REVIEW(s): 12/13 Salomon Guardian 16 / Atomic Tracker 16 AT Binding

[DGamms]

Just a heads-up for anyone else looking to buy these: the SnowInn online price fell to $258 again today. With $20 two day shipping, no tax, and a 5% discount code (BELBSNOW), I just picked up a pair for $266 total.

[Like a Boss]

Just a heads-up for anyone else looking to buy these: the SnowInn online price fell to $258 again today. With $20 two day shipping, no tax, and a 5% discount code (BELBSNOW), I just picked up a pair for $266 total.

Holy shit. Nice catch. Trigger pulled. Had to use Paypal with a bank transfer to get it to go through as they kept declining my card for some reason. That's a ridiculous price.

[salx]

100 mm brakes

[smartyiak]

100 mm brakes

Remind me again: Will 100mm fit on a 110 ski w/o mods...or is a bending req'd?

Thanks.

[Like a Boss]

Just a heads-up for anyone else looking to buy these: the SnowInn online price fell to $258 again today. With $20 two day shipping, no tax, and a 5% discount code (BELBSNOW), I just picked up a pair for $266 total.

I just emailed them and got back "Expected product delivery date to our warehouse: 17/Jan/2013." These type of backorder shenanigans are common with this outfit, but no one has gotten outright screwed by Snowinn AFAIK. Good luck to us.

[BostonShoGuns]

Well now that I have been skiing and touring on these for about 6 days, I think it is time for a review.
I also am an East Coast skier, so you can trust that I have beaten the shit out of these and put them through some serious abuse (lapping Lift Line on Castlerock for about 6 hours).

I am one of the ones who had the minor play in the heel when locked into Alpine mode, along with my brother. Needless to say, neither of us have experienced any sort of problem while actually skiing the binding, and that they do indeed feel like I am on a pair of Griffons or sth 12's.

I have done about 10 miles of touring on these, once up to Tuckerman's Ravine, and have noticed no immediate problems. However, as a few other people have said , snow does build up under your heel (for me it has been right where the hooks are) and if you are not paying attention you will have trouble locking back in. I have skinned some steep ass hills in these and have had no problems with the risers or climbing aids (whatever you want to call it) failing on me.

As far as touring on the flats go, I haven't noticed any discomfort with the flat mode. Yes, it doesn't go completely flat, but unless your on the flats for a really, really, long time, then I don't think that should influence your buying decision.

Overall, very happy with the purchase. Had some doubts at first, but once you ski on these things you appreciate all the time that was put into developing a binding like this. Can truly handle the bumps, rocks, and ice that the East Coast is famous for. Pull the trigger and get these.

[gramboh]

Just a heads-up for anyone else looking to buy these: the SnowInn online price fell to $258 again today. With $20 two day shipping, no tax, and a 5% discount code (BELBSNOW), I just picked up a pair for $266 total.

Wow, that is cheap. Couple questions:

1) Brakes are easily swappable on these right? Are shops able to get wider brakes?

2) 315mm boots, go for the smalls I assume? Is 320mm truly the max for smalls? Just in case I somehow have longer BSL in the future, although I can't imagine it.

Edit: $68CAD at MEC.ca for Guradian brakes, 115mm sold out, 100/130 available. Rip-off.

[McDee]

So anyone know when jigs are going to be available for shops in euroland? I know Zappa was talking of making some, but you'd think salo would be getting them out to shops at some point themselves....preferably before end of season.

And the same goes for the breaks, shops in austria/germany from what i gather are only getting the narrower breaks atmo. Had to chop mine down to fit, and i don't really like doing that on a brand new binders on some brand new skis.

[Eastchris]

Just a quick update. I was the one who brought up some instatele issues a few weeks back.

Have had 2 more hard days on them since, and NO ISSUES to report. So who knows what the problem was. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping it stays this way.

[ski school graduate]

My last two days on these I've pre released four times. Anyone else have had this problem.
One thing I have noticed is it is extremely hard to twist the screw to adjust the DIN on the heel. Not sure if this is related but...

[TahoeJ]

I finally got some real uphill time on mine and they were great. I did have a bit of an issue clicking back into ski mode on one ski due to snow build-up under the heel, but it wasn't a big deal - a couple of hard kicks to shake things loose and no problem. I'm wondering if the reported "insta-tele" issue was related to this in some way, where it clicked back into ski mode but not 100% somehow.

[Arty50]

One thing I have noticed is it is extremely hard to twist the screw to adjust the DIN on the heel. Not sure if this is related but...

It's actually not hard. I had a problem with adjusting the DIN too...until I flipped up the heel lever.

[bestskieratsnowbird]

toured on these again in frigid weather today... not a single issue. switch incredibly easy from tour to ski as long as you take 2 seconds to clear a little snow. nowhere near as bad as fucking with the lever on the dukes.

[Chrispmoto]

I havent toured in years. Bought these, went out, and had absolutely no problems, but did have a big smile on my face all day !!

[gramboh]

Anyone end up ordering from Snowinn.com? If so how long did it take, and where did they ship from? Seems like a European company?

[Like a Boss]

Yep, I did. The website is still showing a 5 day backorder, which is the same as when I placed my order on Jan. 10th. I wrote them some emails requesting status saying "if you can't provide me accurate status on when these will ship I will be forced to cancel." They interpreted this as me cancelling my order and they did so, refunding my money via Paypal. They are out of Spain, so the habla ingles is a bit lacking. I would try again only if the product is in stock. They seemingly are very disorganized, but not an outright fraud. They take FOREVER to respond to emails and I heard that calling them is no better.

[gramboh]

Yep, I did. The website is still showing a 5 day backorder, which is the same as when I placed my order on Jan. 10th. I wrote them some emails requesting status saying "if you can't provide me accurate status on when these will ship I will be forced to cancel." They interpreted this as me cancelling my order and they did so, refunding my money via Paypal. They are out of Spain, so the habla ingles is a bit lacking. I would try again only if the product is in stock. They seemingly are very disorganized, but not an outright fraud. They take FOREVER to respond to emails and I heard that calling them is no better.

Thanks. Was thinking of trying a pricematch on BC.com, but I think I'll just try to swing a deal locally with a free mount, since Guardians + 115mm brakes + ship + mount will end up costing pretty close to the 400ish they want for em here in Vancouver.

[ASmileyFace]

Got my first day on the Guardian today just ripping the groomers and packed bumps in preparation for a hut trip this weekend. Things are solid as any binding I've skied on. I didn't feel much, if any, difference from my fks 18s I was skiing yesterday. Didn't have any play like others have reported but I haven't toured on them quite yet.

They got me feeling perfectly confident for my trip this weekend.

[bestskieratsnowbird]

Thanks. Was thinking of trying a pricematch on BC.com

won't happen.

[ScottishAdam]

I've just bought a set of atomic automatics and had the tracker binding (exact same as guardian) mounted and I'm pretty gutted to find I have the heel slop issue. Has anyone found a solution to this?

I dont live near any ski stores (bought through internet), heading to Kashmir in less than 4 weeks and not going to get a chance to try them out, not enough snow in England, though not far off. I know some folk said they dont notice it skiing but when I stand on the carpet and do edge to edge transitions I can definitely notice it.

I have both vertical and horizontal movement. I also have the case that the plate with the hooks on it is pretty loose when it's in touring mode. Just feels if it was designed to fit better in the plastic section it wouldn't happen.

Cheers

[bestskieratsnowbird]

I've just bought a set of atomic automatics and had the tracker binding (exact same as guardian) mounted and I'm pretty gutted to find I have the heel slop issue. Has anyone found a solution to this?

I dont live near any ski stores (bought through internet), heading to Kashmir in less than 4 weeks and not going to get a chance to try them out, not enough snow in England, though not far off. I know some folk said they dont notice it skiing but when I stand on the carpet and do edge to edge transitions I can definitely notice it.

I have both vertical and horizontal movement. I also have the case that the plate with the hooks on it is pretty loose when it's in touring mode. Just feels if it was designed to fit better in the plastic section it wouldn't happen.

Cheers

has to be a mount issue.

[liv2ski]

I've just bought a set of atomic automatics and had the tracker binding (exact same as guardian) mounted and I'm pretty gutted to find I have the heel slop issue. Has anyone found a solution to this?

I dont live near any ski stores (bought through internet), heading to Kashmir in less than 4 weeks and not going to get a chance to try them out, not enough snow in England, though not far off. I know some folk said they dont notice it skiing but when I stand on the carpet and do edge to edge transitions I can definitely notice it.

I have both vertical and horizontal movement. I also have the case that the plate with the hooks on it is pretty loose when it's in touring mode. Just feels if it was designed to fit better in the plastic section it wouldn't happen.

Cheers

If you read through this thread, some people have the heel slop and others do not. It may be a mounting issue, but all the people that mentioned they had the slop, still said it did not effect the bindings performance from what I remember. So, don't get to stressed about it is my 2 cents. When touring, just be sure all the snow is out of between the ski and the binding before you click it down. Have a great trip.

[gramboh]

won't happen.

My buddy tried with the online chat and they offered him Guardians with 115 brakes for something like $370 which is pretty damn good considering it's only January. I think he has bought a lot of stuff from them the last few years if it makes a diff.

Probably going with my local shop on this one. Feelsgoodman for a change.

[PhilM]

2) 315mm boots, go for the smalls I assume? Is 320mm truly the max for smalls? Just in case I somehow have longer BSL in the future, although I can't imagine it.

I had the exact same dilemma as you with a 315mm BSL, and took about 15mins in the store just trying to decide which size I bought. In the end I went for a small as I figured I'm very unlikely to ever go up a size in my boots, and if anything am more likely to stay the same or go fractionally down, so I figured a shorter mounting pattern would be both better for ski flex and weight. In all honesty though, it probably doesn't matter either way...

I would say that 320mm is exactly the upper limit in the small and that 305mm is the lower limit in the large.

[DGamms]

A quick update on ordering from Snowinn: bindings arrived 10 days after my order, as they weren't in stock in the warehouse initially. Brakes are indeed 100 mm, but I got 115 mm brakes from Evo for $30, so total cost was $298 for new Guardians with 115 mm brakes.