Gabe T Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 So I've been needing to replace my intec cable for some time now as the cable housing cracked near the handle and I could see some fraying in the wire. Last night as I was preparing to ride today, I noticed it had gotten much worse and was down to a couple of wound threads in the cable! I had another intec heel that was fastened to another set of boots I thought I could use, but the cable housing was cracked and I couldn't push the cable out the other end because the hole in the heel was so small. (I've had the boots for a while but could not get the thermos to fit properly so the boots are too painful to use) Anyways, decided to take my chances. I put a bootie in my pants pocket (i.e. a plastic bag) in case I needed to extract my foot from the boot to walk back to the car. I had skis with me so that was my backup plan in case I had a cable failure. Hit the first lift around 8:40am this morning. Short runs so get in about 10 runs per hour. What do you figure happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yyzcanuck Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 I say you had a wonderful day of riding and didn't look like a doofus walking around with a plastic bag on your foot!! Or... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 So what your telling us is you were distracted by shoddy equipment and couldn't focus on riding switch and filming at the same time ! Get youself a set of mini vise grips that cable will last another year.Who needs a stinking handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe T Posted January 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 I say you had a wonderful day of riding and didn't look like a doofus walking around with a plastic bag on your foot!! Or... Yes, you are correct! Rode until 3pm and the cable (all 2 strands) stayed intact. It felt like I was playing Russian roulette every time I pulled the cable though. Lucky that it held together as conditions were nice and it was a bright sunny day … great day for shooting some video. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powdahbonz Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 Happened to me first day out last year....it sucks. Keep spare cables now for this reason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 it'll break eventually, just when you decide to stop for a piss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 I had some of the inner plastic bits snap on my fintec heels recently. Spent the remaining two days having to release my front foot from my bindings first, so that I could bend over and use two allen wrenches to push the metal pins back in and release my rear foot ... had to do that on every run (got pretty good at it too!) Can't wait for new intec parts to arrive. Lesson learned: keep spares handy kids! These things love to complicate your day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhD Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 I inspected the Fintec cable housing on my front boot the other day and found it had broken clear through, but the cable itself was undamaged. I removed the handle and chopped off the swaged cable end, pulled the housing out clear of the cable and trimmed it off neatly with a Dremel cutoff wheel. I swaged on a new ferrule (larger than ideal, but I had it in my bike kit) then bent the cable into a loop and fixed it with a Nicopress fitting. It would have been better to put in a thimble but I didn't have one, and didn't have enough tail on the cable anyway. I tied a loop of parachute cord through the eye to serve as a handle. It's probably going to be a little fumbly to grab, but on the front foot that shouldn't be too annoying, and it won't flex the remaining cable or housing nearly as much as the handle did. As a design enhancement, it would be nice to have a smaller handle with some sort of cable lock that wouldn't require a swaged-on cable end fitting, so the cable or housing could be replaced without disturbing the other part. The socket on the present handle that fits onto the end of the housing is nice for keeping the handle handy and protecting the core from flexing, until the housing fails. The housing might be better if more flexible - it doesn't really need any axial stiffness in this application. A spiral-reinforced one or even a plain spring-type might suffice with a smaller handle. Some way to keep the handle from flapping about and flexing things would help, too. Lots of trade-offs in the design of even such a simple gadget! The repair gave me an opportunity to inspect and re-pack the heels. I put nearly a whole tub of Bomber Butter into the pair, hoping to exclude water and keep me from having to get into them again for a very long while. No mechanical problems or noticeable wear, apart from exterior wear and tear from walking on bad surfaces and kicking snow off on the binding heels (I try to use my stomp pad) and missing the mark on flying step-ins. I sure love the step-ins when riding with skiers! I rode with a softbooter buddy last weekend and about went mad waiting for him to get mounted and ready while our skier friends were disappearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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