barryj Posted January 21, 2023 Report Share Posted January 21, 2023 Was having a pretty good start to the day running some laps on the Olympic run at Heavenly with my Little Red Corvette when after my 4th lap pulling into the lift my rear Fintec won't release! Ugh! When I pulled the release cable I felt tension/pressure on the cable but the Fintecs just won't let go. I'd been here before many years ago with Fintecs but that time it was the cable that let go. So I knew my day was done and released the front boot and skated with the rear boot locked in, from the lift uphill to access the main run back to the Stagecoach lift/parking lot. That was a good workout but got up to the trail intersection and stepped back in and rode back down in defeat. I haven't taken the Fintec apart yet but when I got my Fintec/boot off the TD3 SW SI with a punch, when you pull the release cable one of the pins is not retracting all the way like the other side. Of course from my 1st Fintec failure I now carry a spare cable but this seems like an inner arm or inner spring failure which I haven't got parts for. Ugh!! Anybody seen this??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted January 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) Yep, upon further disassembly one of the inner arms broke off where it makes contact with one of the springs. Part B - Inner Arm Even in the Bomber parts photo of Fintec innards it's hard to discern the inner arm as its under the long arm mechanism that moves the two inner arms unless you've dissected one of these bad boys before. Now I'm trying to rig a way to ride tomorrow ....I could switch the broken Fintec to the front boot and that would get me riding........ until the end of day when I would have to pull the liner out of the stuck shell and get to do The Walk Of Shame again, walking to my car in my Intuition liner on my left foot and carrying my board under my arm with an empty front foot boot shell still attached to it! Ugh! Not a good look! Edited January 22, 2023 by barryj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skhil Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 41 minutes ago, barryj said: .I could switch the broken Fintec to the front boot and that would get me riding With the arm broken, it may not be safe. Check that both pins are fixed in released position. Judging by your description the part you've broke is not the big middle arm, but one of the smaller two. You need to make sure that the spring won't wriggle out from its place. One pin is not enough to keep your boot in the binding. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted January 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 44 minutes ago, skhil said: With the arm broken, it may not be safe Yeah.......probably not worth the time and effort. I'd have to pull both Fintecs off their boot and open them up and rearrange the cable release to the other side and then put them back together then put them on the other boot........ a lot of trouble and questionable safety as you mentioned. Fortunately I've had another set of Fintecs on order for my new 425's and they should be here Mon.....so if all goes well I'll only miss two days of riding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icebiker Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 Sorry to hear that. How many days of riding do you think you had on those Fintechs before the arms broke? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted January 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 39 minutes ago, icebiker said: How many days of riding Hmm? ..... a lot! probably at least four 100+ day seasons on them and a couple of 50+/- day seasons because of injuries and surgeries. It's was my every day work boot, pow boot and hard charging carving boot.........with the same pair of Fintecs since new........I had been planning to downgrade this pair of 425's/Fintecs to just workdays or pow days.....which I will still do once I get the replacement arms from Walker/Bomber....I'll also replace the red rubber walking soles while I got them torn down. Personally I was expecting the cable to let go some time this season like last time, but here we are........ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 10 hours ago, barryj said: I'd have to pull both Fintecs off their boot and open them up and rearrange the cable release to the other side and then put them back together then put them on the other boot........ That wouldn't work anyway. Those inner arms are different for left and right cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted January 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Wolf said: wouldn't work No worries, I saw that when ordering the parts from Bomber, that they come in right or left sets of the three internal plastic pieces. Yeah, I guess my Karma is saying I need a couple of days off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kneel Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 It's always been my feeling that Intec/Fintec heels are meant to be disposable items. Sure you can keep throwing parts at them, but what is your time worth? What is the time worth for the inconvenience of losing a half or full day riding at the mountain? Set a limit on them. My personal limit on Intecs is 150 days. For some guys that's only one season, for me it's three. Plenty of guys have double that so the only real science to it is how you take care of them. I spoiled myself a couple years ago with Fintecs, but I don't think the internals are different so I'll probably move these to the spare pile and start fresh next season. Heels are $100/$150. We're riding $1,000 boards while wearing $700 boots with $1,000 season passes dressed in fruity $1,000 Arc'teryx upper and lower shells. Buy yourself some new heels every year for cripes sake. 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordmetroland Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 6 minutes ago, Kneel said: My personal limit on Intecs is 150 days. By that math, I’ll be ready for new ones in 2071. I’m gonna put $8 in a bond account today so I’m covered by then. 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kneel Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 21 minutes ago, lordmetroland said: By that math, I’ll be ready for new ones in 2071. I’m gonna put $8 in a bond account today so I’m covered by then. Did you know there's an expiration date on tires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 I think we should revisit the idea of making stronger internal parts. I was thinking about tinkering with metal casting based off the files drawn up by @JRAZZ from THIS THREAD. I ran some numbers for the parts to be made up out of different materials but it wasn't very cost effective unless you had a lot of them made. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted January 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 3 hours ago, Kneel said: Buy yourself some new heels I did........just didn't get here in time, actually delayed or I would have already had them on! But no big deal, I like fixing stuff and for $15 + postage I'll get a couple of seasons more out of the old pair as I'll downgrade them and the boot just to pow duty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNSurfer Posted January 23, 2023 Report Share Posted January 23, 2023 Having run into this same sort of issue (on a few occasions), I've now converted everything back to non-step-in. It's just too complicated of a system, IMO. Neat concept, but personally I'd rather bend over and flip a piece of plastic, vs losing a day on the slopes. Be on the look-out! Hope to have all that Step-In related gear on the For Sale forum, in a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted January 23, 2023 Report Share Posted January 23, 2023 11 hours ago, MNSurfer said: Having run into this same sort of issue (on a few occasions), I've now converted everything back to non-step-in. It's just too complicated of a system, IMO. Neat concept, but personally I'd rather bend over and flip a piece of plastic, vs losing a day on the slopes. Be on the look-out! Hope to have all that Step-In related gear on the For Sale forum, in a bit. Just keep working on your lumbar spine flexibility. Older, stiffer backs love step-ins! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dredman Posted January 24, 2023 Report Share Posted January 24, 2023 Yes the cable does wear out over time, but if you follow the procedure that Fin originally had in the directions. "Push down on your heel, then pull cable to release" you will limit the strain on the internals. Opening them up once a year to grease and inspect will lengthen the life. I switched from toe bail to all step-in after many broken bails and a few crazy scary one footed carves. I have not had a single step-in binding release without my desire to. Make sure the pins are engaged and ride. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted January 24, 2023 Report Share Posted January 24, 2023 Well I must have jinxed myself because I broke the internals in my back foot riding today. I decided to just unclip the front and roll with it to not lose any time on the mountain because today was an excellent powder day. While I usually travel with extra parts for everything, I didn’t have the replacement parts with me today so had to ride that way the rest of they day. What used to be a second nature maneuver, skating around and even just gliding, was a huge pain. So awkward…like trying to throw a ball left handed. I always thought it was strange seeing other skwal riders get around this way with the front foot unclipped. I can see how it would be beneficial for a non step-in setup though to make clipping the toe easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowburn Posted January 24, 2023 Report Share Posted January 24, 2023 4 hours ago, SunSurfer said: Older, stiffer backs love step-ins! Yep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted January 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2023 8 minutes ago, snowburn said: stiffer backs ...and bad shoulders/broken collar bones/torn rotator cuffs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowburn Posted January 24, 2023 Report Share Posted January 24, 2023 30 minutes ago, barryj said: ...and bad shoulders/broken collar bones/torn rotator cuffs! We all have our laundry list of pains Sucks getting old 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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