Salomon Classic Profile Flexor Pulling Out

I have Salomon Classic Profile bindings that I have been skiing on for
the last year and a half. I classic mainly and race 20-30K per weekend
and the flexor (yellow rubber thing) has pulled out many times,
especially after racing. Is this a common occurance? Is it because of
technique? It appears that the plastic that surrounds the pin is
stretched out so that it can easily pull out. I have temporarily
fixed it with a little hot wax that seems to last for a few weeks. Has
anyone else had this problem?
Thanks, Amy Todd

"Amy Todd" wrote:
I have Salomon Classic Profile bindings that I have been skiing on for
the last year and a half. I classic mainly and race 20-30K per weekend
and the flexor (yellow rubber thing) has pulled out many times,
especially after racing. Is this a common occurance? Is it because of
technique? It appears that the plastic that surrounds the pin is
stretched out so that it can easily pull out. I have temporarily
fixed it with a little hot wax that seems to last for a few weeks. Has
anyone else had this problem?
Thanks, Amy Todd

This is pretty common. The pin is pulled on when the bumper is pressured.
It's especially likely to come out if you use Pilot boots in the Profil
bindings without shaving down the bumper a bit to match the bumper-to-shoe
distance of non-Pilot boots. I fix the problem by putting a couple of wraps
of clear packing tape on the pins and testing it in the binding (no need to
put the boots on your feet). I put about two more wraps around the pin than
is necessary to hold it, just in case. If you lose a bumper, one good place
to find replacements are the lost and founds at ski places. There was a
large selection of different bumper types (not just Profil) at one lost and
found I looked at. Ski shops will usually have some in a box in back that
they can give or sell you.

Andrew Lee

Yes. I replace the flexor pin with a piece of bicycle spoke (for regular
road bike wheels) of slightly wider diameter that I cut to the same length
as the pin in the flexor. Replacing with a new flexor does not appear to
help, since it appears that it's the groove where the pin fits that gets
worn out over time.

BTW, I've found Salomon quality in boots and bindings is quite under
whelming, but it's the best fit for me, so I put up with it -- for now.

Parham.

"Amy Todd" wrote in message
om...
I have Salomon Classic Profile bindings that I have been skiing on for
the last year and a half. I classic mainly and race 20-30K per weekend
and the flexor (yellow rubber thing) has pulled out many times,
especially after racing. Is this a common occurance? Is it because of
technique? It appears that the plastic that surrounds the pin is
stretched out so that it can easily pull out. I have temporarily
fixed it with a little hot wax that seems to last for a few weeks. Has
anyone else had this problem?
Thanks, Amy Todd

I have three pair of profile bindings with this problem. On one pair, I
can no longer push the pin all the way in. They are all about 2-4 years
old. I also have several older generation profiles that don't have this
problem on my rollerskis and rock skis. I think it is a definite
manufacturing/material failure issue for certain year's production. Or
else i am just lucky with the older ones?

Jim

In article , Amy Todd wrote:
fixed it with a little hot wax that seems to last for a few weeks. Has
anyone else had this problem?

This is a pretty common problem (I'd guess 2 out of 20 skis in my
garage). It seems to be more prevalent with classic bindings (so the
profil/pilot issue probably isn't relevant here). As others have
mentioned, sometimes the metal bar that's supposed to hold the flexor
in pops out of the groove in the plastic binding. I glued the little
metal bar into place with epoxy on one ski and that seems to work.

Brian

The same thing happened with the flexor on one of my skis. After
checking at two ski shops in Boulder and being told nothing could be
done and I'd need to replace the binding, I mentioned the problem to a
skiing friend who is also an engineer. He'd had the same problem and
easily solved it by using a soldering iron to heat and slightly remold
the binding to hold tightly around the pin. I put in a new pair of
flexors first just in case it became a permanent situation.

Me too - some construction adhesive did the trick...

My skate bindings (15 yrs old) don't have this issue and I've used them at
least 400 times.

wrote in message
...
In article , Amy Todd
wrote:
fixed it with a little hot wax that seems to last for a few weeks. Has
anyone else had this problem?

This is a pretty common problem (I'd guess 2 out of 20 skis in my
garage). It seems to be more prevalent with classic bindings (so the
profil/pilot issue probably isn't relevant here). As others have
mentioned, sometimes the metal bar that's supposed to hold the flexor
in pops out of the groove in the plastic binding. I glued the little
metal bar into place with epoxy on one ski and that seems to work.

Brian

I think it is a definite manufacturing/material failure issue for
certain year's production.

I agree. My old ones are fine, as are the newest ones. I think it was one particular year of crappy bindings. I like someone's experience with the ski shop - "you'll have to buy new bindings". What a bunch of clowns.

bt