UKC

Hi,

I have a pair of Garmont Radiums that have served me well over the last three winters. I switched to Dynafit bindings last winter and consistently found it more difficult to click into the bindings with my left boot. The left ski also released when I didn’t want it to a few times, which was annoying.

I've never managed to get to the bottom of why this was happening, but I’ve just looked at both boots and have realised that the toe of my left boots sits a lot lower than the right boot. So much so that the lugs at the the toe on the left boot – the one with the problem – are 3mm lower than the lugs on the right boot.

Looking at the soles, and measuring the depth of tread remaining on each boot’s sole with a tyre tread depth guage there’s no difference. However, looking at the profile of each boot as they stand on the ground, the left boot doesn’t curve up at the toe nearly as much as the right one. I can only guess that the way I walk has caused this. My biomechanics haven’t been very symmetrical for the last ten years since I smashed my right ankle and I’ve always placed a lot more weight on my left side when I walk: all my shoes tell that story.

Anyway, my main question is:


I was just going to build up a layer of duck tape on the appropriate area of the left ski to raise the left boot’s lugs up the 3mm I need to match the height of the lugs on the right boot.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions they could give, that would ge great.

Thanks in advace….

In reply to roryifinlay:

sounds like your boot sole has got worn from walking etc over 3 years ?

usually you can just replace the toe piece - but with Garmonts i think you need a whole new boot sole... recall one of my friends resoled some radiums last winter - cairngorm granite is tough on them!

word is that Garmont switched to vibram soles for next winter (longer wearing than skywalk soles apparently)

In reply to roryifinlay:
Err, that's not Rory Finlay just retired from Chx is it, and Haggistrap of Glencoe (in)fame? I feel this conversation could have been done on FB....
Anyway, give Garmont an email, they have excellent afterservice and will no doubt be able to advise. The only way there should be a difference in height is if the sole has worn, otherwise either the boot was made wonky or its deformed and probably shouldn't be used
If the sole has worn away, you can get the boots re-soled, though I've no idea who in the UK would do it.
Replacing the dynafit inserts is near impossible (though I've seen pictures of a Scarpa Denali that was retro-fitted with them, no idea why they didn't buy a better boot)
The dynafit toe lugs are all that supports the boot, the sole (at the front) shouldn't make contact with the binding (once it's fired into place obviously)so I don't think building up with duct tape would work, as a not ideal stop gap I'd just help the boot in by pulling up the toe leaver as I step in.
Hope this helps

In reply to roryifinlay:

I don't see why having less depth on the sole of the left boot would cause the problem with the Dynafir toepiece, unless the inserts had somehow become unaligned. I suspect the problem is with the Dynafit toepiece. Sometime the spring doesn't fully engage in the filed if there has been ice buildup in the wee well under the spring. This can be prevented by liberal application of a silicon based grease. If the problem you're experiencing occurs when the ski is dry, perhaps some heather or other gunk has got into the well and is stopping the spring fully engaging?

Otherwise, try some other Dynafit compatible boots with that toepiece in a shop and see if there is any difference in how it clicks.

Just some thoughts.

In reply to roryifinlay: I had a similar problem a few years ago - it turned out it was a boot fault and the manufacturer (not Garmont) replaced the boot.
With Dynafit bindings the boot should only contact the binding at the insert, so don't try the duct tape fix! Some people have problems caused by over thick soles touching the binding, but excessive sole wear shouldn't be a problem.
It's easy to check whether it's a binding issue by swapping skis - if it's always the left boot that releases then it's not the binding at fault.

In reply to roryifinlay:

Thanks for the replies guys. You're right Mr GDP, I guess this could have been done on Facebook!

From what you've all said, I think the issue is with the shape of sole of the boot itself. If I could post pictures, it would be quite clear what the difference in the boots is. It's a bit of an odd one in that if I stick the boots on a worktop, the toe end facing me, then get my eyes level with the toe, you can see the difference in height of the toe end of each boot's sole quite clearly. If I stick the end of a finger under the end of the left boot to nudge it upwards then the heights match.


craigloon, and grahamF - I've ruled out the toe piece being an issue by swapping the skis around and it's definitely always the left boot that I have bother clicking in with


The duct tape would just be on the ski to help clicking in to the toe piece - so that I could weight the trigger properly - but I agree it's not really the ideal solution. I'll get in touch with Garmont and see what they have to say because it's a new pair of boots that I need I think.


I'll post back with an update!

In reply to roryifinlay:

^ one of my mates resoled some Radiums last year.
Garmont were happy to post out some new soles for circa £30.
However he couldnt find a ski shop in the UK to do the job.
From memory Garmont then just told him what glue to use (basically some super glue variant!). Will find out details...