Releasable Telemark Bindings

[RossJordheim]

Hi,

After tearing my ACL, lateral and medial meniscus and having a medial meniscus transplant, I am looking to get releasable telemark bindings in the hopes of preventing another knee injury. I mostly ski the inbounds back bowls, some bumps and the trees. I'm looking to start some BC this season. After looking all over the internet, I haven't been able to find much in the way of reviews of releasable bindings.

Which are good?

Which should I stay away from?

I've looked at the 7tm power releasable, and the telebry releasable set up. Both look like they'd work but I'm concerned about the possibility of pre-release when skiing aggressively and quality. I'm open to any suggestions that I haven't looked as well.

Thanks for the help!

Ross

[gritter]

To give some perspective - what bindings are you currently skiing / do you currently like? What boots do you have? etc...

The options are broadly:

Voile 3pin CRB / or CRB hardwire
7TM (multiple variants)
Telebry
NTN

I have skied all of these apart from the Telebry.

Of these the NTN is the most polished / best skiing but the modes of release are limited. I ski them and have not prereleased and have released on 3 occasions when I should have.

Telebry claims to have the most comprehensive release but from reviews they are hard to put together again after a release and some larger folks have had problems with breakages. The nice thing is that you can pretty much pick your binding to go on top. There are a lot of reviews of the Telebry on TTips.

7tm's have never been loved for the way that they ski although I think that this is probably over stated and the 'power' versions have improved things. The release is probably the most proved and reliable option.

Voiles have been around for years - not a standard DIN scale but once you get them dialled in they are supposed to be very good. They don't look pretty but I think that the 3pin HW skis pretty well (better than the 7tm).

Bottom line - If you just want the most reliable release then I'd go with Voiles or 7TMs. Of these I'd probably pick the 3pin CRB as the best performing on the downhill and you can take the heel off to reduce resistance on the uphill. If you tour more or want a more polished binding then NTN is a great upgrade and perfect for the resorts - particularly if you tour a bit.

[DropCliffsNotBombs]

They still make tele gear?

[RossJordheim]

Thanks for the recommendations!

I'm currently on G3 Targa bindings and '10 BD Push boots. They are mounted on Armada ARV's. I'm on the bigger side at about 220lbs, does this affect my choice in binding?

Do you lose downhill performance by choosing the 3pin CRB over the non-3pin CRB?

Does the step-in feature on the 7tm's work well?

Will any of these pre-release if a parallel turn is done in them?

Has anyone used the Telebry with the smartheel system?

[ts01]

I've skied both versions of the current CRB - 3pin and non-3pin. Better downhill performance on the 3-pin; it's a bit more active because the pivot point is further back than the non-3pin. Tradeoff for fussing with the 3-pin is you don't have to use a leash. I use the 3-pin CRB for touring - as noted you can clamp the toe and hook the heel bail behind your heel lift and it tours pretty nicely. Other plusses for Voile -- cheap, light, made in USA, and has a nice ski crampon setup.

I also use 7tm Power for everything but touring - used to use CRBs but they are so fugly I thought I'd check out the 7tm and then got hooked. Frankly I don't know why people diss the performance on these, maybe they skied earlier non-Power version, or maybe it's less active than a fully cranked Hammerhead. But if you're skiing Targas then you're not going to have that problem. Construction and reliability seems great.

Both the 7tm and the G3 will pre-release if they're set too low - you have to tweak them the first day or so to get it dialed in right and then they'll hold when you want and release when you want. P-turning does not cause pre-release. My experience with 7tm (and my kids') is it's best to set a little higher than a type II alpine DIN setting. In other words I ski 6.5 alpine DIN and 7.5 on 7tm.

My kids use the 7tm Power Tour - no complaints on weight, they appreciate the free pivot tradeoff, and they kick my old butt going uphill and down. If I didn't have the CRB already on the touring setup and was going to a one-ski-quiver that would definitely be my choice; from what I've heard both 7tm and CRB have greater releaseability than NTN. And I'd pony up for the step-in heel too; no personal experience but people on telemarktips who've tried them say they work.

You really should check out telemarktips, this is discussed ad nauseum.

[~mikey b]

7tm is probably your best bet.

I am a big guy, too - 200# soaking wet. I used to have trouble w/ pre-release, but 7tm Power works for me.

I use mine for a very specific task - avalanche control work. Mostly I ski on G3 Targas.

I have always wondered if releasable bindings matter. How many Alpine skiers do you know who have blown ACL's? How many were on releasable binders? All of them? Hmm....

[XXX-er]

I switched to 7tm after a spiral fracture almost 10 yrs ago and they have a pretty reliable release IME, I have heard of them not working for some larger people with big boots high din & lots of weight

the most important thing is to check the binding preload after completely seating the boot in the toe plate, some people don't and the boot comes out or bends the toe bar

You still need an ankle strap or leash even with brakes in case your boot comes out of the bindings in which case the brakes won't deploy so the ski will take off

For true step-in convenience I use an ankle strap to keep the heel thro up and I kick out of the binding leaving the plate attached to the boot, it does not affect walking around on snow

[gritter]

If you are skiing on Targas now then I don't think that you would have any complaints about the performance of either the 7tm or the voile options but I would suggest that the plain hardwire CRB will feel closest to what you currently ski. The 7tm power tour will feel more active - some people prefer it some people don't.

The other difference is that the voile options are a lot lighter than the 7tm.

I think that if I liked the feel of targas and only did a bit of side country then I'd be on the Hardwire CRB.