Maybe, but since you didn't specify the problem(s) your friends are/were
having, it's hard to know how seriously to take the rest. Were the
bindings well lubricated?

rm

Camilo wrote:

I have Salomon bindings on all my skis and have used Pilot skate
bindings for many troublefree years. I have 3 year old Carbon classic
boots and Profil bindings on all my classic skis. I generally am
happy with the company's products.

I have a couple of friends who have the Pilot classic set up, some
with Salomon, some with Atomic. (as far as I can tell, the mechanism
is exactly the same?)

These friends claim that they really like the Pilot classic binding,
that it is an improvement for skiing (but not a huge improvement, and
who knows, they may just be imagining it)

BUT

They have also had problems with the binding when it's cold and
therefore use older classic skis with Profil bindings (with modified
bumper) when it's cold. In other words, they have resigned themselves
to needing different skis and bindings when it's cold and either need
two excellent, front line pair each with a different binding, or must
use their older, less desirable skis when it's cold. These are
serious recreational skiers who do race, but do not own a "quiver" of
skis. Like most of us, they have their "best" skis and some older
"rock" skis. We live in a cold climate, and it's common to do quite a
bit of skiing in temps below -5 F.

This to me is an unacceptable and a major failure for Salomon that
people should be concerned about. It has led me to a theory of why
Salomon developed the Pilot... it was not for improved performance.
There may or may not be improved perforemance, but even if there is,
I'll bet it's not significant at all.

The change was to adjust to the Skiathalon or Pursuit format. By
making both skate and classic bindings and boots Pilot, they are now
fully compatable, like NNN has always been. The company can then
market a combi boot that with a Pilot sole which can be used with both
the skate and classic binding. In the old system, skiers had to use a
Profil skate binding with their Salomon combi boots. I'm sure the
company was embarrassed by this deficiency.

The Pilot classic may be a better situation for the limited number of
skiers who need or desire that feature, who have a quiver of good skis
and therefore can dedicate some to cold weather/Profile use, or who
only ski, race or train in above 0F temps. But it is a downgrade for
the rest of us who need a reliable cold weather classic binding and an
unacceptable technology failure.

This is almost enough to make me switch to NNN when I next need
boots. It just ****es me off.