Fritschi Tecton

[twat]

Nono not a show stopper! Just a thing to mention. I am not a tech guru just my 2cents.

Sent from ullr with love!

[FullStop]

Wow you guys are picky, Tectons have been much more consistent than Kingpins for me with Lupos and alpine soles.

[plugboots]

Wow you guys are picky, Tectons have been much more consistent than Kingpins for me with Lupos and alpine soles.

Bar is low.

[TheK12]

How bad is icing on the Tecton heel? Also, is the brake pad as prone to breaking as it's reported on articles and reviews. I'm 220lbs and thinking my weight alone may be a problem; although in a previous post somebody suggested it wouldn't be an issue if I treaded lightly. Unfortunately "lightly" isn't in my vocabulary for obvious reasons.

[telemon10]

How bad is icing on the Tecton heel? Also, is the brake pad as prone to breaking as it's reported on articles and reviews. I'm 220lbs and thinking my weight alone may be a problem; although in a previous post somebody suggested it wouldn't be an issue if I treaded lightly. Unfortunately "lightly" isn't in my vocabulary for obvious reasons.

I've never had an issue with icing in the heel. The brake pad issue is well documented. The key is to always (ALWAYS) press the brake pad down with your hand before locking the heel up into tour mode. The instructions from Fritschi say you can put the heel in tour mode first and then step on the brake pad to lock the brakes up. If you do that the plastic on the sides of the pad will break, maybe not the first time, but eventually.

[MegaStoke]

How bad is icing on the Tecton heel? Also, is the brake pad as prone to breaking as it's reported on articles and reviews. I'm 220lbs and thinking my weight alone may be a problem; although in a previous post somebody suggested it wouldn't be an issue if I treaded lightly. Unfortunately "lightly" isn't in my vocabulary for obvious reasons.

I’ve had the heel ice up a good number of times, but the solution is simple, just cycle it back and forth a few times and it always clears.

As for the brakes, like the above poster said, they won’t break if you stow them in the correct order of operations. Stow, then mode change, no stompy

[nickel]

How bad is icing on the Tecton heel? Also, is the brake pad as prone to breaking as it's reported on articles and reviews. I'm 220lbs and thinking my weight alone may be a problem; although in a previous post somebody suggested it wouldn't be an issue if I treaded lightly. Unfortunately "lightly" isn't in my vocabulary for obvious reasons.

I'm in your weight ballpark. I've had 2 pairs of tectons in heavy rotation for the past 2 years.

As stated above, brakes are not a disability issue as long as you stow them by holding the pad down as you put the heel in tour mode. They haven't been super reliable at deploying for me though, I've shaved some plastic and done some light bending to improve matters but they still don't pop out every time when I take my foot out of the binding.

Regarding icing, I tour in coastal snow. The heel does sometimes develop a block of snow under foot which works its way into the heel mechanism. Cycling the heel from tour to open clears it all 95% of the time. When putting on skins, I briefly hold the ski tip down and whack the top sheet with my hand a couple times so any snow can fall out of the cavities before forcing it up into tour mode.

As with any binding, you develop rituals with use. Given that, I am stoked on these. They're great. The ability to adjust toe RV on a tech binding was a game changer for me as a heavier guy.

[f=ma]

Icing in the heel is normal as with other tech bindings. Make sure you hold the ski vertical, when you smack the dildo back and forth, so the ice actually falls out. Then you're good to go. This applies to all tech bindings.

[TheK12]

I'm in your weight ballpark. I've had 2 pairs of tectons in heavy rotation for the past 2 years.

As stated above, brakes are not a disability issue as long as you stow them by holding the pad down as you put the heel in tour mode. They haven't been super reliable at deploying for me though, I've shaved some plastic and done some light bending to improve matters but they still don't pop out every time when I take my foot out of the binding.

Regarding icing, I tour in coastal snow. The heel does sometimes develop a block of snow under foot which works its way into the heel mechanism. Cycling the heel from tour to open clears it all 95% of the time. When putting on skins, I briefly hold the ski tip down and whack the top sheet with my hand a couple times so any snow can fall out of the cavities before forcing it up into tour mode.

As with any binding, you develop rituals with use. Given that, I am stoked on these. They're great. The ability to adjust toe RV on a tech binding was a game changer for me as a heavier guy.

Thanks for the info! Assuming, then, from a release standpoint, these have been great? I don't ski super aggressively (outside of powder) but because of my weight fully geared, I can put some pretty good stress on bindings.

[nickel]

Thanks for the info! Assuming, then, from a release standpoint, these have been great? I don't ski super aggressively (outside of powder) but because of my weight fully geared, I can put some pretty good stress on bindings.

As stated, I'm same weight as you. I've been running the toes at 11 and the heels at 11.5

I ski fast and jump off stuff even when the snow is powerfully mediocre. I have had zero issues with them. Everything fails at some point but these have been the most durable touring binding I've used in a while.

[TheK12]

As stated, I'm same weight as you. I've been running the toes at 11 and the heels at 11.5

I ski fast and jump off stuff even when the snow is powerfully mediocre. I have had zero issues with them. Everything fails at some point but these have been the most durable touring binding I've used in a while.

Thanks! This has been really helpful!

[f=ma]

PSA Ascent Outdoors has tectons for $389.97:

https://ascentoutdoors.com/collectio...schi-tecton-12

Also Vipecs for $359.97

https://ascentoutdoors.com/collectio...i-vipec-evo-12

[galibier_numero_un]

Quick one for confirmation. I'm selling a pair of skis with holes for Vipec Blacks. Hole compatibility has been stated 1000 times, I don't recall one point being covered ...

Are all generations Vipecs and Tectons the exact same mount - not only the mounting hole patterns, but also where the mount positions your boot on the ski?

I don't recall this latter point (boot position) ever being mentioned.

Remember our conversation last Spring about the Xenic toes? Initially, we heard that the toe shared two holes with Vipecs and Tectons. We later learned that reusing these two holes moved the boot position by 15mm.

Thanks!

... Thom

[kid-kapow]

... Are all generations Vipecs and Tectons the exact same mount - not only the mounting hole patterns, but also where the mount positions your boot on the ski? ...

Yes. The toes are identical other than coloring (within a generation, mount pattern identical across all generations whites/black/evo/evo(2) as far as I know / have experienced), so the heel's position should be constant across the various toes.

[galibier_numero_un]

^^^ Thanks! I suspected as much but didn't want to overlook anything.

... Thom

[pruitt]

Saturday afternoon project. Never mounted a tech binding...this was about as easy as it could have been. I've mounted a few Alpine bindings and this wasn't much different. Used a paper template and one test mount and then went for it.

Now the only question is Blue or Orange...or maybe yellow to match the boots

Sent from my SM-G950U using TGR Forums mobile app

[plugboots]

Yellow in front blue in back.

[plugboots]

I just searched in a couple Tecton threads and I couldn’t find it, but some mag recommended pushing down w/ your pole in the front release, putting one side of the toe in the toepiece, and slowly lifting the front release w/ your pole, (don’t let it snapback), as you align the other side.
This worked like a charm five or six times in a row the other day.
So, whoever suggested this, I want to thank you.

[f=ma]

I just searched in a couple Tecton threads and I couldn’t find it, but some mag recommended pushing down w/ your pole in the front release, putting one side of the toe in the toepiece, and slowly lifting the front release w/ your pole, (don’t let it snapback), as you align the other side.
This worked like a charm five or six times in a row the other day.
So, whoever suggested this, I want to thank you.

You know, funny thing. I switched to boots that have pointers/arrows on the toe pinholes. Now I never miss.

[plugboots]

Yeah, I don’t really need to do the pole method with the ATKs or Dynafits, but my wife has the arrow inserts and they’re easier for sure.

[1000-oaks]

some mag recommended pushing down w/ your pole in the front release, putting one side of the toe in the toepiece, and slowly lifting the front release w/ your pole, (don’t let it snapback), as you align the other side.
This worked like a charm five or six times in a row the other day. So, whoever suggested this, I want to thank you.

Awesome, glad it helped. It's a calm, deliberate way to click in if you're gripped up in some chute and really want to get it on the first try. Ice in the boot sockets can still be a pain, but at least you don't have a snapping rat trap bumping the ski away from you if you miss.

On that note, just got some lightweight ATK leashes to use while clicking in and testing for ice in the sockets, for no worries about dropping a ski into oblivion.

[galibier_numero_un]

Awesome, glad it helped. It's a calm, deliberate way to click in if you're gripped up in some chute and really want to get it on the first try. Ice in the boot sockets can still be a pain, but at least you don't have a snapping rat trap bumping the ski away from you if you miss.

On that note, just got some lightweight ATK leashes to use while clicking in and testing for ice in the sockets, for no worries about dropping a ski into oblivion.

Both pairs of my Vipecs now have cable loops in the dedicated slot under the front screw - an attachment point for a quick, emergency clip-in to a leash in dicey entrances. That, combined with leashes attached to my boot instead of the the toepiece is a winning combination for me. I'm never without a leash when I need it.

... Thom

[TahoeJ]

On the stepping in note, I've found with Tectons that if I just step in almost like it's a normal DH binding I have a pretty high success rate. Obviously you can't kick the toe of your boot in as hard as you normally might. And I'm sure the exact boot you're using may yield different results.

[1000-oaks]

Has an interesting thing happen today, side slipped 30 yards into a steep chute and noticed that one foot was in tele mode. Fortunately I hadn't tried to make a turn yet, because it really wasn't a good place to fall.

Only thing I can figure is maybe my other ski somehow knocked the heel piece into climb mode while sideslipping. I did catch the ski tails on the granite wall behind me for a second, and had to regain my balance.

Lesson learned is look to make sure the heel piece is fully engaged with the boot heel before you start skiing, lol.

[nickel]

I actually have something like this happen semi frequently, minus the skiing away part. Sometimes when stepping in, the heel goes a bit past ski mode and doesn't engage my boot. It's usually when snow is a bit packy and my clearing efforts were insufficient. Cycle again and good to go but definitely something to pay attention to.