Thanks to Alpenglow Sports in Lake Tahoe for these photos.
I received some Dynafit spy photos from Alpenglow Sports in Lake Tahoe via Faceplant yesterday and it looks like the company is going big and burly for the 2011-12 season with the new Radical Binding series. With stiffeners, dampeners, easier entry, a new crampon attachment and climbing bar, the FT version looks wicked intense.
Most of this info is just what I can decipher from the descriptions of the photos and some of the videos on the Alpenglow Facebook Page (click here and here to check them out for yourself), but it looks like there are three models in the Dynafit Radical Binding line up and my guess that it replaces the Vertical series of the past few years. It looks like the bindings have a new metal baseplate, crampon attachment and varying levels of stack height, but all have the new climbing bar.
There seems to be much more going on with the Radical toepiece and carbon plate. It looks to have a new ergonomical lever that tapers more in the front, a beefier metal baseplate, and a larger diameter ski crampon attachment. Extra “towers” below the pins supposedly increase side impact and make getting into the binding much easier. The different models will have different amounts of stack height, which I’m not sure what to think of, but I’ve seen some home versions in the past where folks have mounted their bindings on DIY plates and the reports were promising.
What is really different, and I can’t quite figure out what’s going on with just the photos, but behind the crampon attachment, there is a white component that moves forward and back, and adds dampening or shock absorber to the binding. It also supposedly stiffens the ski and adds torsional rigidity between the carbon plate and toepiece. In the “unlock” position, the ski is allowed to flex more naturally. This is a pretty big step in the design of Dynafit bindings, where the binding attempts to improve the performance of the ski, as opposed to just being an extremely efficient boot to ski connector. Pretty cool stuff from a design perspective and I could see a lot of Marker Dukie users stepping up and making the conversion to “tech bindings” with the new offerings in the Dynafit Radical line in the Fall of 2011.
Interesting, just last week I was skiing groomers on Dynafit/Matrix/mt Baker sl and think the set up could really use some kind of shock absorbtion.
ditto m.m. i’ve ridden dynafit hard at the area before, and they can really shake the teeth out on hard, choppy snow. i like the rigidity on smooth groomers though and in the BC.
Any idea what the DIN settings of the new lineup will be?
aaron…my guess would be both 10 and 12 options…much like the current line up. i’m sure more information will be out there soon!
Steve,
Do you think you can adjust the heel riser height with a ski pole? I might be mistaken, but the riser doesn’t appear to have a notch or slot for the pole to make the adjustment…?
Put a Dr. Scholles gel insert in the bottom of your boot for shock absorption if you have the room or just heat mold your boots again with it between the liner and boot. Cut it out to fit and it will be a flat thin piece that can really help absorb shock.
toe piece hole pattern looks different too. a possible downside to those ‘towers’ could be loss of tolerance for slight error in tech fitting alignment in boots (as i have in my boots)
Regarding vibration on hp: just buy the tlt5 performance – works great as shock absorbers.
The new heel riser seems great news for shoes with more movement, as the there is an option for lower rise.
bryan…it looks to me like you just flip the heel lifters up and down with your pole….so no holes needed.
Claims that the binding will limit vibration and modify the flex of the ski, are (as per the nonsense they claimed about the linkage plate on the the F12) just sales voodoo to expand their market share. Are we next going to see integrated crystals and magnets to appeal to the new age crowd? Other than durability issues with the rear binding, the current binding is a model of simplicity and functionality. Why complicate?
stewart…have you seen the binding or heard from someone about it? i agree the current FT linkage doesn’t add more than cosmetics to the binding…but next years looks quite a bit more complex.
Shock absorbers??? WTF?
brian…maybe dampeners…more than shock abosorbers??
Steve,
In most standard alpine ski bindings, the boot can minimally limit the flex of the ski. Many binding manufacturers have played around with eliminating this limitation, and even with using elaborate mechanisms modify the flex of the ski. But from my experience (Over the years I’ve tried the Salomon, Ess, Fritschi, Marker and Tyrolia systems) and observations of the binding choices of professional and competition skiers (nobody uses them), their effect is mostly imperceptible in real skiing conditions, and they certainly don’t improve one’s skiing. Dynafit bindings don’t limit the flex of the ski by design (the rear binding pins allow fore/aft movement), so the only effect this new design “could” have would be to stiffen the ski’s designed flex under the foot. Why you would want to do this is not clear to me, and given what I know from how ineffective much burlier alpine binding systems have been, I’m confident that Dynafit’s lightweight system (that I’ve just seen in pictures) is just a gimmick for people who love gadgets, looking to buy a solution to a problem that can only really be addressed with technique and fitness.
To me the white piece that slides back in forth almost looks like its a shim to prevent the bellows flex in the TLT boots (but maybe its too far forward for that…) like the ones scarpa has that slide into the crampon attachment point for the F1 and F3. If this heel piece works well, I would actually consider using dynafit brakes because it would resolve the issue of the heel piece being hard to rotate between different touring modes with the brakes in place.
Looks lika a copy of a G3 Onyx toepiece!?
Mike…except that it claims to be a true step-in binding.
And btw…who copied who? Aren’t all “tech” bindings a copy of the dynafit system?
[…] spent a good amount of time looking at all the new Dynafit products. We touched base on the Radical bindings already, but the new boots look great as well. The new Titan Ultralight ($869) has some carbon […]
any word on ski trab’s binding around OR?
I’m in the market for a Dynafit binding right now, but this offering has me considering waiting to pull the trigger until I can get ahold of the “Radical”. I see the ‘fall 2009’ timeframe mentioned above; does anyone know exactly when these are slated to be released?
Make that ‘fall 2011’…
matt…typically the fall lines come out in oct or nov. hard to say when this new radical binding will come off the production line though…since it’s new, but i bet it is delivered on time.
[…] couple weeks ago, I was able to do a fair bit of ski touring on the new 2011 Dynafit Radical FT binding due out this fall. Dynafit touts the Radical FT as a true step-in tech binding and includes […]