Official Gear Rumor Thread

http://shift-bindings.salomon.com/en

 the salomon shift binding site is up

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here is what cody townsend had to say:

"the binding. Let's start. The name is: S/LAB SHIFT MNC. Well what does that mean? S/LAB means it's coming out of the Annecy Design Center and goes through a special process of development and testing with the athletes. SHIFT, well that's because it shifts from a tech binding on the up to a normal downhill binding for the down. MNC = Multi Norm Certified = it works with a ton of boots, actually the most boots of any binder in its class.

Moving on. The idea was spurred by two main facts. Tech bindings are amazing for the way up. But are generally unsafe for the way down. Despite quite a lot of progress in tech bindings releasability and hold, ultimately they're still quite dangerous whether you're locking the toe and gambling with a spiral tib/fib fracture or gambling with unlocking the toe and having them release in inconsistent ways. So 7 years ago, we started talking about this problem. Now 20 prototypes and 7 years later, we got the binding we wanted. It's been a long process. We've seen some crazy ideas, found an idea that seemed to solve our problems and have now spent the past three years testing, tweaking and finalizing the model that we see today. Long and short though, it's a pin binding for the way up, an alpine binding for the way down...the best of both worlds.

So that being said, here's some pretty pictures and I'll do my best to answer any questions below.

Stats:

1700 grams per pair with screws.

47mm of Elastic Travel (compare w/ STH2 with 52mm of Elastic Travel)

DIN: 6-13

TUV Certified for Alpine Norms

Climbing Lifts: 2° and 10°

MNC Certified.

"
 
Salomon LOVES to toot their own horn whenever they get the chance, some things will never change haha.

Anyway, now that things are live I'd be happy to answer any of your questions over here. This was a project that was started when I joined the brand over 7 years ago, code named "Safe & Light". It's seen a lot of iterations and changes over the years and it was supposed to be launched last year with the Hawx Ultra XTD but it wasn't at the point where we wanted it. So rather than rush it to market, we waited an extra year to ensure we deliver the absolute highest quality binder possible. Now it's ready, it's dialed, it's being produced as we speak, and will land Fall 2018.

This thing is so insanely sick, I can't wait until you guys are able to see it for yourselves. Everyone who has seen it, played with it, skied it, is just simply blown away.
 
13865367:onenerdykid said:
Salomon LOVES to toot their own horn whenever they get the chance, some things will never change haha.

Anyway, now that things are live I'd be happy to answer any of your questions over here. This was a project that was started when I joined the brand over 7 years ago, code named "Safe & Light". It's seen a lot of iterations and changes over the years and it was supposed to be launched last year with the Hawx Ultra XTD but it wasn't at the point where we wanted it. So rather than rush it to market, we waited an extra year to ensure we deliver the absolute highest quality binder possible. Now it's ready, it's dialed, it's being produced as we speak, and will land Fall 2018.

This thing is so insanely sick, I can't wait until you guys are able to see it for yourselves. Everyone who has seen it, played with it, skied it, is just simply blown away.
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Alright, few questions for ya.

1. What are the toe and heel made of?

2. Can it function with the CAST-modified boots (if one were to ignore the likely legal ramifications)?

3. Durability is always a question, how and where have the athletes been testing it?

4. Will there potentially be patent-related issues given the similarity tohttp://www.bavarianalpinemanifest.com/en/

5. What's the mounting pattern like? New?

I must say, this binding is certainly pushing the limits. Congrats!

**This post was edited on Dec 8th 2017 at 11:34:31am

**This post was edited on Dec 8th 2017 at 11:36:40am
 
^Cody has answered a few of your questions already over on TGR.

Legally all CAST modified boots are not MNC or TUV certified so the answer is no

most moving parts are made from aluminum including the spring.
 
Also, apparently the polymer is carbon infused which ended up being the secret missing ingredient which made it all possible in the end. He didn’t elaborate so maybe @onenerdykid can fill in the blanks there.
 
13865387:.MASSHOLE. said:
Alright, few questions for ya.

1. What are the toe and heel made of?

2. Can it function with the CAST-modified boots (if one were to ignore the likely legal ramifications)?

3. Durability is always a question, how and where have the athletes been testing it?

4. Will there potentially be patent-related issues given the similarity tohttp://www.bavarianalpinemanifest.com/en/

5. What's the mounting pattern like? New?

I must say, this binding is certainly pushing the limits. Congrats!

**This post was edited on Dec 8th 2017 at 11:34:31am

**This post was edited on Dec 8th 2017 at 11:36:40am
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1. Carbon infused polyamide- same basic idea that our Backland Carbon boot utilizes. This allows the plastic to be exponentially more durable than standard binding materials.

2. This binding is certified for all ski boot norms: Alpine 5355, Touring 9523, WTR, and Grip Walk. You shouldn't be using anything else.

3. For the last 3 years, it has been on snow for all Atomic and Salomon athletes, from the Alps to Alta to Whistler to AK. While Cody has been definitely involved, so has everyone else haha ;)

4. No because we have the patent. I doubt you will ever see their binding come to life because of it.

5. With a binding as different as this, the mounting pattern has to be different. If we developed the binding with the goal of using a Warden or STH mounting pattern, it would have severely handicapped the project entirely. There is new jig as well, specific to this (not combined with other bindings from us).

Thanks! It's been a long time coming and you guys are going to love it.
 
13865410:.MASSHOLE. said:
Can you explain a little more on that material? What made it so special/the missing piece as Cody put it?
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It's all about strength to weight. Sure, we could have made it out of solid metal but then the binding would have been a boat anchor. We could have used non-carbon plastic and been even lighter, but then it wouldn't have been durable enough. This carbon infused polyamide offers the strength we needed for freeriding but is still light enough to be appealing for touring.
 
As a supplement to all the solid info above, here's a podcast we did with Cody, Chris Rubens, and the Shift's lead designer Benoit Sublet where they talk about the history of the binding, go into a pretty in-depth explanation of the design, and we've also got some very initial on-snow performance notes for those that are interested.
 
There’s a correction to the comment I made early about the spring being made of aluminum. Cody corrected that to say that the spring is definitely made of steel.
 
13865408:onenerdykid said:
4. No because we have the patent. I doubt you will ever see their binding come to life because of it.
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I might have misunderstood, but as far as i know that depends on when BAM started their design process. If they started at the same'ish time as you guys started with the specific design/function that is patented, they would be able to use the design without infringing on your patent (especially if there are slight differences in the design) and would be fully able to bring their product to market - even you guys currently have the patent. That is at least how i understood the end game of the whole split pivot vs abp debacle between Dave Weagle and Trek a few years ago. I obviously have no idea if that is applicable here - i am just pointing out that it is not as simple as he who holds the patent wins. :)

that being said - very nice design and impressive functionality at an impressive weight. Well done! Together with some hawx xtd this is seemingly truly a killer setup. A lot of hilarity will ensue because of these bindings :)

**This post was edited on Dec 8th 2017 at 3:59:34pm
 
13865367:onenerdykid said:
Salomon LOVES to toot their own horn whenever they get the chance, some things will never change haha.

[...]

This thing is so insanely sick, I can't wait until you guys are able to see it for yourselves. Everyone who has seen it, played with it, skied it, is just simply blown away.
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Since it should have been released as a single boot binding interface, any chance You could swap out my new tectons that I purchased to accomodate my new xtd130? I feel impressed and annoyed at the same time here.

Questions:

This seems to be the «shift»( ;) ) in binding design that we’ve been waiting for, so, is this a platform that there will be built many different variations from in the future? Ie; a Shift tour, Shift beartrap, Shift ultralight etc?

How is it to traverse on in hard conditions when the pins are located so high above the ski?

And last, any chance on getting a hold on these during Q1-Q2 2018?
 
13865450:.[sanhedrin said:
.]Benoit balls?
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Archer for the win.

13865501:kid-kapow said:
I might have misunderstood, but as far as i know that depends on when BAM started their design process. If they started at the same'ish time as you guys started with the specific design/function that is patented, they would be able to use the design without infringing on your patent (especially if there are slight differences in the design) and would be fully able to bring their product to market - even you guys currently have the patent. That is at least how i understood the end game of the whole split pivot vs abp debacle between Dave Weagle and Trek a few years ago. I obviously have no idea if that is applicable here - i am just pointing out that it is not as simple as he who holds the patent wins. :)

that being said - very nice design and impressive functionality at an impressive weight. Well done! Together with some hawx xtd this is seemingly truly a killer setup. A lot of hilarity will ensue because of these bindings :)

**This post was edited on Dec 8th 2017 at 3:59:34pm
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A lot of patents is very "how good is your lawyer" type of legal battle, but this is fairly cut & dry. Their product's promises and what it does is in the direct scope of our patent.

13865531:n3vrast said:
Questions:

This seems to be the «shift»( ;) ) in binding design that we’ve been waiting for, so, is this a platform that there will be built many different variations from in the future? Ie; a Shift tour, Shift beartrap, Shift ultralight etc?

How is it to traverse on in hard conditions when the pins are located so high above the ski?

And last, any chance on getting a hold on these during Q1-Q2 2018?
Click to expand...

This is for sure a platform we will be making the most of :)

I'm not the world's most experienced touring skier, but from what I have tried it doesn't feel any weirder/harder.

Unfortunately no chance. Fall 2018.
 
13863573:gapersarefriends said:
Tracer 88 on the right and JJ zero on the left...Still confused as to why tyw was ripping around on the tracers
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13863586:patagonialuke said:
Same. I feel like it’s gotta just be the top sheet. No idea why he’d be on a ~1300 g ski, and with Pivots...
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13863657:SofaKingSick said:
I thought the same thing, but why put that lame ass topsheet on anything else?
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13863855:Broseph_Stalin said:
return of the turn baby!
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13863857:gapersarefriends said:
It has gotta be him not wanting to ride shitty early season park and drag some hips instead
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13863860:patagonialuke said:
yeah but that is *not a hip-dragging carving ski. It has a stated weight of 1220 g for the 172. It's a full-on ultralight skimo ski. The only thing I can think of is that it's a proto park ski (88 mm waist would make sense) and that's just the top sheet they decided to put on it. But who knows.
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13863863:gapersarefriends said:
Yeah i'm lost, i feel like you could still carve pretty good on a ar8 or whatever zero park ski he rides. Or an invictus. And fuck those are light
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13863915:Broseph_Stalin said:
If they were made with the same idea in mind that they made the other tracer skis I would be on that so fast. I see why it would be attractive, i appears to have a greater effective edge, less of that nose rocker and and more forgiving/ easier to release tail. Invictus is great and all, but if I wanted a full on groomer ski I would probably look to another company that has deep racing roots. That’s just the old man in me speaking.
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13864070:gapersarefriends said:
Yeah if i wanted a groomer ski i'd just get a race ski
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Not just the topsheets, he's just cruisin around, no problem with that. I'm guessing the real reason he was shredding them is for pics like these for marketing.
 
I thought scanning the QR code was going to take me to a cool special website for this ski, but it just took me to the Redster page.. :(
 
13869251:onenerdykid said:
Well, well, well...

View attachment 886193

P.S. - it likes to go fast.
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Is that this ski?

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And is it a comp to the 2017 Dynastar Pro Rider

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**This post was edited on Dec 17th 2017 at 5:59:14pm
 
13869740:Pataguccimane said:
Could be, it just caught my attention with the graphic looking similar to onenerdy’s pic above
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I don’t think they’re the same, but I could be mistaken.
 
13869909:skidemon22 said:
I agree. The other one had a channel down the middle, tim’s look flat on the surface
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It's almost certainly the one Daron is holding in that screenshot/video posted above.

That being said, Onenerdykid, PM me if you want me to take the screenshot down (or a mod if I'm offline).

**This post was edited on Dec 18th 2017 at 11:11:25pm
 
13869918:.MASSHOLE. said:
It's almost certainly the one Daron is holding in that screenshot/video posted above.

That being said, Onenerdykid, PM me if you want me to take the screenshot down (or a mod if I'm offline).

**This post was edited on Dec 18th 2017 at 11:11:25pm
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No worries! The ski I posted is the one that Daron is holding in that Shift video. The one Tim has is verrrry different.

That's all for now ;)
 
13869966:onenerdykid said:
No worries! The ski I posted is the one that Daron is holding in that Shift video. The one Tim has is verrrry different.

That's all for now ;)
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Can we at least know when these are supposed to be released? Next year or later?
 
13869976:.lencon said:
Can we at least know when these are supposed to be released? Next year or later?
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Both the ski and binding will be officially released at SIA/ISPO 2018 and will ship to dealers Fall 2018
 
Whatsup with Salomon for next year? Heard there is a rumor going around of making a freestyle oriented 118-120 ski. Apparently the athletes have been trying to get one for a while...Love my QST's but wouldnt mind something slight more freestyle oriented, twin tip, vs a full charger like the QST. Not complaining...great ski but if it was a little more playful that would be a fun complement in the lineup
 
13870483:.nasty said:
It’s a Bentchetler 100. Boom.
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Probably what Tim is on. I heard they were making a new Blog/skinny bent chet. Could be fun if it’s not an absolute noodle haha
 
13869355:_Jeffrey_ said:
Those skis look fun as hell
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for directional oriented skis, the tracer series absolutely rips. They're on the light touring side of things but man they still have such a playful orientation (which Armada has always done well in that regard). I've been riding the 118 and love it's versatility, just won't ski switch with it haha
 
Apparently look is going back to the old toe piece on all models next year. No more wtr/gripwak compatability.
 
13868943:.lencon said:
View attachment 886086

Not just the topsheets, he's just cruisin around, no problem with that. I'm guessing the real reason he was shredding them is for pics like these for marketing.
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Those look rad as fuck and directional freeride/all mtn skis are the bees knees to take out and haul ass on.
 
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