FKS Hype

linus_deboss

linus_deboss

Active member
I don't know how you feel about it, but to me it'sheer hype... eject once switch and you can go to a shop to have the stoppers repaired... fucking not amazed by it
 
i think they do get hyped pretty hard too. bigest thing the have going for them imo is no heel track. but id rather have a pair of salmons or tyrolias.
 
The whole reason they are hyped is because they have a small mounting plate (smaller dead spot in the ski)and the turntable heel has saved some knees. I wouldn't own them just because of the maintaince of it and the difficulty to get parts.
 
idk they're a pretty good so far... but it's just not worth it replacing half the heelpiece just because of one single switch eject... and everytime you eject switch

but on the other hand I really don't see bindings that look as stable on the rest... marker is plastic, i've had trouble with salomon, tyrolia just seems... cheap, correct me if I'm wrong, and then there's not so much left that is common, except for rebranded bindings (atomic, scott, etc.)
 
Could you elaborate on the stopper thing op? Considering fks for my next pair of skis but that sounds a bit concerning.
 
don't eject switch. just don't.

I set them to 10 now, never ejected so far, but it doesn't feel too comfortable considering I'm only like 60kg...

that being said I started hitting big jumps now, and you just don't want to eject anyways.

the thing with the stoppers on the FKS is: when ejecting switch, the stoppers are kind of locked while already down, so you bend them, the timing is just bad... I bent them a lot, most of the time you can just adjust them, but sometimes it just gets all screwed over and you have to replace it or go to a shop to have that shit fixed. not what you want while shooting on bluebirds days.

apart from this, the bindings work great for me, but I'm really pissed on this one tbh. I'm not shure if I would buy them again, but then again I don't want plastic shit (marker...) either...

I really kinda sorta got a problem, since I don't know what binding I should go for should I change
 
Marker griffons are on there second season and I havnt had a single problem! I always have trouble landing bad on switch landings and my breaks have been great. It's not like it's a cheap plastic, and fks 140s are plastic to... Most are unless you want a heavy ass metal binding. My go to bindings are sth2 12s, and griffons. Havnt had experience with fks but one friend of mine has them and everytime he lands tweaked he ejects. I've heard good things about them though for the most part.
 
bought a pair of used 155s and used pivot 18s, both off old race skis, this year, bent brakes myself from the old skinny brakes, and havent had a single problem. i cant see myself switching to another binding other than for a touring setup
 
Go to a thrift shop and you will most likely find old FKS bindings on some straight skis. Buy the skis for $10-20 and just take the brakes/half moon pieces off of the FKS and you will have some spares for cheap.
 
I definitely feel like you have to be at a certain ability level to notice the difference between bindings. All of them have their pro's and con's. FKS are amazing, quality, durable bindings that perform excellently for park, but the drawback is that they are prone to having breaks that will cause big problems.

Markers are more of a user-friendly company that has lightweight products in mind. this obviously sacrifices on durablity. Marker's are still amazing bindings (especially the Jesters/Jester Pro's), but they will be easier to break and will become brittle after a few years.

Tyrolia's are anything but cheap. These bindings are the most underrated out there by far. Tyrolia's are durable, reliable tanks that perform amazingly. The drawback is that the lower din models have a tendency to have problems with stress on the plastic pieces if the skier is slaying too hard with them. The beefier models are heavy and quite solid, but the have big tracks and create a sizeable deadspot on the ski. They are also a different type of binding than the FKS or Marker bindings which creates a completely different feel when using them.

Salomons are a similar binding as far as basic construction to Tyrolia. Another bomber binding (possibly moreso than Tyrolia although debateable)that has argueably the best toe piece out of all ski bindings. It is to me, truly a marvel in ski engineering. The drawback is that you have to adjust and re-adjust the toepiece every few weeks because it needs to be fine-tuned. These bindings are the ones that I am least knowledgeable about, but I can definitely say that I dont see the premium models of Salomons break. I have a friend who has 20 year old salomons that he got for free from my ski coach and they did end up breaking a few weeks back, but it was from the plastic track becoming too brittle for how hard he was throwing down. Salomons are also going to have a large track and will create a deadspot, but the new models (WTR2) looked like they put some tech into them to create a more ergonomic binding.

Overall, you really can't go wrong with any binding if you are going to buy a premium set. What you should really look for is which feel you like the most out of your bindings. Now obviously people have their own bias, and sometimes unconsiously, so listening to people tell you about only one binding isn't always the most helpful. I have used atleast one of the high-end bindings from all four of these brands, and I would say that my favorite is probably the FKS because of the feel it gives you with the ski. If I were to rank these bindings from best to worst depending on pure facts about them, I would say that Salomon is probably best, followed by Tyrolia, FKS, then Marker. None of these bindings are bad, but durablity-wise, That is the lineup (as well as other features that contribute to rank)

BUT REMEMBER: the feel of the binding is what is going to make you ultimately like them or not in my experiences
 
I'm tempted to try some fks bindings on my next skis, but honestly I have never had any problems with any of my marker bindings.- and I'm a big guy who skis really hard. Even griffons are pretty beefy- plastic gets a lot of hate, but from an engineering aspect it's actually a pretty great material. The way marker uses it- it's either in shape and working or it's cracked- in which case most times it can be warranted- but cracking them is pretty hard to do. Considering the sheer number of them out there- I would be willing to bet they have a pretty low failure rate, comparable to all other brands.

And the easy option is just get jesters or jester pros, which are pretty sweet, I've only seen maybe 1 pair that was broken. Only flaw might be the slop they can develop. So far 2 seasons on a pair of griffons and jesters without it so we will see. As far as the rear track- I can see that being a bit of an issue on real soft park skis- but honestly I can't feel much of a difference compared to some friends fks skis I've ridden. It's a 3 inch extension of plastic. Basically goes along the lines of saying a guy with a big boot can't get the proper flex out of his skis. Plus the track is useful- my dad and I have different size feet, but with 7, 8 turns to the forward pressure screw we can interchange our skis. Or if your boot size changes a half, or even a full size, nice that you don't need a remount.
 
It really is like clockwork. EVERY FUCKING WEEK some asshat who can't put a fucking screwdriver to binding to save their lives is complaining about their own uninformed purchase of FKS bindings.

OP you are grounded. Go stand with your nose in a corner.
 
I run Tyrolias on 2 out of my 3 pairs of skis. I love them. The only draw back is the brakes are held on by the screws that go into the ski. The negative is if you do fuck up a brake, you have to take screws out of the ski.

I don't like dildo style heels. They do not release consistently for me. I will take Tyrol / STH style heels over dildos every time. My mojo's release every time they need to.
 
I'm sorry for ejecting switch and falling into the typical and probably only drawback pattern of FKS of the bending BRAKES (not stoppers, that's what they're in german for all the englishfucks out there) scenario...

put the din up, screwed the pressure from the heelpiece to the boot a bit up, I think now I'm good... sorry for not being entirely satisfied with a first time purchase!

people these days, god damit
 
no shop will put your din higher than you weigh... at least where I live

i put the forward pressure up on advice of a ski shop owner who rides on FKs since 10-15 years... he might now what he's talking about
 
You're correct. No shop will set it that high. Thank goodness about that. I would have to have my dins at 165.
 
I ski on FKSs and eveytime I eject switch I just have to bend the brakes a little. Seeoms to be working find for me so far.
 
Well considering skiing began in Europe I would say it's maybe more North America who are wrong. But my point was more that there was no need to a dick to the guy calling them stoppers which is wht they are called in some of Europe.
 
The fact that the FKS are more likely to help your knees NOT explode if you eject wrong makes them not be 100% hype.
 
Stop spreading misinformation in every FKS thread. You are a clueless fucktard who should not be allowed to speak.
 
elaborate on how it is false. There really isnt any difference in safety, although the release mechanism operates differently. If you have proof that we are wrong however, please use actual facts to do so.
 
The pivot heel does not offer lateral release. It IS more elastic,bit this does not necessarily make it safer.
 
forgot to mention that even if they were safer, knee bindings are the safest on the market right now, so you are wrong in two ways.
 
I have mixed feelings. I love them because of the pivoting heel, I'm sure they saved me on numerous twisted landings. They look sick. Once you get the right din setting and enough forward pressure so you don't pre-release when you scissor too hard, they're beauties. However, they were literally more expensive than my skis, yeah I'm generally cheap. Repairing them is an absolute bitch. Also for some reason I've been finding that somehow the forward pressure on one of them slowly loosens over time, so I have to watch out for that.

But I mean, no binding is perfect, and I'd still recommend them.

 
sounds 100% like my bindings.

more expensive than the ski, bitch to repair and the forward pressure of just one binding keeps loosening, had to adjust the DIN twice (now at 100kg, 40 more then I weigh lol)... and yeah, they do look sick lol

but still I feel like once switch eject shouldn't fuck them up as hard as mine do...
 
Yest they are. I've picked some ski's up off the road with 140's. the Hellpiece had a huge chunk missing...they are plastic.
 
Actually the majority of the heel piece is definitely metal, the back part is just a plastic cover though, and the toe pieces are plastic too.
 
In all reality - as long as you are looking at a binding in a suitable din range for your skiing, you can't buy a crappy binding these days.

I see way too many threads comparing bindings which are both fine.
 
Nope I'm right mate. Fks offer an arguably more elastic feel but they will be no safer then any other binding other then knee. They are the only binding tht can claim to be safer.
 
They actually are pretty much plastic. Sure the base plate is metal but so is the heel track on any binding. They certainly don't have more metal then most bindings on the market.
 
No shit. Different people like different things, obviously there wasn't going to be a consensus opinion on which binding is best.
 
I like how often these threads come up. Get whatever binder you think works best for you on all aspects (DIN range, construction, brand, color, cost, whatever) and hopefully it will work. Many people, including myself, ski on Pivot bindings in some form and love them so we recommend them to people who ask what binding to buy. When the Beast 14 comes out I'll probably start skiing that exclusively and then that will be my recommendation. But no binding is so deal with it.
 
I can't tell if you're trolling at this point. FKS 15's and 18's have significantly more metal than a Jester, Attack 16, or STH 16 (excluding steels).
 
correct me if i'm wrong, but couldn't i consider them safer in that the travel on them and general great performance cause me to not over crank my din like i might on other bindings?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top