what is the Toyota Tacoma of tech bindings?

[bennymac]

What is that middle ground, solid, "set it and forget it" tech binding that you could just easily recommend to anyone - something that strikes a good balance between the metrics of weight, cost, dependability, ease of use etc

I hear anecdotes like "well I've used Gynafit Rectums alp-X 16s and never had a problem!" - but you can then find plenty of people who think they are complete shit. Is there something that is just universally felt to be a good no brainer option?

I have ions right now and have had no problems with them - they seem like pretty middle ground in every metric - tempted to just get another pair but thought I'd see if I'm missing something obvious as I'm not as up to speed on ski gear as I am in other things. Also G3's quality seems to be tanking a bit but maybe that itself is too anecdotal.

thanks in advance for any advice (for what it's worth this would be for a 100-110 ski)

[m2711c]

CAST

[plugboots]

I’d never buy a pick up but I know what you mean/want.
ATK Raider series.

[Kevo]

Moment Voyagers/ ATK for actual tech bindings

CAST for sidecountry

[bennymac]

my current resort skis are old and long Gotamas with dukes on them for slack

for backcountry I have Lotus spoon 120s with ions

I'm now somewhere with less snow and more wind - so want to fill out the quiver with something a bit narrower like maybe Blizzard Hustle 10s or maybe those heritage 99s in all-mountain form

[GoldenBC]

So you are wondering what are overpriced, no good for a heavy load, get shitty mileage, and can be sold for a ton when they are clapped out?

It actually does sound like CAST.

[bennymac]

I guess I shoulda started an earlier thread to first establish the best analogy to go with....

"What is the cadillac of automobiles?" sorta deal

[Falcon3]

Toyota Tacoma of bindings: Salomon MTN.

Not the lightest but reasonably light ~300g
Completely bomber construction
Easy to use
Not the fanciest but has enough features to satisfy most folks

It’s completely middle of the road in everything except durability, which is great. It’s exactly like a Tacoma.

[XavierD]

It’s got to be the Dynafit rotation right? Objectively outperformed by everything else on the market. Inefficient, unergonomic, and overpriced yet everyone is still willing to pay top dollar for them.

[bennymac]

(for the record I've never owned a tacoma before)

[Spats]

My opinion: what you're thinking of isn't the Tacoma, it's the Hilux.

The binding equivalent is the Dynafit Speed Turn.
The design has been basically the same for decades.
Independent vertical and horizontal release, easy to rotate with a pole (once you figure out the trick...use your right pole for both skis)
...and, most importantly, under $250 from any number of Euro ski discounters, if you know to look for the Fischer or Look-branded versions.

The only reason to not recommend it is that someone's heavy and needs "DIN" > 10, or has a big budget. In that case, the Salomon MTN saves about 70g and has the flip-flop riser, which some like more. (I'm used to the spin, and the Speed Turn is 100x easier to spin than the old Comforts with the plastic volcano that never fit the ski poles you had and broke easily.) It also has less ramp, and is probably closer to your alpines. This is why I don't recommend the Marker Alpinist: it has basically zero ramp, and is going to ski weird for everybody who doesn't have Salomon Guardians (nearly zero ramp) as their inbounds ski.

[sb]

I nabbed a Look 10 which is a rebranded Dfit ST 10 rotation for under $300 the other day.

To be used with a future area/BC ski yet to be determined.

[zion zig zag]

Toyota Tacoma of bindings: Salomon MTN.

Not the lightest but reasonably light ~300g
Completely bomber construction
Easy to use
Not the fanciest but has enough features to satisfy most folks

It’s completely middle of the road in everything except durability, which is great. It’s exactly like a Tacoma.

This

[hick]

So you are wondering what are overpriced, no good for a heavy load, get shitty mileage, and can be sold for a ton when they are clapped out?

It actually does sound like CAST.

🤣 this is hilarious and full of truth!


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[El Chupacabra]

[emoji1787] this is hilarious and full of truth!


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Except that a Tacoma wouldn't require disassembly /reassembly at the top /bottom of every hill.

Otherwise, spot on!

A vote for old Dynafit Verticals here from me. I share Spats ' take on these bindings.

[LeeLau]

The older Dynafit Comfort/Vertical/TLT or now the Speed Turn

The Salomon Mtn_ Atomic Backland

[gwat]

I’ll give a third (fourth/fifth?) vote for the Dynafit Vertical.

[oltrepiave]

MTN.

I've had my fair share of speed turn/verticals and that binding is still bang for your buck but the MTNs are better: no need for pondering on DIN, flip-flop risers which are better than having to rotate the heelpiece, bomber construction and clamping strength on the toe as well

[bennymac]

Thanks mags - this is very helpful.

[grinch]

The simple dynafit speed turn packs a lot of punch for the price. Relatively light and durable and cheaper than everything except the cheap fritchi. For the price that people resell old dynafits id just get them for 180usd from telemark pyrenese. I still think theyre the smoothest functioning for the heel riser. A couple seconds with your pole to put the riser up or flat and carry on

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[skisurfmirth]

So you are wondering what are overpriced, no good for a heavy load, get shitty mileage, and can be sold for a ton when they are clapped out?

It actually does sound like CAST.

Lol!

[XXX-er]

It would have to be the vertical

IME/ IMO it had DIN-ish release 10 for st/ 12 for ft,

independant release adjustments for horizontal and vertical which were close to alpine

brakes were just OK but I have seen a ski go a long way on crust with deployed brakes

you could break the heel riser towers if you levered instead of rotating the heel piece

but mostly the VERT was pretty solid

So of course Dynafit had to fuck with it and redisigned it into the RAD1 which left a trail of heelpieces in the BC

as for the Tacoma: look at the sales figures, who sells the most midsized PU's , what does every MILF dropping yard apes at the elementry school drive or want to drive, what has the best resale and BTW nobodoy wants to drive one of those cool mini PU's from japan that are now 30yrs old

[plugboots]

Yeah, if you wanna stick with the Tacoma comparison it’d be the Verts. Cheap, work pretty well, etc. Mine have a little play or click in the heel that I ignore. Kinda like some issue the Tacoma would inevitably have, that bugs you but won’t kill you.

[XXX-er]

I asked shop bro which binding gets sent in for the most warranty and he said " the G3 but to be fair we sell more G3 "

then i asked about all the sploding Kingpins and he said " well ok but that has not been our experiance "

[XXX-er]

wild snow takes a 1st look at the new Salomon MTN Summit series

of interest to me is the plastique tow (or toe as we call it up here) , 6-12 adjustable lateral/ fixed vertical in the summit series

https://www.wildsnow.com/33691/salom...-a-first-look/