Neil Gendzwill Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 You could go with a less stiff step-in, one of the F2 models perhaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpyride Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 Been riding for several years with regular plates on the front foot and step-ins for the rear. I save about 5 oz. on the front foot which, for me, makes a huge difference about mid day after blasting through the bumps. Call me a whimp, but it does make a difference. Been using Burton Plates on the front and Burton Carrier step-ins on the rear. They give me just the right amount of flex to lessen the impact on bumps or ruts, kind of like suspension, and yet still spring back enough. The Carrier step-ins are a simple mechanical device without springs and levers, and have never jammed on me. Contrary to a lot of guys here, never broken a pair in 7 years. Cautionary note: I'm in at a buck 50, riding both in Seattle and Norther Minn. I'm regular (makes mornings a relief), but if anyone out there is goofy, I have about 4 0r 5 pair of mismatched bindings. Right foot bailed plates and left foot step-ins most of them new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagen Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 I started on Burton step in bindings and started to hate them after 2 years or so. ...had too much trouble at times to get out of them. And since you need to yank 'em hard every so often the cable on the back heel doesn't last that long. Another problem that I had with my burton boots and step in heels was that the plastic sole on the tip and heel comes of pretty fast... ...so I went to regular bindings - burton race plates and snow pro. But now my friends with their fancy TD step in bindings always had to wait for me - or I had to straight line it to catch up. Therefore I finally broke down and ordered TD2s last week. ...it also helped to get x-mas money early this year. :D I only hope that those intec heels last longer than the burton heels... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpyride Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 Me too. I had problems with the Burton Race Plate Step-ins with that damn little lever and the spring. Couldn't always get in them or out of them. That's why I went to the Carrier. That has just a large bail on the back with an exaggerated lever that catches the rear heal and pops down and locks the boot at the same time. Somebody with some common sense developed that one. No moving parts except the one piece that the rear bail runs through. It works very well, and you can pop it on while on the lift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateW Posted November 10, 2004 Report Share Posted November 10, 2004 Step ins. I went through a lot of experimentation and was never able to get the toe lever setup to hold me in securely enough. I think the problem had to do with the fit of the heel bail around the heel ledge on the boot. But I've had no trouble with stepins. And when stepins fail (cable breakage), they fail with my foot attached to the board, which is much preferable to failing "open" with one leg attached and the other flailing. I even busted an intec pin once and the other pin held my foot in. I didn't notice til the end of the run. I like not worrying about stuff breaking. My bones and joints in particular. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdboytyler Posted November 10, 2004 Report Share Posted November 10, 2004 I really liked the Burton Step-In Race Plates (lever on heel), until I broke the heel bail and couldn't get spare parts. I then switched to standard TD2's. I tried the Intec heels on the TD2, but found it too difficult to get into the binding from a sitting position. I know 95% (plus) of the time I can get into the bindings from a standing position, but I prefer to have all bases covered. So I stuck with the standard TD2's. With the Burton Step-In, it was easy to buckle in from a sitting position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Dahl Posted November 12, 2004 Report Share Posted November 12, 2004 rode Snowpro at first and was happy, liked the convenience of not bending over! When I got my TD2's (stepin) at the end of last seasom I was suprised at how much more responsive they were over the standard TD2's! Have never broken anything on either style binding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordy Posted November 12, 2004 Report Share Posted November 12, 2004 I have been training at copper for the last few days. I am very surprised by the increased number of athletes using Bomber gear, Most of the riders are running traditional clips because of the increased lateral flex there are a few riders running step ins, My self included. I love free riding in the step ins, but have been getting my as# handed to me in the ruts due to the lack of lateral flex and the inability of the step in to absorb some energy. This thread tells a very nice story about the need for step ins from a convince aspect, but perhaps many riders could benefit from the option of a demo on each system. If you are torn between which system to purchase you should be aware of the performance, aspects of each binding? And decide what aspects of the binding works best for you personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagen Posted November 12, 2004 Report Share Posted November 12, 2004 I just ordered the TD2 step ins. And I was wondering if the e-rings help a little bit with the lateral flex issue... ...e.g. how much more flex do you get with a regular pair of TD2s and the hard e-rings compared to the stepins with the soft e-rings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted November 12, 2004 Report Share Posted November 12, 2004 BillyBordy / Bob: Would I really notice the difference in flex between step-in and traditional bails? Mostly the snow in Tahoe is soft enough that I don't need the added flex, but I can see times when it would help. They never inject our courses and it is so rarely cold that we don't get ice (people here call it ice, but its really just hardpack at worst). Maybe I should find another TahoeCarver with traditional bail TD2s so I can try them out. What parts would I need to order to enable me to turn one of my pairs of TD2s into traditional clip bails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordy Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 The clip set up for sure has more lateral flex, Your personal preference in soft snow will be just that. The start of your turn should be easier to initiate and it may be very noticeable at the finish of the turn. Also I know Bob said there may not be a noticeable difference in the e-rings but I just picked up a yellow set from Fin while I was at the bomber shop and rode them back to back with the purple rings and noticed a difference in flex and dampening. Expressly in a bumpy race course! But on groomers as well. I hope you get a chance to try out some clips. And I would for sure try the Yellow rings if you have not yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philfell Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 If the only thing the softer e-rings do is dampen the binding more. Why would you even offer a firmer e-ring? Why would you want your binding vibrating more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Originally posted by Bordy The clip set up for sure has more lateral flex, Your personal preference in soft snow will be just that. The start of your turn should be easier to initiate and it may be very noticeable at the finish of the turn. Also I know Bob said there may not be a noticeable difference in the e-rings but I just picked up a yellow set from Fin while I was at the bomber shop and rode them back to back with the purple rings and noticed a difference in flex and dampening. Expressly in a bumpy race course! But on groomers as well. I hope you get a chance to try out some clips. And I would for sure try the Yellow rings if you have not yet. Great... now all of your have me confused about what to get. I WAS going to go with the TD2 Step-ins because I had noticeable trouble twisting my body and lining up my heel with the heelbail -I would keep pushing it down because I was offline or something and then have to manually hold the TD1 heel bail to line up the boot. I figured the toe-in entry would be just like Clickers and I could do that easily... now you have me debating whether I should go with the regular bails again instead... hey... Randy, would you consider splitting a pair of TD2s so we both could have step-ins in the back foot and bails in the front foot? As for riding... I only plan on riding my Madd on big wide groomed trails, maybe on some hardpark days in January (that's about as "icy" as it gets over hear on the West Coast in Tahoe) - that is to say am going to be a very casual freecarver and will only be taking my board out on extremely well-groomed conditions. Did you think I will be able to tell the difference in the flex? I'm coming from strap bindings (go Catek Freerides) so I thinking the flexiest Bomber binding I can get will still be plenty stiff for my small 5'8" 150 lbs needs - the step-ins are also for convenience for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 hey if youre that light, why not give some other bindings a shot? just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Originally posted by D-Sub hey if youre that light, why not give some other bindings a shot? just curious. Well... when I first got my TD1s, the only other bindings I saw were the Burton ones, and those just looked a little sketchy to even to me (at the time, when I didn't know anything about alpine bindings). Plus I could only find them used on Ebay... meaning I could get screwed over easily if I was missing a part or they broke on me. So I figured I would play it safe and get the TD1s (they were on sale for $200 on Bomber! :D 3 months before the TD2s came out :( ). So now I'm still in that boat... I would like to play with cant/lift a little... but maybe not the amount that Cateks offer, besides I'm told the TD2 with yellow-ring is much more smoother ride. Do you have any suggestions for me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekdut Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Arvin (Lonerider = arvin right?), Go ahead and get the SI's. They are WAY more convenient than clip ins and you've already invested in the heels, so you might as well utilize them. Using the Madd + TD2 SI's in tahoe conditions will be an excellent combo, and I'm certain it wont be too stiff, especially since you wont be charging the gates in that gear. Besides, stiff gear in relatively soft sierra conditions is a good match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Originally posted by nekdut Arvin (Lonerider = arvin right?), Go ahead and get the SI's. They are WAY more convenient than clip ins and you've already invested in the heels, so you might as well utilize them. Using the Madd + TD2 SI's in tahoe conditions will be an excellent combo, and I'm certain it wont be too stiff, especially since you wont be charging the gates in that gear. Besides, stiff gear in relatively soft sierra conditions is a good match. Yep that's me! Yea, I that's what I figured... but I wanted to make sure. It's just that I feel like the TD2 are pretty stiff already for my light frame (as D-Sub mentioned) and don't want to overdo it, because I don't need super-stiff, super-response riding for what I'm doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Dahl Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Stepins are the way to go in my book. There is a noticable difference in the way the bail type and the Intecs flex. But we are forgetting about the boots! Put those babys in walk mode if you feel too locked in. That's what I did the first time out on mine. Of course it was the last day of the season and the snow was a little brutal! You notice the difference in flex laterally more than front to back, so lift/cant tuning may take a little more effort. And I've only got 6 lbs on you and I use the medium ring and will most likely not change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Hey Arvin, I already have two pair of TD2 step-ins. I don't really want to buy another pair yet (as much as I like supporting Fin's company). I'm going to have to find a TahoeCarver who has clips and try them out. I have an old pair of TD1 clips, but they are so different that the comparison probably wouldn't be fair. I definitely prefer the yellow (soft) e-rings. I just got a 3rd set so I can use them on all my board mounting kits. Anyone want to buy a purple set with about 10 days on them? I agree with Mr. Fell on this subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Originally posted by lonerider Well... when I first got my TD1s, the only other bindings I saw were the Burton ones, and those just looked a little sketchy to even to me (at the time, when I didn't know anything about alpine bindings). Plus I could only find them used on Ebay... meaning I could get screwed over easily if I was missing a part or they broke on me. So I figured I would play it safe and get the TD1s (they were on sale for $200 on Bomber! :D 3 months before the TD2s came out :( ). So now I'm still in that boat... I would like to play with cant/lift a little... but maybe not the amount that Cateks offer, besides I'm told the TD2 with yellow-ring is much more smoother ride. Do you have any suggestions for me? I dunno...I dont think you'll be hindering yourself using TDs, so...if you have em, stick with em, but, there are other "softer" cheaper bindings out there, but yeah, theyre all made of plastic which could be sketchy the snowpro FAST stepins look interesting to me. just out of curiosity I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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