Diamir Titanal III vrs the Freeride

[Beck]

sorry about the thread drift on other directions on this topic, just thought I'd kick in my two cents 'coz i work in a gear shop and just saw the Ski rep's presentation on Fritschi, like, two weeks ago.

[Cletus]

My understanding was that the Titanal 3 was simply this years version of the IIs. The Freeride is still touted as the higher performance binder when it comes to descents.

 

There are vague rumors, by the way, of another model with DIN to 14 in the works, although even some of the reps haven't heard about that yet...Might show up next year...

 

I'm currently debating whether to mount another pair of Freerides on some big fatty Volkl Explosivs for serious pow days. The only debate being, of course, that I fully intend to huck on that setup, and while fairly beefy, the Freerides don't compare to a true alpine binder.

 

Still, check out teamdirt's responses in that link. He's a pro (I won't say which one), and he throws down some serious shite. If they're strong enough for him, chances are, unless you break gear much, they're good enough for you. Hard for me to judge, cause I've never broken anything, even having skied hard for many seasons.

 

Hope that helps...

 

c

[Skisports]

beck no worries you were on the money I thought.

[Skisports]

One of the main reasons for this debate.. Is one of my buddy and I are planing on a first ski desent on something and I don't want my binding to fall apart. My freind was thinking about freerides also but he is leaning to alpine gear do the intensity of the desent. But it is all talk right now an no action eh..

[markws]

I usually just lurk but I estimate that I've spent 180 days on Fritschis over the last few years so I'll chime in. I've skied some interesting things on them including the North face of Shucksan in very firm conditions, the central couloir on Joffre in a similar state, and many of the "interesting" steep lines around Whistler and Chamonix so I've tested them fairly well. One thing I've learned is that you should always travel with at least one extra toe piece and it's best to have two. I had a partner get slid down the NW Couloir on Wedge and break both of his toe pieces. It seems that all the toe pieces are interchangable between models. You should also buy the smallest pair that will fit your boots. You can buy the XLs cheap and modify the bars to make them fit smaller boots but it's not a good idea. I've seen that fail a couple of times. The titanal II bars are much stronger but you still don't want a lot of extra length. I've been told by a couple people that if you bury the DIN setting until it won't turn anymore that the binding basically locks out. I can't really confirm or deny that but they do hold tighter than the spec DIN when you max them out. Don't ever kick the toe to get snow off the bottom of your boots. Bad, bad idea. Most of the time that I've seen the toes break has been either people who kick the toes pieces a lot or high speed crashes. One should probably inspect the toe pieces before going out every time but it should definitely be done before you go out to ski something that is serious. I have tremendous confidence in those bindings. With that said, there is nothing more comforting than the feeling of locking into Salomon race bindings cranked to 16. I'll choose that over Diamirs anytime the trade-off seems worth it.

[Skisports]

Thanks for the info everyone.