Fritschi Vipec review thread

[Lindahl]

The Tecton arrangement mirrors alpine (toe horizontal, heel vertical). But the Vipec is unique — heel and toe release horizontally.

The Vipec doesn't release horizontally at the heel.

The tib/fib thing happens because the heel release isn't as clean and consistent as alpine, and twisting out at the toe might not happen in time even if the heel has released.

I'm not entirely sold on this line of thinking. Also, there are some forces that cause the heel to never release at all to begin with, so consistency of release as the heel starts rotating doesn't really matter in those cases.

I think it's because it's never 100 percent straight in. Most of the time you stuff your ski tips, the skis are at a bit of an angle to the force, so you release anyway.

From my experience and testing, the lack of a heel release has entirely to do with where the forces are applied. If they're near the toepiece, it's quite possible for the binding to not release and a tib/fib or twisted ankle to be the result. If you want to know more, look at the following link. I made a video that illustrates the problem. There's also a link to a Wildsnow article talking about this same issue.
https://blisterreview.com/gear-revie...iamir-vipec-12

Every time I feel the pull of a 300g binder, I remind myself of the stuffed tip scenario and am happy with my decision to go with Vipec.

I'm in the same boat. I go with the Vipec for my deep snow ski that I use when I'm skiing hard. Though, for firm snow and mellow meadow skipping in powder, I'm a big fan of the 110g-350g bindings.

[Jtlange]

I just got a pair of the vipec evos new from BD and they have the "old" bumper style that will dent the toe. Anyone get one that has the improved bumper? Skied them today and they are remarkably solid feeling.

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[Cocximus]

Re the vipec vertical release. My alpine heels are at 9.5ish. I had my vipecs at 9. I planted my tips in a creek pretty hard. I expected to eject, but I did not. I was pretty lucky I did not break bones. Following that, I tried popping out of the skis and it seemed the skis would break before vipecs let go. I dialed back and tried ejecting until I got to 6. I been skiing them at 6 for a few years, and I never pre-released.

[cat in january]

Jtlange have you tried hitting up BD? They kind of messed up my replacement, but in the process I interacted a bit and were always super responsive. Give them a call tomorrow. ext. 5

[ticketchecker]

Flowy, how much different do think tecton feels vs vipec?

[Cocximus]

Toes are up at my regular 9 and release as they should.

[Cocximus]

Dunno personally I can't really tell the vipec heel from an alpine heel. I can't imagine what the tectons offers. Maybe because I am 150 lbs.

[LeeLau]

Toes are up at my regular 9 and release as they should.

Same. I run Vipecs and Tectons at 8 early season then go to 9 as season wears on. I accidentally left a Vipec heel at 6 (my bad - mounted my own bindings) and pre-released all over the place in deep pow which led to much digging

[Jtlange]

FYI, there are Vipec Evo toes that have the updated bumper. Called BD today to confirm. They said they are a few days behind on warranty claims right now I assume due to the holiday.

[t.odd]

Dunno personally I can't really tell the vipec heel from an alpine heel. I can't imagine what the tectons offers. Maybe because I am 150 lbs.

ditto, I'm super impressed with how the viper's feel railing carves and turns inbounds, even in chop...it was something I was not expecting at all

[NorCalNomad]

Dunno personally I can't really tell the vipec heel from an alpine heel. I can't imagine what the tectons offers. Maybe because I am 150 lbs.

Only a few pounds more than you but in later day inbounds I can feel the lack of elasticity, but for 80% of the day I'm good.

Also fun little thing that I figured out last night practicing my transitions for a local skimo race. You don't actually have to put the binding into "tour" mode (and have the heel unit slide back) if you just flip the first riser. Of course it's far from flat, but for beer league racing it's nice to be able to gain a few spots just from a faster transition to make up for my lack of acclimatization.

[HHTELE]

I am encountering a heel problem on Vipecs- not sure which gen. Maybe 3?
I have insta teled a few times, and when I check the heel, there is a significant gap. The last time, I skied out in that condition, put it on the bench to try and sort it out. As I cycled the binding fore and aft on the track, it did not move smoothly, with a bit of flex and grabbiness at the junction with the brake.

What I think happened is the ski flexed, pushing the binding back, and it failed to return. I lubed the tracks with white lithium, cycled it up and down the track. So far, so good. But, that doesn't tell me much, as this problem is rare and intermittent.

Any thoughts as to the actual cause, and best prevention? I do, occasionally have issues where the brake opens while touring. Could this be a brake insallation issue causing the heel to snag when returning forward?

[cat in january]

Something similar happened with me. I filed a claim with BD. I listed the place I bought them and the approximate time, but I did not have the receipt handy (think I had it someplace). BD was great in replacing them with Evo heels. Lot better to get it right then mess around in the BC.

[Jtlange]

I am in the process of making some toe shims for the Evo (3D printing now for fit check before machining). I was curious to if anyone has a picture of the toe shims that are available look like. Im just a bored engineer with time and tools on his hands, not going to be making them commercially so I wont be ripping off the design. Just wondering if they are doing something I am not thinking of right now.

[NorCalNomad]

It can be as simple a flat piece of HDPE or metal with 4 holes in it...

No need to enginerd it, eyeball FEA + speedholes will do ya fine.

[margotron]

I am in the process of making some toe shims for the Evo (3D printing now for fit check before machining). I was curious to if anyone has a picture of the toe shims that are available look like. Im just a bored engineer with time and tools on his hands, not going to be making them commercially so I wont be ripping off the design. Just wondering if they are doing something I am not thinking of right now.

Will you make a set for me too? I'll be your research shore for this project

[doebedoe]

If anyone had any doubts, Thom's template is better than the Powderguides one as far a hole accuracy based on measuring and eyeballing last night. The latter will probably work, but Thom's is spot on.

[NorCalNomad]

If anyone had any doubts, Thom's template is better than the Powderguides one as far a hole accuracy based on measuring and eyeballing last night. The latter will probably work, but Thom's is spot on.

And the Wildsnow one is slightly small in the heel

[Jtlange]

What thickness do you want? I should be making them sometime next week.

[LightRanger]

If anyone had any doubts, Thom's template is better than the Powderguides one as far a hole accuracy based on measuring and eyeballing last night. The latter will probably work, but Thom's is spot on.

And the Wildsnow one is slightly small in the heel

I discovered this last season. Annoyed the shit out of me. Ended up having to remount a ski. Possible my print scaling was off, but I think it was the template I used.

[galibier_numero_un]

If anyone had any doubts, Thom's template is better than the Powderguides one as far a hole accuracy based on measuring and eyeballing last night. The latter will probably work, but Thom's is spot on.

I knew there was something i meant to PM you about yesterday. Glad you found it.

Some folks aren't used to the old school template style where you mark the toe/heel lines and view them through a "window" you cut in the template.

I prefer it to the "tape two halves together" style which I find introduces another opportunity for a brain fart (and subsequent opportunity to post in the Swiss-cheese holes thread).

It also makes it easier to experiment with biasing the heel position to one end of the track or the other for multiple boot compatibility.

... Thom

[SupreChicken]

What thickness do you want? I should be making them sometime next week.

I shimmed mine 6mm thanks to spyderjon. Truly $$. Saved me from selling a pair of skis.

That’s what I would recommend.

B and D has a set with 4.7 mm thickness - that’s what I put under the tectons that went on my bent chetlers.

Taped the shims to the toe pieces of the bindings and hastily drilled holes because they don’t come predrilled. Looks good, will ski this weekend to confirm.

What are you gonna do for longer screws?

[NorCalNomad]

I discovered this last season. Annoyed the shit out of me. Ended up having to remount a ski. Possible my print scaling was off, but I think it was the template I used.

Yeah I found that out on my old Amperages that I initially mounted Vipecs sans inserts. So the thinner screws/ allowance there saved me when I went back and put in inserts.

#measuretwicecauseskisarefuckingexpensive

[Jtlange]

I shimmed mine 6mm thanks to spyderjon. Truly $$. Saved me from selling a pair of skis.

That’s what I would recommend.

B and D has a set with 4.7 mm thickness - that’s what I put under the tectons that went on my bent chetlers.

Taped the shims to the toe pieces of the bindings and hastily drilled holes because they don’t come predrilled. Looks good, will ski this weekend to confirm.

What are you gonna do for longer screws?

What size is your boot? I'm a 28.5 and I've been reading that the longer your boot is the less you want to shim. My thought was to get it as close to my alpine delta (2mm) as possible so I was thinking around 6mm.

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[auvgeek]

I've been reading that the longer your boot is the less you want to shim.

I think it's more that the longer your boot, the less you notice the delta compared to a shorter boot.

One thing to keep in mind is some AT boots now have less internal ramp (boot board angle) to compensate for the aggressive delta in many classic tech binders. So the ramp angle of your alpine bindings that feels right with your alpine boots may feel very upright with your tech boots, even if both boots have the same forward lean.