Alpine bindings that work with Dynafit/vibram soles?

[Island Bay]

Very happy with my Maestrales in Solly Drivers. Fit is perfect, step in has the lovely STH clunk, release has been spot on.

And I find it hard to believe that a nice, clean, hard Vibram sole would release any less cleanly than a lot of gritty, worn out POS din soles I see out there. (That said, I'd love to see a Marker type AFD on the STH Driver).

Just my $0.05

[1000-oaks]

As long as an AT boot toe is neutral or pulling up on a Driver toe and has correct clearance at the AFD, I would expect it to release just fine.

It's those twisting falls when you're thrown forward (and you've got sticky rubber shoved against the AFD) that might get you.

[Lindahl]

And I find it hard to believe that a nice, clean hard Vibram sole would release any less cleanly than a lot of gritty, worn out POS din soles I see out there.

Totally agree.

[neonorchid]

As long as an AT boot toe is neutral or pulling up on a Driver toe and has correct clearance at the AFD, I would expect it to release just fine.

It's those twisting falls when you're thrown forward (and you've got sticky rubber shoved against the AFD) that might get you.

sounds probable to me.

[Judo Chop!]

how many of you are using the Vulcan in STH?

[1000-oaks]

A Driver toe has to be adjusted 6.5mm (1/4") higher for a Maestrale sole than for a DIN sole. That's quite a bit.

[Scrubadub]

I use my cochese boots with the tech sole with STH 16 Drivers and Guardians. Both work great and release when necessary

[hutash]

The Orthopedic Surgeons Society of America thanks you. There are payments due on all those Aston Martins they drive.

[Lindahl]

I found it pretty interesting to see Ian Macintosh sporting the Cochise Pro in AK, filming for Way of Life. He was using the tech soles with Marker Jester Pros, which do not have a sliding AFD.

[galibier_numero_un]

Very happy with my Maestrales in Solly Drivers. Fit is perfect, step in has the lovely STH clunk, release has been spot on.

And I find it hard to believe that a nice, clean, hard Vibram sole would release any less cleanly than a lot of gritty, worn out POS din soles I see out there. (That said, I'd love to see a Marker type AFD on the STH Driver).

Just my $0.05

This thread is gaining relevance to me as I look to re-purpose one or two pairs of skis with tech bindings for dedicated ski area use.

One observation about bench testing bindings without a sliding AFD. Unlike real world scenarios, I doubt that a mechanic would embed a rock between the lugs of the sole, at least until Salomon comes up with a DIN approved rock

As much as I have a penchant for tinkering (i.e. grinding soles), I may just sidestep all of this and install the Alpine soles on my Titans and use my Maestrales for all of my pin-tech binding mounted skis. I'm going to take it slowly.

Cheers,
Thom

[Skidog]

As mentioned over and over I too have had good results with any adjustable toe height sallie clamps. YMMV

[Lindahl]

Me three. STH and Cochise Tech soles.

[galibier_numero_un]

It's the potential rock embedded between boot sole lugs scenario that gives me the creeps. All of these expert mechanics are testing on a bench, which raises my confidence level ... for skiing on a bench. One could just as easily argue in favor of being an addict because Keith Richards is still alive and kicking

At the other end of the spectrum (dating myself), this is coming from a guy who started off skiing with Marker Simplex toes, and at one point, having used longthongs on a Marker turntable heel. Why? Because I was 18 and it looked so cool There were good heel pieces out at the time, & the grandfather of the Look Pivot was already in production. The toe was called the Nevada, & the heel was called the Grand Prix. Maybe I'm overcompensating for the insanity of my youth in this current dialog.

I can't get that "rock in lug" scenario out of my head, but nevertheless, thanks for all of your feedback. It certainly gives me some data points.

It dawns on me that a hot setup would be to grind away a section of the sole at the "DIN approved" location, and install some replaceable Delrin plates. It's would be a fairly straightforward mod, and for those without access to Delrin, some UHMWP (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) would do the trick as well (much like cutting board material). I could sleep at nights if I did this.

Then again, I slept fine when I was running Diamir Freerides

Cheers,
Thom

[selle]

It dawns on me that a hot setup would be to grind away a section of the sole at the "DIN approved" location, and install some replaceable Delrin plates. It's would be a fairly straightforward mod, and for those without access to Delrin, some UHMWP (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) would do the trick as well (much like cutting board material).

I was thinking about doing this... Did anyone do something like this? Thoughts?

[SupreChicken]

Alpine bindings that work with Dynafit/vibram soles?

I was thinking about doing this... Did anyone do something like this? Thoughts?

Sigh. Not yet. I have done the grind portion...but I'm not as savvy as the majority of mags. I likely need a tutorial to prevent messing something up...

How thick a piece do I use? Where/how do I install it? Does it need to cover the entire width of the sole?