The Official Salomon S/Lab SHIFT MNC Thread -AMA

[HAB]

I've got both Shifts and CAST in the quiver. Happy with Shifts on pow skis that get true 50/50 use (if not more touring time) but trust CAST more for super regular inbounds use, especially on firmer snow. Mostly wish CAST had an option that worked on a full rubber touring sole...

Shifts worked well today inbounds, with alpine boots. Mostly very good snow, but mobbed into some buried refrozen garbage at irresponsible speeds a few times and didn't die.

[altacoup]

Went 15ft to flat, looked actually like an uphill landing, on accident a week or so ago. Came to an instant full on dead stop slightly over tips. Stayed in both bindings. I was impressed.

[whyturn]

Never mind

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[xconverge]

Got a decent amount of dirt and grit in my shifts due to laziness after a small hike during spring conditions. I have cleaned out as much as I could, AFD slides freely, seems to be enough grease in places. But with all of the prerelease issues people have, wondering if there is anywhere that is more suspetible due to grit/dirt/mud? I am guessing its fine, doesn't require grease anywhere, and I will just put them away until next season and then just move on with life...but I am bored

Also used my shift ski crampons for the first time this weekend and they were great. When conditions line up, they are just super nice to keep things simple/safe on a steep sketchy section

[skonig]

Does anyone know if the release if affected if you can't lock the toe lever down in ski mode? My ski hit the lever and broke the plastic tab that holds the toe lever down today. Bindings aren't under warranty anymore either and I really don't want to but a new set of bindings if I don't have to.

[phatboy64]

I don’t know but I don’t think I would trust it not locked down in ski mode.

[XavierD]

It skis the same if the lever isn’t locked down. Regardless they have the new devil horn plastic window discussed in the other thread which fixes the issue - kinda.

[Spyderjon]

Does anyone know if the release if affected if you can't lock the toe lever down in ski mode? My ski hit the lever and broke the plastic tab that holds the toe lever down today. Bindings aren't under warranty anymore either and I really don't want to but a new set of bindings if I don't have to.

Providing the ski/walk block is fully forward/clicked-in (as indicated on the top toe) the binding will function correctly. Fitting the latest din window means that the plastic tabs will hold the tour in a slightly lower (better?) position (as per the lower toe).

[KillerMonkey]

Anybody have suggestions on how I could go about getting a replacement DIN window for my shifts if I don't have the warranty (got them used)?

I'd even pay for them if there was some type of parts catalog I could order from.

[phatboy64]

I have one spare you can have (no nubs) but I won't be in the same place as it is until next friday

[KillerMonkey]

I have one spare you can have (no nubs) but I won't be in the same place as it is until next friday

Sent you a PM

[meter-man]

Andy Hays almost got SHIFTed right off Planet Earth: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPEFobLh..._web_copy_link

I am quite surprised these safety bindings have not killed someone yet (or have they?).

[galibier_numero_un]

Andy Hays almost got SHIFTed right off Planet Earth: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPEFobLh..._web_copy_link

I am quite surprised these safety bindings have not killed someone yet (or have they?).

Looks like the right tool for the WRONG guy.

If I were he, I'd unquestionably be on CAST ... before this incident.

... Thom

[kid-kapow]

Andy Hays almost got SHIFTed right off Planet Earth: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPEFobLh..._web_copy_link

I am quite surprised these safety bindings have not killed someone yet (or have they?).

What are you trying to say here - that we all should stop skiing since any part of our equipment can fail at unfortunate moments in something that could result in deaths, even if set up everything correctly? Or does that kind of logic just hold true for Shifts?

I am assuming that your point is based on the assumption that the bindings were set up correctly and that the issue was 100% caused by the binding not doing what it is supposed to do.

To be fair - I also disagree with Thoms point, that just seem like a hindsight 20/20 comment, though to be fair - I have no idea who Andy Hays is, how big he is, if he has legs of steel or chicken legs, or if he is able to maintain a perfectly set up pair of Shifts - so if your comment is based on any such knowledge, then my bad Thom.

Also, I do not mean to imply that Shifts are either perfect or the end all be all, but posts like the one quoted above just makes me frustrated as they lack enough context to even appropriately be relevant as comment on the sitation it bases its then broad generalization on. So Shifts are a bit finicky to setup and/or does not always work as advertised? That is neither a novel observation nor something that is limited to Shifts.

Anyway, I obviously need to fix my damned AAZ and its buzzer of death so I use my beloved Syncro, stop being annoyed and go back to just ignoring posts I find irritating

[stealurface831]

Someone likes shifts


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[rod9301]

Someone likes shifts


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No kidding

Good luck to him, and i hope he doesn't ski exposed stuff.

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[galibier_numero_un]

What are you trying to say here - that we all should stop skiing since any part of our equipment can fail at unfortunate moments in something that could result in deaths, even if set up everything correctly? Or does that kind of logic just hold true for Shifts?

I am assuming that your point is based on the assumption that the bindings were set up correctly and that the issue was 100% caused by the binding not doing what it is supposed to do.

To be fair - I also disagree with Thoms point, that just seem like a hindsight 20/20 comment, though to be fair - I have no idea who Andy Hays is, how big he is, if he has legs of steel or chicken legs, or if he is able to maintain a perfectly set up pair of Shifts - so if your comment is based on any such knowledge, then my bad Thom.

Also, I do not mean to imply that Shifts are either perfect or the end all be all, but posts like the one quoted above just makes me frustrated as they lack enough context to even appropriately be relevant as comment on the sitation it bases its then broad generalization on. So Shifts are a bit finicky to setup and/or does not always work as advertised? That is neither a novel observation nor something that is limited to Shifts.

Anyway, I obviously need to fix my damned AAZ and its buzzer of death so I use my beloved Syncro, stop being annoyed and go back to just ignoring posts I find irritating

I know you were replying to @meter-man's provocative comment ...

I might as well expand on my "right tool, WRONG guy" comment. While I don't think Shifts should be universally indicted, I do think that mounting them should be an informed decision.

Me? I'd skip right over Tectons to CAST if I needed more binding. Something about the Shifts rub my Occam's Razor bias the wrong way. That's just me, and I wouldn't impose my opinion on anyone, other than to state it.

I have zero experience with Shifts, and intend to keep it that way, so my opinion is based solely on extrapolating what I've read here, but it's not a hindsight one. The closest I came to mounting them was to have a passing curiosity about them - the Occam's Razor thing ...

I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that Shifts lie somewhere on the continuum between Tectons and CAST. Whether this Andy fellow has chicken legs or not, he's a helluva charger (more than I could ever dream of being), and the way I see it, he's the type of fellow that CAST was designed for.

I agree that shit can happen with any gear, but given all of the information available to me, I strongly suspect that the probability of a bad outcome being less for this fellow with CAST than with Shifts.

It's possible that his Shifts were set up poorly, but we see a lot of comments about that. I don't know how to factor this in to the equation, other than the fact that we read about more Shifts being set up poorly than any other bindings. I know ... the counter argument is that you don't eliminate a Ferrari from consideration because it may be more difficult to tune.

At the end of the day, if you're on top of a consequential line, the last thing you need to be thinking about is your gear.

... Thom

[TahoeJ]

Some background, Andy Hays is a really high level skier and also not some big burly dude who should over-power this binding. That video is pretty bad - there's no way there should have been a release when there was. There are also some other really good skiers in the comments on his instagram post saying they've had the same thing happen. I know some of them go to the same shop as me (and Cody for that matter) - Tahoe Sports Hub - and can assure you they know what they're doing and aren't mounting them incorrectly. I'm guessing Meter-Man had his mounted there as well.

I already sold my Shifts because even though I haven't had any incidents personally (aside from the touring related issues that are well documented in this thread) I just know way too many people who have had problems with pre-releases and I no longer trust them.

[meter-man]

Yeah, what TahoeJ said. I wish they were more reliable; with better reliability, they would be a solid option. But when the binding sucks at...well....binding...no thanks.

I really don't understand the arguments that this guy charges too hard for these bindings. What? They aren't 8-DIN bindings. They should function more or less like a 13-RV/DIN binding.

Anyway, I'm not really into the navel-gazing. If the SHIFT works for you, sweet. But if you don't own them already, don't buy them. Do we really need another thincover/Salomon Quest-debacle to prove that the product is dangerous? Hope not.

[Any]

oh. bugger. appears maybe I'm a sucker for moving from kingpins to shifts this year.
are they really ejecting early, or are people just not using them properly?

i haven't used them yet (too many rocks for new skis), but after couple of minutes playing about while mounting and adjusting forward pressure I noticed that it'd be possible to use them but in a wrong not-quite-ski mode setting. (i think thats what Spyderjon was eluding to just above?)
i still have my initial concerns from years ago regarding icing against so many close moving parts, so i wonder if that would contribute to making it difficult/impossible to return to ski mode and that's what causes people to experience prerelease?

whilst i feel i learn more from bad reviews over good reviews, its also hard to look through the anti-corporate chaff.

[DarthMarkus]

There's a lot of hate directed at the Shift lately. It hasn't met what I hoped it would be. But I think expectations for a lot of people were that it would be the evolution of a touring binding with all the benefits of a high-end, highly elastic, high-ISO binding. I still hope that it'll eventually exist, but I recognize that my hopes were a bit too much.

The binding is still great. I would argue that it's on par with the guardian, only without the weight. As a 50/50 binding I still don't think there's anything better out there. The only reason I'll stop skiing it is because I've already quiver killed my skis for the past 7 years, so the usefulness of the Shift is lost on me more when I can already change out my binders between in-bounds and out-of-bounds; may as well have a lighter binding for longer tours. The only thing that's been lacking with my quiver killing endeavours is I still don't have a solution for skiing steeper/faster terrain or hitting airs while touring... Except for CAST.

What people hoped (myself included) the Shift would be translated into unrealistic expectations. People are upset now that their unrealistic expectations don't match up with the reality of what the Shift actually is. Also, I'd argue that at least 1/3 of the people complaining about it probably haven't set it correctly. Hell, I would trust only a handful of certified techs to set it correctly. I had to troubleshoot mine and it vastly improved my retention once I did. There's a good chance Instagram bro and other bros have the issues they've had due to user error. Unfortunately we'll never know for sure, but I can certainly speak to my own experiences.

tl;dr: The Shift is still very high, if not the highest, on the list of 50/50 bindings out there. If you're a very aggressive skier, or fat, there's still no substitute for highly elastic, high-ISO bindings out there. If you're a spoiled brat like me and want it all, either quiver kill your skis and/or use CAST, or buy a lot of different setups.

[Jongle]

If a tech binding is so finicky that most shop techs can't even set it up correctly then this is a design flaw, not user error.

[tuco]

Still waiting for real world reviews of Pindung.

[DarthMarkus]

If a tech binding is so finicky that most shop techs can't even set it up correctly then this is a design flaw, not user error.

A tech binding that's wildly different than any tech binding in the last decade. Once I figured it out, it's not that difficult, just not intuitive to my previous 7 years working in a shop.

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[anotherVTskibum]

If a tech binding is so finicky that most shop techs can't even set it up correctly then this is a design flaw, not user error.

It may also be a documentation flaw. The adjustment instructions here are significantly better than those I found looking for official docs

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