Do bindings really matter?

[badger]

So many skis, so many bindings. Have I ever been overly concerned ? Not particularly.
UNTIL THIS SEASON.
In the past I would gravitate toward light bindings assuming that the swing weight would be advantageous for this very petite skier. 5'2 @ 90 pounds most of the time. I currently own 6 pair of skis and have sold more pairs than that a few years prior.
The Look bindings are my favorites and Solomon Zti series always worked well. I've not totally grasped the whole delta angle issue so I may neglect this aspect. And to top it off, if I could get the binding to color coordinate with the ski, even better. No brainer right? UNTIL THIS SEASON.

This year I purchased a new pair of Stockli Nela 80s. I ordered the perfect binding, drove two hours to the ski shop for installation, and then they notice a small necessary piece was missing and it was not something they could replace, so I had to mount another binding, and they only had Markers and Tyrolia . No Markers for me (been there done that) The Tyrolia toe piece hung too far over the ski edge for my liking. So I went to the shop across the street. I ended up with the big clunky black Solomon Warden 11s. Yes, it's a great binding, but really ugly and bulky. Okay, I realize that sounds petty to hate the look of a binding, but for these featherweight skis I was disappointed. But I had to have bindings.
I skied those Nelas for three days and was delighted with their performance. My husband noticed a confidence in my skiing that enabled me to tackle terrain I likely would have avoided. Why am I mentioning this? Here is why: I made the assumption that the Wardens would be heavy making ungroomed snow conditions more difficult for me. At the end of this season I can honestly say I believe the extra weight of those bindings beneath my feet has been beneficial. Not to mention the design. The toe pieces ARE important in their effect upon the skis. In fact I may replace the nice light bindings I have on the Renoun Earharts with a Warden. I get so tossed around on the Earharts that the little bit of extra binding weight could well make a difference. Therefore I will say that yes, bindings should be considered with regard to the ski that will become their platform.

 

[Jenny]

And to top it off, if I could get the binding to color coordinate with the ski, even better.

I will say, I DO like that my bindings have a small purple piece the coordinates well with my skis.

 

[Peppermint]

If I were to buy bindings on looks alone, I would buy these. As someone who graduated high school in the 80's, they are pretty sweet looking.

 

[lisamamot]

I skied those Nelas for three days and was delighted with their performance

....but it is a Stockli. They are smooth like buttah.....hard to differentiate what is ski and what is binding! I have the Tyrolia AM 12 on my Stockli Stormrider Motion 85. Nothing not to love about those skis.

 

[MissySki]

....but it is a Stockli. They are smooth like buttah.....hard to differentiate what is ski and what is binding! I have the Tyrolia AM 12 on my Stockli Stormrider Motion 85. Nothing not to love about those skis.

I have demo Squires on mine since that’s what they came with, and they’re fabulous too. Haha I agree with thinking you could probably put pretty much any binding on a Stockli and it won’t matter.

 

[Iwannaski]

@badger - when I was daydream shopping for bindings for my future Earharts, I was totally looking at the Wardens b/c I think the metallic grayish blue would look good with them.

 

[elemmac]

So, what do you like? Thanks

Marker Griffons have been my binding of choice for the past 3 or 4 years. They are a *bit* heavier and harder to click into than some other models, but I love the way they ski. I’ve had an older Tyrolia Attack 12s that I really enjoyed as well. The Attacks were the bindings that gave me that “ah ha” moment, when comparing to a pair of Salomon Z10s. The Warden 13s were the one binding I’ve used that threw me off balance.

 

[contesstant]

So many skis, so many bindings. Have I ever been overly concerned ? Not particularly.
UNTIL THIS SEASON.
In the past I would gravitate toward light bindings assuming that the swing weight would be advantageous for this very petite skier. 5'2 @ 90 pounds most of the time. I currently own 6 pair of skis and have sold more pairs than that a few years prior.
The Look bindings are my favorites and Solomon Zti series always worked well. I've not totally grasped the whole delta angle issue so I may neglect this aspect. And to top it off, if I could get the binding to color coordinate with the ski, even better. No brainer right? UNTIL THIS SEASON.

This year I purchased a new pair of Stockli Nela 80s. I ordered the perfect binding, drove two hours to the ski shop for installation, and then they notice a small necessary piece was missing and it was not something they could replace, so I had to mount another binding, and they only had Markers and Tyrolia . No Markers for me (been there done that) The Tyrolia toe piece hung too far over the ski edge for my liking. So I went to the shop across the street. I ended up with the big clunky black Solomon Warden 11s. Yes, it's a great binding, but really ugly and bulky. Okay, I realize that sounds petty to hate the look of a binding, but for these featherweight skis I was disappointed. But I had to have bindings.
I skied those Nelas for three days and was delighted with their performance. My husband noticed a confidence in my skiing that enabled me to tackle terrain I likely would have avoided. Why am I mentioning this? Here is why: I made the assumption that the Wardens would be heavy making ungroomed snow conditions more difficult for me. At the end of this season I can honestly say I believe the extra weight of those bindings beneath my feet has been beneficial. Not to mention the design. The toe pieces ARE important in their effect upon the skis. In fact I may replace the nice light bindings I have on the Renoun Earharts with a Warden. I get so tossed around on the Earharts that the little bit of extra binding weight could well make a difference. Therefore I will say that yes, bindings should be considered with regard to the ski that will become their platform.

You might like the steeper delta on the Wardens. Seems weird since you have a very short BSL, but your body geometry plays into this, too. I have discovered this season that Wardens, as much as I like their performance, are not a good choice for me because of the delta.

 

[badger]

....but it is a Stockli. They are smooth like buttah.....hard to differentiate what is ski and what is binding! I have the Tyrolia AM 12 on my Stockli Stormrider Motion 85. Nothing not to love about those skis.

Yes it was a Stockli, but a Renoun ski is just as smooth. It may be that the Warden sits up a little higher on the ski, and the tad bit of weight just under my feet give me better control. Hard to say.

 

[scandium]

I didn't think bindings mattered that much until my mother had Marker Squires mounted on her last skis. They were very difficult to click into, probably not helped by the fact that she's on the lighter end of the spectrum. That experience was enough to put me off completely even though I've skied on demo Squires many a time. I've enjoyed Look Pivot 12s before (so smooth and easy to get into!) and have no complaints about my Warden MNC 11s, and my newest skis are coming mounted with Attack 11s.

 

[MissySki]

I didn't think bindings mattered that much until my mother had Marker Squires mounted on her last skis. They were very difficult to click into, probably not helped by the fact that she's on the lighter end of the spectrum. That experience was enough to put me off completely even though I've skied on demo Squires many a time. I've enjoyed Look Pivot 12s before (so smooth and easy to get into!) and have no complaints about my Warden MNC 11s, and my newest skis are coming mounted with Attack 11s.

The Squires are a VERY divisive binding! People either love them or absolutely hate them, most due to bad experiences clicking in as you mentioned. Though I had thought this was an issue less common on the newer version than years ago where it was a more prevalent complaint. I had a pair on a pair of skis from 2013 until recently and had no issue with them, I also have a new pair from last season that are super smooth and easy to get into. Oh and I do also have a pair of demo ones on my Stocklis new to me last season, no issues with that one either. I'm 5'4" 120 lbs and size 23.5 boot.

 

[scandium]

The Squires are a VERY divisive binding! People either love them or absolutely hate them, most due to bad experiences clicking in as you mentioned. Though I had thought this was an issue less common on the newer version than years ago where it was a more prevalent complaint. I had a pair on a pair of skis from 2013 until recently and had no issue with them, I also have a new pair from last season that are super smooth and easy to get into. Oh and I do also have a pair of demo ones on my Stocklis new to me last season, no issues with that one either. I'm 5'4" 120 lbs and size 23.5 boot.

Honestly, I was guilty of thinking she was complaining over nothing until I tried to click into them myself in snow that was barely ankle-deep. My mother is about 110-115lb and 5'4", and I think I've finally convinced her that her 25.5 boots are too big and that she needs to go a size down.
I think the Squires were 2018/19 model as well which I thought didn't have the clicking in problems, although I don't think we specifically checked which year they were. I've never had trouble with the demo version of Marker Squires though - also in a 23.5 boot and around 115-120lb.

 

[fgor]

Honestly, I was guilty of thinking she was complaining over nothing until I tried to click into them myself in snow that was barely ankle-deep. My mother is about 110-115lb and 5'4", and I think I've finally convinced her that her 25.5 boots are too big and that she needs to go a size down.
I think the Squires were 2018/19 model as well which I thought didn't have the clicking in problems, although I don't think we specifically checked which year they were. I've never had trouble with the demo version of Marker Squires though - also in a 23.5 boot and around 115-120lb.

I realised from looking at the photos of a bunch of skis that I've demoed, that I've been on demo griffons (and demo squires too i assume) that have a completely different heelpiece to the non-demo versions of those bindings!! I think that's why some of the demo markers have been easy to click into.

From googling I found that the demo markers have a "TCX" heel. "Actual" griffons vs demo griffons that I've been on:




Weird eh? Apparently the TCX heelpiece is much easier to get into, too.

 

[santacruz skier]

I realised from looking at the photos of a bunch of skis that I've demoed, that I've been on demo griffons (and demo squires too i assume) that have a completely different heelpiece to the non-demo versions of those bindings!! I think that's why some of the demo markers have been easy to click into.

From googling I found that the demo markers have a "TCX" heel. "Actual" griffons vs demo griffons that I've been on:
View attachment 15578
View attachment 15577
View attachment 15579

Weird eh? Apparently the TCX heelpiece is much easier to get into, too.

Did you check the weight difference?

 

[fgor]

Did you check the weight difference?

From some googling, looks like the demo griffon with the TCX heel is about 1220g per binding and the non-demo griffon (the 2021 version) is 1030g per binding.

I'm light with a small BSL so I would have assumed that I'd be one of those people struggling to click into Markers, but it turns out I might not have ever been on any that didn't have the TCX heel, so I still don't know!

 

[santacruz skier]

From some googling, looks like the demo griffon with the TCX heel is about 1220g per binding and the non-demo griffon (the 2021 version) is 1030g per binding.

I'm light with a small BSL so I would have assumed that I'd be one of those people struggling to click into Markers, but it turns out I might not have ever been on any that didn't have the TCX heel, so I still don't know!

Interesting....I’ve never had an issue with the marker squires (not demo) on my blizzard sambas but many have had major complaints. I’m super light too!

 

[WaterGirl]

Honestly, I was guilty of thinking she was complaining over nothing until I tried to click into them myself .... I think I've finally convinced her that her 25.5 boots are too big and that she needs to go a size down.

I think I've mentioned before clicking in with unbuckled boots is much harder, so too big boots may also make it harder.

 

[scandium]

I think I've mentioned before clicking in with unbuckled boots is much harder, so too big boots may also make it harder.

I definitely think this was a factor, however when we swapped skis - she had no issue with my Wardens (MNC 11) and skiied straight off on my Yumis. I clicked in but felt like I really had to stomp on the heel piece. I also came out of the bindings after failing to see a change in gradient in flat light and had to really think about getting back into them. So even though too-large boots would have been a factor, they still SUCKED to get into. Since then those skis were sold (with bindings) so the shared quiver is now 100% Volkl and highly aesthetically pleasing since they're all 2018 and 2019 models

 

[altagirl]

I switched to telemark bindings a while back, which is a whole different story, but when I was only skiing regular alpine bindings.... I'd say YES it makes a difference to me. I do think it's largely the ramp angle, and the fact that I used the same model bindings on every pair of skis for many years. I could tell a difference if I was using something else and I really didn't like it - I just felt "off". That said, I know people who are amazing skiers and can't tell a difference between any binding set up, even AT bindings. I always hated the feel of AT bindings, but... apparently I'm picky.

I'm guessing if you're using one type long enough, they will start to feel normal. Though maybe that's just me!