Average price for binding mount???

[climbingbetty]

Curious what you ladies pay for a binding mount near you?

The shop closest to me wants $89.95 because neither the skis nor the bindings were bought from them.

Does that seem a little steep to anyone else??? Or is that a fair price? The last time I had bindings mounted it was more like $40, but those were system bindings.

There is one other shop in my area, though its a bit of a hike, that usually charges less, but the kids in the shop there…all seem to be those burnt-out snowboarders types. I'm worried about them screwing up the mounting job, yet $90 seems a bit stiff….

Would an on-mountain shop be better??? Or worse???



Edited to add.. I just called the other shop (the one that worries me a bit). They charge $49.95 for the mount. Why such a big difference??? I did take my first skis there to have the system bindings mounted because again, the other shop wanted a ridiculous amount of money for the mount. They did a decent enough job with those. By my new babies… with the full bamboo core.. I don't know, I feel more protective of them.

How complicated is mounting a pair of bindings anyway???

 

[RachelV]

I've paid anywhere from $30 to $80 depending on where I was living and the kind of shop it was. The big chain stores in NYC (which are unfortunately the only ski shops that exist there anymore) were all in that range if you didn't buy the stuff there, yeah. It sucks. I suspect on-mountain would be cheaper just because you'd presumably have a bunch of ski shops in most ski towns to offer some competition.

 

[badger]

Wow, that's pretty steep. I have never paid more than $40 whether or not the skis or bindings were purchased from the shop where I am having the mount. And I usually wait while they do this too.
My newest skis were mounted and waxed for $35.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I think $40 is the norm around here if you didn't buy the gear there. Usually free if you did buy the stuff on site.

 

[geargrrl]

I ply my shop guys with fresh baked goodies and keeping their zippers fixed; haven't paid for a mount or a tune in a couple or years. This works with bike shops too.

 

[Jilly]

I suppose it depends on the binding too. Do they have the jig for that make? Or do they have to do it free hand.

I can understand a shop wanting more because you didn't buy either piece there, but don't hose the customer either....

 

[bounceswoosh]

Hilariously (or tragically?), Pup's in Breck has a sign requesting cash tips rather than beer. They point out that beer does not pay the bills or fund a child's college education. I guess people can go overboard on the "thoughtful gift" approach. I guess really, beer isn't all that creative or special. I found out that a lot of these ski shop guys don't get a break for lunch because there's just too much to do over the winter, so I have taken sandwich orders on the way to picking up my skis. It was hugely appreciated.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I suppose it depends on the binding too. Do they have the jig for that make? Or do they have to do it free hand.

I can understand a shop wanting more because you didn't buy either piece there, but don't hose the customer either....

I know nothing about binding mounts. I guess I had assumed that they are all free hand. What's a jig? What does it do?

 

[Jilly]

A jig is a metal/plastic tool that is placed on the ski. It has guides for all the screw holes. Place it on the ski at the right spot. Cranked in tight and start drilling. But these things aren't free. I think our shop has about 10 different ones for different bindings and manufacturers. System bindings made it so much easier.

 

[Jilly]

Jigs!!

 

[geargrrl]

Hilariously (or tragically?), Pup's in Breck has a sign requesting cash tips rather than beer. They point out that beer does not pay the bills or fund a child's college education. I guess people can go overboard on the "thoughtful gift" approach. I guess really, beer isn't all that creative or special. I found out that a lot of these ski shop guys don't get a break for lunch because there's just too much to do over the winter, so I have taken sandwich orders on the way to picking up my skis. It was hugely appreciated.

Lunch, even better. I once gave a box of fresn, hot tamales from the Mexican deli (that were supposed to be for DH) to the uber busy staff at Mountain Gear during Xmas. Grateful was a understatement.
Here's the other thing about beer. Not all shop employess are of legal age, and not everyone drinks beer for any number of reasons. Food circumvents that.

 

[climbingbetty]

They are Tyrolia Attack 13 bindings… not so usual that I would think they don't have a jig.

Hell, the mounting for my Dynafits would only cost $40 if I could get up to Keene Valley, though once you factor in gas, that's $50, so $90 altogether.

I would think tech bindings would be way more costly then regular alpine bindings. The shop that wants $90 for the mount is under 10 miles from my house….

 

[bounceswoosh]

A jig is a metal/plastic tool that is placed on the ski. It has guides for all the screw holes. Place it on the ski at the right spot. Cranked in tight and start drilling. But these things aren't free. I think our shop has about 10 different ones for different bindings and manufacturers. System bindings made it so much easier.

Ah! This suddenly makes me feel much less worried about what will happen when I bring my bindings in to get them mounted.

 

[geargrrl]

Does a tech have to be certified somehow for binding mounts, or just trained? What about setting binding release and all that?

 

[VickiK]

My experience at Footloose, a reputable shop in Mammoth, was $40 to mount bindings, not purchased there. I ended up purchasing bindings there after all, and got them mounted for $35.

 

[frenchgirl]

Does a tech have to be certified somehow for binding mounts, or just trained? What about setting binding release and all that?

Yes techs have to be certified in all the manufacturer's bindings. Some requires yearly certifications and others every other years. The binding release is part of the certification process. They also have to be trained as well.

 

[MissySki]

They are Tyrolia Attack 13 bindings… not so usual that I would think they don't have a jig.

Hell, the mounting for my Dynafits would only cost $40 if I could get up to Keene Valley, though once you factor in gas, that's $50, so $90 altogether.

I would think tech bindings would be way more costly then regular alpine bindings. The shop that wants $90 for the mount is under 10 miles from my house….

I have the same bindings on my Chickadees and Sunday River mounted them for free for me (bought the bindings there with season pass discount, skis bought new on ebay for super awesome deal). They were not particularly different to mount or anything for the binding, and for what it's worth I love the binding- very low profile, makes me feel very connected to the ski. I think the 80 something dollar quote seems ridiculously high..

 

[altagirl]

Wow, that's pretty steep. I have never paid more than $40 whether or not the skis or bindings were purchased from the shop where I am having the mount. And I usually wait while they do this too.
My newest skis were mounted and waxed for $35.

Wow! That's cheap!

Typical charges if you didn't buy either skis or bindings from the shop are in the $65-$80 range here (and there is plenty of competition, that's just what they charge). And even mid-season (when you'd think they would be slow), I was told to expect 5 days to get my new skis mounted. They did end up doing it faster than that.

If you did buy at the shop it's usually more like $25-30. (And often free if you bought both skis and bindings at the shop) And if you know the right person, often it's the price of some of their favorite beer (this only tends to work if you actually know the person and then you'd know that they drink and what they like, and they'd have offered to mount skis for you ahead of time, etc.)

 

[pinto]

Usually $40 around here, $20 (or free) if you bought the skis and/or bindings there. But I went in to Christy Sports in fall, and they had gone up to $60, so I took my stuff over to Ski n Golf, who was still $40.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Larry's in Boulder has 24 hour hour turnaround, which is pretty sweet. But they close the same day Eldora does.