Used bindings

jmasterp

jmasterp

Active member
I am seriously considering purchasing a pair of used marker jester bindings. The thing is they have been used by two people. The person selling them has no idea ho much the first guy used them. How do I go about figuring more out about them? How do I really asses the damages, do I just take the sellers word, or should I stay away from used bindings like this?
 
That's kind of a tough one, but here's a few things. At least know the year they came out so that gives you a rough estimate to work with. Most of the damage you should be concerned with is going to be internal so only a release test, etc. would be able to tell you that. Which would mean you would've had to purchased them anyways. Plus, even if they pass you never know how close they are to failing or busting, which is an inherent risk buying used. That being said if the toe wings and base plates look visually sound then you'll just have to take a leap of faith if you really want them at a cheaper price.

 
Hrm, things to look for...

The oldest ones have a darkish gold paint on the metal bits and the back of the toe piece, under the MFD, is square. The newer ones have kinda reddy-brown paint on the metal bits and ruthless sharp stabby bits on the back of the toe piece. The new ones are a bit more robust in the toe-pylon bit, which I'll get to...

A fairly limited number of them have machined aluminium caps on the ends of the 'axle' through the heelpiece. Most have plastic end caps.

If they're already off the skis it's a bit hard to test them but one thing you want to look for is movement in the toe-piece pylon arrangement. Hold the base of the toe flat on a table as hard as you can and try to rock the top bit of the toe-piece front-back. If they've been skied a lot, or hard, they'll probably have quite a bit of slop there.

Also, if you can, check that the rear track is smooth and the forward pressure adjustment screw turns smoothly (apart from the obvious clicks)
 
eh, some bindings are indestructable, my fks 155's have probably been used by more people than the woman of the night at my local brothel
 
^^as mentioned above, the older jesters suffered from toe-slop after extensive use, so make sure your toepieces are still ok ....

 
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