Good While They Last, But They Don't Last

By Scott Pendleton Ranked #30 - Alpine Touring Bindings March 17, 2010

I was happy with these bindings until recently. After three years of relatively light use (maybe 80 days total) they developed significant play in the front pivot, making them almost useless on the uphill; they wobble laterally and don't hit the heel lifters. They still ski fine downhill so my quiver of one is not dead, just hobbled. I suppose it had a good life, but it's disappointing nonetheless.

When they were working they were great bindings. They ski downhill like an alpine binding. Maybe they're a little more flexy than other bindings, I didn't really notice. This was my quiver of one and took everything I threw at it including steeps, bumps, chop, ice, everything.

Uphill they were good. They were always a little flexy when touring and that made traverses kind of a pain, and on super steep stuff they could be wonky. Also, kick turns with these are hard until you get the hang of it; they involve kicking your foot backwards to get the ski to tilt. On shallow angle approaches or flats, though, these are awesome. The triple pivot really works there. For steeps, it seems like my friends on Fritschis were happier, and their pivot seems stiffer for traverses.

If Naxo still existed I might think about replacing these with NX21s, though I hear they can also develop the play problem with the front pivot. As that's not even an option now, I'll go with Fritschi.

View Details: Naxo nx01 Alpine Touring Binding

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