Black Diamond for everything climbing and skiing.    Dynafit -- Speed Up!    Tracker beacons, Stash packs, shovels, more more more.    Terrific deals on randonnee AT rando backcountry skiing gear.    K2 has the skis that stay true to earning your turns.    Garmont boots -- excellent choice for backcountry skiing.

Dynafit Tech — Fixing a Non Closing Binding

Bookmark and Share            By Lou

Hey Lou,
I was hoping you could hook me up with a solution to a boot problem. Briefly, my Megarides are four years old now and the toe rubber is worn to the point where it is difficult to engage the binding. Lots of fiddling at the start of skin tracks. I thought either I would grind it down and glue some new rubber in place or build a little mold around the toe with tape and fill it with black plastic rubber or some other similar product. Before committing to either I was hoping you had already been there and could provide me with the most elegant solution?
Brian

Indeed, sometimes folks have trouble with their Dynafit binding toe closing properly. The most common cause is ice in your boot toe sockets (clean with a sharp object, and make a few stationary touring strides to allow the “pins” to cut their way through any ice or gradoo.) Still another and less obvious cause is ice or packed snow in the cavity UNDER the toe wings. Check for that as well.

Yet another determinant is more mechanical and tougher to fix, that of the boot not having enough sole thickness to trigger binding closure (the problem Brian shares above). One solution is to build up a bit of thickness on your boot toe using something like Shoe Gu, but this wears off quickly. Best is indeed to have your boots resoled. A temporary fix is to build a tiny pad of duct tap on the binding trigger. My favorite solution? Add a smidgen of height to the trigger using a dab of JB Weld epoxy. Beauty of this is it holds up well, but is fully reversible with the flick of a pocket knife blade. Check it out:

Fixing Dynafit binding.

Finished product. Red arrow indicates trigger zone and dab of JB Weld. If you need this higher, do it in several stages.

Backcountry Skiing

Lightly sand the trigger zone and clean with solvent, mask so your mess doesn't become permanent. After the JB hardens, trim with a sharp knife or razor blade so boot still pivots freely and doesn't catch. Test first on the workbench, not in the field.

Posted by Lou on December 17, 2008 | Filed Under Binding Reviews, Technique 

previous post: The Retread Studded Experience
next post: Marble, Colorado Ski & Snow Report

Comments

17 Responses to “Dynafit Tech — Fixing a Non Closing Binding”

  1. Lee Lau December 17th, 2008 12:50 pm

    Good tip.

    Here are three locations which will re-sole boots – list is from Scarpa.

    Here is the list of recommended people who can resole AT boots.

    Gold Star Shoe Rebuilders Ltd
    http://www.goldstarshoerebuilders.com

    3308 Dunbar Street
    Vancouver, BC V6S 2C1
    (604) 734-7477

    Dave Page Cobblers in Seattle, 800.252.1229.

    Rocky Mountain Resole in Salida, CO. 719.539.1455.

    Another person has mentioned to me that Dave Page Cobblers would not resole the Dynafit ZZero as they could not work with the thinner sole rubber under the toe sockets of the boot. I haven’t confirmed or denied this as yet but the person who told me this is credible.

  2. Lou December 17th, 2008 1:05 pm

    Another thing, if the boots are only used in Dynafit bindings, the sole rubber can be thicker than standard, then just sanded off and shaped till it triggers the binding correctly and doesn’t catch during a touring stride. That’s one of the cool things about re-sole.

  3. Dave Field December 17th, 2008 1:10 pm

    Seems to me you could also apply the jb weld or shoe goo to the bootsole provided there’s enough rubber left to add some build up.

  4. Lou December 17th, 2008 2:57 pm

    Dave, yes, indeed you can. I’ve used both methods. Seems like most stuff I apply to boots gets worn off as soon as they’re hiked, so I usually like the small build on the binding.

  5. John W December 18th, 2008 7:12 am

    Ice under the trigger can be an issue especially if skis spend the night out in the cold. Try a complete warm up test. Then go for the JB Weld.

  6. brian December 18th, 2008 10:02 pm

    Thanks, Lou,

    As usual, a thorough spanking of the problem by you and fellow blogsters. WS continues to be an invaluable resource for all of us.

    Thanks. BTW, love the new format.

    Brian

  7. Lou December 18th, 2008 10:09 pm

    A bad day in the workshop is better than the best day in the office, or something like that (grin)!

  8. Art Hallinger December 19th, 2008 12:40 pm

    Im having problems with the toe releasing when edging on hard surfaces with my Dynafit bindings,please help

  9. Lou December 19th, 2008 12:56 pm

    Art, edging while downhill skiing or on the way up? How much do you weigh? What model bindings?

  10. Randonnee December 19th, 2008 3:24 pm

    Art H,

    This 100 kg Dynafit skier cannot stay in the pins unless locked when on hardpack. When I got the Zzero 4 stiff boot on my FR 10 last year, the added stiffness and leverage of the boot dramatically demonstrated this to me. I have experienced this on several models of Dynafit bindings and four different new Dynafit boots. I have not tried my new FT 12 since there is not sufficient snowpack here yet to use my new skis. Dynafit bindings work fine for me if I lock the toe. Even locked I can easily walk out of them, but I also walked out of Fritsches in the past a few times.

  11. Art Hallinger December 19th, 2008 4:37 pm

    I weigh 180,downhill skiing and the model is 08 vertical st

  12. Sean December 19th, 2008 5:19 pm

    Don’t know if this matters any, but when I’ve popped out of the Dynafits on hard snow it’s been due to small amounts of ice in the toe sockets and/or in that little “pocket” that Lou describes and shows in one of his videos, the little “pocket” beneath the opposing bars in the toe mechanism. In each situation it looked like I was snapped in tight, but actually wasn’t. Careful cleaning of the boot’s toepiece sockets and the little “pocket” under the toe binding has eliminated the problem.

    I would imagine it’s also possible to have poor retention if the forward pressure (fore-aft heel adjustment) is not quite right.

  13. Lou December 19th, 2008 8:41 pm

    Art, make sure you have no ice, anywhere, and that you “seat” the toe pins by doing a dummy touring stride a few times, as shown in the vid, before you step down into the heel pins. Beyond that, make sure the space between boot heel and binding is set correctly and that you have an appropriate DIN setting. If you still come out after that, perhaps it’s just not the binding for you at this time.

  14. Mike MacDonald December 21st, 2008 10:31 am

    I am not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question but I will give it a go and face the music. I am looking for a replacement vertical release adjustment square nut and screw. I am not sure who might have a spare or know a shop that has these parts. My local shop or hardware store did not have them on hand. Thanks in advance.

  15. Lou December 21st, 2008 10:45 am

    Mike, contact Salewa NA:

    http://www.wildsnow.com/693/psa-dynafit-north-america-is-available-to-help-you/

    Let us know how it goes.

    And pray tell, what caused you to be missing those parts?

  16. Mike MacDonald December 21st, 2008 7:51 pm

    Well, I bought some used dynafits as I have done several times before. I was adjusting the vertical release screw and then felt a pop pop pop. I pulled the four screws off of the volcano plate and found that a section of the adjuster screw and the square nut was stripped. Thanks for the contact information. It should be a quick fix.

    thanks Lou,

    Mike

  17. Lou December 21st, 2008 8:01 pm

    Mike, thanks, good to know that can happen. Previous owner probably tried to crank it way too far or something. ‘best, Lou

Got something to say?





Anti-Spam Quiz:

:alien: :angel: :angry: :blink: :blush: :cheerful: :cool: :cwy: :devil: :dizzy: :ermm: :face: :getlost: :biggrin: :happy: :heart: :kissing: :lol: :ninja: :pinch: :pouty: :sad: :shocked: :sick: :sideways: :silly: :sleeping: :smile: :tongue: :unsure: :w00t: :wassat: :whistle: :wink: :wub:

Due to comment spam we moderate most comments. Please do not submit your comment twice -- it will appear shortly after we approve it. Once you've had one comment published, your comments will be pre-approved and appear immediately if you're using the same computer and not blocking browser cookies. NOTE however that ALL comments with one or more links in the text will be held for moderation no matter what, again for spam prevention.
Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past forty years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

All material on this website is copyrighted. Permission required for reproduction, electronic or otherwise. That includes publication and display on other websites by whatever means. PLEASE SEE OUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION.

Backcountry skiing is a dangerous sport. You may be killed or severely injured if you do any form of randone, randonnee and randonnée skiing. The information on this website is intended only as general information. While the authors and editors of the information on this website make every effort to present useful information, due to human error the information, text and images contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using, reading or viewing the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of Wild Snow as well as content contributors of any liability for injuries or losses incurred while using such information. Furthermore, you agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instructions or templates at your own risk, and waive Wild Snow its owners and contributors of any liability for use of said items for backcountry skiing or any other use.