Tele binding ??

[rightcoast]

Right now my tele setup is 185 Kneissl Supaflys, with old Chilis and Garmont Veloce boots.
Would it be beneficial to get a burlier binding?? I definately feel like the CHilis are a little flimsy. Id like to keep the boots, they fit great and i would like to tour quite a bit in them.
Any suggestions???

[CS]

You should get some Linkens, and put them on these

[rightcoast]

Originally posted by CS
You should get some Linkens, and put them on these

i saw those...but i really do not need new skis.
you think linkens would be my best bet though??
kind of what i was thinking.

[homerjay]

You can use hardwires or cobras and put them on the same risers. Shit, I think with cobras you can even use the same toepiece. For touring, some will tell you to go with the 3-pin hardwire for its redundancy.

If you like to tour alot on them, linken may not be the best solution. Ive heard reports of snow build-up, they're heavy as hell, and expensive.

[Telenater]

Actually, Linkens tour pretty well despite their weight. However, unless you're planning on being pretty aggro, Linkens are overkill.

I've got a couple friends who use the Voile 3 pin hardwire combo and it seems to work really well for touring and they can certainly rip on them too.

[Greydon Clark]

Dude, if you want more power get new boots. Having done the Veloce thing, I know the joy of switching to T-1s.

[rightcoast]

will hardwires or cobras be much of an improvement over my chilis??
what about a G3?

[homerjay]

Yes. I ride hardwires every day, and have ridden cobras. I ride my hardwires with big boots (ener-g's), and I wouldn't say I'm very delicate or precise with my skiing, and they hold up well.. At the very least you'll gain a ton of tortional rigidity with a hard wire binding like a cobra or hardwire.

I was on hammerheads for awhile, but didn't like them. They were complicated, finicky (sp?), and a little too active. I don't need a binding to help me pressure my rear ski. If you prefer an active binding, a cobra R8 may be a good option. I've found it resulted in some tip dive issues in deep snow.

I have broken a toe bar on my hardwire, Voile replaced them within a few days no questions asked. In the backcountry, I carry enough crap to get me back to the trailhead

G3's are ubiquitous. Cheap, simple, neutral, a few things I like in a binding. However, I prefer a rigid rod binding for things like icy traverses/runouts, whoop de dos, and the occaisional fatigue-induced parallel turn. Plus the rigid rod helps set an edge, something that may be useful on the 'rightcoast.'

[rightcoast]

Ok, ill start shopping for some hardwires.
will I be able to put the cables/cartridges right on my chilis toepieces...or mouth the toepieces right to the toe riser??

[homerjay]

I have a friend that may be looking to unload some Cobra's (not R-8s), I'll check with him and get back to you.

All you need is to mount the metal binding toepiece to the riser (with the 3-hole pattern) and you won't need to redrill. I wouldn't try to rig the toepieces with hardwire cable assemblies, I've read about it being done on ttips.com, but those guys are all about jury rigging stuff to save a few pennies.

edit - and greydon is right about boots. soooo important.

[rightcoast]

homer...i would describe myself as neither delicate nor precise with my skiing...so ill take your advice.
i like making big round tele turns and holding an edge, none of the typical east coast quick hop turning shit i see out here a lot.
maybe boots will be in the picture before next fall...but i know i need a stronger binding, i can feel no power transfer with the chilis. although that may have a lot to do with technique...or lack thereof.
let me know if you can get me a deal on the cobras...how do they compare with the hardwires??
<edit>by the way, im a complete newbie tele JONG, and my tele skiing sucks worse than my alpine skiing, so any advice is greatly appreciated<edit>

[Laps]

Rightcoast, I am also an eastcoast tele skier, I started on the Chillis and now use the Cobra. If you like to make big, long turns, These bindings are great. I have used the Hammerheads, G3s and the bd bindings, and think the Cobras are the best mix of everything most people look for in a tele binding. The don't tour well, but they make up for it on the way down. Also, Boots make a huge difference, almost more so than bindings, but learning of boots with a lot of flex will make your technique better for when you do move up to a beefier boot. Hope that helps.

[homerjay]

Rightcoast-

Talked to the buddy with the cobras. He wants to unload them only if they're attached to a pair of 180cm Atomic 9.22s, I guess those atomics can't take another drilling. I think he wants $200 for the skis/bindings, which is a pretty killer deal, everything is in great shape.

[TeleAl]

Originally posted by rightcoast
will hardwires or cobras be much of an improvement over my chilis??
what about a G3?

G3 rock! No complaints from me on those, 2 seasons later on them.

Chilis broke on me more than once, although I was not on the Cobras (they look like G3 with the canister around the spring). Worse yet on the Chilis, they would freeze up in dump conditions, making the last few hours of an excellent day difficult and frustrating. When they freeze, they freeze open, thus ejection. Not good.

All I can suggest are G3.

They come in 4 spring settings. I have the Powder setting and the World Class setting. I should have bought the World Class setting for both sets of skis. If your legs are strong, you will want them.