AT Binding - Which one

B

Bnass

New member
Hi All

You have helped me in the past make good decisions. I am going to set up a pair of semi touring Skis so I can use for side country skiing/ 1 day trips. they will predominantly be used 60% of time in resorts/ in bounds

I am wanting a dedicated AT binding which will be durable, solid and technical but must be great downhill performance as I am an aggressive skiier.

I would look at a frame binding but have decided to transition from a race boot to walk-to-ride boot like the Atomic Hawx ultra 120 or Dilbello Lupo 120 or Nordica 130 Pro. I am wanting to be able to charge up hill as fast as i do downhill while still having demand on a fatter ski

My pics are:

1. Marker kingpin 13

2. Black Diamond Fritschi Tecton 12

3. Atomic Shift

I am leaning towards the Marker Kingpin 12

I really like the sound of Atomic Shift but have read these are not amazing for touring. Thoughts?

Thank you for helping me decide

Cheers

Brent
 
I say Shift or Tecton.

The Shift and Tecton have better elasticity than the rest.. so they will probably ski a lot better in mixed conditions.

If you're going to be using them that often in the backcountry though, I'd say tecton. It's lighter by about 400 grams on the pair, and at least in my own trials, it's better for longer tours. It has 2 heel posts as opposed to the 1 ten degree post of the shift, so it's a bit more comfortable on variable terrain, too.

For me, I want to be able to hike a bit more and a bit further, and a bit more comfortably - so the tecton or vipec is an easy choice. I'm not Cody Townshend throwing huge flips and shit as I'm a fragile 30+ year old with a question mark of a healthcare plan, so I tend to get my kicks out of more runs and deeper pow than bigger sends and bigger flips. the Tecton is more than enough for what the average dude really needs, and it skis great.
 
As for the kingpin 13... I have a pair of them as well, and trust them slightly less than I do the Tecton or Vipec when it comes to mixed conditions.

I've pre-released at least 2 times now, and that has sketched me out just enough that I only ski hard with them when the conditions are softer and less likely to cause flex-releases.

There's just absolutely no lateral toe-elasticity in the kingpin... it's ultra-fixed like the pre-beast/Rad2 dynafits, so when you come out, it's a bit violent and immediate, just like those Dynafit bindings of yore.

the release on the Tecton and Vipecs I've used feels like I'm skiing on an alpine binding - especially in the case of the tecton (the Vipec really doesn't want to let you loose very easily in forward-release situations - as I've hit cat-tracks a bit too hard before and instead of double ejecting like with most bindings, I just buttered so hard I nearly snapped the skis) In a twisting fall, they come out smoothly and when they should... I haven't so much as worried about a knee tweak yet, which is great. I cant say I'm as confident with the Kingpin in this case, just with how the binding is oriented.

The one good thing about the kingpin though, is that because it is a bit fixed, if you have them mounted on a ski that's already pretty inflexible in the middle-section of the ski, you can fucking point tips and send shit. They are about as locked in as anything, so sending steep no-fall sections is pretty worry-free.
 
Thank you for the detailed explanation. it is good to hear the pros and cons of all from someone who has used. I am now leaning towards the Tetons as per your recommendations

if was prominently going to ski resort with the odd side country would you still recommend Tetons? I like this Shifts but am just not sure as they are brand new and not many people have used to iron out any issues
 
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