Member of the Month

theabortionator
April, 2025

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Combining Different Binding toes and heels

profile picture
Distancedave
Posts: 22 - Karma: 42
Hi,

I know this idea voids any warranties, isn't safe for releases, and no insurance will cover me after an accident, but has anyone tried combining toes and heels of different touring bindings? How did it work out and which ones were combined?

I had the idea of combining the toes of a Fritschi Vipec and heels of any other lighter heel piece with the same pin system (so not U pins). I found the following photo online, so if anyone has more infos about this, I'd be very interested how it worked out.

Reason why I'm looking into this:
The heel pieces of the Vipec are terrible, but obviously they're toes are the only ones on the market with horizontal release and proper elasticity with pins. The plastic on the heels has broken so many times and they sometimes randomly slide backwards into touring mode which releases my heel. Their heel piece wasn't the lightest to begin with so other pin type heels will just could the setup a bit lighter and most other brands use metal heels (obviously better).

Thanks
POLL
Edit Poll
Votes:

Take care when editing a poll; Options should be similar to maintain vote integrity.

More options will be added automatically as you type. You must supply a question and at least two options. No HTML is allowed.

3 years ago
3 2
profile picture
soupcan
Posts: 364 - Karma: 562
Out of curiosity why not just the whole tecton binding? According to fritschi there is only a 50 gram weight penalty.
3 years ago
1 0
profile picture
animator
Posts: 4576 - Karma: 26,422
What’s your biggest concern here? Is it safety? Obviously you’re a fucking idiot if you think two different bindings are gonna be safer, the only reason I ask is because that’s why most people opt for the Vipec/Tecton. If you’re so concerned about toe elasticity and toe release, but you’re willing to put an entirely different heel on your skis you’re actually an idiot.

As for the actual act of doing this, it’s been done. People used to do it a lot when tech bindings first came around since they all had different issues. It makes 0 sense and it’s not a good idea. If you’re so concerned about safety, get a Shift or a Duke PT or pony up for a CAST Freetour. No amount of combining different bindings (regardless of their toe elasticity/release/whatever else) is going to be anywhere as safe as even riding a normal pin binding that’s not combined with something else.
3 years ago
1 0
profile picture
Distancedave
Posts: 22 - Karma: 42
@Soupcan, the fritschi would be my first choice but it's way too expensive for me. I have a vipec and an old g3 ion laying around so just wondered what people thought about combining those. Pretty resounding no.

@animator, thanks for being so aggressive.... I'm not that concerned with safety seeing as the alternative is bigger and heavier bindings like the ones you mentioned or pulling the toes up on most lighter tech bindings. I don't want anything heavy on this pair of skis. I'm more interested in how unsafe it is. For example will it never release properly, will it release normally 50% of the time, or will it release normally 99% of the time. I guess only someone who has tried it can really tell me what they've observed.

Thanks anyway for the poll.
3 years ago
0 0
profile picture
HypeBeast
Posts: 10033 - Karma: 75,861
DistancedaveFor example will it never release properly, will it release normally 50% of the time, or will it release normally 99% of the time. I guess only someone who has tried it can really tell me what they've observed.

Wrong. The only way you'd know for sure about a failure rate would be with a scientific study performed hundreds or thousands of times...which will never happen and even then, the data would be limited in its real world applications.

This sounds like a stupid fucking idea. I opened the thread thinking it was some kid asking about different bindings of the same model but just color or year differences. Nope ur talking literally two different bindings altogether.
3 years ago
2 0
profile picture
-eREKTion-
Posts: 1632 - Karma: 10,987
Beyond safety, all bindings have differences on ramp height, angle, and elasticity. Even subtle differences between slightly different bindings might create a huge problem in the feel. I wouldn’t do it.
3 years ago
1 0
profile picture
dolanslebensraum
Posts: 5959 - Karma: -13,094
Its like putting different sized wheels/tires on the front and rear of a car. You can do it but youll look like an imbecile.
3 years ago
1 0
All times are Eastern (-4); Currently it's 2:51PM