Fritschi Tecton

[grinch]

https://www.wildsnow.com/11228/mount...ritschi-vipec/

seek and you shall find! As the mounting pattern is identical on all vipecs and tectons, the system should work with all generations i would think- Stack height increases a bit, but the measly 25mm rear adjustment on the stock vipec also grows significantly, either by a longer plate in the back or by the system depicted above

sorry for not posting this the other day - simply forgot. Crazy week.

Good one! Rental system. Rough guess looks like 15mm either way for the toe. Perfection for my situation if so

[stevied]

No the rental toe adjusts 25 mm either way. The rental heel also adjusts 25 mm either way. Combined with the 25 mm in the Vipec heel, total travel is up to 125 mm. The rental plates are all plastic except for the screws, so if you are a 16 din metal binder, plug boot person, the rental plates may be too weak.

Edited numbers.

[grinch]

Even better. That’s a lot of adjust. I don’t need 16 din metal clamps. I’m set at 10. Hopefully those tracks will be ok. I have broke Salomon s912ti heel tracks but I think they all break

[greasyslope]

I hope those plates work for Tectons -that would be a nice option to have. IIRC- Tectons are not compatible with Vipec heel plates (the standard style). I believe there is some very minor difference.
Can anyone chime in on this?

[cycology1]

After 15 or so inbound days, im really happy with the Tectons (paired with Helio 105 / last gen Vulcans). Lots of fast, choppy, bumpy hits and some big-ish powder days with no pre releases or complaints. The step in is almost too easy. Confidence in them is definitely high at this point.

I started touring in walk mode, due to how easy you can walk out of them while skinning, and no knee falls but havent been in any consequential terrain where i would have not have wanted to be locked in.

Oddly, they are already on sale at blackdiamond.com. Clearing out inventory or model update coming??

[summit]

IIRC- Tectons are not compatible with Vipec heel plates (the standard style). I believe there is some very minor difference.
Can anyone chime in on this?

Confirmed that Tectons/Vipecs can not interchange heel plates (unless Vipec Evo is revised to share a plate with Tecton)

[stevied]

Tecton heel plates are about 10 mm longer than Vipec black. Track profile is the same. Mount holes are the same.

[summit]

Tecton heel plates are about 10 mm longer than Vipec black. Track profile is the same.

Nope. Just try. Tecton is sloppy on Vipec track. Vipec won't even go on the Tecton track.

[LightRanger]

Oddly, they are already on sale at blackdiamond.com. Clearing out inventory or model update coming??

Model update. Saw online somewhere (maybe Wildsnow or here) that they're going to add a bit more rubber for dampening.

[kid-kapow]

This i did not know. Having paid zero attention to what plates i have mounted with what binding i have experienced some issues with getting the Tecton on certain plates with the heel assembly not going on smoothly. It will still go on though. I guess i will have to revisit all my setups and check. My old whites did have a bit more slop in the walk mode, but firmed up in ride mode. Sold both pairs now though and only have blacks and tectons left.

Thanks Fritschi for pointing the difference out in a way that cannot be misunderstood - both on the plates themselves and in writing when you ship and market the product... Or not. Dammit!

photos of the update would be welcome

edit - updated information:

i played around with my setups, and can confirm that the heel plates are binding specific. Vipec Black heels goes on both plates, but has quite a bit of play on the Tecton plates. The Tecton also goes on both, but must be forced on the Vipec Black plates - something that likely adversely affects fore-aft elasticity (heel binding moving due to the ski flexing). Just to be clear, i am not talking about the older Vipec heel plates that are not threaded all the way back, but Vipec heel plates that look identical to the Tecton heel plates - but are not. I did not notice any visual differences between the Vipec Black and Tecton plates (short of getting out a measuring stick and measuring), though that can be an error on my part - i did not scrutinize them that closely.

[Reformed]

Mid season update:
I've put in around 30 days on these now and am still really happy. Snow conditions have ranged from firm sastrugi in the alpine to bottomless fluff in the trees and all types in between. Temperatures have ranged from spring-like to near-arctic. Days have been a mix of lift-served and touring on Steeple 108s and Praxis Protests with the majority of the days spent skinning.
My main observations at this point are that the binding skis very well, tours well and transitions well. I haven't dented my boots or had any failures. I have experienced two instances of random icing that have required interventions beyond the usual mode cycles, hitting bases etc that ALL tech bindings require. The first one was after a warm, deep snow day at treeline that involved lots of skis off/skis on/walking around/packing warm snow in every available crevice. The skis spent the night in a cold shop and the toes would not cycle into the step in position the next morning. A quick hit of heat solved the problem, but this would have been an issue if I was winter camping. I have since taken to cycling the toes between modes a few times when I put the skis in the rack for the night and haven't had any other problems.
The other icing issue was in the heel and may have been the result of insufficient forward pressure (which isn't really forward pressure, but there ya go...). Anyhow, the heel wouldn't lock into ski mode at the top of a lengthy skin/bootpack. The heelpiece kept pushing back and not capturing the lip on the heel of the boot. I cycled it, cleared any visible snow etc, but couldn't get it to lock. The fix involved two additional turns of the forward pressure screw. Whether this dislodged some ice in the track or provided enough tension to make the thing work again remains to be seen, but I have since skied a bunch of days and haven't had any further issues. Conditions on this particular day transitioned from spring-like schmoo at the trailhead to all of your clothes on and no exposed skin in the alpine, so that likely had something to do with it, as the transition from warm to cold was abrupt and severe.
Beyond these two instances I have observed the binding to be less finicky than many others in challenging conditions (very deep snow, cold temps, lots of transitions from warm to cold and lots of boot packing). I recently had zero issues while friends on Dynafits and Kingpins were struggling to keep their toes from becoming plugged with snow/inoperable. Ions seemed to fare quite well in these conditions as well, but did seem to have the odd instance of brakes not staying locked in tour mode.
I have had one release of both skis, and was extremely happy with how and when both skis released. One was a lateral at the toe as a result of skiing under a buried tree and the other was vertical from the heel during the resulting cartwheel. Both were smooth and seemed to occur at an appropriate level of torque (RV = 8.5). The lateral was the classic moment where you just start to feel uncomfortable pressure in your ankle and then you hear/feel the reassuring "click" and offer quiet thanks as you tuck and roll. This is the kind of fall that I am hoping these bindings provide some additional margin of safety for, and in this instance they certainly didn't hurt!
I'll post another update later in the season, but so far so good for me.

[XavierD]

Not much to contribute, but after one day of short tour followed by some resort skiing in mixed snow, and I’m sold. I’d take the weight penalty (or lack of) for these over most other +500g bindings. They ski great. Transitions are a breeze, and really no fiddle factor. I also tried to dent the toes of one of my boots by falling forward in tour mode. I didn’t. Y’all must be some fat motherfuckers or skiing some bitch ass boots, because i’m Well over 220 with gear and didn’t dent my XT Freetours.

[1000-oaks]

Put in a day inbounds and a day touring last weekend, they performed perfectly. Didn't feel any different than alpine bindings, though the snow was super soft. Had to chip away a big chunk of compressed snow in the heel cup with my pole tip when transitioning to ski mode, but that was it. They release from the toe super easy in ski mode, just left them in walk mode while skinning and avoided knee falls. Held the brake pedal down with my hand while moving the heel to walk mode, to ensure the brake base wings didn't crack. I'm a fan so far.

[LightRanger]

I also tried to dent the toes of one of my boots by falling forward in tour mode. I didn’t. Y’all must be some fat motherfuckers or skiing some bitch ass boots, because i’m Well over 220 with gear and didn’t dent my XT Freetours.

I suspect that the folks who dented their toes were probably going a bit faster than your tests. F = ma, after all.

Good to know it actually takes some heat though. Still need to mount mine.

[counterfeitfake]

Y’all must be some fat motherfuckers or skiing some bitch ass boots, because i’m Well over 220 with gear and didn’t dent my XT Freetours.

I'd still like more data on this toe denting problem.

I never heard that Lee is fat, but he might have "bitch ass boots", what is your definition?

[TahoeJ]

I’m going to start a boot company called Bitch Ass Boots. Has a nice ring to it. ;-)

[NorCalNomad]

@Solesides - found the video confirming that TLT6 toe isn't endorsed for working with Tecton/Evo toe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuXDwwNZBjA

TLT6 heel also renders it incompatible with Tecton

I'd assume the kingpin adapter for the tlt6 would solve this

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Couple day skiing on the Tectons and one day touring. I really like them. Once you figure them out they're really well thought out. I can't tell the difference skiing from a Driver/STH/9xx. Touring is just like any good tech binding. I like them better than Ions.

[Choucas]

It turns out that I've had every almost iteration of the Vipecs starting with year one with a mid-season toe piece switch to the "improved" version. Then the Vipec Black. Now the Tecton. Other than the very first gen being next to impossible to step into the toe, all have served me well. The Tecton is super user friendly compared to any prior versions. I am not hard on my equipment, so I really can't speak to durability. They hold me in and I've yet to need them to release. I've toured a bit but not extensively. I'll do so later in the spring (Iceland early May). They ski fine in resort and fine in off piste conditions. I have skied them in teeth-jarring super icy frozen/refrozen conditions. With pretty light skis and boots things tend to flap around vs. alpine gear, but that's not a binding problem. Keep in mind that it's a pretty light weight system and you can't hammer it (or any tech binding) like you can an alpine binding or a frame touring binding. We still are not at the point where you can have it all.

[steveski]

It turns out that I've had every almost iteration of the Vipecs starting with year one with a mid-season toe piece switch to the "improved" version. Then the Vipec Black. Now the Tecton. Other than the very first gen being next to impossible to step into the toe, all have served me well. The Tecton is super user friendly compared to any prior versions. I am not hard on my equipment, so I really can't speak to durability. They hold me in and I've yet to need them to release. I've toured a bit but not extensively. I'll do so later in the spring (Iceland early May). They ski fine in resort and fine in off piste conditions. I have skied them in teeth-jarring super icy frozen/refrozen conditions. With pretty light skis and boots things tend to flap around vs. alpine gear, but that's not a binding problem. Keep in mind that it's a pretty light weight system and you can't hammer it (or any tech binding) like you can an alpine binding or a frame touring binding. We still are not at the point where you can have it all.

Good insight. I *think* the tecton would improve some inbounds or hard snow performance over my vipecs, but in reality an alpine binder is the next major step up for me. Don't need a "do all" binding because as good as they get there will always be trade offs.

That being said for people who are not hard on gear and <200lbs the shift could be an ideal inbounds binding...

[telemon10]

Update on the Tectons. I finally got some extensive touring use on my tectons, mounted on Voile V6. We skied 5 days in Quebec's Chic Choc mts, touring 4,000-5,000 vertical most days. Conditions were relatively mild for Quebec in late-Feb (20s F during the day), skiing mostly 6-16" of untracked medium-density powder, with some icy/crusty spots in alpine wind-blown zones. We skied gladed areas, old growth fir stands, open bowls, couloirs, drainage gullys, and did some serious schwackage in search of new zones.

The tectons were flawless in all situations. Easy to engage into and out of tour mode, engaging heel lifters, stepping into, etc. I had virtually no icing issues to speak of, and enjoyed being able to go directly into ski mode without removing skis and then ripping skins with skis on -- a nice advantage over Dynafits. I had one lateral toe release while skiing a wind-blown, skied out bowl, when my tip caught on something and I was quickly ejected. Seemed like a good release that I may not have ejected from in a heel-only releasable tech binder. Since other users have reported issues with broken plastic around the brake stomp pad, when transitioning from ski to tour mode I avoided stomping on the brake pad with my boot to lock brakes up, preferring to lock them up by hand after I put skins on. I'm pretty average size (5'11", 180#) and not particularly hard on gear. All in all I was very pleased with the ease of use and performance of the Tectons. Hopefully that will continue with more use.

[gavinski91]

FYI Tectons are available at CampSaver for $388 with the coupon code "4OUTLET"
https://www.campsaver.com/black-diam...2-binding.html

[NorCalNomad]

FYI Tectons are available at CampSaver for $388 with the coupon code "4OUTLET"
https://www.campsaver.com/black-diam...2-binding.html

Unless you just bought up the last one no they aren't, anymore at least.

"

• Sorry, but "Black Diamond Fritschi Tecton 12 Binding" is no longer available for purchase. Please remove it from your cart and proceed with checkout"

[bean]

and enjoyed being able to go directly into ski mode without removing skis and then ripping skins with skis on -- a nice advantage over Dynafits.

I must be missing something here. Which Dynafit model are you unable to go in to ski mode without removing your skis?

[telemon10]

I must be missing something here. Which Dynafit model are you unable to go in to ski mode without removing your skis?

Maybe it was just my inflexibility, but I could never master the maneuver of bending over, shifting my weight to one foot, lifting up my boot heel and rotating the heel piece of my 1st gen radicals. Especially on steep terrain or in dicey situations. It was just easier to take the skis off. Tectons are a breeze to click out of tour mode with a pole and step-in to ski mode.