If you yell loud enough, eventually they will listen or the squeaky wheel gets the grease and manufacturers just want to shut us up and appease us. Either way you look at it, manufacturers are listening to what is said on SkiTalk, specifically when it comes to bindings. All four major binding brands, Look, Marker, Salomon and Tyrolia have made changes for 2025 that we have been clamoring for on these pages for years. Here is a break down of what we have been saying and asking for from each brand.
Look
There is no question of the influence we have had with Look since we launched our platform in 2015. The “Bring Back the Pivot 15” campaign with the Forza and the mortally receptive 6-15 single pivot to version of the Pivot 18. An all metal toe highest performance version that was not limited to those who do not need to run their bindings at a III+ setting.
Since the first push, we started looking for a heel design that allowed the skier to use their poles to release out of the heel without making it look like a Rottweiler was using the heel as a chew toy. Look used a metal heel cup on the Pivot heel back in the 1980’s with the RS heel, that metal cup went away for decades and while it is used on the SPX heel, it was never brought over to the Pivot, until we made noise. Along with other significant changes for the Pivot collection and speficially the 2.0 models for this coming year like doubling the adjustment range of the Pivot’s heel from about 8 mm to about 20 mm and offering a 105 mm brake option, the Pivot 15 (and 18) 2.0 is experiencing its biggest changes since adding the Pivot 15 to the collection.
What we would like to see next: Without sharing what we do know is coming down the road, we still would like to see an 85mm brake option for the Pivot. There are a lot of skis in the low to mid 80 mm range including Dynastar’s own M-Cross 82 and Rossignol’s upcoming Arcade 84 that would benefit from a Pivot and the 75 mm and 95 mm brake options are just not right.
Pie in the sky request: Return of the junior Pivot, yes at one time there was a 2-6 Pivot and also we would like to see the SPX evolve the collection to all adapt the Rockerace short mount distance design.
Marker
Demo bindings have one purpose and that is to demonstrate a skis performance and characteristics, hell, “demo” is short for demonstrate. Marker’s affiliate ski companies specifically K2 and Volkl insist that their skis be tested and reviewed with Marker bindings, their feeling is that "the skis were tested and designed with Marker bindings therefore they should be reviewed with Marker bindings" while we respected their wishes, there was a problem. In our experience, the demo versions of Marker’s Royal bindings skied dramatically different than their retail counterparts in that the binding delta’s were significantly different. This created situations where the Royal demo bindings had a negative delta and the retail versions had a positive stance. This difference created a dramatic difference in how a ski being demoed performed. When I brought this to Marker’s attention back in 2020 at the introduction of the Mantra M6, I initially felt that the observation fell on deaf ears but the Germans are calculating and along with a continued level of our soapbox standing changes came.
When we were at Volkl’s headquarters in New Hampshire for the introduction of the 2024-25 models, Marker’s Product Manager was excited to tell me that they made the change to their Royal demo bindings stance to emulate the retail versions. There was about a 5 mm change in the toe rail to go from a 2 mm negative delta to a 3 mm positive stance which is near identical to the retail offerings. This change was noticed immediately when we tested the new Mantra M7 96 and Secret 96.
What we would like to see next: In the past few years, Marker has offered their proven two stage heel for the Squire model for ease of entry, it is time to not only to offer it on the rest of the Royal collection but to consider to make the heel standard on the Griffon and Jester too. The two stage heel is a proven design and the heel for their full on race bindings. If Marker wants to stay with the single pivot point Royal heel, consider changing the heel treadle to point out flat or downward which will make it less likely to grip on the bottom of the boot for a smoother entry.
Pie in the sky request: We would like to see more brake options for the Comp collection, there is a reason that the Comp 20 and Comp 30 were the binding of choice for legends Shane and Plake.
Salomon
A few years ago we commissioned our resident graphics artist extraordinaire @Dave Petersen to design a heritage graphic Salomon Sth2, we picked three iconic Salomon bindings, the silver/orange 727E, white/red 747E and yellow/black 997E. We sent the designs to Salomon and didn’t hear back …very well because the Sth2 was being phased out for the Strive but Salomon kept our designs in their back pocket. In the meantime, the Product Manager at the time mentioned that with the new Strive materials that coloring the body of the binding was not possible, either he was pulling me off of the scent or the engineers found a way. Either way, we now have a white/red 747E version of the Strive 16 MN.
What we would like to see next: Like with the 85 mm brake suggestion for the Pivot, an 80-85 mm brake for the new Icon 12 and 15 for the mid 80 mm ski offerings is needed.
Pie in the sky request: A heritage collection based on the Sth Steel, maybe 100 pairs a year.
Tyrolia
In the past, Tyrolia was one of the most inconsistent brands for delta in their bindings not just as a brand, but even in model ranges, the old Attack 11 was a significantly different delta than the rest of the Attack offerings, fortunately that has changed, the collection is now much more consistent across the collection.
Fast forward to today, addressing delta has been a high priority of Tyrolia of recent, could it be because we have been so adamant of the topic when people were considering system skis that had Tyrolia’s PRD bindings well, this is Tyrolia’s big change for 2025 with new plates not only for their Head skis but also new plates for their partners brands such as Fischer and Elan. These new plates are designed to create identical deltas no matter the boot sole length (BSL) of the skier.
What we would like to see next: We would really like to see the Protector heel standard heel in all of the system ski offerings. Tyrolia obviously has a winner in this design.
Pie in the sky request: Bring back the Mojo 15 toe. It is one of the "Four Horseman" of iconic bindings.
As @Tricia says, "Credit … blame … it is a fine line". Some brands have given us credit for these changes some have blamed is for being so vocal (or Volkl?) about forcing their hands by addressing the elephant in the room. We are not making these suggestions to just hear ourselves talk but to make their products better and to make the skiers’ experience better … and we are still going to continue to try to make your experience better .. even if it does ruffle feathers and we get the occasional eye roll from the some of the brand’s product managers again, when we have their ear, we will keep making suggestions, all on your behalf. And before you ask, unfortunately, we have not received dollar one for any of these these bindings.
Look
Since the first push, we started looking for a heel design that allowed the skier to use their poles to release out of the heel without making it look like a Rottweiler was using the heel as a chew toy. Look used a metal heel cup on the Pivot heel back in the 1980’s with the RS heel, that metal cup went away for decades and while it is used on the SPX heel, it was never brought over to the Pivot, until we made noise. Along with other significant changes for the Pivot collection and speficially the 2.0 models for this coming year like doubling the adjustment range of the Pivot’s heel from about 8 mm to about 20 mm and offering a 105 mm brake option, the Pivot 15 (and 18) 2.0 is experiencing its biggest changes since adding the Pivot 15 to the collection.
What we would like to see next: Without sharing what we do know is coming down the road, we still would like to see an 85mm brake option for the Pivot. There are a lot of skis in the low to mid 80 mm range including Dynastar’s own M-Cross 82 and Rossignol’s upcoming Arcade 84 that would benefit from a Pivot and the 75 mm and 95 mm brake options are just not right.
Pie in the sky request: Return of the junior Pivot, yes at one time there was a 2-6 Pivot and also we would like to see the SPX evolve the collection to all adapt the Rockerace short mount distance design.
Marker
Demo bindings have one purpose and that is to demonstrate a skis performance and characteristics, hell, “demo” is short for demonstrate. Marker’s affiliate ski companies specifically K2 and Volkl insist that their skis be tested and reviewed with Marker bindings, their feeling is that "the skis were tested and designed with Marker bindings therefore they should be reviewed with Marker bindings" while we respected their wishes, there was a problem. In our experience, the demo versions of Marker’s Royal bindings skied dramatically different than their retail counterparts in that the binding delta’s were significantly different. This created situations where the Royal demo bindings had a negative delta and the retail versions had a positive stance. This difference created a dramatic difference in how a ski being demoed performed. When I brought this to Marker’s attention back in 2020 at the introduction of the Mantra M6, I initially felt that the observation fell on deaf ears but the Germans are calculating and along with a continued level of our soapbox standing changes came.
When we were at Volkl’s headquarters in New Hampshire for the introduction of the 2024-25 models, Marker’s Product Manager was excited to tell me that they made the change to their Royal demo bindings stance to emulate the retail versions. There was about a 5 mm change in the toe rail to go from a 2 mm negative delta to a 3 mm positive stance which is near identical to the retail offerings. This change was noticed immediately when we tested the new Mantra M7 96 and Secret 96.
What we would like to see next: In the past few years, Marker has offered their proven two stage heel for the Squire model for ease of entry, it is time to not only to offer it on the rest of the Royal collection but to consider to make the heel standard on the Griffon and Jester too. The two stage heel is a proven design and the heel for their full on race bindings. If Marker wants to stay with the single pivot point Royal heel, consider changing the heel treadle to point out flat or downward which will make it less likely to grip on the bottom of the boot for a smoother entry.
Pie in the sky request: We would like to see more brake options for the Comp collection, there is a reason that the Comp 20 and Comp 30 were the binding of choice for legends Shane and Plake.
Salomon
What we would like to see next: Like with the 85 mm brake suggestion for the Pivot, an 80-85 mm brake for the new Icon 12 and 15 for the mid 80 mm ski offerings is needed.
Pie in the sky request: A heritage collection based on the Sth Steel, maybe 100 pairs a year.
Tyrolia
In the past, Tyrolia was one of the most inconsistent brands for delta in their bindings not just as a brand, but even in model ranges, the old Attack 11 was a significantly different delta than the rest of the Attack offerings, fortunately that has changed, the collection is now much more consistent across the collection.
Fast forward to today, addressing delta has been a high priority of Tyrolia of recent, could it be because we have been so adamant of the topic when people were considering system skis that had Tyrolia’s PRD bindings well, this is Tyrolia’s big change for 2025 with new plates not only for their Head skis but also new plates for their partners brands such as Fischer and Elan. These new plates are designed to create identical deltas no matter the boot sole length (BSL) of the skier.
What we would like to see next: We would really like to see the Protector heel standard heel in all of the system ski offerings. Tyrolia obviously has a winner in this design.
Pie in the sky request: Bring back the Mojo 15 toe. It is one of the "Four Horseman" of iconic bindings.
As @Tricia says, "Credit … blame … it is a fine line". Some brands have given us credit for these changes some have blamed is for being so vocal (or Volkl?) about forcing their hands by addressing the elephant in the room. We are not making these suggestions to just hear ourselves talk but to make their products better and to make the skiers’ experience better … and we are still going to continue to try to make your experience better .. even if it does ruffle feathers and we get the occasional eye roll from the some of the brand’s product managers again, when we have their ear, we will keep making suggestions, all on your behalf. And before you ask, unfortunately, we have not received dollar one for any of these these bindings.
