UKC

I bought some new touring skis from Sport Conrad in October and have used them for approximately 12 days skiing and 2 days touring.

There seems to be an issue with the way that the binding is mounted. There must be some kind of flex in the system because the when in ski mode the binding is removing the lacquer from the top of ski at the point where the binding rests on the ski. This is happening to both skis and is definitely related to skiing downhill rather than touring as the damage was present prior to me using them for touring.

The skis are K2 Waybacks with Fritschi Scout bindings. Sport Conrad did the mounting. I'm trying to work out whether it's an issue with the ski, the binding or the way they are mounted - at the moment Sport Conrad, K2 and Fritschi are all saying it's not their problem.

Photos of the damage available here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73134930@N08/

In reply to spragglerocks:
What binding do k2 recommend? Are the skis so light this is inevitable?

In reply to spragglerocks:

The topsheets of k2 touring skis are often as tough and wear resistant as butter. Mine have got dynafiddles on so they don't have the exact same damage as yours, but they've picked up far more cuts, dents and gouges in the topsheet than my downhill skis which get more use and abuse.

I wouldn't worry about it a whole lot... try sticking some tape over the worn area (if you can find some tape that sticks will to the topsheets!) and you'll be fine. It'll take a lot of wear to actually expose the inner layers of the ski, which might never happen anyway.

I think the soft stuff is low-grade p-tex (though I'm not 100% certain) so you could repair it with clear base-repair materials, if it bothered you enough.

In reply to wbo:

There don't seem to be any recommendations from K2 as to what binding to use. Sport Conrad claim to never have seen this issue before so no I don't think that the ski is so light it's inevitable.

I've also spoken to Backcountry in Ilkley and they've never heard of it either.

In reply to Shearwater:

I'm more annoyed that having spend £400 on a new setup that it's unlikely to last very long.

I know lots of people with Waybacks fitted with dynafits and with more use they have no damage like this.

In reply to spragglerocks:
I have the same skis with the eagle binding, no sign of that wear on mine, have both of them done it, not picked up some grit on the bottom of the binding or something weird ?

Have you got the length adjustment right, set the length until it fits properly then with the boot boot out and wind the screw until its flush with the end of the hole, might be a bit of forward or backwards play in it if its too small/big, might be nothing like that but worth checking

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Thanks - all the adjustments are fine, had them checked in Sanglard in Chamonix before I used them. I'm starting to regret going for the Scouts. They mount on the ski in a different way and that seems to be what the problem is.

In reply to spragglerocks:

They mount the same as the eagle dont they ?

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

I don't think so - don't the eagles have a metal plate at the front - these are just plastic. http://www.diamir.com/produkte/

My hunch is that there is some kind of flex in the set up that allows the red bit of plastic at the back of the binding to rub on the top of the ski when I'm skiing downhill. It's pretty hard plastic. I assume that the metal mounting plate of the Eagle and Freeride Pro means this is less likely.

No real idea though!

In reply to spragglerocks:


It isn't immediately fatal damage, and there's no reason why a few pennies worth of tape won't sort the problem out.

Its unfortunate, but it isn't catastrophic.

In reply to spragglerocks:

Heel piece is the same though, i can't see there being any front back play in the system, so in summary no idea !

Have you been blasting down pistes in them carving, scouts are not really that kind of binding....

As above, bit of tape, sorted.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Mainly off piste - there aren't many pistes in La Grave

In reply to spragglerocks:

Certainly looks consistent with a longitudinal flex (i.e. along the length of the ski), i.e. the bar the heel mounting runs on is rotating relative to the ski surface when it is loaded during turns.
Scouts have quite a narrow front (and rear) mounting relative to Eagles or Freerides so it is not surprising that they are not as torsionally stiff.

It does look spectacular, though hopefully having some sacrificial tape in those locations will stop it from becoming a structural problem (i.e. replace the tape as it wears out).

My new touring setup consists of Eagles on K2 Backups, so I'll have to see how they wear when they get some proper downhill use!

PP.

In reply to spragglerocks:

Errmmm... just a thought... is the stuff that's peeling off actually the lacquer, or is it a protective polythene film that should have been taken off before/after the bindings were mounted...?

From the pictures, it looks like it's a pretty thin film that's peeling.

I don't have experience of how skis are supplied to the shop, but plenty of electrical, domestic fittings and sheet materials have transit protection film of this sort, intended to be peeled off after installation (think smartphone/tablet screens, etc; there's even a scene referring to an iPhone 'peel moment' in an episode of TBBT...).

In reply to spragglerocks:

Doesn't look like a big deal, probably just the specific combination of binding and ski. Soft top sheet and the binding flexing to mark it, just stick a bit of duct tape over the affected area to give it a bit of extra protection.

In reply to Ben Briggs:

To all the helpful people that think it's no big deal - thanks. As it happens Sport Conrad have agreed to replace the skis so I'm happy.

In reply to spragglerocks:

If you ever have any troubles like this again regarding mounting, id recomend speaking to anything technical in kendal. They are the daimair fritchi suppliers for the uk. Very good guys to speak to on all things mounting!

In reply to RichardAWatson:

Can't comment on the specifics of this case but I've consulted Anything Technical a few times and they've been brill.