Fritschi Vipec review thread

[HHTELE]

I know the subject of Vipecs and Spectres has come up.
I have quite a few days on mine. But, I am wondering- anybody do any mods of any kind that make entry easier? I am still not consistently easily getting in. Latest gen vipecs.

Wondering if it's me. If it's me, I probably can't fix it. On the other hand, I have all kinds of tools......

[steveski]

Have 10+ days on vipec blacks, did not ski previous generations but have ski partners who do.

Bindings have been excellent. No pre-release, no issues. Skied multiple days inbounds. Step in learning curve was slightly more challenging than dynafits, IMO, but now I'm adjusted and usually step in first time. Brakes deploy well for me on a 116mm waisted ski. Also have them on protests and was able to hand bend the 120 brake to work well.

I like the easily release of the heal while breaking trail in deep snow. Overall no feelings of the materials being anything but solid.

[LeeLau]

I know the subject of Vipecs and Spectres has come up.
I have quite a few days on mine. But, I am wondering- anybody do any mods of any kind that make entry easier? I am still not consistently easily getting in. Latest gen vipecs.

Wondering if it's me. If it's me, I probably can't fix it. On the other hand, I have all kinds of tools......

The one thing i do with vipecs i do differently than dynafits is to put one side of the toe into toepiece first. Then at an angle to horizontal plane then bring the entire boot down to horizontal plane. Boot then snaps in with satisfying kachunk.

I've also seen in ski mode some people put heel in first then toe next. Doea this make sense?

[HHTELE]

The one thing i do with vipecs i do differently than dynafits is to put one side of the toe into toepiece first. Then at an angle to horizontal plane then bring the entire boot down to horizontal plane. Boot then snaps in with satisfying kachunk.

I've also seen in ski mode some people put heel in first then toe next. Doea this make sense?

I am familiar with the alternate toe socket move- have done it with Dynafits. Doesn't work well for me with the Vipec/Spectre combo. Part of why I was wondering if it's partly the boot shape.
And, the heel index thing does work OK, but less of an issue. Most times I am going to ski mode, my toes are already locked in.

Just put a pair on Vector BCs I normally ski tele. GREAT being able to easily go ski to tour, and ski that ski with that boot. Just skied a closed ski area. Skins on for the first climb, a low angle fishscale climb for seconds, then a half mile traverse back to the car.

[LeeLau]

I am familiar with the alternate toe socket move- have done it with Dynafits. Doesn't work well for me with the Vipec/Spectre combo. Part of why I was wondering if it's partly the boot shape.
And, the heel index thing does work OK, but less of an issue. Most times I am going to ski mode, my toes are already locked in.

Just put a pair on Vector BCs I normally ski tele. GREAT being able to easily go ski to tour, and ski that ski with that boot. Just skied a closed ski area. Skins on for the first climb, a low angle fishscale climb for seconds, then a half mile traverse back to the car.

Strange. I dont recall the Spectre being different but I only briefly looked. Not sure what the answer is as you're an experienced user

[HHTELE]

I think It's probably user error, just can't sort out the error.

[meter-man]

Two questions:

- Is the Vipec crampon really the only compatible ski crampon? I'd love to be able to use my B&D 'pons (the classic) which work in Dynafits, Plums, Kingpins, etc. After reviewing upthread, it looks like the Voile is an option too, but the hingeless crampon doesn't seem like a great approach, but maybe I'm wrong. ETA: never mind - that G3 Ion crampon looks awesome.

- Anywhere I can find a pair of the Blacks for less than $550? L9 seems to have the best deal right now...

[DGamms]

$350 plus shipping

https://www.telemark-pyrenees.com/bi...pec-12-binding

Add discount code ATBOOTW10

[hoarhey]

Yup, TP for the win

[summit]

next years vipecs even easier than current year and lightyears easier than 1st gen

[1000-oaks]

Anyone know the minimum ski width for a Vipec? Picked up a pair of G3 Findr 86, and not sure it's okay for the wing pivots to hang over the edge of the raised binding area of the ski. Suspect I know the answer...get different skis if I want to use Vipecs.

[NorCalNomad]

I have some 70mm waisted skis that my vipecs go on every now and then. No problems yet, but not really doing GS on them either

[HHTELE]

Can somebody remind me the best position for storage? Asin least stress on springs, both toe and heel.

[m029c9]

Can somebody remind me the best position for storage? Asin least stress on springs, both toe and heel.

Toe in Ski mode. Heel doesn't matter. Per Instructions.

[dunfree]

SierraTradingPost has an older generation Vipec for $244 right now.

[1000-oaks]

Measured Vipec toe, looks like the topsheet needs to be a minimum of 65mm wide to fully support the plastic base.

[greasyslope]

This is part report and part question.

First, the question. Has anyone had any issues with spontaneous telemark mode?

I have Vipec Blacks, mounted on Billy Goats, using the latest vintage Cochise 130 boot. I am a fairly big guy (6'3" 225 lbs), and although I don't ski as aggressively as I used to, I still ski pretty hard.

I have had 3 instances of "holy shit", my heel is free, so far in about 8 days on the bindings. Besides that I have been quite pleased. In all cases, I wasn't doing anything particularly strenuous right when the release occurred. Today, I actually crashed, and the toe released nicely. I am fairly certain that in 2 of the instances I had been skiing multiple runs without issue, prior to setting my heel free. After the 2nd occurrence, I tried to fine tune the mini tech gap for the heel, and I had hoped that I had solved the problem, until it happened again today.

I have very little experience with other tech bindings. I know about some of them having a similar issue on a softer ski that gets overflexed. I haven't seen anything similar on the Vipec. I need to try to be better about doing a visual check of the heelpiece at the top of each run, to try to mitigate the problem.

So, if anyone has any insight, that would be great.

It is a little hard for me to offer an insightful, comparative review, but I'll give my impressions. I skied Beast 16's briefly. They seemed finicky and I got some of the original batch that had issues with the toe pins, so I went back to frame bindings for a few years. I have only skied the BG's with the Vipecs, so it is a little hard to isolate some of the feel between different skis and different style bindings. I have skied the setup on some pretty firm days because I wanted to play on my new stuff, even if conditions were not ideal for it. I also wanted to see how it would perform in firm, bumpy, less than idea conditions. I also often end up splitting a lot of days between the resort and side country laps.

I have not felt like it was the best set up for firm bumps, but it has also been surprisingly fine. My day ended today with a partial collision with another skier (I will take some of the blame). We were in an area where trails cross paths in multiple directions, and just as I was coming past, he changed plans and caught my tails with his tips, and after a moment I went down in a sprawling mess. I'm sore in a number of places but both toes released nicely, potentially saving me from further injury (the other guy was fine BTW).

So, if I could stop telemarking, I think I would be happy overall. TIA

[galibier_numero_un]

A couple of obvious things you've likely checked, but it doesn't hurt to mention them ...

1. Does your heel length adjustment put you in the fore/aft adjustment range of the heel track - between the two "stop" lines?
2. Do you feel a positive "click" when latching the heel into downhill mode?

Cheers,
Thom

[greasyslope]

Thom, thanks for pointing out the obvious, because apparently I needed it! My fore/aft is indeed beyond the stop range. I now remember somehow goofing this, even though I checked on a 2x4 first. The binding still seemed to adjust and work, so I went with it. I guess that was a stupid.
I will remount (I think/ hope there is room) and update in awhile.

Many thanks!

[galibier_numero_un]

You're welcome. Scroll back to my January 24th post if you need a template.

Cheers,
Thom

[greasyslope]

Well, upon further inspection I think my original mount was actually fine.





At least I think I am between the two "stops"?

If so, I am back to wondering why I am having any issue.

[greasyslope]

I realized that I should probably add that when the heel releases, it actually goes into tour mode (at least sort of). The heel unit slides back on the track and the trigger portion for the heel is down. No idea how or why this happens?

[North]

The position of the heelpiece in the track looks fine.

When you put the heel back into ski mode, does it takes some force to click into place? The lever goes to "almost ski" pretty easily. The last 10% takes some force. You should hear a loud click, and there should be no gap between the black riser and the white mode lever.

[galibier_numero_un]

What North said. The positive click I mentioned above does take a bit of force.

... Thom

[greasyslope]

Thanks for the confirmation. I believe I have gotten the positive click into ski mode, but I will be extra diligent about checking it in the future. As I mentioned, in at least two of the instances I skied multiple runs without incident before suddenly freeheeling it.
I appreciate the feedback. I will try to pay close attention to the bindings every run for awhile to see if I can catch anything.