Switching between boots w/ shift binding

[Spyderjon]

This is how to set up Shifts:

Set the dins front & rear - which is pretty obvious - so if you don't know how then stop now and take your kit to a shop!

Set the forward pressure so that with the boot installed the raised rectangular silver 'block' is centred between the raised arrows in the knotched recess at the rear of the black heel housing.

Set the toe AFD height. When setting a height adjustable AFD the important thing is to firmly lever the boot cuff rearwards (toward to the ski tail) to ensure the the boot toe lugs are as high as possible in the toe binding. It's also important to have trimmed off any burrs/damage on the toe/heel lugs of your boot.

Alpine bindings with height adjustable AFD's are designed to be set up with a 0.5mm gap gauge. However, and despite what the Salomon/Atomic/Armada Tech Binding says, the Shift is different and the AFD needs to be just touching the boot sole. Yes, the factory tech manuals are wrong meaning that many shops are setting the Shifts up incorrectly.

There's a couple of other 'quirks' about the Shift AFD. Firstly there's a lot of backlash in the adjustment screw. And secondly the height adjustment is not fully linear but instead it has a number of 'steps' throughout its adjustment range. For these reasons it's important that you always adjust from low to high to take the backlash out of the screw and if, the AFD is on the cusp of one of the steps, it'll stay at it's lowest position.

So start low and adjust up. If you go too high/tight then drop down a few good turns and start again. And once set remove the boot and press downwards firmly on the AFD with the palm of your hand to ensure that it's fully seated. If the AFD then moves down slightly then you were right on the cusp of one of the steps and you need to repeat the setting process.

Boots with full AT soles will have the AFD close to or at the bottom of the adjustment. Boots with alpine soles with have the AFD close to or at the top of the adjustment. GripWalk/WTR soles will be middle'ish.

And like any freeride touring binding make sure you clear the snow out of all the nooks'n'crannies etc and have clean boots etc.

The Shift AFD's are very sturdy and once adjusted correctly will not move. I've mounted/adjusted hundreds of them and nobody has had any issues.

And once these nuances are understood it takes no longer to adjust a Shift between different boot lengths/sole types than any other binding.

[gregL]

Set the forward pressure so that with the boot installed the raised rectangular silver 'block' is centred between the raised arrows in the knotched recess at the rear of the black heel housing.

Good points, Jon.

Amer has apparently revised the forward pressure recommendation for the 20-21 season, it now shows the silver block to be in back of the black housing - probably in response to undesired forward release complaints. Here's the picture from the current tech manual:

[YaBoyBlue]

Good points, Jon.

Amer has apparently revised the forward pressure recommendation for the 20-21 season, it now shows the silver block to be in back of the black housing - probably in response to undesired forward release complaints. Here's the picture from the current tech manual:

That pic shows the “unsprung” position where no forward pressure is engaged, yes?

[gregL]

That pic shows the “unsprung” position where no forward pressure is engaged, yes?

My bad, you are right. I didn't scroll down far enough . . . forward pressure picture still shows silver block in the slot with boot in place!

[YaBoyBlue]

My bad, you are right. I didn't scroll down far enough . . . forward pressure picture still shows silver block in the slot with boot in place!

Cool, I would hate for someone to try to ski with their forward pressure set like that haha

[goolick]

I'm in a very similar situation where I've got kartels with shifts on them. 331mm bsl touring boots with tech soles and 336 bsl alpine boots. I set up the afd and forward pressure at home for the 331 boots and took them out. By the end of the day the AFD had dropped down to a lower position like Spyderjon/others have described here. I brought it to a shop and got them to set it up right.

Originally I thought I would be swapping boots, but now that I'm confident in how they're set up I figure I probably won't mess around with it anymore.

[huckmadtrix]

This is how to set up Shifts:


The Shift AFD's are very sturdy and once adjusted correctly will not move. I've mounted/adjusted hundreds of them and nobody has had any issues.

And once these nuances are understood it takes no longer to adjust a Shift between different boot lengths/sole types than any other binding.

Super super helpful. Thank you!! Hopefully with this info I can get rid of that damn toe clicking!