No bullshit Shift thread

Personally I have not been a fan. I used them for a full season two winters ago and always either had issues with the AFD's or the brake locking mechanism. Keep in mind I had a first year production model and hopefully they've refined them a bit over two years. The AFD would always somehow lower itself while skiing hard inbounds, granted I adjusted it frequently because I had separate touring/inbounds boots that winter but thats no excuse for it moving around on me. I also had a somewhat frequent issue with the the brake locking mechanism coming loose then causing the brakes to go back down while skinning. This only happened on steeper/tighter kick turns really but that's probably the main instance where you definitely don't want to have to be reaching down to fix it.

These seemed to be known problems when asking around and maybe they've fixed it but I probably won't try it again anytime soon. I also prefer to not have to take my skis off at the top, and just rip my skins off with skis still on so the shift is out for me. I've been very happy with the Tecton 12 since then, and while even that has had some durability concerns from some folks, I have had none and Fritschi's customer service is always spot on. I'd also be happy on a kingpin as well, but I like that the Tecton has elasticity in the toe for a better release. The Tecton is also lighter than both the kingpin/shift so that's a win!

.nastyPersonally I have not been a fan. I used them for a full season two winters ago and always either had issues with the AFD's or the brake locking mechanism. Keep in mind I had a first year production model and hopefully they've refined them a bit over two years. The AFD would always somehow lower itself while skiing hard inbounds, granted I adjusted it frequently because I had separate touring/inbounds boots that winter but thats no excuse for it moving around on me. I also had a somewhat frequent issue with the the brake locking mechanism coming loose then causing the brakes to go back down while skinning. This only happened on steeper/tighter kick turns really but that's probably the main instance where you definitely don't want to have to be reaching down to fix it.

These seemed to be known problems when asking around and maybe they've fixed it but I probably won't try it again anytime soon. I also prefer to not have to take my skis off at the top, and just rip my skins off with skis still on so the shift is out for me. I've been very happy with the Tecton 12 since then, and while even that has had some durability concerns from some folks, I have had none and Fritschi's customer service is always spot on. I'd also be happy on a kingpin as well, but I like that the Tecton has elasticity in the toe for a better release. The Tecton is also lighter than both the kingpin/shift so that's a win!

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. They are a good binding but CAST is better IMO, and its cheaper if you have pivots already. If you want a more dedicated touring binding I recommend either the Vipec, Tecton, or Kingpin.

Shift is marketed as a one binding to rule them all but really it’s pretty niche. For that niche rule it’s awesome

it’s too heavy / one riser / hard to transition for a long days dedicated touring set up. It’s too fiddly for putting on your only inbounds daily driver. Mostly because it has to be set up perfectly with no snow on boot when you step in BUT you can’t kick the crap out of it to get snow off so it’s generally annoying. Switching boots is also super annoying.

IMO it’s great if you already have a dedicated inbounds and want to do shorter backcountry days when you ski hard or use it to skin up the resort or do a lot of side country / resort combo days

I skied mine a shit ton inbounds last season and it worked just like any other alpine binding, granted it was not a first year production model. I didn’t tour a lot so it made perfect sense for me. I’m touring more this season so I moved to a Tecton 12 but for someone who might only do like 5-10 tours in a season the Shift is perfect.

.nastyPersonally I have not been a fan. I used them for a full season two winters ago and always either had issues with the AFD's or the brake locking mechanism. Keep in mind I had a first year production model and hopefully they've refined them a bit over two years. The AFD would always somehow lower itself while skiing hard inbounds, granted I adjusted it frequently because I had separate touring/inbounds boots that winter but thats no excuse for it moving around on me. I also had a somewhat frequent issue with the the brake locking mechanism coming loose then causing the brakes to go back down while skinning. This only happened on steeper/tighter kick turns really but that's probably the main instance where you definitely don't want to have to be reaching down to fix it.

These seemed to be known problems when asking around and maybe they've fixed it but I probably won't try it again anytime soon. I also prefer to not have to take my skis off at the top, and just rip my skins off with skis still on so the shift is out for me. I've been very happy with the Tecton 12 since then, and while even that has had some durability concerns from some folks, I have had none and Fritschi's customer service is always spot on. I'd also be happy on a kingpin as well, but I like that the Tecton has elasticity in the toe for a better release. The Tecton is also lighter than both the kingpin/shift so that's a win!

Yeah just got a Tecton this season dummy stoked on it

No bullshit I have loved mine.

Fixed the afd issues in a couple days and they’ve been rad to ride and tour on for the last two seasons.

Maybe I’ve been lucky, mine are a first year model and they’ve held up on my Kartel 108s that I ride everywhere. Ridden through lots of chop and crud, dropped cliffs and lapped the park and have had less prerelease issues than on my old jesters.

For touring, I think it makes a difference that I’ve got 100 brakes on my 108s and maybe because of that they don’t really catch when uphilling. Icing is annoying after a couple transitions but easy enough to clear out. One riser is a fine but another lower one would be nice.

I think I’d go cast for this 50/50 setup if I had a do-over, but not for any significant reason other than proven durability of metal pivots and downhill consistency with my resort skis.