Q - Mounting Standard bindings where once there were tele

[charlatan]

Hi all!

I have found a nice pair of Kastle FX 95 ski's for sale locally, but they recently had Tele bindings on them. I had the seller send me some pics of the top sheet, and there are a lot of holes (6 for the front, 2 for the rear). Is it feasible and practical to try and mount traditional bindings to these, or should I just move on?

If it depends on the binding, I don't have any selected at this point, so I am open to options.

TIA!

 

[Erik Timmerman]

If you are open to different bindings it shouldn't be too hard to find something that would fit. You can just line up different jigs over the ski until you find one that doesn't interfere.

 

[Eleeski]

Demo bindings also can be useful to find clearance between holes. You can be quite creative with positioning if you disregard the boot size markings and instead use the adjustability to get your boot where you want it and the holes where you want them. Sometimes you can even reuse old holes with this trick (which might not always be a great idea - but that's when epoxy and steel wool help).

@Philpug doesn't approve but I've also frankenbinding mixed brands to reuse and minimize holes. Gotten years of good service with predictable releases. Do this at your own risk as some bindings are designed as a system and won't release properly when mixed.

Eric

 

[Philpug]

@Philpug doesn't approve but I've also frankenbinding mixed brands to reuse and minimize holes. Gotten years of good service with predictable releases. Do this at your own risk as some bindings are designed as a system and won't release properly when mixed.

Eric

?? But your latter point should be taken into consideration.

 

[cantunamunch]

6-hole doesn't really tell us which tele binding was used.

The topsheet hole issue is, in most cases trivial to overcome. I wouldn't lose sleep over that, not for a minute.

The other , more significant possible issue is that some of the likely tele bindings have asymmetrical toe irons. This would have created a left and a right ski, with significantly greater wear on the inside edges of the skis.

Ask your seller if he had a left and right ski. If yes, the skis will likely require a grind to get them to (mostly) even.

 

[Eleeski]

My frankenbindings were an older simpler design than the current generation of bindings. Older bindings did give good service and reasonable safety. They took more adjustment and setup but worked fine. The biggest problem I had was releasing from ripping the binding out of the ski in the bumps.

I do like the modern bindings better. I'm using demo, adjustable rail or schizio bindings that let me move my boot placement around.

Phil still gives me a hard time because they are plastic with light DIN capability... Fisher-Price or Mattel bindings!

@cantunamunch Why not just switch skis? Eventually you will need a grind. Wear out the good edge first. It does depend on what you are getting the skis for. Some fun old beaters need a different approach than your pampered first string skis.

Definitely put new (matched) bindings on a first string ski.

Eric

 

[cantunamunch]

@cantunamunch Why not just switch skis? Eventually you will need a grind. Wear out the good edge first. It does depend on what you are getting the skis for. Some fun old beaters need a different approach than your pampered first string skis.

You mean make the old left into a semi permanent right, and the old right into a semi permanent left?

If OP wants the hassle, sure, why not - and I've got plenty of Sharpied -> <- arrows on my own skis to demonstrate the point. But it could provide a reasonable excuse to knock $100-ish off the asking price.

 

[Jacques]

You mean make the old left into a semi permanent right, and the old right into a semi permanent left?

If OP wants the hassle, sure, why not - and I've got plenty of Sharpied -> <- arrows on my own skis to demonstrate the point. But it could provide a reasonable excuse to knock $100-ish off the asking price.

Ha ha. Rotate your skis, then ski switch half the time. Hockey stops right then left. Edges will stay real even!

 

[Scruffy]

6 holes in the front tells me it's most likely an NTN binding; not that that matters to you, just that it was most likely one mount. With NTN, there is not a left right requirement; doesn't mean that the previous owner didn't ski only a R ski on the right foot. If the price is good, go for it, one mount doesn't kill a ski, but should garner a deep discount. There are a lot of options for dealing with close holes. Google Binding Freedom.