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Your binding delta?

Juha

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Hello racers,
In many articles it is said that majority of racers use a binding delta that is in range of 0 to 3 mm.
To raise our understanding are check if the above statement holds true, please write down your preferred delta. What is your boot sole length? Do you use the same delta in both SL and GS (or at speed)? Do you have the same delta on all the skis or do you alter delta based on ski characteristics like fore/aft stiffness? Anything else you consider when setting delta?
 

oldschoolskier

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Same on both GS and SL, same boot, same binding.

My thought is that no matter what you ski a quick familiarization ski, should set your skiing posture. Most don’t practice this and are lost if there are differences. Myself, a few 360 drills to understand the balance and edge feel is what is required. Lets me quickly determine if this is well set up ski or not (when I’m skiing other peoples skis) also lets me know what I need to do differently to make the ski perform.

It sets the base line to how I ski, not to what the equipment does.

I was taught this concept by an old instructor about 40 years ago.
 

ScottB

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I like 0 delta, but a binding that is 0-3mm toe low is acceptable to me.

BSL = 336mm (29.5 mondo)

I use same delta for all skis, haven't experimented much with it, learned that -6mm delta hurts skiing performance for me by putting too much pressure on tip of ski.

I use / accept delta from most bindings unless greater than -3 mm. Fore / aft mount position can compensate for out of range delta sometimes. Tip rocker exacerbates out of range delta.

I don't like any delta with toe above heel (is that called positive delta?)

stiffer skis seem less sensitive to delta.

I typically only adjust delta if out of my preferred range. Its not easy to do on most bindings (requires additional plates or shims and longer screws)
 
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ScottB

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Same on both GS and SL, same boot, same binding.

What delta do you use? You didn't state the number.

I know @Noodler on this site has investigated delta a lot and seems to have strong preferences. I am not sure about racers, but most skiers aren't even aware of what it is and that it can be altered on a ski/binding. I was told by a knowledgeable tuner that most race bindings are designed for close to 0 delta. Seems to be correct from my experience. The Marker "Royal" bindings had -6mm delta and that is where I ran into issues and added plates under the toe piece to raise it up to 0 delta. Fixed the issue for me.
 
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TS
J

Juha

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Finland
I woke up to measure my different SL skis for binding delta and I was surprised about the differences. All skis are SL FIS skis or coders with race plates and recommended race bindings for that brand. There were quite interesting differences with Austrian skis being either flat or just a slight delta approx 1mm heel above toe. Völkl with a marker binging was up to 5, 9 mm heel above toe. Rossi was in between at approx 3 mm.
What I found out that I liked most combos with 3-5 mm heel above toe. That was a systematic finding and I need to test raising the heels of the flat ones to see how that change the feeling.

Btw, my boot is 29, bsl 335 mm.

It seems I am a bit above the normal 0-3 mm delta. Sure the long bsl makes the delta angle a bit smaller compared to a smaller boot.

Please one back with your findings what works for you!
 

oldschoolskier

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What delta do you use? You didn't state the number.

I know @Noodler on this site has investigated delta a lot and seems to have strong preferences. I am not sure about racers, but most skiers aren't even aware of what it is and that it can be altered on a ski/binding. I was told by a knowledgeable tuner that most race bindings are designed for close to 0 delta. Seems to be correct from my experience. The Marker "Royal" bindings had -6mm delta and that is where I ran into issues and added plates under the toe piece to raise it up to 0 delta. Fixed the issue for me.
To be fair don’t know don’t care, just adjust to what is mounted. Never had issues. Find the balance point and ski accordingly. Pretty simple actually.
 
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Juha

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With how much forward lean?
Quite forward leaning, my boots are like these:
 
Thread Starter
TS
J

Juha

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Location
Finland
I checked the specs of the boot - that atomic has 16 degree forward lean (without rear spoiler) and 18 degree with the spoiler. It has 4 degree ramp angle (I assume this is with a smaller reference size of 26). I do not have the rear spoilers in place.
 

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