MoonMan wrote:
VtSkier wrote:
Suanne Lippman wrote:
I just bought a pair of Fischer skis and bindings over the internet
for my wife. (actually everyone local was out of stock for the year!)
The system is such that mounting the bindings and setting them for
the boot size is pretty foolproof. She is a very conservative
skier, so setting the adjustments at the very bottom of the scale
(4) like her old skis should be fine.
I am able to pop the boots out with what seems like a reasonable
amount of force

Is there any compelling reason to have an "expert" check this over;
are brand new binding likely to be really far off? If it were for
me I wouldn't worry about it, but I would hate to see someone else
get hurt because I would spring for a prudent expense.

Thanks.


Go ahead and use the bindings, but spring the 20 bucks
it will (should) be for a torque test and put your and
her mind at rest. Make the problem someone else's so you
don't get blamed if something goes wrong.

I think I've asked this before, but I have never had a binding "torque
tested" to my knowledge, is this a purely North American thing like the
"Indemnity list"?

A torque test is a measured (with equipment) release of
your bindings intended to assure that the boot/binding
system is releasing at the amount of force required for
the recommended DIN setting. In the US we test ALL bindings
mounted in a shop and test rental bindings at least once
a year after the initial setup. As for customer bindings,
once the initial setup is made, the customer needs to
request a test. If a shop is asked to adjust a binding
to a new boot for instance, they will insist on doing a
torque test at the same time. A good shop won't charge
if any part of the system has been bought from the shop.

Yes, I'm sure it's part of our litigious nature. However
much of the equipment nowadays used for testing comes
from Europe, and although the initial studies and testing
was done here (in Vermont actually), the standards are
European, so I'm sure you can have your bindings tested
in Europe if you want to.