FKS Brakes

[MartianMan]

What's up NS! It's been a while since I've posted, and it is good to be back.

For the past 2 seasons, I have been riding my 183 Faction 3.Zero's as pretty much a 1-ski-quiver, mounted with FKS 140's. I love the skis, but living on the East Coast, more often then not, they are a little much for carving on groomers and playing around in the park. I bought 177 K2 Shreditor 92's as a new daily driver. Come February, I am spending 2 weeks in Austria, so I bought Guardians to put on my Factions to go do a little touring, with the idea that I would just switch the FKS's over to my K2's.

What I failed to consider was brake width. My FKS's (that I originally bought fro 112mm waisted skis) are 115mm, and the K2's are 92mm underfoot. I talked to my local ski tech, and he said FKS brakes are near impossible to switch out, and if I plan on making angulated carves on hardback (which I do), the amount of overhang will likely be a problem.

Should I mount the FKS's anyway? Is it better to get them removed, sell them, and then buy another binding?

Thanks for the help!

 

[KyleA]

You could bend the brakes in or buy these in a 95 mm width:

http://www.evo.com/ski-binding-brakes/rossignol-fks/pivot.aspx?esvt=-&esvq=&esvadt=999999---1&esvcrea=49369065868&esvplace=&esvaid=30559#image=80678.Image.1.jpg&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase&utm_campaign=80678

Pivot brakes are marginally more difficult to swap out than other bindings, but far from impossible. In defense of your shop tech, Rossi/Look just started making replacement brake options more readily available in the last few years.

And if you don't plan on doing much touring, I would opt for another set of pivots and trekkers rather than putting Guardians on a primarily in bounds ski.

 

[gr4]

you can swap brakes out on fks when they are unmounted. sounds like you have a lazy/unknowledgeable tech. you can also buy a whole new heel plate assembly with brakes at what ever width you want. then you just screw in your heel piece with the forward pressure screws.

look up the video on how to bend fks brakes. you don't need to bend but it does a good job explaining how to take off the brakes.

 

[gr4]

also i'm not sure how big of a problem 20mm (10mm on each side) will actually be. just set the heel piece of your fks on about where it would be on you k2s and see how much overhang you have. a little is fine.

really the bigger issue would be having them dig in on high speed switch landings. replacing a broken fks brake basically requires a remount

 

[MartianMan]

you can swap brakes out on fks when they are unmounted. sounds like you have a lazy/unknowledgeable tech. you can also buy a whole new heel plate assembly with brakes at what ever width you want. then you just screw in your heel piece with the forward pressure screws.

look up the video on how to bend fks brakes. you don't need to bend but it does a good job explaining how to take off the brakes.

It's not really the tech's fault. I live in Southern NY, where 97% of the ski market is looking to rent race skis for the season to go on their 1 week a year trip to Deer Valley. He doesn't get a whole lot of inquiries regarding switching brakes on FKS Bindings.

So if he took the bindings off, would he be able to change them before he remounts them to the Factions?

 

[gr4]

It's not really the tech's fault. I live in Southern NY, where 97% of the ski market is looking to rent race skis for the season to go on their 1 week a year trip to Deer Valley. He doesn't get a whole lot of inquiries regarding switching brakes on FKS Bindings.

So if he took the bindings off, would he be able to change them before he remounts them to the Factions?

jah feel about the tech. be sure he mounts your skis where you want them by marking them with tape or something. those types of techs have a tendency to just mount at core center and move on to the next ski.

i'm not sure if i totally understand you binding switch plan. i thought the factions were getting the guardians?

I would do one of the following:

1. put the touring binding on your factions, toss the fks on your new skis with

a. the same old wider brakes and say fuck it, it wont hook too bad.

b. new skinny brakes if you can find them. or most likely you will have to buy a whole new heal piece assembly and switching the brakes won't be a problem.

2. (what i would do) keep the fks on your fat skis and put your gaurdians on your touring ski. i'm not very familiar with either of those skis, but i much prefer a smaller, lighter ski for touring.

touring is like 90% walking uphill and 10% actually skiing powder. if you are in the backcountry, you are probably a good enough skiier to handle skiing pow on a mid fat. plus a lot of the time your not skiing pow and it's really nice to not have a huge ski to lug though shitty snow.

i tour on tele's on a 100mm ski with minimal early rise and a flat tail. having a light set up is where it's at and i don't tour to get rad. thats what the resort and park are for.

sorry for the essay and logic model. ive been studying too much for the lsat.

 

[gr4]

and don't get rid of the fks. they are the shit and will last you forever (except the brakes). i've got multiple pairs still kicking it from years and years of abuse.

 

[MartianMan]

jah feel about the tech. be sure he mounts your skis where you want them by marking them with tape or something. those types of techs have a tendency to just mount at core center and move on to the next ski.

i'm not sure if i totally understand you binding switch plan. i thought the factions were getting the guardians?

I would do one of the following:

1. put the touring binding on your factions, toss the fks on your new skis with

a. the same old wider brakes and say fuck it, it wont hook too bad.

b. new skinny brakes if you can find them. or most likely you will have to buy a whole new heal piece assembly and switching the brakes won't be a problem.

2. (what i would do) keep the fks on your fat skis and put your gaurdians on your touring ski. i'm not very familiar with either of those skis, but i much prefer a smaller, lighter ski for touring.

.

Sorry, the factions are getting the guardians. I don't have a specific touring ski, but instead I was planning on throwing guardians on the Factions for a lift-access side country - inbounds soft snow ski.

I'm not really feeling dropping $75 on new brakes even if he figures out a way to switch them. If I carve hard on groomers, will the brakes get in the way? I come from a racing background and love bombing down groomers, so that is definitely important to me.

 

[a_burger]

I had 115 brakes on my line chronics which are also 92, and didn't really notice an issue, but those were my park skis and I didn't do a lot of carving on them. I would go for it, and if theres and issue try and bend them a bit.

 

[MartianMan]

I had 115 brakes on my line chronics which are also 92, and didn't really notice an issue, but those were my park skis and I didn't do a lot of carving on them. I would go for it, and if theres and issue try and bend them a bit.

Did you ever notice any issue at all?

 

[gr4]

Sorry, the factions are getting the guardians. I don't have a specific touring ski, but instead I was planning on throwing guardians on the Factions for a lift-access side country - inbounds soft snow ski.

I'm not really feeling dropping $75 on new brakes even if he figures out a way to switch them. If I carve hard on groomers, will the brakes get in the way? I come from a racing background and love bombing down groomers, so that is definitely important to me.

sound good. throw the fks on your new skis with existing brake. 1 cm on each side should be ok. especially because your heal piece isnt actually on the middle of your ski. its back from center and therefore a little fatter than your skinniest part of your ski.

plus if you are worried about dropping $75 on a new set of brakes, you would lose at least that much on buying a new set of bindings. with everyone getting fks's these days the used market is cheap.

just my opinion. another free solution to this problem would be to bend them skinnier if you have the right tools. how to:http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/24647-P18-Wide-Brakes-Tutorial-(with-pictures!%29

 

[a_burger]

Did you ever notice any issue at all?

not really. I've got them dissassembled right now so I can swap the brakes to an older pair I'm putting on some blends, but with the holes lined up heres how they look, sorry for the shitty quality. Keep in mind the spring is removed so they may hang a couple mm lower. I also think the shop bent them in a bit at some point.

 

[MartianMan]

I appreciate the help. I'll talk to the tech and see if he can bend them, and then put them on the K2's.

 

[Blunttip360]

When you reassemble them. put them together without the spring and then hammer it in with a flathead and hammer. Way easier them fucking with the tension.

 

[Blunttip360]

I might even have some skinnier brakes. Ill check.

 

[Blunttip360]

I might even have some skinnier brakes. Ill check.