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  1. #501
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    Dec 2014
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    New and tight. I'm really curious about stack height vs. ramp angle (after 1000-oaks' question) as I'd previously thought it was stack height which was the culprit. They're on a friend's skis, and I plan on checking.

    ... Thom
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  2. #502
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    gone
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    Quote Originally Posted by plugboots View Post
    I'm thinking of getting the EVO for next season. I'm sure the ramp will be the same? Bobby, do you like the ramp angle? I hate my old Dukes because of the flat ramp.
    yeah, ramp angle is the same and the new toepiece is SO MUCH easier to get in. the new vipec and tecton are probably the pin-/hybrid bindings which are the easiest to get in now...

    freak~[&]

  3. #503
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
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    2,459
    Vipec love:
    I mistakenly took them out on a re-frozen day at tremblant. I skied all day shitty mogul runs and crusty trees. It was so bad that the runs were actually closed. The vipec did surprisingly well on re-frozen moguls with the vectors. Very confidence inspiring, hard to tell I was not in alpine bindings. Next day when the moguls softened they were super fun and I just bombed with the vipecs.

    They also did great on Gaspe wind hammered chutes.

    Vipec hate:
    I filed down the brake bracket pretty much flat and greased the area. The brakes still don't deploy most of the time.

    Heel froze again... shitty timing. It kinda closed, so I just skied it down with a rubber band for security.

  4. #504
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    Dec 2014
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    Thanks! They've shown all the right signs of being tough enough, but it's always good to get feedback.

    ... Thom
    Last edited by galibier_numero_un; 04-10-2017 at 11:33 AM.
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  5. #505
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    SoCal
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    Wonder if there could have been a mid-run change to the brake assembly on the blacks? I've only had my Vipecs out twice so far, but I don't see how the brakes could catch on the plastic when in ski mode. Looking where folks are filing, it's just a smooth face on my pair.

    Maybe BD changed the design before I bought mine?

  6. #506
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    Dec 2014
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    Colorado Front Range
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    Interesting, I just looked at the two pairs I bought last Spring. Mine look like those in Lindahl's photo in post #453.

    Referencing Lindahl's photo, the left circled section is a flat surface (angled slightly). The right circled section has a horizontal groove which is the key to locking the brake up in the touring position.

    As I mentioned earlier, I originally approached the problem by spreading the brake a bit to clear the ski. In retrospect, I don't think this caused any marginally improved brake deployment. It was likely a function of actuation cycles, perhaps cleaning up some mold flashing.

    Studying the heel pieces today, I can see how the hang-up is occurring in the left, circled area - the flat surface. One of my four heel pieces still has an occasional hang-up at that point, and I think I'll get a fine toothed file to it. I definitely won't mess with the right (grooved) section after studying how it engages in the touring lock position.

    ... Thom
    Last edited by galibier_numero_un; 04-12-2017 at 08:46 PM.
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  7. #507
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    Dec 2004
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    SoCal
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    Anyone try mounting an Ion crampon behind the Vipec toe? They'd be positioned further back than Vipec 'pons, but Ion crampons weigh less than half of the Vipec's and are a lot cheaper. If you mount the Ion bracket backwards, you could mount it further forward. Might even be able to cut out a section of the bracket to fit the tail of the toe piece.

  8. #508
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Squaw valley
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    Not only the ion crampons weigh less, they also work really well, best I've had.

  9. #509
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    SoCal
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    Before I picked up Guide Pro boots, I was going to make Vipec toe spacers with a slot for the Ion crampon bracket. Guys with rockered sole boots could easily do that, and get the bracket way forward under the toe tail.

    Moving the crampon back might not be such a bad thing though. My experience with ski crampons is very limited, but I did notice that I had to make a conscious effort to lift my heels way up to allow the crampons to swing up and not cut through the hard snow (wasting energy), or lift the skis completely off the snow for the crampons to not catch and drag. If the crampon bracket was further back, the 'pons could swing up higher and clear the surface of the boilerplate earlier in the stride. Or are they supposed to be engaged 100% of the time?
    Last edited by 1000-oaks; 04-16-2017 at 12:14 PM.

  10. #510
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Seattle
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    923
    I've had issues with my brakes not deploying when they should, but I've also had times when I bump them while touring and they deploy. The later is pretty annoying when you're using the risers, because you have to flip them down, stomp the brake down, then flip the riser back up.

  11. #511
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Montucky
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    1,997
    I've skied my Vipecs about 20 days in the backcountry, and probably 15 days at the resort this year.

    They were Lindahl's test pair of 2nd gen. white Vipecs, and therefore have had a number of days during the previous season.

    PROS

    As for tourability, the binding offers some great climbing positions and I love the way you can disengage the heel to rip skins off.

    CONS

    Notably, the bindings have begun to release from the heels lately. I skied some very firm resort conditions yesterday in Idaho, and went into insta-tele mode three times.

    Now, I want to make it clear that I understand that pin bindings aren't necessarily made for aggressive frontside skiing, but I'm wondering if the binding is slopping over time.

    Gonna check the mechanism today and report back.

    Also of note is the toe release. One binding consistently will not release it's toe pins without significant effort. I usually have to release the heel and pull upwards while depressing the toe lever.

    To me, this suggests that I should be searching for a new set of bindings. My plum guides have three seasons of use and do not show nearly as much wear.

  12. #512
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Sandy, Utah
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    14,410
    Quote Originally Posted by SUPERIOR View Post
    I've skied my Vipecs about 20 days in the backcountry, and probably 15 days at the resort this year.

    They were Lindahl's test pair of 2nd gen. white Vipecs, and therefore have had a number of days during the previous season.

    PROS

    As for tourability, the binding offers some great climbing positions and I love the way you can disengage the heel to rip skins off.

    CONS

    Notably, the bindings have begun to release from the heels lately. I skied some very firm resort conditions yesterday in Idaho, and went into insta-tele mode three times.

    Now, I want to make it clear that I understand that pin bindings aren't necessarily made for aggressive frontside skiing, but I'm wondering if the binding is slopping over time.

    Gonna check the mechanism today and report back.

    Also of note is the toe release. One binding consistently will not release it's toe pins without significant effort. I usually have to release the heel and pull upwards while depressing the toe lever.

    To me, this suggests that I should be searching for a new set of bindings. My plum guides have three seasons of use and do not show nearly as much wear.
    I have been attempting to put my rad 2.0 through the paces in bounds in a fashion I would call hard for pintech and have been overly pleased. Chattery snow where I expect a possible early release and they have been great. Thick heavy snow, deep pow, bumps I surely shouldn't be skiing on them and again very pleased. I want to trust them so I'm pushing them from my perspective. 6'3", 195lbs, aggressive skier. I've even started getting used to the ramp angle. Skiing with second gen Cochise 120.

    YMMV.

  13. #513
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    Sep 2010
    Location
    Golden, Colorado
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    5,868

    Fritschi Vipec review thread

    Quote Originally Posted by SUPERIOR View Post
    I've skied my Vipecs about 20 days in the backcountry, and probably 15 days at the resort this year.

    They were Lindahl's test pair of 2nd gen. white Vipecs, and therefore have had a number of days during the previous season.

    PROS

    As for tourability, the binding offers some great climbing positions and I love the way you can disengage the heel to rip skins off.

    CONS

    Notably, the bindings have begun to release from the heels lately. I skied some very firm resort conditions yesterday in Idaho, and went into insta-tele mode three times.

    Now, I want to make it clear that I understand that pin bindings aren't necessarily made for aggressive frontside skiing, but I'm wondering if the binding is slopping over time.

    Gonna check the mechanism today and report back.

    Also of note is the toe release. One binding consistently will not release it's toe pins without significant effort. I usually have to release the heel and pull upwards while depressing the toe lever.

    To me, this suggests that I should be searching for a new set of bindings. My plum guides have three seasons of use and do not show nearly as much wear.
    Its possible you have boot toe socket issues? What boots are you using? The Vipecs have pretty tight tolerances. I never had an issue with Cochised. Nor with the heels releasing. What DIN are you at? Did you set the gap correctly?
    Last edited by Lindahl; 04-18-2017 at 06:59 AM.

  14. #514
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    795
    Quote Originally Posted by hhtele View Post
    I am familiar with the alternate toe socket move- have done it with Dynafits. Doesn't work well for me with the Vipec/Spectre combo. Part of why I was wondering if it's partly the boot shape.
    And, the heel index thing does work OK, but less of an issue. Most times I am going to ski mode, my toes are already locked in.

    Just put a pair on Vector BCs I normally ski tele. GREAT being able to easily go ski to tour, and ski that ski with that boot. Just skied a closed ski area. Skins on for the first climb, a low angle fishscale climb for seconds, then a half mile traverse back to the car.
    I finally figured out my issue with Spectres:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    The indentation in the front of the boot, right at the toe.
    It doesn't depress the little metal lever that causes the pincers to pinch- so to speak.
    I filled that gap with duct tape, and they work much better.

    I did just encounter a surprising problem:
    I insta-teled in a surprising spot, and figured user error. Should have investigated more, but I have found that when I blame myself, I am often correct.
    The next day, I insta-teled again, on consequential terrain- I got back in, looked down, and say excessive heel gap. Managed to remove the ski, .and adjust it with a leatherman. (nice that I didn't have to go into my pack for a Posi drive.)

    The adjustment held for another day or 2 touring. No idea why it back up.
    Anybody experience this?

  15. #515
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    659
    I had a number of instances of heel release early on. Rechecked and adjusted everything, and mostly pleased after that. A couple of more partial instances over a bunch of days, but with diligence I noticed the heel lever partially depressed before actually releasing. Still not sure why, and not ideal, but manageable.
    As for sticky toe pins, I often have to wiggle my boot a bit to let myself out of the bindings.

  16. #516
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Golden, Colorado
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    5,868

    Fritschi Vipec review thread

    Quote Originally Posted by hhtele View Post
    I finally figured out my issue with Spectres:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	sideral-2-sole.jpg 
Views:	142 
Size:	386.8 KB 
ID:	204988

    The indentation in the front of the boot, right at the toe.
    It doesn't depress the little metal lever that causes the pincers to pinch- so to speak.
    I filled that gap with duct tape, and they work much better.

    I did just encounter a surprising problem:
    I insta-teled in a surprising spot, and figured user error. Should have investigated more, but I have found that when I blame myself, I am often correct.
    The next day, I insta-teled again, on consequential terrain- I got back in, looked down, and say excessive heel gap. Managed to remove the ski, .and adjust it with a leatherman. (nice that I didn't have to go into my pack for a Posi drive.)

    The adjustment held for another day or 2 touring. No idea why it back up.
    Anybody experience this?
    Yeah, warranty issue. They replaced my heels. That was a few years ago though. Probably some sort of tolerance issue. New heels were fine.

  17. #517
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Colorado Front Range
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    The topic of brake width and deployment resurfaced as I moved a pair of Vipecs to some GPOs yesterday. The brake arms weren't quite wide enough and I ground off some of the plastic on the inner sides of the arms. When this wasn't quite wide enough, I spread the brake arms, and the brakes once more became sticky.

    It ends up that Lindahl and I (see his post #453 in this thread) were correctly identifying the sticking point but from opposite sides of the problem. I filed away a bit of plastic as he noted, but the sticking remained. I hesitated to file away more.

    The problem can be remedied with either of our approaches - depending on how severe it is. Those of you who have bent your brakes to accommodate wider skis may find the attached photo useful. The text should be self explanatory.

    The other takeaway is that if you need to bend your brakes (or have already done so), you need to maintain the spacing at the dimension line. Take the actual spacing in the photo as only an example. I have no idea if the bending/re-bending softened the spring characteristics (doubtful), or if product batches vary, so use the actual brake deployment as your guide.




    ... Thom
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  18. #518
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    Dec 2004
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    SoCal
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    I've got three pair of brakes, could measure them with a caliper if anyone wants to know the original gap width.

  19. #519
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    Dec 2014
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1000-oaks View Post
    I've got three pair of brakes, could measure them with a caliper if anyone wants to know the original gap width.
    You inspired me to measure mine. I measured the o.d. at the point in the photo where the dimension line points to the i.d. The spacing for one I prefer is 1.680". The looser one is 1.600".

    It seems as if there's a slight bit of metal fatigue because after bending the "loose" one outward to 1.680 and re-installing it, it still felt a bit loose. Upon removal and re-measuring, I noted that it "relaxed" back to 1.620". I just bent it to 1.740", re-installed, and it didn't change much.

    It then dawned on me that this is the binding from which I removed a bit of material from the insert (per Lindahl's post). I just swapped the left/right binding inserts and the stiffness/looseness stayed with the brake arms.

    I'm definitely at the point of splitting hairs but the exercise was worthwhile, and I'm now 100% comfortable with the brakes. The slight difference between the two is inconsequential in my estimation.

    I think it was in the Tecton thread where I mentioned that any stickiness folks are experiencing shouldn't matter in real-life application. What I mean by this is (if you have a sticky brake) stand the ski with the tail on the floor while the brake is at it's halfway/sticking point. Give the ski a light wack with the palm of your hand. This amount of vibration should easily free the brake, and it's a lot less vibration than a ski would exhibit if you released from it.

    ... Thom
    Last edited by galibier_numero_un; 06-07-2017 at 09:15 PM.
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  20. #520
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Golden, Colorado
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    Quote Originally Posted by galibier_numero_un View Post
    You inspired me to measure mine. I measured the o.d. at the point in the photo where the dimension line points to the i.d. The spacing for one I prefer is 1.680". The looser one is 1.600".

    It seems as if there's a slight bit of metal fatigue because after bending the "loose" one outward to 1.680 and re-installing it, it still felt a bit loose. Upon removal and re-measuring, I noted that it "relaxed" back to 1.620". I just bent it to 1.740", re-installed, and it didn't change much.

    It then dawned on me that this is the binding from which I removed a bit of material from the insert (per Lindahl's post). I just swapped the left/right binding inserts and the stiffness/looseness stayed with the brake arms.

    I'm definitely at the point of splitting hairs but the exercise was worthwhile, and I'm now 100% comfortable with the brakes. The slight difference between the two is inconsequential in my estimation.

    I think it was in the Tecton thread where I mentioned that any stickiness folks are experiencing shouldn't matter in real-life application. What I mean by this is (if you have a sticky brake) stand the ski with the tail on the floor while the brake is at it's halfway/sticking point. Give the ski a light wack with the palm of your hand. This amount of vibration should easily free the brake, and it's a lot less vibration than a ski would exhibit if you released from it.

    ... Thom
    Depends on snow conditions, no? Also when stepping out of the binding the brake might not spring out and allow the ski to take off.

  21. #521
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    Dec 2014
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lindahl View Post
    Depends on snow conditions, no? Also when stepping out of the binding the brake might not spring out and allow the ski to take off.
    Of course, you're right ... lots of variables, including icing. They sure are a big step up from Dynafit brake performance (at least TLT/Vertical gens), but not yet perfect.

    Honestly, I hadn't given consideration to stepping in, 'coz I remove my skis, flip into downhill mode & inspect them, 'coz I'm a bit of a klutz as far as ripping skins without removing skis is concerned ;-)

    ... Thom
    Last edited by galibier_numero_un; 06-08-2017 at 07:15 PM.
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  22. #522
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    BC
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    1,911
    So after reading every thread on all the big tech bindings, I have ended up with the opinion that it is either the Vipec or the kingpin which is the go to for more aggressive riding and drops.

    Does anyone have experience on both?
    I have heard quite a few reports of the kingpin breaking, but the vipec not so much.

    Lindahl do you still enjoy your pair? Anyone else want to chime in?

  23. #523
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    Dec 2014
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    And of course, there's also the opportunity for you to be a paying beta tester for next year's Tecton ;-)

    ... Thom
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  24. #524
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    Sep 2010
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    Golden, Colorado
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    Fritschi Vipec review thread

    Quote Originally Posted by mr_pretzel View Post
    So after reading every thread on all the big tech bindings, I have ended up with the opinion that it is either the Vipec or the kingpin which is the go to for more aggressive riding and drops.

    Does anyone have experience on both?
    I have heard quite a few reports of the kingpin breaking, but the vipec not so much.

    Lindahl do you still enjoy your pair? Anyone else want to chime in?
    Kingpin for firm snow. Vipec for soft snow. Lightweight (350g max) trumps it all for medium to long tours and meadow skipping.

  25. #525
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    CA
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    2,896
    Quote Originally Posted by Lindahl View Post
    Kingpin for firm snow. Vipec for soft snow.
    That's funny - I came to the opposite conclusion. Vipec for firm snow, due to its toe dampening. Kingpin for soft snow because toe vibration doesn't matter as much in pow-pow. But I'm guessing L's reasoning has to do with the release functionality.

    Having used my KPs about 40 days, and my Vipecs about 10, I think the KPs are WAY more user friendly and less fiddly. The KP is pretty stupid-proof. I'll prob sell my Vipec (blacks) and replace with a superlight option for big days.

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