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what step-ins do you prefer


lamby

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Do you use step-in bindings? What system do you use? I've always used regular plate bindings (non-step-in). Yesterday, while enjoying some deep powder I got temporarily stuck between two trees - sort of a tree-well situation... After that struggle, I'm thinking that it might be wise to move to step-in plate bindings - for ease of quick release in such situations. I see that the F2 Intec FS is available on yyzCanuck: https://www.yyzcanuck.com/product-category/bindings/ Anyway, just wondering if people out there have any advice on what works well for them.

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I believe that unless you want to use vintage gear, Intec or a variant thereof is the only show in town. 

I finally got around to installing my intec heel and it's pretty lifechanging.  I'm only using it on the rear foot so far.  It's taken a little bit of effort to get it set up nice and solid where the boot doesn't wiggle around in the binding, but worth it.  So much easier to seamlessly unclip coming into the lift line, besides the other obvious benefits.  I was perfectly happy using lever bails for decades, and I know some people prefer levers because of performance compromises and stuff, but for now I'm just soaking up the slick convenience of the clickety clickie.  😎

BTW sometimes I see Deeluxe intecs for a bit cheaper.  They're just rebranded F2's, everything is the same except the graphic accents (I have both).

Edited by Eastsiiiide
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I have limited experience with step ins, and only with F2 titanium.  I now run a step in for the rear foot because of flexibility issues with trying to clip in rear leg with my stance angles and me being older.  They were easy to set up and I can just aim the toe, click in fast, quick check the hold ( @slabber taught me that),  then ride, without ever having to sit.  Release is quick, solid and precise.  That said, do listen to what others say about durability and flex of F2 versus Trenchdiggers.  Trenchdiggers and fintecs have great reviews.  To protect my intec heel, I use a high quality ski boot protector, rigged with a 2 cm wide Coghlans sleeping bag strap to hold it on, looped through the forward angle adjuster on my Deeluxe 325’s.  

Edited by CB Utah
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Excuse the crappy drawing; I don’t have the boots with me.  I use Sidas Ski Boot Protectors.  They fit boots without Intecs nice, but don’t quite work with Intecs installed unless you add the strap to crank through the Sidas heel loop and the Deeluxe boot forward lean adjustment. I cut down a 2 cm wide Coghlan sleeping bag strap ($4.95 per pair) and thread it through the gap as shown with this ski boot cleverly doctored to look like a Deeluxe.

F4AD216C-44AB-4208-AAC0-DB55C4389037.jpeg

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On 3/17/2023 at 8:53 PM, CB Utah said:

  I use Sidas Ski Boot Protectors.  

To make sure I understand correctly, I believe you're trying to protect against abrasive wear of the softer plastic tread that's overmolded onto the harder plastic body of the intec heel, because the tread's not replaceable as a separate part--as opposed to protecting the pins, right?  So this would be when walking on pavement, like in a parking lot, and then when you're ready to strap in you take it off and stow it on your person until the end of the day or lunch break or whatever.  As a bonus it has better traction than the minimal tread of the overmold. 

I'm not on pavement much, but it does get me thinking about the possibility of beefing up that tread with some studs or the like, unfortunately.  Unfortunately, because I don't need any more projects right now 🤔

 

Edited by Eastsiiiide
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I rode Intec step-ins for years, liking the solid connexion and the ease of clipping in at resorts. I also spend a lot of time in deep snow and never had a problem with the Intecs there. However I switched to levers with the Atomic Backland boots [because you can't run Intec heels there] and I really don't notice much difference.

I doubt I'm any slower at resorts - I'm not lacking flexibility and it's easy to flip the lever.

And then in deep snow... I did play briefly upside down in a tree well the other week... I relaxed and looked around, worked out that I would need to take my board off, reached for the levers and flipped them. So I'm not sure scrabbling about in my pants for the t-handle would make any difference. And then you don't have to clear so much snow out to re-engage the lever based bindings, so in general usage they're actually easier in powder.

I'm not taking sides, just putting another perspective.

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Exactly on the wear prevention and traction.  It elevates and protects the entire bottom and part of the side of the boot plus the intec pins when waking around. The Sidas seem well built and substantial, so if you want to place homemade studs in them, they could handle that. Big caution; I’m using Intecs under relaxed conditions; not stuck upside down in deep powder, needing to release fast.  Definitely pay attention to advice from @philw in regards to getting free from the board in tree wells; he spends a ton of time riding powder.  People have had intec release cables break. I do notice that the release works perfect when there’s no lateral tension on the boot in the binding, but with heavy lateral tension, it’s clunky and won’t release.

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Thank you for all the great responses and helpful insights.

Part of what happened was that my binding bails were "pinned" in the closed position, so to speak. I lost speed on the uphill side of a small grove of young evergreens. When I came to a stop I fell over to my toe side into bottomless powder. My body fell down slope between several small trees with many branches growing out of them. Once I had fallen, my boots became wedge against the trees with the weight of my body pulling down tight. The small branches of the trees, and the tree trunks, were pinning my toe levers to the tops of my boots.

At first I thought I could roll out of it, but as I tried to do so, I sank deeper, my back arching like a scorpion as I did. I stopped, relaxed, rested, and calmed myself. Thought it though and realized I needed to get unbuckled. I could not fold at the waist to reach my bindings, but had to try to arch my back, and use my hands and arms to grab branches in an attempt to reach back toward my feet.

Reaching for the bindings I could not feel through my heavy mitt. I realized that I needed to take my mitt off, in order to feel for the bindings. I could not see them as my head was face down in the snow. I had to arch back to keep it out of the snow, and to try and reach my bindings. My knees were folded tight closed and as I tried to reach up I sank deeper and the pressure at my knees got uncomfortable - started to hurt. What a struggle, but trying not to struggle as I got folded and my back got bend the wrong way.

Once my mitts were off I realized I was still a ways away from reaching a toe bail. Tree trunks and tree branches were stopping me from reaching them. More of my body weight was also pulling down on everything and making everything pinned-down even tighter. I need to get pressure off between the wood and my toe pieces, and that was hard to do. (My back was already ****ed up) I was grabbing branches that were near my face and pulling on them to hoist myself back up to a point where I could relieve some of the pressure and jamb my hand into the space to get a grip.

I repeatedly forced my fingertips in, finally wedging them in enuf to get a grip. Pulling hard, I got the front bail open - yay!!! I stepped out and immediately my foot sank 3 or 4 feet deep, and I had forgot to undue my leash (front foot was the one I got off first). I needed to get the other binding off (and the front foot leash off before that) before I made any other moves. If I sank deeper with just one foot out I would be in an even worse pickle. I pulled the freed leg up and undid the leash, then worked on the rear binding, trying not to make too many abrupt moves - trying not to sink deeper. Getting out of the rear binding also took a long time.

Once I was free I was able to swim out, and belly-out on my board to the groomed run, to get going again. Getting free was a struggle and it has given me pause. I may never have to deal with anything like that again, but if I do, it seems like it would be nice to have an easier way to release my bindings. Not sure I will make the change.

I feel lucky. The top of my right hand is well bruised, and both of my wrists are sprained. My back is pretty tweeked, but I was just coming off of a bad time with it, so that's not any news. Anyway, that was my motivation for looking into step-ins for some of my resort riding days.

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I can see where even with f/intecs making it easier to release, because you're only reaching to the boot cuff, if there is a lot of pressure on the pins it may not be easy.

I like the simple durability of my 27 year old nitros, and if you ever come across a pair I'll buy'em from ya.

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I tried intecs but the stretch/flex in the plastic actuation levers inside the heel left me stuck in the binding, I ask Fin to make those parts out of metal on the new fintecs but he said "not cost effective. too much cable actuated mechanism in too small of a space imo.

Edited by b0ardski
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1 hour ago, lamby said:

Thank you for all the great responses and helpful insights.

Part of what happened was that my binding bails were "pinned" in the closed position, so to speak. I lost speed on the uphill side of a small grove of young evergreens. When I came to a stop I fell over to my toe side into bottomless powder. My body fell down slope between several small trees with many branches growing out of them. Once I had fallen, my boots became wedge against the trees with the weight of my body pulling down tight. The small branches of the trees, and the tree trunks, were pinning my toe levers to the tops of my boots......

Damn Chris....don't do that...rode the chair with Laurie two days ago and was just asking about you. Probably around the time you were struggling to get out of your situation. With all of this super light unconsolidated snow on the north sides I have had a couple of 'interesting' times the last two weeks myself. Nothing close to yours, but that reminds of the time I did an involuntary rail slide to two crossed logs in 'Africa' (skiers left of Christins) and got hung upside down in deep pow. I had to call my wife and explain I was ok...mostly....but would not be meeting her at the Seattle Ridge chair for a while. 

Glad you are ok brother. I have been running the SI Sidewinder Bomber on my pow boards. You are welcome to check out or borrow anything I have for a test spin. Heavy but I have broken everything else. 

 

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30 minutes ago, b0ardski said:

if there is a lot of pressure on the pins it may not be easy

Yes, it can be hard to get the pins to retract if there's a lot force on the pins.  For that reason, when getting out of the bindings at the bottom of the hill, you pull up on your heel to remove your body weight from the pins and then pull the release to retract the pins.

But for me, on a tiny hill with a lift ride every four minutes, using step-ins really is convenient.  I have Intec (plastic) heels with TD3 bindings.  They work great and the steel heel receivers don't wear.  I haven't used F2 bindings, but they also use steel heel receivers and I expect they would work just as well.  A lot of people here also like Bomber's Fintec heels.  Essentially a copy of the F2 heels but made entirely out of metal (mostly aluminum with steel pins).  They should be stronger than the F2 heels but I've never had any issues with the F2 variety.

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Sounds rough in the tree well. I always have backup buddy somewhere out there, so there's that. I've never really been in a well, although this season I ended up near the surface upside down within the lip of a monster. Inevitably my buddy came to laugh at me as I tried to slide frontways out of it, failed, and had to take my board off to rotate, then post-hole out. The wells I see tend to be massive, and it'd be hard to fill them completely with snow, so I feel time is one one's side in those circumstances.

At a heli op they equip you with a whistle, and you're supposed to blow it if you're in a well. I also have a radio, but I've never felt the need to use either.

Some folk here use the F2 Intec T-handles, which have a Fastex compatible socket in the tops, in conjunction with a bit of string, so they can "pull the eject cord" without having to bend down at all.

Back in the day you could buy F2 pants which had a pocket designed to take an extension of the T-handle, so you could step out of your bindings without apparently doing anything at all other than playing with the thing in your pocket!

I liked my Intec bindings, but I don't miss them.. which makes sense to me at least.

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Right on Jer - I will need to not do that anymore🤪. Laurie and I jumped into the bowls when they opened Thursday morning. After our 4th bowl run I exited Kaitlain's bowl via 'Jerry's Neighborhood' (HA) and then crossed Broadway to surf right edge pow. All was well as slope continued to be steep enough for me to play on the side as I went down the edge of the run. Figured I had enough speed to go right and around a small clump of evergreens, but slope angle ran lower and I lost speed and stopped, tipping into the trees. These trees are the little grouping right below Africa (another coincidence!). After about five minutes I stopped for a minute to call Laurie and let her know that I was stuck and would be a while before I caught up with her. It was a good place to be in trouble, as I was within shouting distance of people passing on the run, should things not have worked out for me getting my self out.

 

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It was a real puzzle to get out of. As I tried to get out I sunk deeper and further away from being able to reach my bindings. Like you mention PhilW, I remember some BOL threads about people coming up with handle extensions which allowed their intec handles to be up in their pants pockets. Those would be easy to reach.

stuck in small trees.jpeg

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Mistakes were made. I was riding with a partner, but we did not keep eyes on each other at all times. When I got stuck I should not have tried to roll out of it, instead, I should have tried to unbuckle immediately, because as I attempted to roll-out I sunk deeper and away from being within reach of my bindings. I should have had pack with avi gear and been wearing transmitting beacon. Live and learn (way better than the alternative🙂)

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