SR 95 Mount point question

[Idahosnow]

I have the 2015 SR 95s (green, black, silver) with an atomic demo binding. I have had them for a long time and love them. I'm not sure why I haven't done this earlier but today I moved my mount point. I have skied them for years according to the correct BSL chart on the demo binding. This put my boot center just slightly behind the line. A friend suggested I move them forward, so I went up one setting on the toe and set the heel for correct forward pressure. It looks to have moved me about 1cm forward. Now my boot center is slightly in front of the line.

I'm not sure if it is a placebo effect, but the skis felt very different today. Can that small of a change make a big difference? I am still trying to decide if I like it. On groomers they seemed to have more engergy, initiating turns quicker and actually seemed to have more pop coming out of a turn (more playful). This was accompanied by feeling less stable at speed. Perhaps I will get used to it, but I just didn't have the confidence I normally do over 40MPH. In the bumps, they seemed quicker and less demanding leaving my legs a bit fresher. Unfortunately, there was no powder to test.

Again, it is hard to believe such a small change would have such noticeable results. Maybe it's in my head. Hoping for some feedback. Is this normal?

 

[Winks]

I have the 2015 SR 95s (green, black, silver) with an atomic demo binding. I have had them for a long time and love them. I'm not sure why I haven't done this earlier but today I moved my mount point. I have skied them for years according to the correct BSL chart on the demo binding. This put my boot center just slightly behind the line. A friend suggested I move them forward, so I went up one setting on the toe and set the heel for correct forward pressure. It looks to have moved me about 1cm forward. Now my boot center is slightly in front of the line.

I'm not sure if it is a placebo effect, but the skis felt very different today. Can that small of a change make a big difference? I am still trying to decide if I like it. On groomers they seemed to have more engergy, initiating turns quicker and actually seemed to have more pop coming out of a turn (more playful). This was accompanied by feeling less stable at speed. Perhaps I will get used to it, but I just didn't have the confidence I normally do over 40MPH. In the bumps, they seemed quicker and less demanding leaving my legs a bit fresher. Unfortunately, there was no powder to test.

Again, it is hard to believe such a small change would have such noticeable results. Maybe it's in my head. Hoping for some feedback. Is this normal?

Generally most people cannot tell a difference until the binding is more than one forward but seeing as how you are quite used to it already, I am sure you would have noticed something.

 

[Noodler]

Here's my theory:

It completely depends on whether that "1 click" forward put you into "new territory" for the binding position on the ski. What I mean is that there is usually a range of about 10mm or more where the change in position probably won't have that much of an impact. But once you move outside of that range, you will notice the change much more readily. So it could be that where you were originally skiing them was right on the edge of going outside of that nominal range. The 1 click forward has put you into that new territory where the ski performance feels significantly different.

 

[Henry]

BSL chart on the demo binding. This put my boot center just slightly behind the line.

It sounds like the bindings were originally mounted a bit back.

One cm is a good move. I can feel 8 mm. I'm a bit surprised that one click is that far--on my Head/Tyrolia bindings each notch is 4 mm. In any case, the "right" mount point is the point that feels good to you.

 

[ski otter 2]

To valid what you felt, from my own experience I have - and would - easily feel roughly the same thing you did, with about that same change.

For one specific example, I've had nearly the experience you describe, with a pair of 13/14 or so Stockli Laser GS 180/18.2s, except in reverse. When I bought them, they had been briefly used for Masters racing and moved forward, but were not good/fast enough for that particular racer at either setting. (He ended up on Atomic Jr GS 174s, I believe.) For me, a starting 1cm more forward position (thus a .5 cm boot center move, albeit on a different Stockli) felt close to what you described as your more forward position, except perhaps with a more stable feeling, to me at least, than what you seemed to experience: it turned more easily, a cheater gs race ski now making near Sean Pettit, quicker turns when wanted; and yet being a Stockli (and, probably, a Laser GS pair instead of SR 95s), one could ride that slightly stiffer Stockli edge very fast, any turn shape really. (Still, I constantly had a slight feeling of being perhaps a bit too far forward on the ski, but wasn't sure.)


Additional details (just skip if too boring).
The first change I made happened when I ended up with a pair of one size longer boots: my Marker race bindings could accommodate the longer boot by adjusting the heel pieces back 1 cm., and thus moving the BC back .5 cm. With this difference, the skis felt obviously better, pretty much perfect, but with almost the same quicker Sean Pettit like (non-gs race) turns - except the larger boot was slightly loose for my foot, and thus not as good that way.

The second change I finally made was to use my original, shorter boots and to move the bindings, both toe and heel, back on the race plate by moving the toe/heel screws on both - by one hole/one cm. both toe and heel (again, I assumed, moving the BC back about one cm). The move was thus farther than the first change move, by half a cm. To my surprise, this resulted in a completely different feel to these skis (somehow @Noodler 's described tipping point?): they became more GS ski like in turn feel and technique required. As if the skis were suddenly longer, stiffer and built differently. But equally great to ski. (Not sure yet which of the two changed mount points I prefer, actually.)

As a result, I've stopped thinking of getting a pair of approximately 183/19.5 cheater gs skis (either the Atomic G9 183/19.4s or the Head RWC iSpeed Pro 183/19.7s, both of which I demoed at last year's SIA Copper Mountain, although they are fairly rare skis in this country). The feel to both of them is very similar, now, to my old/new Laser GS 180/18s.

 

[Idahosnow]

Well, we were treated to about 6 inches of new snow overnight and then it snowed all day. The mountain opened some terrain that hadn't been touched all year. The skis were fantastic today. I really do feel the more forward mount made a big difference in the tight trees and moguls today. They felt the same as usual cruising in powder but easier to turn. I didn't do any groomer skiing today so no verdict on that aspect. For a total soft snow day in the trees and bumps, I think they handled better than before and felt more maneuverable. Unfortunately, I encountered some logs and rocks today.......ouch. No core shots but some ptex will be needed. It is about time for a full grind/tune anyway. It was worth it. The family had a blast today.

 

[ARL67]

I have a demo-binding on all my skis and usually have them set at +0.5 to +1.0 cm.
For me, my feeling is that it aids in tip engagement and turn initiation ( not that I'm a back seat skier ). We are all different height, weight, limb-dimensions, boot forward lean and flex, our preferred skiing posture, the different slopes and snow we ski on, etc. Why would on-the-line be a universal perfect-fit for everyone ?