Anyone have any problems with the spruce bindings?

[SkaFreak]

Recently I was skiboarding with my dad (who skis) and we were riding the lift with a ski patrol person who kinda freaked him out by saying that she's seen more spiral fractures caused by skiboard non-release bindings than she's seen of any other specific injuries. She added that's it's almost always beginners, but my dad still would like me to ride releaseable bindings. I'm considering making a deal with him that he'll pay for the full price of the bindings and half the price of a pair of solmon x-wave 1080 boots. I just want to make sure that it's not gonna be too bad of a thing switching to the release bindings because pretty soon I'll be decent at jumping and I ski some pretty rugged terrain (Gonna hike the Taos ridge this weekend if any of you know about the ridge), so I dont' wanna have something that's gonna crap out on me while I'm doing that stuff.

[Greco]

we have one pair of the Spruce Pro Risers with Rossi Axium bindings left. If you're going to be jumping and want releasable this is the best option on the planet..

Spruce Pro Risers & Rossi Axium Bindings (http://www.skiboardsonline.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SBOL&Product_Code=spruce_pro_series_risers&Category_Code=spruce)

[SkaFreak]

Not sure if my dad will spring for the expesnive pair, so would the cheaper ones work fine as long as I'm not hitting any huge airs (prbly nothing more than 10 feet for at least the next year or 2)? If the more expensive ones are really that much better I might try to get him to spring for the cash, but I doubt it since he's gonna be throwing about 80$ into the price of the boots.

[Greco]

yeah they should be fine as long as you don't go huge.

g

[LikWid]

yea man spiral fractures r nasty my bro got one skiboarding with non realisibles about a year back. but he was using 99's and he was only like 5 foot so thast wat went wrong there

[valmorel]

I have deliberated long and hard over wheather to post this, as I have posted it before on another forum, and it kind of seems unfair to post it here. The subject is however an important one, so here we are:

"The only kind of injury that really scares me on a skiboard is a twisting (spiral) injury. Of course there will allways be plain old fashioned bad luck, but in the main, if we could protect ourselves against twisting injury, we would certainly be moving forward. Anyway, enclosed is a photo which show what I am using. Actually, its a Line FF pro, late edition, with the front bale arm turned upside down and re-bent a little to allow the boot to rotate out in twist. Photo shows the boot clipped in as normal, and is taken from the side to show the new shape of bend. The curve of the toeclip holds the boot central, exactly like the standard set-up. When a twist is applied to the ski tip or tail, "Give" in the steel bale arm allows enough spring for the boot to rotate sideways out of the binding. It seems to work well. With the toe lever set at normal tension they never pre-release, even spinning aggressively, but of course, it is easy to set the tension hard or soft. Now this aint perfect. Its a semi-release system, but it costs NOTHING extra, adds NO weight, WONT release in park jumps, and beats the heck out of nothing at all. Also, for someone who wants total lock-in, just turn the bale arm over. This really is a free ride. Makes you wonder why it wasnt done like this in the first place. What do you all think?"

Now this can never compete with the protection offered by a system like the Spruce Riser, but as I said, its better than nothing.

[sticks]

After a lot of consideration being on post-injury myself...

I believe that what put me in the position to dislocate my right shoulder were the very devices that have saved me many times.

In looking back at the accident, I have been trying to figure out why when upon touchdown, I began a forward fall? My Risers released. Like they were supposed to. My boots planted instead and forward I went. Shoulder hits...pop!

Now, I have the bindings hopped up to release at a much higher point than "normal" because I ride much harder than average...like the toe is in the 9's. At 200 lbs, it isn't but 2.5 above a "C" setting for an advanced skier. Either way...I had a release which prevented lower leg injury but the fall unpredicatbly took out my shoulder.

I would say that it was the first "unexpected" release I've ever had on the Risers. Trail & error to get the settings right on the release points has been the only true & tested way to set them up. Everybody has something different (weight, style, conditions, big air, rails) that would make a difference on how they would set them up personally.

I am, and always will be a huge advocate for releasable bindings on skiboards. They are an invaluable choice of safety for riders new and old alike. Although, it should be greatly noted and excercised that extreme caution should always be adhered to when performing an form of skiboarding including jumps, rails, jibbing, high degree carving. The "initial" setting according to rider weight and skill will still vary beyond that of those initial settings according to what particular riding is being done. It is definitely the responsibility of the rider to adjust that accordingly

My Risers did everything they were supposed to. They released according to their settings. I feel like if I was riding NON-releasables or my settings were even tighter...I'm thinking I would have rode the landing it out. I never felt "out of shape" nor did I feel like the landing was wrong. My boards just let go (or so it felt).

Either way, the Risers are always going to be a part of my setup. I advise everyone to invest in a set. But with that, be responsible enough to really ensure you have them setup to handle the type terrain you are going to ride.

Next time I take mine to the park I'll be sure to apply a little more foresight into how much force I'm really putting down...I think I'm exceeding that. Sorry for the long rant.

Sticks

[bloodshot]

how come the ff pro bindings pictured above is different than the bindings here on sbol? (not talking about color)

[Jonny W]

non releasble bindings are the best

[PureVenom]

Those bindings are the FF cam bindings with the plastic toe piece. (I have them on 1 set of boards )The FF pro's are ALL metal(toe piece included)with VERY thick bales. Unless line made some sort of version in between or something. The pro's are sick bindings. Anyway...that lsetup ooks very wierd like if you were carving your boots would come right out.

[bloodshot]

my bindings are like the ones shown above. look here (http://skiboards.com/skiboardsoutlet/graphics/weaponenlarged.jpg), and if you enlarge it w/ the magnifying cursor you can see the letters "FF Pro" between the bolts.

[emdubl]

bloodshot - i have the same ones. they are red and say ff pro and plastic toe clip.

[PureVenom]

Wow....thats wierd....like I said must be in between when they made the all metal pro's like the ones seen here and the cam. Yours look exactly like the cam with..no cam. Hmmmm....very cool.

[bloodshot]

the non-cam looks better :( but maybe the semi-release only works on the cam-like pros

[valmorel]

So far the semi-release system is working well. Security is the same as a normal fixed in every way except for severe twists. It only really works well with a 5mm dia bale arm (or less) as some spring is rqd in the metal. The first FF Pro bindings, which were made by Catek, can be recognised by the metal toe-clip and thicker bale arms. These do not work properly as semi-release. The binding I have used in the photo is also an FF Pro, but a later model. I dont know who made them , but the bale arms are 5mm dia so work well. This binding was sold in TWO versions:1)the FF Pro version which has allen wrench adjustment, and 2)the Cam version which has quick adjust. Appart from the adjustment facility the other dimensions were identical.

[MikeMtn]

Originally posted by valmorel
So far the semi-release system is working well. Security is the same as a normal fixed in every way except for severe twists. It only really works well with a 5mm dia bale arm (or less) as some spring is rqd in the metal. The first FF Pro bindings, which were made by Catek, can be recognised by the metal toe-clip and thicker bale arms. These do not work properly as semi-release. The binding I have used in the photo is also an FF Pro, but a later model. I dont know who made them , but the bale arms are 5mm dia so work well. This binding was sold in TWO versions:1)the FF Pro version which has allen wrench adjustment, and 2)the Cam version which has quick adjust. Appart from the adjustment facility the other dimensions were identical.

I was looking through some old threads on bindings, and I found something that I didn't know was true. It appears that the Line FF Pro bindings with the thicker bales is actually an older binding compared to the ones with the thinner bales (5mm) and plastic toe clip.

I always thought it was FFCam, then the plastic toe clip FF Pro, then the early model all metal FF binding that didn't say "pro", then the Line FFPro that has the thicker bales and gold colored pieces. But, if what is said above is true, the progression is actually regression. Ha.

Michael

[Mark]

so are my bindings the newer ones, or older ones?

[MikeMtn]

Well, from what I can tell, older, but better.

[fluxgame]

The blue Pros are definitely older. I'm pretty sure (though not positive) that they preceeded the gold colored ones that Greco has a stock of. The only differences between the two that I can think of are the rubber pieces in the toe block (4 small circles on the blues, a single piece on the golds) and the rubber piece that sits underneath the binding plate (the blues had a single piece, the golds had separate pieces around the screws that could be removed to accomodate the soul plate that Line made).

[Mark]

Originally posted by fluxgame
The blue Pros are definitely older. I'm pretty sure (though not positive) that they preceeded the gold colored ones that Greco has a stock of. The only differences between the two that I can think of are the rubber pieces in the toe block (4 small circles on the blues, a single piece on the golds) and the rubber piece that sits underneath the binding plate (the blues had a single piece, the golds had separate pieces around the screws that could be removed to accomodate the soul plate that Line made).

so can i not use the grind plate with the bindings i have? how do the bindings have compare to the bomber bindings, relatively close right ? the bombers do look lighter in weight however
also, do i need to get longer hardware to accomodate the soul plate? I do alot of machine work and if this thing is as bad as everyone says it is i might just make my own