forward / backward flexibility of bindings?

[Horton]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the forward / backward flexibility of bindings? There was a time when everyone in SoCal was cutting up their SkiTec boots so they could flex back more  -  then everyone seemed to change thier mind about if it was a good idea.

 

Anyone?

[Horton]

That is front flex  . . . what about backward direction?

[Chuck_Dickey]

When I was back at Chet's last year, I saw Wim DeCree and Chet Raley both bolted the upper cuff to the lower shell in the achilles area of the boot.  It would not flex forward or backwards any more than the flex of the plastic itself. Chet uses the shorter cuff on his front FM boot. I have a picture of Chet's setup on the Warp7, but it's too big for me to post. I came home and tried it but it didn't feel great.  Not sure if I  had enough or too much forward press.

Remi @ Reflex recommends the cutting the cuff shorter for slalom, I've got a pic of Remi showing where to cut the upper cuff.

[Horton]

When I first tried the RS-1 I was worred about the fact that they are so much stiffer ( backwards) than my Wileys. After 4 sets it is not an issue at all. Happier every set.

[Chuck_Dickey]

"Chet may just be trying to prevent the same thing that was happening with mine. I guess the only way to know for sure is to ask Chet."

Wim DeCree has a totally different system and does the same bolting 

[Bruce_Butterfield]

The folks in SoCal have always been a little strange. I can't think of any good reason or situation where you would want to bend your leg back. That would really create unbalance on the ski.

My normal bindings allow quite a bit of forward flex for easy knee bend. However, I did try bolting my hardshells with the cuffs forward for a set about 2 years ago. Canadian Dave Miller showed me what he did to his bindings and he swore by that to force the knees forward. Like every other adjustment there was good and bad points. I found that with the knees forced forward, the ski tip stayed down in the preturn, but tended to wheelie at the completion of the turn. I probably could have played with that more and made some binding position or fin adjustments, or just gotten used to it, but didn't have the time to tinker with it then.

Either forward flexibility or locking the upper cuff forward are the better options. Of course, with bindings there is a huge amount of personel preference for what one skier will like vs another. Experimenting is the only way to find out.

[Horton]

I should always be driving forward. When I am tired or in trouble I tend to push the ski forward by straightening my legs right after the apex. If there is no backwards flex in the bindings and I try to push the ski out front I will run out of flex and end up pulling the tip of the ski up.

It took a number of sets in the RS-1 to stop doing this and now it is not an issue. I guess the new bindings have broken me of a bad habit. I am pretty happy with my early season skiing so what the heck.