HO EXO Binding FAILURE

[kentmillecam]

Two years ago I broke my ankle when I hit a buoy and my bindings did not release.  I continue to fatigue and hurt my ankle in forward fall accidents when the bindings do not release.

After hearing HO's sales pitch about the EXO and how it is "safe" and will release on forward falls, I was sold.  My local dealer mounted everything up and away I went hoping to be injury free.  I took a forward fall the first week and the system released a little late, but not bad.  Then, three weeks ago I took another forward fall.  The EXO bindings released late and in the process completely bent the rail that the boots attach to.  The rail was bent to a 45 degree angle.  Of course, this completely trashed my front AND rear ankles.  I've never had rear ankle problems, but I do now!

 The dealer and I have both emailed HO pictures of the rail.  It's been three weeks and neither the dealer or myself have heard a thing or had ANY response from HO.  There are some serious issues with this binding and HO doesn't want to talk about it.  Be careful if you're on this system or you plan on purchasing it.

 I'm not the kind of guy that usually goes public when I have product issues.  But, when a manufacturer won't respond for three weeks and there is this major of an issue with the product, others should know about it!

[Andre]

What speed and lenght were you running?What was your setting and how much do you weight?

There is no 100% safe bindings...

Sorry about your injury.Ski partner got them and took 2 nasty fall recently.Release was perfect for him...

[ForrestGump]

A product should not be defective, though.  This is not the first rail I've heard has bent in this same manner.

[Andre]

Did it bend because it didn't release?

[clemsondave]

A friend of mine bent his slightly and broke off the piece on the front of the rail. Don't have details of the fall.

[Than_Bogan]

Hm, bending like that should have absorbed a lot of energy -- energy that DIDN'T go toward hurting you.

Is it your belief that bend made your injury worse?  If so, how?

(Not doubting; just looking for info.)

[Bud Man]

I think the VP of sales is a stand up guy. Try calling CJ Vlahovich at HO but email him the picture first so he will know what is going on when you call him. cj@hosports.com Phone # 1800 938-4040 Good luck.

[LeonL]

I made a post a couple of weeks ago about an EXO failure.  No injury, just the front plastic piece on the rail broke off on a medium fall. 

[h2oskier_sd]

I went out the front on my first release when i blew the fin out and trashed my ankle and achilles on front foot. dammage to heel release, deformed release but no bent rail. i noticed that the plastic clips were a weak point as there are tiny little screws giong into them, very weak. I will be ditching them and giong back to my reflex system, better release mech. and for 12 years no ankle injuries. the only reason i switched is I thought it would be safer with both feet coming out at the same time, and in theory it should. Everything was set to factory specs and I should have been ok with a "c"  but it took a ton of force to finally  pop out. Interesting that is the same setting for me, 5'11" 210 lbs was the same for a 175 lb skier! What? I dont think their release is fine tuned enough to fit that range of skier weight. Very disappointed in my return on investment.

[bhs]

Don't Will Asher and April Coble ski on Reflex?

[wtrskii3156]

I talked to the HO guys at their tent for quite a bit this week at nationals about the bindings. They designed the front plastic piece as a fail-safe, designed to fail if the tip of the ski is caught in the water and the ski is ripped underneath of the skier. They did say they are finding more of the pieces breaking than intended. They also commented on the stiffness of the aluminum bar. They claim they made it this way so the flex of the ski is not affected when the bindings are attached. (Notice how the bar is flexed when laid on the ski, versus when the release is engaged.) I am seriously considering giving these bindings a try. They are the only system that has been entirely designed by waterskiers for waterskiers.

[paulh1921]

Hello all - my name is Paul and I work for HO.  I sent the originator of this post my contact info to send him a new bar.  Although this is a rare problem, our customer service team has been instructed to replace bars if this should happen at no charge to you, our phone number is 1-800-938-4646.  Please do not assume we have major issues with this system because that is just not the case.  Many people are skiing very well in these bindings and any delay in communication is simply a bi-product of our busy season.  Granted 3-weeks is way to long and I apologize to everyone for that, although I do not know the exact circumstances of the contact.  We will do our best to keep everyone on the water and take care of any problems or questions that arise.  Please feel free to contact me at paulh@hosports.com

[ForrestGump]

"They are the only system that has been entirely designed by waterskiers for waterskiers. "

wtrskii3156, I'm curious how you came up with this? Who do you think designed the RS1/Strada binding and the Prodigy binding?

[slow]

A lot of failures and injuries for such a short time on the market. Just saying

[sjholbert]

It IS the case that there are major problems with this system.  Just in my local area I know of 9 broken or bent bars.  One young man bent/broke 5 bars himself and on the 5th one he shattered his ankle and now has plates and screws.  One hour later in the same tournament another person took a similar over the front, the bar bent in exactly the same way and he tore a ligament in his ankle. Sure, no binding is completely safe, but the number of bent/broken bars is excessive. Something is wrong. I would not use these bindings. 

[paulh1921]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I won't comment on those.  My earlier post was to interject my apologies for the delay in response and mention that the delay was not because we're trying to keep quiet about anything.  I'm offering to help anyone who has an equipment issue get back on the water.  Happy skiing to everyone - PH

[MattP]

bhs - Will Asher has been using the Reflex system with a RTP and April Coble uses it with a rear Wileys binding I believe.

[aguylikeshark]

Skiers were breaking Fog plates 1/4" thick aluminum in half. The force of the heels coming upward as a ski blows out in hard shortline turn is HUGE. In our early protos I snapped a thick polycarb plate at 35 off - it was like a gun shot BANG. (But felt good). If you ski longer lines & slower speed there is much less force delivered at the ball. Going OTF at the wakes not such a big deal either. But short lines and fast speeds there is a ton of energy being put down to the ski at the ball - then the fin can let go. So the connect between the boots needs to be flexible or come apart as we have in our Dual Sole system.

PS: Will uses the first gen Ski tech boot, a 404 Silvretta release, Intuition liner and a modified plates - all painted flat black. Not a Reflex. You can't buy it. Probably built up with the help of KLP. I am surprised the boot stays on the ski. Not much heel contact there so for our single boots we widen the heel platform and toe connection for better stability.

[kentmillecam]

I started this string and would like to answer some of the questions some of you have brought up.  I was skiing 34mph @28 off when the accident happened.  It was over the front on my offside turn.  I have released out of the binding twice before the accident in the same fall.  Once at 22 off and once at 28 off.  HO says I should have the setting on "C".  Because of my front ankle problems, I put it on "B", which is supposed to release MUCH sooner and easier than the "C".  The bend in the rail happened after it released.  The rear released, then the rail bent, causing a NEW rear ankle problem. AND Paul at HO, what are you using to contact me to replace my rail?  Because I've heard nothing from you other than your comments in this string. My email is millecam@gmail.com   Thanks ya'll!

[h2oshredder]

I had the exos for just a couple months.  After quite a few adjustments with the fin, I ended up loving them. Even though i ended up bending the bar a total of four times (from hitting the bouy) and broke off the tip once, i refused to get off of them because of how well i was skiing and i did not see any danger.  Then, in the CO state champs, i blew out the tail of the ski while rounding 5 at 35, 36mph.  Now ive got 5 screws and a plate in my ankle.  Literally 30 minutes after i broke my ankle, the other guy in Colorado who had exos tore his achilles.  After plenty of time to think what went wrong, the main reason is in a forward fall like mine, the front will not be able to realease, even when the back does.  This places all the load on the front leg, more than my tibia could take.

HO was originally sympathetic at regionals.  Unfortunately they said that they wont be taking these bindings off the market because, well, they havent made a single binding yet that hasnt broken someone's ankle.  So now there coming out with stiffer bars to increase safety.  I imagine that will make things worse.  My advice, stay clear off these cool looking ankle breakers

[Thomas Wayne]

The engagement socket and the nose piece (on the front of the bar) is incorrectly designed - I noticed this the first time I examined a set at Miami Ski Nautique last spring.  Forward force is likely to cause a jamming action that leaves no other choice but a bent bar and/or an injured skier.  If they go to a stronger bar and don't fix the poorly-designed front engagement device they are simple being negligent - IMO, of course.

TW

[Deanoski]

Reflex rules!!!  animal or wiley rear

[chris carter]

a pair of soft wileys with orthotics to give edge control will come out. ....use the soft rubber they offer. i have also  added a low plastic piece ankle bone high for further edge control, but they feel great with the orthotic, come out easy when i finishe skiing and I dont worry about all this fancy design stuff that may or may not work.

my performance is the same as when i used power shell....proof enough for me. being a failed test with a broken ankle is not good skiing.

[19skier]

I have been loving Exo's since going to them after a couple of ankle/foot repairs - until last week. Bent the bar, really wrecked my front foot, achillies and ankle. Seems like the front clip holding the forces for too long may be the bad. I am wondering about a small plate with dual-loc instead of the clip setup? I have never used dual-loc so would like some input from dual-loc users. Any other ideas for getting a cleaner release from sheer force at the front of the bar? I still like keeping feet together and not having to come out of boots so would like to make the Exo system work better for me. Thanks.

 

[jayski]

They can't be safe, when the two contact points (front and back) move closer together because of the ski flexing in the turn how does it compensate for the added pressure on the rail? Probably works fine any place the ski isn't flexed to that extent...