FKS Forward Pressure

[smokeyjack2000]

Hi all,


I'm having some problems getting my new bindings set up perfectly. Went dry skiing last night and had a pretty major stack trying to five a medium sized kicker. Normally with I would have expected both skis to come off but they stayed on and I tomahawked a bit. In fact I didn't release all session. I know FKS have good retention but this seemed a bit odd to me.

My DINS are at 7.5 and 8, Im almost 13 stone and Im a pretty aggressive and advanced skier but relatively new to park.

Ive done a bit more research about the correct forward pressure on FKS today and it seems to me that my bindings might have been drilled a little close together and the shop set the pressure far to high as the white tab was pushed well backwards (beyond the tabs) with my boot clicked in.

I have fiddled around with the forward pressure arms and unscrewed them to their maximum extension but the white tab is still pushed a couple a couple of mm further out than the plastic indicator tabs. Also despite the fact that the pressure indicator doesn't match up with the tabs to my eye it looks as if there wouldn't be enough forward pressure in that position.

Is this a problem and does it mean that my bindings won't release when they should? Is it better to have too much or forward pressure or slightly sloppier bindings?


I'll try and put up a pick of the position of the white tab and the forward pressure arms later.


Thanks for reading

[LC]

The indicator isn't right on one of my pairs. If the indicator is set flush with the back edge of the notches then there's a lot of movement at the toe when I step in. I need to set them with with the indicator about 2mm "too heavy" to eliminate the slop. My other pair is fine.

Could be a similar story for others, so just play it by ear. I'd say set it as loose as it'll go, check for movement at the toe, tighten, recheck, repeat. Do the old school test of being able to just twist out of the toe if you put a lot of force into it, and get them tested if you want to be sure.

[smokeyjack2000]

Cool thats pretty much what I was thinking. After mucking around this evening I have found that extending the arms doesn't make a huge amount of difference on the white indicating tab. Also at maximum extention there seems to be some slop in the toe and heel but the tab still isn't quite flush.

[D(C)]

I go more by eyeballing the angle of the heelpiece. It shouldn't be too upright nor horizontal. I'm sure there is a more scientific method but I ran them that way on my SL and GS skis and never pre-released skiing rutty courses.

[Maker]

so i am bumping this bc the white tabs on my FKS bindings almost never line up with the notches on the plate....the way I have been doing it is get it close to the notches but adjust until there is no play when I use hand pressure and pull the boot forward (to mimic flexing forward). This almost always results in the white plastic ending up behind the notches.

is this an ok way to handle it? i know it is more of an art with these bindings

[InMyUndies]

http://www.skipros.eu/ManualeAttacchiRossi1011.pdf

[SLSki]

Yeah its a bit more "art" than I'd like, but then again they don't break, release inconsistently, or become loose like every other bindign I've had. Check the condition of your heels/toes as well, FKS' are sensitive to this.

[wizard604]

Does anyone know off the top of their heads how much fore/aft adjustment there is with the FKS bindings? I'm planning to mount some FKS bindings on some skis so that it can be used with 2 different boot sizes (275 & 295mm). Just not sure if there is 20mm of adjustment possible in the FKS. I'm planning to set this up so the ski can be used by both my daughter & wife who have different boot sizes.

[otto parts]

not nearly enough-maybe 10-12mm if mounted all one way.

[skimaxpower]

Does anyone know off the top of their heads how much fore/aft adjustment there is with the FKS bindings? I'm planning to mount some FKS bindings on some skis so that it can be used with 2 different boot sizes (275 & 295mm). Just not sure if there is 20mm of adjustment possible in the FKS. I'm planning to set this up so the ski can be used by both my daughter & wife who have different boot sizes.

Not gonna happen with the FKS. For the situation you're in, I would use a Marker Griffin Demo binding.

[bern43]

FKS is 7mm +/-.

[Spyderjon]

smokeyjack2000, The extending arms have 3 knurled bands on them. The two outer ones are the upper and lower limits. The centre one is the ideal.

Extending the arms eases off the forward pressure and shortening the arms increases it.

A maximum of 8mm adjustment can be made between the two outer bands so when mounting set the template length to your exact boot sole length.

Forget the sloping indicator at the rear of the base plate as most times it never even moves!

The best method/test is to set the forward pressure so that when the heel piece lever is slowly raised (with boot installed) it gets to half-way and then it ‘snaps’ up. Once the boot is fully locked in there shouldn’t be able any lateral movement at the heel.