Has anyone had a problem with the Squire bindings locking in?

[Perty]

I have them on my new skis -the Nordica Soulriders. I have assumed that they are this year's stock. Great colour-the blue and green. I have to say that they are not great at clicking in first time, despite endless boot sole clearing. More often than not I either stamp my feet or have to try again. Once in, I haven't had any problems though. They are wonderfully light which I really like.
However, now that I am thinking of selling my Nemesis which have the Griffin bindings, I am contemplating whether to swap them off the Nemesis and onto the Soul Riders. Does anyone know whether the drill holes are the same?

 

[contesstant]

OK, so we SoCal Divas had a ski day yesterday in over a foot of snow that fell the day before. VickiK took her skis off to help GardenMary and I don't think she'll do it again. She has Squires and it took the three of us 30+ minutes to attempt to get her boots back into the bindings. The snow was soft and sticky. There is clearly a HUGE issue with those bindings and those of us who have had issues need to let Marker know! Vicki had to ski to the bottom of a chopped up, ungroomed fairly steep run with one boot halfway clicked in, so she could get to the bottom by the lift where there was harder ground, and she STILL had issues. Every smidgen of snow has to be off those bindings for them to work. Slight problem considering that their use is for a SNOW sport. FWIW Mary had no problems getting back into her Marker system bindings attached to her K2's. I also have Squires on my Black Pearls and am now REALLY wishing I didn't. I am also considering replacing, but it won't be with more Markers! Marker, are you listening?

 

[mustski]

When I posted on Epic about this issue, I was told to take a lesson. LOL. I didn't know they had lessons for boot scraping. They are a defective binding and if they weren't primarily aimed at women, it would have been fixed long ago. I took a spill during a snowstorm in December and it took me 25 patient minutes to click back in. I plan to replace them soon. If I fell more often, I would probably have motivated sooner. Seeing Vicki have the same problem reminded me that I need to replace these bindings.

 

[tinymoose]

I have never met a Marker binding I like, and no way was I putting them on my new Kenjas. Every Marker binding I've ever tried has had me hopping and stomping around, looking like a fool, trying to get the heel to click in. Rossi and Look bindings on the other hand =

 

[mustski]

I have never had a problem with Marker bindings before ... but, once burned!

 

[VickiK]

Yeah, that binding glitch was a drag, not to mention tiring to stand on one foot trying to deal with it. I posted a comment on Marker USA's Facebook page about this after not seeing a link on the corp. website for feedback/customer service.

 

[HeidiInTheAlps]

mini-diva had the same problem with her Salomon bindings, but not as bad as described above....to think I could have saved myself some money by just replacing the bindings, instead of the whole kit....O_o on the upside, I think she should have been on a longer ski anyway...great thread, I get so much information from reading these threads...even if they weren't Marker Bindings.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I have Squires on two pairs of skis. While I wouldn't necessarily buy them again, now that I replaced the heel piece - on my boots, they're a lot better behaved. I used them at Silverton, where you have to take your skis on and off at least once a lift ride, and I didn't seem to have more trouble than anyone else, except at the base after lunch, where my warm boots came in contact with all that wet snow and chemically bonded in some sort of death grip of ice. But I don't think a block of ice under the toe would have worked well in *any* binding.

ETA - heel piece of boot, not binding

 

[mustski]

I have stood for 25 minutes plus on two different powder occasions trying to lock in. I think I will do the FB thing also and link to this thread.

 

[contesstant]

The big issue isn't the snow on the boots--I think we all get that they have to be pretty clean of snow for any binding to lock in. It's the fact that the binding itself can't seem to have a speck of snow on it or near it for them to lock in. Then what happens is they lock in half way and it would be easy to think they are fully locked in, when in fact they aren't. That is a safety issue. Mustski, remember last year when you kept thinking they were clicked in and I kept telling you, "nope, try again!" How many times did we go through that? 15??

I did see some recommendations to put cooking spray on the bottom of the boots. My fear is that they would be super slick to walk on! Might take the skis to the shop and ask for some binding lube on the binding surfaces, though. Something to ask about next time I'm at Mammoth.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I did see some recommendations to put cooking spray on the bottom of the boots. My fear is that they would be super slick to walk on! Might take the skis to the shop and ask for some binding lube on the binding surfaces, though. Something to ask about next time I'm at Mammoth.

Oh god. Yeah, that is a terrible idea, unless you are religious about Cat Tracks.

 

[contesstant]

And in the mood for various injuries...

 

[gardenmary]

The Marker bindings on my K2s are system bindings, and I'm sure considerably heavier than the Squires. My Tierras have Marker eMotion 11.0 bindings, no problems there either. In case I do augment this quiver (i.e. if some money comes in!) I'll keep Rossi & Look in mind for bindings.

And I totally owe VickiK dinner!! She clicked out to help me and look what it got her. on my part.

 

[bitoffluff]

darn, just got some mounted on my new pow skis, argh! I will see how they go, and maybe a skoosh of silicon wax will do is as that should not wear off too quick and I think is water repellent (works on motorbike chains anyway)

 

[mustski]

Even clean, they only lock in half way sometimes. On those days, I have to jump up and down to get them to lock all the way. Other days, they are totally cooperative. It's inconsistent and the left binding is worse than the right. Since my right leg is stronger than my left, I sometimes ski with my hummingbirds askew. That does bother my sense of symmetry though.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Oh dear - a whole year after this thread started, and these dreadful bindings are still out there and causing issues. >> >>
Not sure you're ever going to get major satisfaction from the manufacturer, but always worth a try, at least in $ compensation. Terrible.

In the final analysis, you all might be far better served to relent, throw in the towel, get a better binding. So many out there that don't even consider doing what these have done. What a pain - sorry for all. But do switch to something that's problem-free in this regard. Too much grief!!

 

[VickiK]

I'm leaning toward following MSL's advice. A word in to the mfg is a start.

p.s. You do not owe me dinner, GM!

 

[Perty]

Am beginning to think that an official complaint is due on the Squires. I can't say I've had the 25-30 min boot scraping issue but they are definitely a pain in the backside, and I am getting tired of watching everyone ski off while I take my foot out, scrape and try 2-3 times to get a proper click-I mam sure you know what I mean.
1. Get out of gondola. Drop skis to ground.
2. Scrape boots vigorously
3. Right boot- half way down, no click, more than 50% of time.
4. Stomp hard and hope that does the trick (often doesn't), so
5. release binding- scrape vigorously, watch beloved ski off.
6. See 4, repeat as often as needed.
7. Left boot-see 3-6.
8. Realise people think am incompetant idiot. "who does she think she is skiing on those long fat twin tips".

Arrghhhh,

 

[contesstant]

Yep, that's pretty much it! Try putting them on in soft snow where you can't get a good stomp! And the snow keeps falling back into them.

 

[badger]

I have the Griffons and initially had the same issues. After the first season the problems disappeared. One thing I noticed---due to a nasty bite from the brake---is that the brake mechanism may have something to do with this. Twice, in that first season as I was wiping down the skis, the brake suddenly snapped and bit my hand. I realized that the brake had not settled into it's resting position completely. Although it certainly looked and felt like it had. Makes me wonder if this isn't the actual problem, rather than the heel piece being flawed.