Fritschi Freeride Problem

Hi,

I bought a pair of skis with the fritschi freeride and got the bindings
store mounted.

After 3-4 days of skiing i noticed that I can "wiggle" the bindings a a
little laterally within the rear locking mechanism.

Is this normal, or are the bindings mounted wrong?

Regards,

Calvin Scorse

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In article .com,
wrote:
Hi,

I bought a pair of skis with the fritschi freeride and got the bindings
store mounted.

After 3-4 days of skiing i noticed that I can "wiggle" the bindings a a
little laterally within the rear locking mechanism.

Is this normal, or are the bindings mounted wrong?


_ I'm just guessing, but I suspect it's "normal". It really
depends what you mean by a "little", A centimeter is way too
much, but a few mm is par for the course with AT bindings.

_ Take a look at the lateral stiffness tests at

www.wildsnow.com

and see how your binding matches those.

http://www.wildsnow.com/backcountry-...-017-flex.html

_ Booker C. Bense



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Ahh, great link. But here is a question. It looks like the Dynafit is the
stiffest, but is there any concievable disadvantage to this? I mean, if its
that much stiffer than even the alpine binding they tested, it begs the
question; how stiff is too stiff? (insert Viagra joke here) Or is the
Marker just a relatively loose binding, compared to other Alpine bindings?

Any thoughts? I bought a pair of Dynafit Comforts end of last season, but
have yet to mount them. Quite excited about them, though.

-s-

"Booker C. Bense"
bbense+rec.skiing.backcountry.Aug.07.06@telemark. slac.stanford.edu wrote
in message ...

_ Take a look at the lateral stiffness tests at

www.wildsnow.com

and see how your binding matches those.

http://www.wildsnow.com/backcountry-...-017-flex.html

_ Booker C. Bense

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In article R7_Gg.12380$Nz6.8180@edtnps82,
Simon Isbister wrote:

Ahh, great link. But here is a question. It looks like the Dynafit is the
stiffest, but is there any concievable disadvantage to this? I mean, if its
that much stiffer than even the alpine binding they tested, it begs the
question; how stiff is too stiff? (insert Viagra joke here) Or is the
Marker just a relatively loose binding, compared to other Alpine bindings?

Any thoughts? I bought a pair of Dynafit Comforts end of last season, but
have yet to mount them. Quite excited about them, though.


To me it shows that stiffness in a binding[1] is not as critical to
turning as you might think. You turn skis by bending them, you
bend them the most by weighting them, not edging them. Edging is
for initiating the turn and since the forces are relatively light
at that stage, the stiffness isn't that crucial at the speed most
skiers are skiing.

_ Booker C. Bense


[1] Or boots for that matter. As long as my techinque and
strength hold out, I can ski as well in very soft AT boots
as my stiffer downhill boots.

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Booker C. Bense wrote:
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In article R7_Gg.12380$Nz6.8180@edtnps82,
Simon Isbister wrote:
Ahh, great link. But here is a question. It looks like the Dynafit is the
stiffest, but is there any concievable disadvantage to this? I mean, if its
that much stiffer than even the alpine binding they tested, it begs the
question; how stiff is too stiff? (insert Viagra joke here) Or is the
Marker just a relatively loose binding, compared to other Alpine bindings?

Any thoughts? I bought a pair of Dynafit Comforts end of last season, but
have yet to mount them. Quite excited about them, though.


To me it shows that stiffness in a binding[1] is not as critical to
turning as you might think. You turn skis by bending them, you
bend them the most by weighting them, not edging them. Edging is
for initiating the turn and since the forces are relatively light
at that stage, the stiffness isn't that crucial at the speed most
skiers are skiing.

_ Booker C. Bense


[1] Or boots for that matter. As long as my techinque and
strength hold out, I can ski as well in very soft AT boots
as my stiffer downhill boots.

Me too, except...

After several days on my alpine boots and I go back
to my AT boots on conditions which aren't exactly
friendly, I'm all over the place.

My AT boots are Lowa Structura 3 buckle and my
Alpine boots are Dalbello Krypton (the latter are
VERRY nice BTW)

Booker C. Bense wrote
it shows that stiffness in a binding is not as
critical to turning as you might think.

Our ankle joints and lower legs muscles have lots of "give" and "elasticity"
anyway -- so it's not like a perfectly stiff binding would make the overall
system into rigid transmission of turning torques.

As long as my techinque and strength hold out,
I can ski as well in very soft AT boots as my stiffer downhill boots.

Good for you. My experience is that I ski significantly better and with more
fun in my Scarpa Lasers than my Scarpa F1 boots.

Ken

"Ken Roberts" wrote in message
...
Booker C. Bense wrote
it shows that stiffness in a binding is not as
critical to turning as you might think.

Our ankle joints and lower legs muscles have lots of "give" and
"elasticity" anyway -- so it's not like a perfectly stiff binding would
make the overall system into rigid transmission of turning torques.

As long as my techinque and strength hold out,
I can ski as well in very soft AT boots as my stiffer downhill boots.

Good for you. My experience is that I ski significantly better and with
more fun in my Scarpa Lasers than my Scarpa F1 boots.


Yes, but I draw the line at my Scarpa Vegas (Or Invernos, depending on
which side of the border you sit). Lace-up mountaineering boots just don't
quite cut it, even though it is conventient to just wear them for ice
climbing, and the ski in/out. Definetely not a very confident descent,
though.

-s-

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In article ,
Ken Roberts wrote:
Booker C. Bense wrote
it shows that stiffness in a binding is not as
critical to turning as you might think.

Our ankle joints and lower legs muscles have lots of "give" and "elasticity"
anyway -- so it's not like a perfectly stiff binding would make the overall
system into rigid transmission of turning torques.

As long as my techinque and strength hold out,
I can ski as well in very soft AT boots as my stiffer downhill boots.

Good for you. My experience is that I ski significantly better and with more
fun in my Scarpa Lasers than my Scarpa F1 boots.


I didn't say it was as much fun, but for the most part stiff
boots[1] aren't "REQUIRED" to ski well, they just make it
easier. I can even make decent turns in my leather
mountaineering boots, just not as many or with much margin for
error.

Skiing in soft boots makes you a better skier. After all isn't
one of the most common drills out there skiing with your boots
unbuckled. I guess the point I was vaguely trying to make is that
while stiffness is nice in a boot or binding, it's not the only
thing to be looking at for AT gear or even one of the most
important.

_ Booker C. Bense


[1]_ I would put Lasers in the "soft" category compared to pretty
much any alpine boot and a lot of AT boots these days.

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In article OM5Hg.17896$tP4.62@clgrps12,
Simon Isbister wrote:


Yes, but I draw the line at my Scarpa Vegas (Or Invernos, depending on
which side of the border you sit). Lace-up mountaineering boots just don't
quite cut it, even though it is conventient to just wear them for ice
climbing, and the ski in/out. Definetely not a very confident descent,
though.


If you get shorter skis, it's a lot more managable. I have a lot
of fun with Alpina Xterrains in a 155cm length and my leather
mountain boots. They do have a pretty stiff learning curve in the
beginning though... I found looking at old ski movies from the
'30's and '40's very helpful in getting a handle on the style
required.

_ Booker C. Bense


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