snowboardfast Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 I am considering buying a pair of phiokia plate bindings to use with a pair of Raichle lemans boots on a prior 174 4x4 for all mountain use. Have ridden the prior with bomber step ins td1 and love it with boots in powder mode . I am afraid of breaking the intec heels after reading about others having problems with breakage. These boots do not work with Catek standard plates as the plastic is too soft and the shell will fold if clamped down with standard bails. This is why I went to intec. There are 2 concerns with the phiokias-1 the bails look thin and look like they could break and 2 the toe pieces are plastic-can they get brittle and shatter? I am leary of any plastic in a binding as I shattered a pair of snowpros just doing a toeside turn on a cold day! I am somewhat heavy-185-195 and ride somewhat aggressive.I like to ride steeps and bumps with this board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.E Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 If you are clamping Cateks down tight enough to deform or fold the toe bails on Lemans, you are way to tight. That kind of overclamping may well have contributed to the snowpros blowing up. Back em down a bit, and Cateks, Bombers or Phiokkas should be fine. i've not ridden the Phiokka's, but was very tempted by the Emery clone when they still offered alum. toelevers as an upgrade. They no longer list that part, but it may be available... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateW Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 On clamping and deforming: I suspect that what he's talking about is the way the boot sole bends upward when you close the toe lever. Far as I can tell, that bending of the boot shell is basically the spring that keeps the toe lever down. Which is why I switched to Intec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 I used to ride Cateks with 423's which are the old name for the LeMans, it worked fine. Sure, a little boot derformation when clamped in but like Nate says, that's the way it works. I've been using Intecs for three seasons now and have no plans to change even after reading all about Joel's injury. I personally have better experience with Intecs than with bail closures. I've blown out of bail closures and soft boots but never Intecs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 likewise. im sticking to my bomber/intec bindings and UPZ boots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowboardfast Posted September 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 Thank you for the replies> There were a number of posts regarding rachile boots and deforming problems about a year ago. If I clamp the bindings down easy(one hand)They are way too loose. I could almost twist out of them just standing there. I found that as I rode a catek with the Raichile boot it would gradually damage the boot.Also the bindings would get looser due to the fact that the plastic in the boot is too soft. Then you would have to tighten the binding up a little bit. A no win situation. You couldn't get things tight enough.I swithched to intec before I did too much damage. I might go ahead and continue to ride intec with this board as i don't feel that I am putting a huge amount of torque on the bindings because the boots are soft and I ride this in softer snow conditions. On my carve specific boards I am using a stiffer boot and am driving turns harder in harder snow conditions and am a little leary of breaking the intec heels. I haven't had any problems yet but am considering options. The snow pro bindings that broke - those were broke 10 or more years ago. I did not have them too tight. The bails would break landing off a jump. There is a reason why they are nicknamed snow blows! I swithced to all metal bindings as soon as they came out-Cats the first catek binding in 1993. And then Bombers as well. Metal bindings are the way to go. If my head boots don't hold up in a standard binding I might go back to using ski boots on my carve specfic boards as I did in the past since I am riding them only on groomed runs. Ski boots will take the abuse of standard bail bindings without damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nic Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 I would have to say the phiokia is one of the worst bindings out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 phiokka's are not the worst bindings, seems quite a lot of WC racers from europe use those bindings, Isabelle Blanc among them.. I'm not sure how you can qualify it like this without any explanation... Quality of build is very good, but there was some past issues on the plastic lever (not the bails) that, in certain circumstances such as lower angles and EC like turns that put a lot of lateral strengh on the levers would break. Fulvio, Phiokka's manager then changed the design of the levers, and it seems there is no more issue with them. I personnaly think they are too stiff for my liking, and good for racing but too stiff for freecarving (the PH1 I have tested). Nils Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnaud Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 I use Phiokka PH1 since 2 years, and like Nils said, thay are good, rigid, and precise binding. I have experimented breakage of levers, but only with Head shoes, not with Raichle. This problem was solved by using Snowpro levers. Regarding initial request, I agree with Nils. They are too stiff for freecarving. I use them on my Swoard on groomed hard snow and like the accuracy. But I tried them on my Donek Axis (same program than Prior 4x4), and don't like the feeling. This (kind of) board works better with softer bindings, especially on bumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nic Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 Well the first thing i want to mention is that I am refering to the Highlander binding. As for the rest I only rode the Macho for about 2 months it was very good. As for the Highlander I rode this binding for about 4 months and these were all the problems i had. -The boot does not fit well in the binding. No matter how tight it still moves side to side a bit. -More then a few times the binding has changed angles while riding due to the poor interface between the dics and the binding. -The Steel boot pads where the boot sits on bends up after 2 weeks or one good crash. -The nuts on the bottom strip very easy, and try to find that part its harder then you think. -Parts are very hard to come by. The only place that i know of is All Board sports that has parts, for when you break something. All Board Sports also happens to be the best Freeride Alpine Shop in North America. -The overall Flex of the binding is not very good, It has no flex pattern. Its like they just put a peice of metal in the Mill and made it with no testing or R and D. -The boot pads on the bindiing move, causing racers to drill 2 more screw holes in the boot pad down threw to the base plate so it stays. -The spaces under the toe and heel do nothing. They just end up smashing the top sheet of your new board. Most of us on my team just put rubber under the space to stop it from moving. After all these problem i was not impressed with this binding at all. That is why I think its the worst binding ever made. Most of the guys on my team were riding Phiokka macho and loved it. Since the Highlander came out we have all tryied them, and all have switched to F2 because of all the problems we had with the highlander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 damn thats a long list of problems! sheesh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordy Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Bola the PH-1 is as stiff as any thing out there I spent a few days on it and put it away. (personal reasons) I am sure it will make some die hard TD1 and Catek riders who want no movement from the binding very happy. PS tell Racer X I said congrats on his world titles!!!! And to say hi to Terry Mrs. X... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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