old bindings, what to do?

[Bud]

Picked up some cheap Powder Pluses for my girlfriend. Boards are in fantastic shape but the bindings are another issue...

The boards currently have some ancient Atomic Xentrix 310 bindings on VAR demo plates. Shrinking the demo plates down as small as they go, it looks like it'll just work with her boot, though the center mark of the boot is about 1cm forward of the mounting line on the ski. I took the skis to a local shop and due to the age of the bindings, they said they wouldn't confirm if her boot is seated correctly in the binding.

One of the bindings has some rather suspicious cracks around the heel din screw...is this binder about the catastrophically fail if taken out to the hill and skied on?



- Is there a current, and relatively cheap, Atomic binding made that'll slide into the VAR plates so a remount isn't necessary?

- Are they gonna ski noticeably worse being slightly forward of center or will she not even be able to tell?

...Odds are if she likes the skis, they'll be getting Fritchis put on 'em, but I was just kind of curious what we could do so she could at least try out the skis without going through the hassle of a remount.

Thanks!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I highly doubt that the bindings will blow up. Smack em with a hammer a few times, if they don't fall apart I am guessing they will be ok until you mount up something better.

[Voltron]

I don't think those bindings aren't that old. The current Atomic race bindings are of the similar design. More info if you put a pic of the whole binding.

[Bud]

here's a pic of the whole binding


this is how much of the toe i could get into the binding with it dialed down as small as the demo plate will go



and here's the heel...





think the binding was able to get small enough to hold the boot? i'd feel like a real tool if two turns into her first run on these things they prerelease.

[Nathan Explosion]

Those binders aren't that old, and look to be in pretty good shape. Lower DIN version of what I have on my Big Daddies.

[Bud]

thanks... the fella at the shop said "i've seen those bindings explode and the springs fly outta tthem before when they get cracks like that"

I don't know shit about alpine bindings (only have rando bindings on my own skis), but hearing that from the shop tech when he saw these atomic bindings kinda worried me.

[Duker]

Those bindings actually do have tendency to break. usually though it is when skied hard by heavier skiers and a significant amount of days the heel piece kind of just gives up and loses its spring. If she is small and not hucking on these skis I think you will be fine. If you want to err on the side of safe... score some cheap rossi or solomons

[Woodsie]

Personally I wouldn't trust it. This range of Atomic bindings was made out of a particularly brittle plastic. I had a set of the higher DIN version mounted on some GS11. I already hated them. The flat heel piece is difficult to click off without fiddling around with your stocks, and they are rubbish on powder days as even the slightest dusting of snow on the bottom of your boot and they won't click in. Had the heel block split nearly in half while I was skiing. Hit a bump and suddenly found myself skiing at speed on one ski.

When I took them into the shop, which sees a lot of Atomic gear, they said that this was a common problem with these bindings. They replaced them with a newer set. These where better in the powder and a more solid feeling binding. But my trust levels for this style of binding from Atomic has been destroyed forever.

[Nathan Explosion]

I can't really speak to breakage. I have the 10.18 version, the parts which seem to break are metal on mine.

[robbie]

I had these exact bindings, bought them in 1999. After the first season they broke and were replaced by Atomic. The binders seemed OK, but the fault showed up when the binders were checked in the test machine in the shop.
I never really liked them, but that's just personal.

So: Have them tested for the proper release torque in the shop by a good mechanic, before you ski them. They should be fine then.

[Vitamin I]

Bud, first you need to identify this model's proper forward pressure indicator. The appearance of the boot/binding interfaces is usually NOT a proper indicator.

Does your 310 have the same forward pressure indicator screw as the higher-DIN models? (See yellow arrow in photo) If there's no screw head there, then look for anything in that area that could be an indicator (little lines like a ruler, or a groove, etc. that could possibly move relative to the housing).


Let me know what indicator is there, and then I'll type out some instructions which might save you from having to redrill the toe piece back about 1.5-2.5cm, but for now I'll start with a warning:

RULE #1: DO NOT TURN THAT FW PRESSURE SCREW WHILE BOOT IS IN BINDING, OR ELSE STRIPPING MIGHT OCCUR. So, just eject the boot whenever you want to play with that screw.

RULE #2: Do not force that screw further when heel piece is maximally forward (i.e. even if boot is out, if heel piece's forward motion is blocked by brake housing plastic, or some kind of stopper at the front end of the heel track, stripping might occur).

.