Solomon MTN tech binding heel risers. Anyone else have problems with them?

[Clownshoe]

So I spent a couple of years using the Solomon MTN tech bindings. They were sweet. Unfortunatly after a couple of years, the heel risers, specifically the "highest" of the two risers, became super floppy. Essentially unusable. They would flop back and forth with every step. I took them into my local shop, where they said they had seen this on several pairs. A temporary fix was to "squeeze" the mounting point of the heel riser with some pliers. This bent the metal a bit, and served to tighten up the pivot point. This worked for a bit, but the problem returned relatively quickly, so I ditched the bindings.

I loved them so much though, that I bought a new pair this year. Sadly, on the first day, I realized these new ones had the same problem. Where as the old ones took over 100 days to get floppy, these ones were already floppy on the very first day. Not super floppy like my old pair, but still floppy enough that it was hard to keep them in position. The "lower" setting is totally fine, but the "higher" riser moves itself into a vertical position, and out from under my boot with very little effort. If I walk very carefully, they stay in position, but if I'm just slogging up a steep uptrack, they routinely move on their own. This repeated itself over a three day hut trip, so it's not just a one-off thing.

Has anyone else experienced this? Anyone have any other fixes other than bending the metal on my brand new bindings?

[GoldenBC]

Not on a new pair. On pairs that have hundreds of days, yes. I would try warranty.

Or use risers less. Feel the stretch.

[whatsupdoc]

This is a pretty well documented issue with these bindings.

It's such a bummer because they're great bindings otherwise. Pretty light, simple, easy BSL adjustment, 3 risers that are accessible from 1 position, and otherwise pretty reliable (at least this issue doesn't affect the ski-ability like Dynafit Radical top plates exploding). They have good strong toe springs and retention. I've never pre-released on these. And I like Plum ski crampons.

Folks have also talked about some slop developing in the heel between the base plate and binding post, but I haven't had any major issues with this personally.

Anyways, a solution I've used for the floppy risers is to squirt some green Vibratite into the pin on which the heel risers rotate. Let it cure overnight. The risers will be super tight after that but if you cycle them a few dozen times they'll loosen up to the point where they are easy to flip with a pole but they don't flop around.

[skis_the_trees]

I tried some old off-brand thread lock as WUD suggested above but haven’t had great or durable results.

Maybe I’ll have to get some of the green vibratite.


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[Blaster]

I’ve tried a bunch of different thread lockers and found that vibratite or anything that hardens in anaerobic conditions to work best. In my experience vibratite works for a few tours then back to being annoying.

I’ve been trying to figure out a slick way to epoxy some small magnets to the binding to make it work like the atk ones but haven’t found something I’m confident enough in to epoxy on.

I’ve wondered about punching out the pin, drilling the pin hole in the aluminum heel risers a touch wider, and then putting a thing rubber/plastic sleeve around the pin but underneath the riser.

For what it’s worth 4 of 4 bindings with 150 plus days in my household or close touring partners have had this issue.

[skisurfmirth]

Have you taken the tower off the base plate and tightened the bolt that holds the upper plate on?

[OttoP]

While I opt to just not use the risers that much, I had moderate success with this kook fix with a pair that eventually got sloppy:

A thin, plastic coated metal wire that some european bakeries use to close bread bags. These are getting rared as the bakeries are opting for the clip style bag closing systems.

The plastic coating of the wire is a bit "flat", so when threading the wire around the axle and between the lower parts of the risers, the edges of the plastic bits provide some good friction. The metal core is very pliable so it's easy to twist the ends. I think it held nice for 50+ touring days.

[Blaster]

Have you taken the tower off the base plate and tightened the bolt that holds the upper plate on?

Yes. I’ve tried cranking that screw down but found its tightness to be independent from riser retention.

[Clownshoe]

Thanks for all the tips and responses. On my older pair, I tried taking off the tower and tightening the bolt that holds the plate on. This added a bit of friction, but it seems to be unrelated to the main problem. Same with bending the mounting point with pliers. It worked for a bit, but it wasn't a satisfying solution. Too bad because I really love these bindings

I'm going to try a couple of the other fixes mentioned in here. In general I try to only use the lower riser anyway, it's just frustrating that the upper one is kind of non functional.

As an aside, if anyone in the Sea2Sky wants a used pair of MTN's (with a comically floppy riser), slide into my DM's. I'd let them go really cheap for a Mag. Caveat emptor.