what is the Toyota Tacoma of tech bindings?

[Tailwind]

MTN is a binding you can mount and ski 200 days without big issues. Outside of light skiers tearing their Achilles on them… I have heard no major complaints.

It’s not the best performing but it’s consistent and the binding I trust the most.

I just bought some ATK Freeraiders that I imagine will be plenty durable and ski better… but I’d bet on the MTN to be in better shape after 200 days.

The vertical seems more equivalent to a Gen 1 Tundra. Lots of people swear by them and a pair in good condition has a following. Also not something you can walk into a shop and buy.

[XXX-er]

You can't buy a Vertical because they are so 10 yrs ago but I managed to buy the last or close to from MEC.ca cuz when product gets to the last few they would discount it even tho they didnt have to

yes ! give me a binding that I can consistantly trust to tear my Achilles, this is progress !

[nate s]

The Plum Guide fits this criteria- all metal, easy to change modes with pole and 12RV. Doesn't seem that popular anymore but doesn't have any major faults. I'd used TLT/ Comforts/ Vert for ~15 years and now have used the Guides for ~10, much prefer the Plums and unlike the Dynafits, nothing has broken yet. "Upgraded" to ATK FR 16 this year but worried I might miss the ability to go through all modes without bending over or taking skis off.

[XXX-er]

The Plum Guide fits this criteria- all metal .

are you talking about the toepiece or the main body of the Plum heelpiece being aluminium ?

I think it you check closely you will find the heel piece body is really nice looking plastic

I have heard of the aluminium toe piece arms breaking and then it was hard to get a replacement part

[Meadow Skipper]

My vote(s) for Salomon MTN, or the dark horse G3 Ion. The Ion’s been solid and reliable for me.

[nate s]

are you talking about the toepiece or the main body of the Plum heelpiece being aluminium ?

I think it you check closely you will find the heel piece body is really nice looking plastic

I have heard of the aluminium toe piece arms breaking and then it was hard to get a replacement part

Fair enough- I suppose "metal where it matters" is technically more accurate. Mainly the toe levers and the heel top plate and riser, all things I've broken on Dynafits.

I believe the toe piece breakage was in the first years of production and hasn't been a problem for a while.

[SoVT Joey]

are you talking about the toepiece or the main body of the Plum heelpiece being aluminium ?

I think it you check closely you will find the heel piece body is really nice looking plastic

I have heard of the aluminium toe piece arms breaking and then it was hard to get a replacement part

my guides and yaks are both full metal. No plastic. They are aluminum and steel

[XXX-er]

https://www.wildsnow.com/31521/plum-r170-a-first-look/

" The machining is precise. The binding is mostly constructed from 7075 T6 aluminum with a plastic POM heel body, and steel U spring; the machining illustrates value-added attention to detail. "

[2FUNKY]

CAST

Lmao! That’s the Ram TRX of touring bindings.
Tacoma makes me think of cramped, under powered, useless bed, does nothing great but will work if needed but so many better options. So Marker F10 tour.


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[Peruvian]

Wouldn’t the Tacoma if AT have to be a frame binding that rusted out and cracked?

[sweatypowderpig]

+1 for MTN
add in an ATK freeride spacer and it's a dream both up and down

[GravityDT]

MTN/Backlands. Have 3 sets on skis and the oldest set (3rd season so far( has zero issues/slop etc….. Dead reliable.


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[Bamski]

Went through a similar process building out my touring quiver.

My two cents:

Plum (Pika or Oazo): Very robust metal construction. No plastic, and very few moving parts. The Pika comes in at 280 grams without a u spring, the Oazo comes in at 205. Both ski as well as any other tech bindings I’ve used. Both have Plum’s “stomp” pad freeride spacer knockoff thing, and both can run Plum’s light brake system if you ever need to cross a ski area and hate leashes.

ATK (Raider series): These don’t really need an introduction. They ski well and feel extremely high quality. That said, they have a fair bit of plastic. Anecdotally, I had a plastic AFD shatter on my heel during a crash which forced me to ski strap the heel to ski out. Probably a freak accident- but I’d trust Plum’s aluminum construction a bit more in the same fall.

Given the price difference I’m not sure I’d buy the ATK’s again, but they’re a great bit of kit.

[zion zig zag]

The better question for TGR is what is the euro, manual, v8 wagon tech binding.


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[bovine]

Granted, my tech binding usages is limited to several years on Dynafit Verticals, Plum Guides, G3 Ion 12s and most recently, Salomon MTNs.

I'm sold on the Salomons. They're not cheap, but they are light, tour great, and ski great.

My Plums are nice too, but I really like the Salomons with the way the risers work. One gripe about my G3s is that they sometimes revert to ski mode if I'm side hilling a bit on a crappy skin track- the worst time for that to happen. By design, Salomons won't do that. They're simple, solid, and reliable.

[Spats]

The Dynafit Speed Turn has a metal toe mounting plate and a metal heel riser. This is an improvement over the previous generations, as they're the two plastic parts that would occasionally crack or break on Verticals or Comforts.

The Salomon MTN has a U-spring in the rear. It's not adjustable, and U-springs eat the fittings in your boots over time. Most people don't tour enough for this to be an issue, but it can matter to frequent tourers or people who use Dynafits as resort bindings. Also they weigh more like 325g, not <300g, so the real weight difference is <50g.

A lot of people like to complain about the rotational heel...but I've toured with many people who have flip-flop risers, and they're no faster. They spend about as much time fumbling for the little tab with the side of their pole basket as I spend finding the hole in the riser. Again, do both heels from the right side.

[XXX-er]

Fair enough- I suppose "metal where it matters" is technically more accurate. Mainly the toe levers and the heel top plate and riser, all things I've broken on Dynafits.

I believe the toe piece breakage was in the first years of production and hasn't been a problem for a while.

well words are important eh and a whole bunch of users have been thinking their binding are all aluminum and they do look all aluminium BUT ?

so consider that having the body of a tech binding made out of plastique is not a biggy cuz when they failed usually the plastic body was not the the issue, also i'm think a heelpiece carved out of aluminium might be kind of heavy ?

the local plum dealer said the same thing to me that they are all aluminium to which I said "are you sure its all Aluminium" and I left him fiddling with a set of Plum

[bennymac]

wow I've ruffled some feathers with the Tacoma analogy

Probably woulda been less controversial to ask "what is the Hyundai Sonata of touring bindings?"

For reals though this input is helpful.

[XXX-er]

I havent heard of touring bindings catching fire ?

[El Chupacabra]

I havent heard of touring bindings catching fire ?

Or having an AMG shift knob.

[stuckathuntermtn]

The Gynafit Rectums don't come in 69?

[AK47bp]

The Gynafit Rectums don't come in 69?

Rectum, damn near killed him!


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[XXX-er]

A good thing about the G3 ions is they sandwich the plastic heel body to a top cap with machine screws

when the Dynafit RAD1 was peeling top caps it was because the wood screws into plastic couldn't handle the stress of the flippy lifters

same wood screws on the Vertical were ok cuz they didnt take any load all they did was locate the lifter tower on the binding

[skis_the_trees]

XXXer I know you hate on the original Speed Radicals (which did have issues with the top plate of the heel ripping off) but that's been rectified for many years now. I have a lot of days on Comforts, Verticals, and now a couple seasons skiing Speed Radicals and I prefer the Speed Radicals. The Radical toe is better and the heels are no-nonsense just like their predecessors.

[XXX-er]

well sure but this is a thread about what sucks

Fortuntely the local Dynafit rep up here was great keeping the Rad1 going by being generous to the dealers with spare heelpieces, I got warranty in < a week

Dynafit mitigated the problem by clipping the top plate on to the body of at least 1 model of RAD so binding integrity was not dependent on those 4 wood screws to keep the binding together

the RAD toe was good

i still have 1 RAD heel piece that hasn't sploded yet