In message
Ace wrote:

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 15:09:34 GMT, Mike Clark wrote:


snip

Her original pair had Mk I Diamir
bindings, but she too eventually bent the titanium bar. Her new skis
have Mk III bindings. The other thing I have seen break on Diamir
bindings is the toe piece so we usually carry a spare on long tours.

Hmmm. I've never broken anything on a binding - how does this happen,
direct impact or excessive twisting? Bending the bar, I'd have
thought, could only happen with the heel free, and even then I'd
expect the pivot to go first.


My wife and a friend have both suffered from a broken toe piece on the
Diamir MkI. It seems to be a problem if you have a sudden collision (in
my wife's case it was when she had someone ski into her on piste), and
it results in a fracture of the plastic surrounding the height
adjustment screw thread. It seems to be a problem many of the Guides and
Ski technicians in Chamonix are aware of because many seem to carry
spares when out touring, and we had no trouble getting hold of a spare
from a local ski shop in Argentiere (The colours of the MkI and Mk II
toepiece are different but the shape is similar and they appear to be
interchangeable as spares, whilst the Mk III is a different shape).

The "titanal" bar breaking or bending is another known problem. If you
ever get a chance to compare the Diamir MkI, II and III you will see
changes to the profile of the cross-section of the bar which are
obviously designed to increase the strength. Another change has been to
the shape of the heel-lift mechanism. This is because the early MkI
versions were prone to releasing when fixed to some more bendy brands of
ski. There was a "fix" for this problem that involved putting a raised
nut on the rear mounting screw, however the technician who did this for
me did point out that it might have the side effect of putting more
force on the titanal bar when the ski bends severely.

One reason I have now bought myself separate skis and boots for
general downhill is that I don't think the Fritcshi Diamir bindings
are up to taking a lot of heavy punishment if skiing aggressively,
particularly in icy bump fields. The Fritcshi Freeride bindings look
more solid however, but are heavier if you want to tour with them.

I was going to go for the Freeride, given that the vast majority of my
skiing is lift-served, but given the emergency nature I had to make do
with what was available in a small resort (Praz de Lys, nr les Gets)
and have the Diamir II. Seems sturdy enough, though.


I've had no problems with the Mk IIs.


--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"