Preorder our taller heel riser for Marker Alpinists

[frorider]

The first round (which will ship soon) is more just for our peace of mind / confirmation the design we landed on is right. Once we get that feedback from most of the 20 first round folks, we can trigger round 2 (100 pairs?) soon after. I think Collin was thinking that round 2 could be made in late Jan ‘24?

[bennymac]

Sounds great

[Eluder]

The first round (which will ship soon) is more just for our peace of mind / confirmation the design we landed on is right. Once we get that feedback from most of the 20 first round folks, we can trigger round 2 (100 pairs?) soon after. I think Collin was thinking that round 2 could be made in late Jan ‘24?

Sounds great

bennymac and frorider, I have a preorder but sold the bindings these were for. Can we figure out a way to pass on my preorder to bennymac so they get tested in short order? I dont think I will put second pair of touring skis back in the quiver until spring...

[bennymac]

Ooh thanks Eluder - That would be great - but to be clear these would go on my skinnier touring skis and with a touring trip to Hakuba in early Feb I’ll be on my fatter skis predominantly until I get home from that - so if you’re looking for someone to test these properly I’m probably not that guy and could wait for the next batch - especially if there is another mag out there who will use them a lot right away!

[tupp_]

I'm mounting up a set of Alpinists next week and would happily test these. To be used in the PNW as a dedicated big day/non-pow touring setup (QST 106 echos)

[frorider]

Benny, sounds like you’re handing the preorder spot to tupp? If so, we will contact Tupp to get his info.

[bennymac]

Yes please - I won’t make good use of this til late Feb at the earliest so please pass on to any mag that will get on em earlier!

[TTTCollin]

Hey tupp, Benny, can you guys email me at collin@tahoetrailtools.com? We can definitely arrange the tradeoff but I need to correlate TGR names to the orders.

[bennymac]

Hey I wasn’t in on the pre-order. That was eluder.

Happy to email you if that’s needed for some reason

[TTTCollin]

The parts came back from ano and look great. These are headed out this week to all testers. Siked!

[fleaches]

Installed mine today!

Process isn't too bad, but a couple of tips:

1. The instructions say to bace the heel tower on some wood when pounding the pin out, make sure this is a relatively hard wood. I couldn't get it to budge when I first tried, the wood was too soft and just absorbed the hammer strike

2. I wasn't able to get the pin all the way into the new riser with a channel lock, would highly recommend using a vise for this. Hopefully I got it in snugly enough that it doesn't fall out until I make it back home and can press it in properly.



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[frorider]

I’ve installed quite a few now & I’ve always been able to get the knurled end of the pin very close to flush using channel locks or Knipex. Since the pin is hard steel, I’ve not used a piece of cardboard on one end like you showed above. Have you tried pressing it in with the cardboard removed?

[fleaches]

I’ve installed quite a few now & I’ve always been able to get the knurled end of the pin very close to flush using channel locks or Knipex. Since the pin is hard steel, I’ve not used a piece of cardboard on one end like you showed above. Have you tried pressing it in with the cardboard removed?

Cardboard was on the non-knurled side just to protect the finish, pliers is making direct contact with the pin.

When you have been pressing pins in previously is that on pre or post anodized parts? It was a very tight fit and required some light taps with the hammer just to get the pin started, wondering if it's tighter now after anodization.

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[frorider]

This was the first anodized run. I think you’re correct in identifying the issue—the only significant friction should be with the knurled portion.

However having played around with so many of these risers during the design phase, some of which were removed and reinstalled several times, IME the main goal is that there is resistance during the pin installation. For aesthetic reasons I’d like to see you be able to get that pin essentially flush with a vise, but I’m not expecting you to have any field issue given the resistance you’ve seen already during the press fit.

For the next run Collin will fine tune the hole diameter (assuming the other proto customers also find the fit a bit too snug).

Since everyone was eager to get them asap, I didn’t even get a chance to install an anodized pair before Collin mailed them out sorry. I’m on a road trip to PNW to see family.

[fleaches]

This was the first anodized run. I think you’re correct in identifying the issue—the only significant friction should be with the knurled portion.

However having played around with so many of these risers during the design phase, some of which were removed and reinstalled several times, IME the main goal is that there is resistance during the pin installation. For aesthetic reasons I’d like to see you be able to get that pin essentially flush with a vise, but I’m not expecting you to have any field issue given the resistance you’ve seen already during the press fit.

For the next run Collin will fine tune the hole diameter (assuming the other proto customers also find the fit a bit too snug).

Since everyone was eager to get them asap, I didn’t even get a chance to install an anodized pair before Collin mailed them out sorry. I’m on a road trip to PNW to see family.

No worries, this is what beta testing is for. Also traveling, or I'd have used the vise (which I expect will get it flush)

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[frorider]

Collin texted me:

. Let’s see what the other comments are. I measured them after ano. Hole diameter is smaller by 0.0005” to 0.001” so very slight

[ezgzy]

Got my first day on the heel ups today, they’re definitely worth it over the stock risers. Makes the heel piece easier to turn in transition and i actually felt like I had a riser on for the steeper parts of the skin track


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[frorider]

Thx for the review. I’m not sure I did a good job highlighting how much this new riser improves the ease of using your pole to rotate the heel. I bought some ATK crests and raiders this season on sale, and already I’m finding them less convenient for tours.

Since pole tip/shaft diameters vary so widely, Collin & I put a lot of thought into the shape and depth of the polygon hole. Fortunately I have a dozen pairs of touring poles I could try to help find the best overall design. Some pole tip shafts are VERY thin however, and benefit from having a pvc tubing slipped over them to slightly widen the diameter.

[yeahman]

Installation went smoothly. Now if we could just get a little snow I'd be able to actually try them out.

[frorider]

(Edit: I thought I saw bennymac ask this?). think I answered that upthread, don’t recall what date I wrote but if we continue to get good feedback then a mfg run in late Jan would be great

I didn’t mention that this design had over 250,000 ft of skinning testing last season by our core crew, so I think it’s dialed, but getting 20 more pairs out helps assess ease of installation and confirms the mfg tolerances of Marker’s product. Also assesses how it works in the field for a range of users.

[frorider]

Last winter in Tahoe meant a lot of trailbreaking during my testing of the prototypes, and i didn’t have any issues with snow getting under the riser & forming ice (I occasionally had this happen with the stock risers but a bit of silicone grease seemed to fix that).

I think the key to avoiding this issue is to have the riser resist any tendency to flop upwards. Therefore I would appreciate it if you guys could confirm that your prototype riser resists the pressure of a drivers license or other thin plastic like this:

[ASmileyFace]

Anyone got a spare set of these laying around? Settled on the Alpinist for my new skis and would love to get these taller riser!

[bennymac]

Thread bump - any word on when these will be back in stock? No panic here as we appear to be skipping spring and going straight to summer - but still would like to get a set at some point. Cheers!