance of pushing the lever down with the boot on steep kick turns. Not very common, but has happened to me with FT12/Cochise combo, and I've seen it happen on a Plum/Mercury combo.
As far as I can tell it works just fine with the Beast heel insert.
Had to slide down next to the slalom practice so can't really comment on how they ski.

Will hopefully get out on a longer tour on friday, and will be able to comment on how the crampons work and how they ski.

1000 meters today. Skied down a pretty mellow couloir.
Due to a surprise 15cm mini-dump I didn't get to test the crampons......oh, well
Very pleased with both the up and the down. In such conditions I really can't tell the difference between any kind of bindings though........
Pretty happy with the BMTs as well, although I definitively can feel they are pretty light compared to what I'm used to.

One issue though. The lifters on one of the bindings are way to easy to manipulate. They flip back and forth during kick turns, as well as if they touch the sides of the skin track. Very annoying. Anyone else experience this?

[bobsdesk]

One issue though. The lifters on one of the bindings are way to easy to manipulate. They flip back and forth during kick turns, as well as if they touch the sides of the skin track. Very annoying. Anyone else experience this?

Yes. I've had a great experience with the Ions, however the heel lifters do get loose...mine sort of "jingle" and make noise when I walk. A little annoying, not an issue though. I haven't had them flip out of place on a kick turn, but have had them move around while skiing.

What's frustrating is that this part of the binding seems like the EASIEST part to get right / make durable.

[neck beard]

What's frustrating is that this part of the binding seems like the EASIEST part to get right / make durable.

G3 are the company of 'almost but not quite'. Amongst numerous other head scratchers, I own 2 of their avalanche probes and both designs perplex me.

[Wapow]

If they are super easy to flip, the retention spring is broken. The next thing you'll notice is the high lifter will keep flipping down when you're skinning. Very annoying. I dealt with this at the beginning of the season. G3 made me send the binding in through my retailer. It took a long time.

[galibier_numero_un]

G3 are the company of 'almost but not quite'. Amongst numerous other head scratchers, I own 2 of their avalanche probes and both designs perplex me.

Annoyances indeed, but you have to admit that they've never had problems with the toe pins ;-)

... Thom

[sf]

If they are super easy to flip, the retention spring is broken. The next thing you'll notice is the high lifter will keep flipping down when you're skinning. Very annoying. I dealt with this at the beginning of the season. G3 made me send the binding in through my retailer. It took a long time.

Ok, thanks. They already are. Annoying.
In addition I noticed that the biggest of the release setting springs on the same binding is semi-stuck. Luckily at pretty much the setting I want. But there is definitively something wrong inside the heel.

[neck beard]

Annoyances indeed, but you have to admit that they've never had problems with the toe pins ;-)

... Thom

They nailed the toe and crampon (though the crampon can come off if the cable catches on a rubber boot lug, rare if ever for most people.) You can also squeeze one crampon inside the other when in your pack. I love that.

[bobsdesk]

If they are super easy to flip, the retention spring is broken. The next thing you'll notice is the high lifter will keep flipping down when you're skinning. Very annoying. I dealt with this at the beginning of the season. G3 made me send the binding in through my retailer. It took a long time.

Seriously...? They had you send the heels back for that fix? Couldn't they have just sent a new top plate with new risers for you to bolt on?

[ex-powderbroker]

Any word about whether a 100mm brake will fit over a 105mm ski with last years Ion? It seems like the brake sizing is way off with some of these manufacturers these days.

[LeeLau]

Got some skis to review with G3 bindings. There's a lot of play in the heel lifters. So much play that the lifters go from flat to high rise mode just when skinning - a bit of an annoying feature.
The round bar on which the lifters are located appears to be press fit. Is there any way to tighten up the lifters so there is some tension so they don't flop around? My ghetto fix here is to take a paper clip and wrap it around the lifters but there must be a better way.
Also one of the brakes is not deploying consistently when in ski mode. It's difficult to see the reason as the mech is under the heel pad of the ski brakes. I've hit the area with some lube but anything else I should be watching out for other then runaway skis?

[whatsupdoc]

LeeLau that happened to me on a pair last season. Something is likely broken if they're just flopping around freely. On mine the bar that the risers rotate on was broken from the heel housing on 1 end. It looked ok to the naked eye but close inspection showed it was broken on 1 end. Or the plastic piece beneath the risers that makes the risers 'spring loaded' is cracked and not putting enough pressure under the risers. Mine were warrantied no problems.

Curious if the heel housings have a plastic or metal top. The newest versions have plastic tops. Not sure why they made that change but all the new ones have the plastic top.

[1000-oaks]

There's a bowed rectangular "spring" under the flaps (at least there is in the pre-2016 metal-top version), which pushes on the flat sections of the lifters around the axle and holds the flippers in their various positions. If the spring cracked in two and fell out, the flippers will swing freely. (There aren't a ton of reports of this happening, but there are definitely some.) Don't know how easy it is to slide in a new spring, maybe it just slips right in under the flippers - give G3 a call.

Even more importantly, what's going on with the left side of the heel cap in your photo? Could be an illusion, but it appears to be missing a big section of the black plastic cap over the pin on the left side, so those must be 2016 or 2017 bindings. That's probably how the fliper position spring disappeared, if there's nothing to hold it in place on the left side.

I suspect G3 changed from the original forged aluminum caps to plastic as a cost-saving move, though they claim the plastic is stronger. I still wouldn't trade my metal-top Ion heels for the plastic ones though.

[LeeLau]

Whatsupdoc. The heel housing has plastic tops.

1000oaks. Yup no spring there. Guess it fell out somehow. Will have to figure out how to fix. In the meantime tape and a paper clip it is. That left side of the heel cap is just wear. I'm not sure how it wore that much

I'm not crazy about how the heelpieces sway perceptibly from side to side just under hand pressure. My Dynafits sure as hell don't do that. Mind you this is just a soft snow ski but it isn't confidence inspiring

[skisurfmirth]

Lee Lau - I don't think its wear. Its from the heel of the boot catching on the plastic cap and cracking the cap with upward force (think ski in a flexed position while skining and catching the tower) Good friend of mine has started using a dremel to grind the cap back to the metal backer below the cap. ( look at the heel unit upside down to see the metal part) Solved the problem for him. I think g3 will be tweaking the design for next year, but you can always ask Cam. I'm a big fan of these bindings though. Nothing is perfect but these things just walk and ski so well!

[trogdortheburninator]

My top cap is also cracked. I placed a duct tape shim under the lifters and now they stay put again.