New Marker touring binding

[roadgap]

For you guys that have fondled or have used the F12 do you think it would be an acceptable binding for an inbounds powder/ touring set up for a chick? My friends is 110lbs doesn't really break bindings and wants one ski for two purposes and doesn't really want to invest in dynafits this year. For her the weight difference between the f12 and the baron would be significant. I have had barons and dukes in the past before I went to dynafits so I'm not really looking for info on barons rather any compelling reason not to get them for a light weight chick who's pretty easy on her equipment.

Probably would be OK, but honestly if that were the choice I would go FR Pro just for the better touring functionality. They seem equally solid and are a proven design, and way less of a PITA on the skin track.

[GeezerSteve]

^ ^ ^ this. The babe has been on FR's for several years. She used them as her touring rig for a couple years then switched to 2 (mid-winter, spring) Dynafit rigs. Now the FR's are her dedicated lift binders except for powder days (when she uses her wider Dynarig). The FR's work just fine for her. She's athletic, 5'8", solid 135 lbs., non-charger but can ski anything, so the FR flex is not an issue.

[lemonhead]

Thats good to know that the FRs will hold up to inbounds skiing as well. We will see what we find a deal on.

[Name Redacted]

Looking at the F10's for my wife. She's a 120lb 5'8" cautious skier. Moving over from teleing. She'll be skiing them inbounds/outabounds 70/30 with a few longer hut trips on the schedule as well.

Should I be looking at these or Dynafits? Right now I'm leaning toward the dynas but am worried about the release on dynafits. Also I don't know if she'll want to put up with the dynafiddling

[bean]

Dawson tested the F12 and found it stiffer than even Dynafits and Dukes. I'm surprised.

http://www.wildsnow.com/379/backcoun...ng-flex-tests/

[lynchdogger]

Very interesting results. Did not expect this at all. Still want to see how they hold up over a season of use but very promising. Nice post. Thanks for that.

[ticketchecker]

bumping for on snow reports

[marshalolson]

lou needs to test the 2010 duke in comparison. marker tightened the heel track and toe track for sure.

[1000-oaks]

Other than stiffer (heavier) springs, is the F12 any different than the F10? Anyone try them with Skookums or other Scarpa rockered soles?

Assuming the weights listed on the Marker site are without brakes, are the Baron/Duke weights listed also without brakes?

Thanks

[whyturn]

Duke baron are with brakes (weight)-tour without. Tour is within grams of Freeride
Tour Looked pretty good when I saw at kittridge.
Go to Marker tour website for comparison on materials
Duke magnesium and baron Has more plastic. Hard to say where they could put more plastic on the tour since the ones I saw were almost all plastic. Toe seemed like kids toe and 200 lb inbound seemed sketchy. not confident but need more real world inbound to know

[Choucas]

I skied the Tour F12 today in downhill mode only. Used an alpine boot, Nordica Dobermann Pro130. Rock hard, very fast eastern (thawed, rained on and groomed manmade) snow. I liked the way the Marker skied in these kinds of conditions. I felt confident to ski it hard and let the skis run. Nothing weird about fore/aft balance. Felt like a normal alpine binding. I'm easy on equipment so I don't think I'll have a problem using it quite a bit in alpine mode. I'll try it out with my touring boots (in downhill mode) and see what the differences are. So far so good. Probably won't tour on it for a few weeks. I've used the Duke which was a pain for touring. This should be significantly better. I don't mind the take the ski off to switch from touring to downhill and back drill. For me, the improvement in downhill performance over the Fritschi outweighs the inconvenience.

[GeezerSteve]

See [ame="http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210851"]related thread re catstrophic F12 field failure[/ame] in which Joe Strummer states:

"Joe Strummer was masturbating with a plastic bag over his head whilst watching The Jeffersons."

[whyturn]

That toe piece scares me. I inspected one up close and it looks fine for kids and small women. Hell it's the squire toe piece

[GeezerSteve]

Yeah, it's the Squire toe fixture, but what failed is specific to the F10/F12.

Fuck, I wish I could rid my mind of this Joe Strummer autoerotic asphyxiation image

[shirk]

See realted thread re catstrophic F12 field failure in which Joe Strummer states:

A+ use of quotes.

[Hugh Conway]

Fuck, I wish I could rid my mind of this Joe Strummer autoerotic asphyxiation image

don't worry, one of these days he'll over do it and move on up to that deluxe apartment in the sky.

[Jim S]

David Carradine is rolling over in his grave muttering "amateurs".

[D-ROCK]

Any more field reports on this binding? I dig the weight factor after being on barons for a while, but scared that i would break these bindings skinning or while getting any hang time.

Anyone? Bueller?

[10% Groomed]

Any more field reports on this binding?

[ame="http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210851"]Marker Tour F12 Major Failure - Teton Gravity Research Forums[/ame]

[D-ROCK]

Thanks, saw that one.

[kjetims]

Hey Squaretail,

Does the new AFD on the F12 fit on the Duke/Baron? Will this be the warranty replacement for current Dukes? Would you replace one or both?

In desperation while waiting for new parts from Marker, I decided to try a Duke AFD on my Tours and luckily it works just fine. So I'm assuming it works the other way around as well. This quick fix saves my ski holiday starting in a couple of days.

(Being new to the forum, I searched up this question and posted this info here. Didn't now if it warranted an own tread)

[Choucas]

I've skied all season on the Marker F12. No issues in alpine mode. Caveat, I do not break stuff, but I do ski hard and fast. No air, minimal bumps. Like the way they ski in alpine mode. Very solid feeling in spite of all the plastic. Have not loosened up or gotten sloppy. Touring is fine. The climbing bar works well with a flick of the pole. Have not used the ski crampon yet. Getting into tour mode is not a problem. Getting back into ski mode is a bit of a pain. You have to spend a lot of time getting all the snow and ice out of the binding. I end up using a knife to hack the snow and ice away and even then I often have to go back and do it again to make sure that it slides back into alpine mode.
Spent a couple of week in Switzerland recently, touring and off piste skiing. Bindings worked fine except for the getting them back into ski mode gyrations. Didn't see any evidence of Marker Tour bindings (or Dukes or Barons) in CH. Tons of Fritschis (all models). About 90% Fritschi. Very little Dynafit, bindings or boots. Lots of Scarpas. Skis were all on the narrow side. Mine are 88 under the foot and were quite wide by Euro standards. A few wide BD's and K2's. Keep in mind that most tourers in Europe are older and not interested in the wide ski option. The few younger skiers that I saw were the ones on wide skis.

[icelanticskier]

well, my take on the f12 is that it is officially an underbuilt, weak piece of shit. i have about 20 resort days and 45 touring days totalling about 250,000 vert, but only about 100k of those skinning as our terrain is better suited to booting due to the steepness and no convenient way around via skinning.

i've had to have them rebuilt once and after an additional 10 days of skiing, there is already noticeable play in the toe pieces. junk.

i tried to get them to give me a pair of barons, but are out of all touring bindings till next fall. next fall i will send these back for the barons.

i've been very happy with the way they ski, MUCH better than the fritschi, but not nearly as durable as even the old naxo nx's. that's pretty bad!

they are very flexy torsionally on the skinner too. i weigh 165lb, run a din of 8 and pretty much never leave the snow.

rog