Marker Kingpin Review (+Magnum Opus)

[corexradnar]

Hey All,

I've got 20 days on the new Kingpin and thought I would offer some of the info I wish I had when I was was buying them.

First a little about me:

190LBS, 6', 318 BSL in a Vulcan

I won't bother with normal humility here. I ski fast and spend most my time in the air. I jump off big cliffs at 50 MPH. I ski with a lot of angle. When the going gets tough I stand on my tails and work them like a rear wheel. I'm hard on bindings. I ran all my old cambered skis with Looks at 17-18. My Newlifes have pivots at 11 and my Hellbents have Dukes at 12. This DIN would be way to low for me on "traditional skis", but center-mounted with rocker changes everything about the release characteristics for me.

And now the setup:

First of all, the Magnum Opus is epic. Mounted with the Kingpin and Vulcan they feel like wearing sneakers. Lost 8 pounds over Hellbent/Duke/Fulltilt. To make a long story short, all my old equipment is now in the basement.

The interface of the kingpin is way more solid than my Dukes. Locked on and so low to the ski. At DIN 10 I can ski all over the hardpack-hill at top speed with no worries. Switch landings are the same as any binding. I can dirty'nose'wheelie these with no problems, just like a Duke. I've knuckled them HARD. Looped them out. Landed on my back to accidental rodeo to feet. They just stay on. I love these bindings!

Problems:

Starting at about 15' down and 30' out and DIN 10 they "prerelease" on pow landings. Dukes don't do this from this height. This makes sense to me, because its not jarring forces like hardback, but long slow powerful forces that require big elasticity. So I run them at 12.5 and they hold. I guess the biggest I have taken these so far now is 25' down 50' out to pow. No problems! The most important thing to point out here is that I have never released from the front yet. I completely trust them, and have never locked out the toes. The toes are so good that after "prereleasing" at DIN 10 in pow + the resulting violent sore neck tomahawk they were still attached at the toe! I heard this looks pretty funny. Only thing I can add here is that I land VERY forward in pow. It's a lot of pressure on the heel.

Touring:

Unlike the Beast, these tour flat. Otherwise what else is there to say? The brakes stay up, the risers are easy to use, at changeover I can leave my skis on, just flick the lever and step down.

To sum up:

This is the future, a total game changer. I'm selling everything else I own.

 

[JonnyK]

Nice review dude! How well do you think these bindings would hold up on a bc booter shesh?

 

[LC.]

Please keep skiing them hard this winter and report back. Seriously, keep up the switch landings and try to find their breaking point.

I just mounted some but not skiing them until there's more snow.

 

[sammy_JJ]

Agree with all the review of the King Pins have a pair of on my DPS and they ride just as good as any A-frame binding.

I like how you mentioned the boot you are using as the biggest issue if the Pin world is almost all off the decent uphill boots are not that stiff on the down compared to a resort boot.

 

[LC.]

I like how you mentioned the boot you are using as the biggest issue if the Pin world is almost all off the decent uphill boots are not that stiff on the down compared to a resort boot.

True. Vulcans are good but to say they ski like an alpine boot is stretching the truth. MTN Labs flex similarly to me in the shop, Khions a little nicer but still like a good touring boot not like an alpine boot.

I'm keeping my eyes open for some cheap Ghost Max to use with my Kingpin setup; I toured a lot for 3 years without a walk mode so it's not a big deal to me on shorter days.

 

[japanada]

I think when I mount up my kingpins, Im gonna send my xt130s off to CAST. I little heavier yes, not as good at touring, but a lot cheaper and they are already dialed to my foot.

Like it was said above, keep hucking on them! Im curious as to how these hold up and hold you in compared to a beast.

 

[corexradnar]

Not sure how to do multiple replies so I will do my best here...

NepTuna- Thanks, that's why I wrote this up.

JonnyK- Definitely good to go for booter sesh right now! (but ask me after a couple years of in and outs.)

LC$- Will work as hard as possible to find the breaking point, lot's of switch so far, I think the heel piece is for real.

SammyJJ- Ya, I agree, the ride of the Kingpin is optimal. Also, I actually like my Vulcans better than my First Chairs, but a Powerwrap Intuition is mandatory. They are way too soft with the stock liner.

Japanada- First off, I can't wait to go to Japan, and yes I will huck and huck and report.

 

[LC.]

The toes are so good that after "prereleasing" at DIN 10 in pow + the resulting violent sore neck tomahawk they were still attached at the toe!

Not to call bullshit on your story, but I think you just got lucky here. With the toe attached and heel free it's pretty easy to wiggle your foot out of the ski, and Wildsnow's charts say that the toe jaw springs are exactly the same force as a Dynafit Radical.

I skied mine yesterday anyway. Very nice. I like.

 

[corexradnar]

Not to call bullshit on your story, but I think you just got lucky here. With the toe attached and heel free it's pretty easy to wiggle your foot out of the ski, and Wildsnow's charts say that the toe jaw springs are exactly the same force as a Dynafit Radical.

I skied mine yesterday anyway. Very nice. I like.

Haha good call LC, you can't even tour without the toe locked so I hear you. All I meant is that losing my skis so far has always come from the rear. Definitely luck to stay attached at the toe like I have so far ( many times though.) Also interesting is that when I just crank up/down I pop lateral but still stay connected at toe... (don't even know how this is possible) so I have to crank both.

 

[Mr.Penguin]

I'm interested in this thread as I've been eying both the kingpin as well as the beast. Out here in Utah I see quite a few people with beasts inbounds, and only one or two with kingpins. While I understand they're targeted as touring bindings, I'm interested more in their inbounds performance as I'm looking to mount them on my 4frnt Renegades (currently mounted with a frame binding) so they'd see a handful of inbounds days, mostly deep days but the occasional less deep day, as well as the typical tours out of bounds when I want something bigger than my current tech setup. Anyone care to comment on their inbounds experience? Or perceived inbounds experience I guess.

 

[corexradnar]

Okay here is an update. The bindings are toast. Pins on both sides have loosened out to the point where I can barely get them on (about halfway out). These are definitely from the 2016 batch, not the original that had issues. I was wondering why they were so hard to get out of, thought it was icing but it's full destruction, jaws won't open enough to let my boot out because the pins are effectively twice as long. I am very concerned about the things I have done while relying on these bindings. Warranty and try again but not super inspired. This pair has 10 days on them.

 

[corexradnar]

And a pic... This explains why they are not releasing at the toe LC.$.

 

[LC.]

And a pic... This explains why they are not releasing at the toe LC.$.

The reason mine wouldn't release from my foot at the end of the day was definitely because I had ice packed under the toe springs. The lever wouldn't press all the way down and I had to twist out which I only just managed. Even once the ski was off my foot the lever wouldn't press down all the way but once the ice melted out at home they were fine. Just something to look out for I think - try to clear snow out if you're doing laps.

That's kind of worrying about your pins anyway, thanks for posting. Share this in the big TGR thread too if you're on there ("New tech binding Marker King"). Mine are definitely 2016 stock too, I'll be keeping my eye on the pins every day.

I've still only had half a resort day on mine. No snow for weeks so I've been on rock skis almost every day. Soon though, soon. Also picked up some new Ghost Max 130s for €95 to use with the Kingpins on short ascent days, stoked on that.

 

[corexradnar]

Got the new toe pieces on today and the springs are light grey instead of black, not sure if that means anything but fingers crossed.

 

[japanada]

Maybe the pin issues extended into the early batch that came out this year. Last thing i want it to be stuck with a boot in the toe piece

 

[LC.]

Got the new toe pieces on today and the springs are light grey instead of black, not sure if that means anything but fingers crossed.

Wildsnow says that the black springs come on the new Kingpin 13 and silver come on the new Kingpin 10 which have a lower release force. Worth checking with your shop I think, I would want the stronger springs.

 

[corexradnar]

Just got back from swapping them out. They gave me the toes from the 10 by accident. The new 13 springs are black as well.

 

[loopie]

Hey man thanks for the review. Just one question.

I only hit cliffs 30' by 65' but I am wondering if these will hold. Generally my take off speed is around 63 MPH but depends on how much I drank that morning.

Thanks again for the help! I used to run my old bindings at a DIN of 20 but I tore my ACL

Can you believe that shit?

 

[corexradnar]

Hey man thanks for the review. Just one question.

I only hit cliffs 30' by 65' but I am wondering if these will hold. Generally my take off speed is around 63 MPH but depends on how much I drank that morning.

Thanks again for the help! I used to run my old bindings at a DIN of 20 but I tore my ACL

Can you believe that shit?

Sorry about that! I don't want to perpetuate "im awesome" bullshit but I wrote the review I wanted to read on this binding when I was looking at it. I just figured numbers were better than not. Anyways, ten days and they're broken is the new headline. Next time I'll say "mediocre free ski competitor" which is also exactly the truth haha. Point taken : )

 

[loopie]

Sorry about that! I don't want to perpetuate "im awesome" bullshit but I wrote the review I wanted to read on this binding when I was looking at it. I just figured numbers were better than not. Anyways, ten days and they're broken is the new headline. Next time I'll say "mediocre free ski competitor" which is also exactly the truth haha. Point taken : )

haha well damn with a response like that you make me feel like a total asshole saying something in the first place.

It's good to know what these bindings are capable of despite the problems you have had.

 

[sammy_JJ]

And a pic... This explains why they are not releasing at the toe LC.$.

Looks like the toes were from the soft release from last year. Take them to a Marker Dealer and they should get warranted with no issues.

 

[corexradnar]

Sorry guys, 10 days on the new replacement bindings and the pins are backing out again. Lot's of airtime but also endless snow. I know I'm hard on bindings, but there is no excuse for this. No breakage, no bending, no "failures" just a major design or production execution issue. If the wing and pin were one piece this would be the game changer binding, but for now the dream has died. Sure was fun while it lasted, hopefully they get it sorted out. I'll be getting another pair on, but my hope is about zero now. An yes, to those still holding hope, both pairs were 2016.

 

[japanada]

Sorry guys, 10 days on the new replacement bindings and the pins are backing out again. Lot's of airtime but also endless snow. I know I'm hard on bindings, but there is no excuse for this. No breakage, no bending, no "failures" just a major design or production execution issue. If the wing and pin were one piece this would be the game changer binding, but for now the dream has died. Sure was fun while it lasted, hopefully they get it sorted out. I'll be getting another pair on, but my hope is about zero now. An yes, to those still holding hope, both pairs were 2016.

Damn this is disheartening to hear! I know I wouldn't be putting as much stress on them as you are, but the last thing I want is a unskiable malfunction to happen at the top of the skin track, or worse yet, midway down a big accent. Are you going to switch to the beasts?

 

[Mr.Penguin]

Glad I never pulled the trigger, I see more people on the beasts here so I've been hesitant to grab the Kingpins. Kind of glad I didn't after hearing your feedback.

 

[hemlockjibber8]

I thought the new version were the ones with the star pattern on the pin?

pic:

full article:
https://www.wildsnow.com/15495/marker-kingpin-toe-pins-possibly-loosen/

 

[corexradnar]

And, can already tell I will be heading to pair number 4. Always the same problem. otherwise, a perfect binding. Might just wait till next year to swap this pair once they have it figured out.