Please do not grease the bindings yourself since lubricants could end up on supporting parts such as pins or bolts. That could affect the safety of touring bindings in some circumstances. The heel unit should remain in the downhill position. I recommend that ski bindings should be checked immediately prior to the season by a specialty shop for performance ability and the correct settings.
One of the developers of ski touring bindings at Dynafit is Michi Zimmermann. Every day, he is preoccupied with how he can make the lives of ski touring enthusiasts even simpler when it comes to bindings:. Robert Schlemer oversees the entire ski fleet as product developer. As a passionate free tourer and a finisher of the Patrouille des Glaciers, he intimately knows his way around all disciplines from freeride to racing:. To be able to use Dynafit International in full range, we recommend activating Javascript in your browser.
GEAR Touring Skis. Should bindings be stored during their summer hibernation in climbing or downhill mode?
Greta: Pin Bindings should be stored with the least tension possible. This means that that toe pieces should be closed, but not locked because that releases tension in the springs. Heel units should be placed in ski mode so that the springs and the brakes are not under tension. This will also allow the skis to be stored nested together. Do you need to have your ski touring bindings re-adjusted each year? Authorized retailers can check to make sure that everything looks OK and is functioning properly.
Bindings are a key safety element of your gear, and if they do not work properly, there can be serious consequences. Who do I best contact if something is broken on my bindings? Greta: Please do not try to adjust or modify the bindings yourself. DYNAFIT has a large network of authorized retailers and partners who have all been well-trained and can help with and adjustments you may need. If you treat your Pin Bindings well, they will serve you well for many years.
How do I clean my Pin Bindings when they are dirty? Greta: When it comes to cleaning your ski bindings, do not use acidic or harsh compounds, or a cleaner for plastics - as your gear could be permanently damaged.
Instead, use a cloth and lukewarm water with a mild sudsy soap for cleaning. How often should I clean my bindings? Dirt can harm a binding just as it can damage the surface of a ski. Before you put down your skis for their summer break, it is also recommended that the equipment is checked thoroughly and cleaned well. Guides have used the binding for literally hundreds of thousands of vertical feet without significant wear.
And in my experience our family has owned more than a dozen pairs of Dynafit bindings, and used them for more then a decade on hundreds of peaks , this is not an issue.
Nonetheless, it is prudent to make sure your boot pivot sockets are clean of grit, since heavy use combined with abrasive material could accelerate wear. See the following thimble bushing info for more durability issues. Dynafit heel with housing removed, spring and thimble bushing held in operative position. Arrow indicates where edge of aluminum post wears into bushing. What can I do? These problems sometimes occur with high mileage bindings.
A wear point exists on small internal thimble shaped plastic bushing. This disassembly procedure is used to install the removable brakes on the Vertical models and first Radical models. Order replacements through your dealer, or from distributor customer service. Grease all bushing surfaces well when you reassemble. Moreover, frequently apply silicon or ski wax to the steel surface of the brake retractor plate that the binding rides on as it rotates between modes.
You can slow down the thimble bushing wear by always retracting the brake by squeezing it closed with your hand when switching to touring mode, greasing the thimble bushing a few times a season, and lightly polishing the aluminum edges that damage the thimble bushing. Use grit sandpaper for polishing. Clean well after polishing, and grease liberally during re-assembly.
When taking apart and greasing, rotate the thimble bushing a bit so a less worn surface is riding against the aluminum edge of the heel post. Use a plastic compatible low-temperature grease. Remember, this problem only occurs after many vertical feet of ski touring. It is normal wear-and-tear, easy to fix, and no cause for concern about this fine ski binding. Of interest, note that the thimble bushing and spring are the only thing holding the binding heel on the aluminum heel post, thus, if you have an exceptionally low release value setting and rotate the binding heel with upward force, you can possibly pull the heel unit housing up off the ski — rare enough to be a non-issue, but it has happened.
Clicking in the toe unit is difficult to diagnose and repair. First step is to tour with a different pair of boots. If the binding stops clicking the boots are to blame. But can they be fixed? Sometimes a boot will have too much rubber on the sole area over the binding wings, thus slightly shimming the boot up and causing it to move with each step.
Inspect on workbench and remove excess sole material. Occasional clicking while in touring mode is of little to no concern, but is indeed annoying. If the binding clicks with every step, in our opinion the problem should be taken care of. See this blog post for more about clicking and other Dynafit binding behavior. The Dynafit binding looks meager, can I jump off cliffs and ski bumps with them, like I do with my alpine bindings? Examples being the Dynafit Radical and Beast models, with many more brands and models of freeride tech bindings appearing around and after.
The idea with such bindings is you can use them as an alpine binding, in resort or in the backcountry. While we feel some of the freeride bindings come close to the ideal of a tech binding that behaves like a best quality alpine binding, we still feel a full-on high end alpine binding is superior.
Thus, we recommend taking care with your binding choice. Moreover, forcefully landing a ski in soft snow can bend de-camber the ski so much it jams the boot between the binding toe and heel, and thus pops the boot out of the binding.
While the classic Dynafit binding is engineered to absorb some of this force, via movement in the space between boot heel and binding, alpine bindings and some other randonnee bindings can absorb more of it. All that said, a pleasant surprise with all tech bindings is they they provide a good rigid connection between boot and ski. Just put a boot in the binding and press the cuff of the boot from side-to-side and look for wobble and slop rolling deflection.
So, can I use my Dynafit bindings as a resort binding? But in reality the choice depends on style and your feelings about how well the tech binding safety release functions. There is some question about whether any tech binding offers the release function and retention of a best quality alpine binding.
She is very happy with them, never pre-releases, and they seem safe enough. She seldom falls, and is not an aggressive skier. For starters, hard bump skiing or landing large jumps, as mentioned above, can pop you out of the classic type Dynafit binding quicker than a champagne cork on a wedding night.
In summary, the Dynafit perhaps works fine as a resort binding for low-key skiing. I did a jump turn, and pre-released up at the heel, is this a common problem? Indeed, if you over-camber bend tip and tail down towards the ground your ski and pull up on the heel, the boot pops out very easily from most tech bindings, exception being bindings with greater upward vertical travel in the heel release mechanism.
During an aggressive jump up to pull the skis out of the snow, the boot popped up vertically out of the binding. This occurrence is easy to replicate in the shop. Latch a boot into the binding, flip the ski upside down and suspend between two solid supports at tip and tail. While pulling the heel of the boot down towards the floor, aggressively press down on the center of the ski to induce an exaggerated camber in the ski. The longer heel pins of the Vertical and Radical series bindings may help with this problem, as they allow a little extra distance before they pull out of the boot fitting.
With any tech binding, be extra sure the specified space between boot heel and binding is no larger than specified see below for details. For much more excellent information about inadvertent binding release check out this excellent info from Vermont Ski Safety.
Alpine bindings may have more angles of release, and may have more elasticity ability to handle movement, vibration, and shock.
Remember that for maximum safety, all ski bindings require careful release settings tuning. If you have no problems with accidental release you probably have a good setting, but we also recommend having the setting levels verified by a ski shop with a release value testing machine. Ski all randonnee ski touring bindings more conservatively than you would full-on alpine bindings. In other words, ski without falling. Aggressive experienced skiers tend to have much more likelihood of injury due to pre-release rather than from falls, in their case dialing up the release value numbers higher than chart levels can be wise, but is a very individual decision.
Can I telemark with Dynafit bindings? No, not in the sense of making linked telemark turns down a mountain. Doing so works because it includes little lateral force on the binding. What about riser plates and stack shims? In alpine downhill ski mode, the Dynafit TLT binding places the heel of your boot 20 millimeters above the ski, and the toe about 12 millimeters above the ski measurement is not precise because of difference in randonnee boot soles.
The Comfort and Vertical FT ST models yield even more rise, with 30 millimeters at the heel and about 20 mm at the toe.
Radicals have similar rise, with Beast having quite some rise as well but less ramp toe height below heel. However, in modern skiing after year the use of easy turning skis has obviated the need for extreme boot and binding angles. Using relaxed angles can make skiing easier, and save your knees from stress. Thus, it is common to modify and lessen the binding ramp angle by installing shims under the binding toe.
A moderate height shim is usually sufficient, about 4 millimeters. Any more than that causes too much change to the heel lifter height while in climbing mode. This blog post has extensive information about binding ramp and shimming. Dynafit Radical heel lift in high lift position.
You change positions by flipping the heel lifters up and down with your ski pole. Earlier Dynafit bindings had a variety of heel lifts that required rotating the heel unit to change height.
Does the Dynafit binding have a climbing heel lift, and how does it work? The climbing lift system aka heel lift is one of the most reviled and misunderstood parts of the Dynafit binding or for that matter, all touring bindings — especially in the early days.
Yet when mastered, all the permutations of the heel lift are simple, slick, and efficient. The climbing lift usually consists of three modes. When climbing steep slopes, you rotate or flip the heel piece so the appendage the heel post on top of the heel piece supports your heel.
The high lift mode of all Dynafit bindings is as obvious as adjusting the forward-backward seat position in an Audi. In the case of bindings, accomplished by either flipping a lifter up from the heel unit, or rotating the heel unit. I have earlier Dynafit bindings TLT series, Comfort without the flipping heel lifters, how do I rotate the binding heel? Rotating the Dynafit heel lifter post by inserting pole tip in socket, practice at home! Dynafit Radical model bindings after have an easily operated flip-up heel lift.
To do so while standing and using a ski pole, Identify the hole in the heel lift post, the appendage atop the heel unit. It helps to insert just the tip of your pole — just a centimeter or two.
Get out on your living room carpet, and try rotating the heel with a ski pole. Due to body size, ski pole length, etc. Once you master it, you can click the heel unit around with an elegant flip of your wrist. Use your right hand pole for BOTH heels by reaching around behind you to the right. The holes in earlier Dynafit heel lifters are intended for an average aluminum ski pole tip.
Some carbon fiber poles may not work well, or may be damaged by the steel edges of the hole in the TLT. If you have carbon poles and experience this problem, try easing the edges of the hole with a file, and slightly enlarge it if necessary. With classic Dynafit bindings this pesky backcountry problem is usually caused by how the lugs on your boot tread sit on the binding heel when in one of the two raised heel positions.
However, the Radical series binding departed from the earlier Dynafit method of preventing rotation, and includes a mechanical rotation stop that caused some problems in the first retail release of the Radical series, but is now reliable and functional.
We have numerous blog posts covering Dynafit anti-rotation features. Radical model 2. With the older bindings there are several solutions for auto rotation problems: Use an anti-icing strategy such as silicon spray or rubbing the binding surfaces and boot heel with alpine wax before you tour. Tweak for that is to remove one of the two brake retraction springs to it has less upward force when in the retracted position.
Warning, removing one of the brake springs will cause it to have less beef in the deployed position, and could even cause problems with the brake triggering from the retracted position. Dynafit brakes can interact with boot sole lugs in ways that can cause jamming and blocking of movement. In this photo, not only is lateral release blocked by the side lugs, but when stomping down into the binding, the rear sole lugs catch on the brake and drive it forward, possibly damaging it.
Fix by modifying boot sole with a solid rubber block, or forget using the brakes — they weigh a ton anyway…. Or, have a boot repair shop grind off the rear lugs on your boot heel, then glue a solid rubber half-heel in place of the removed lugs.
This can be a safety issue, as the boot sole lugs may catch on the brake plate and block lateral release. Lubricate all brake mechanism pivot points with light oil such as WD40 keep off base of ski and skins. Apply silicon dry spray to all other brake parts. With the Vertical series bindings, a certain manufacturing run did have defective brakes that readily stuck in the retracted position and did not deploy reliably.
As of there is no OEM fix as the Vertical bindings are discontinued. Is it possible to home mount the Dynafit, and where do I get a template? Practice first on a pair of dumpster skis. See this article for details, it includes a link to our paper mounting template.
See this article. Is it possible to swap Dynafit bindings and use the same mounting hole screw pattern? Mostly yes. The heel unit of nearly all models uses the same screw hole pattern, and most toes use the same pattern layout.
Exceptions to this are some of the super light race bindings, and perhaps some outliers. For more details see this blog post. Do Dynafit bindings adjust for different size boot shells? Most often, a new boot shell size requires remounting the TLT. Dynafit binding adjustment range is the same for both Vertical and Radical model series, 25 millimeters caliper shows 26 which is extreme limit. The Comfort and Vertical models led up to the Radical series models which have virtually the same adjustment range.
Extra holes, however, do reduce the resale value of skis, and are less favored if you mount telemark bindings, which place incredibly huge forces on the mounting screws. See this post for more info about binding adjustment ranges and screw patterns. If you lack a gauge for 5. The issue of setting correct tech gap is quite complicated due to various binding models and specifications.
Before reading below, check our updated specific article about binding tech gap. Illustration of small gap used for spring-loaded tech binding. Some later Radical bindings e.
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