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Modern bindings for older skis

cantunamunch

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This reminds me of when I worked in a shop, and that ‘oh no’ feeling when I saw the flash of Volants coming in. We did help the customer, but in the back there was little negotiation among us on who has to deal with the Volants
You can probably guess why they were never mounted when I tell you they were closeout '96-97 skis and I was born in '98.

'98 was a horrible year for the East - hot! - and the first ski shop I ever worked at closed both their locations. On the upside, we had Gen 1.5 shaped skis to play with - Volkl P30 was in its second model run; Elan had their 'devil horn' tips. And, on refrozen ice after the sun fell on the February slush - we used Volants because they had massive grip at the slow speeds mandated by the absolute zoo of people looking for anything barely skiable.
 

justplanesteve

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4) My favorite option so far; homemade race place. It seems all modern race plates are setup for system bindings, but my Dynastar G9s come with just a flat undrilled metal race plate. If I could find one of those I could mount whatever bindings I want to it. Which leads me to my hack fix. Has anybody ever made their own race plate? It seems like I could just buy some 3/8'' 7075 aluminum plate and mount that to the ski. It might look kind of stupid, but it just has to be safe and work.

Questions and a comment. :)

What is a race plate?
Is there a discussion with pictures?
I might need one. Not for racing, i'm too old and not good enough skier. But same as OP - to adapt various bindings or different boots to bindings, or to adjust binding position on a given ski.

(Edited: Never mind on the question - the search function is yielding a lot of data from old Ski talk posts. Interesting subject.)

Comment:
Whatever it is (above) i would not mess with 7075 for that app. The stuff is decent in airplanes for the places it is necessary when properly protected. Otherwise it corrodes from looking at it sideways. From the center out. Structural, not a just cosmetic issue.
There's nothing wrong with cheap-ish common 6061T6. Which is not exactly corrosion resistant, but easier to upkeep than 7075. At least it will not end up looking like an expanded pile of cardboard shims with about the same consistency.

smt
 
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cantunamunch

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Comment:
Whatever it is (above) i would not mess with 7075 for that app. The stuff is decent in airplanes for the places it is necessary when properly protected. Otherwise it corrodes from looking at it sideways. From the center out. Structural, not a just cosmetic issue.
There's nothing wrong with cheap-ish common 6061T6. Which is not exactly corrosion resistant, but easier to upkeep than 7075. At least it will not end up looking like an expanded pile of cardboard shims with about the same consistency.

smt

LOL, I remember one day I made the stupid decision to put a copper alloy washer in between my 7xxx alloy skate frame and the bootie screws. It was a moderately-for-here humid midsummer day. And of course skaters sweat. But hey, I had to get the morning session done and rush hour was imminent so...

By the time I got back from 25 mi, i.e. 90 minutes tops, the corrosion fuzz between the copper and the Al had completely covered the head of the bolt :geek:,
 

James

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I can’t remember anyone skiing straight skis with raceplates. That’s non racers.

Not sure when the Deflex plates came out. Early 90’s I guess.
Very late 90’s and 2000’s were the golden era of plates. So many choices. But that was with shaped skis, and boot out was a real thing and could be dangerous.

I guess the upshot is, I’m dubious a straight ski is going to need a plate to prevent boot out. You really going to get over 45deg of edge angle on a straight ski?
I don’t think even Ingemar Stenmark used plates, but don’t know.
 
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Andrew Read

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The K2 most definitely does NOT need a plate. I'm not nearly strong enough to put these bad boys on that much edge. I'm not sure the actual degree limit though as the heelpiece overhangs the edge of the ski, but it's probably fine. That's the only reason I would want a little extra height.
If I was to use a plate, it would be a very thin plate; just strong enough to secure the bindings to the ski. Maybe down to 1/4".
I'd love to just slap a binding on them flat the way K2 intended, but I have the feeling that might not work. I need to get that second opinion from an old-school ski shop.

On a side note I'm finding out that in this era of skiing (late 90s), anything went. Straight skis, fat skis, long skis, short skis, super sidecut skis. A truly wild time.
My dad thinks the Dynastar G9s in a 195 are too short for me. I found an article from 1997 where some 5'2 woman said her favorite ski was the Dynastar G9 in a 195 and all the men had like 207. Nowadays from what I can tell, a 195cm ski with 33m radius sidecut is pretty spot on for a mens GS ski. They have aged to perfection.
 

KingGrump

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My dad thinks the Dynastar G9s in a 195 are too short for me. I found an article from 1997 where some 5'2 woman said her favorite ski was the Dynastar G9 in a 195 and all the men had like 207. Nowadays from what I can tell, a 195cm ski with 33m radius sidecut is pretty spot on for a mens GS ski. They have aged to perfection.

We all got wimpy in our old age.

My wife is 5'1" and her straight skis was 190/195.
I am short and fat, 5'/6" (168 cm), my old SLs were 205.
 
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Andrew Read

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Biggest problem I'm having with these K2s is the way the top side of the ski notches in around the waist. On the bottom it's ~61mm waist, which is in line for a high end mogul ski; but the top is closer to ~55mm and there's a radius on the edges that give you even less room.
I've been able to find 2 pictures online of that ski with bindings, and they both had some overhang and screws pretty close to the edge. I guess that's proof it's normal. I was hoping to find a picture of somebody using Pivots on them, but the lack of pictures tells me this was not a very popular ski. Probably why it was bought on clearance.

I dunno. I mentioned homemade raceplates because I thought it would be fun to experiment with them. After thinking about it I'm starting to see why nobody else does this. This is stupid. Surely I can find a shop to mount them regularly, and if they rip out, they rip out. If that happens hopefully I survive so I can throw them in the garbage and get new skis.
 

cantunamunch

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On a side note I'm finding out that in this era of skiing (late 90s), anything went. Straight skis, fat skis, long skis, short skis, super sidecut skis. A truly wild time.

Eh, sort of. There were a lot of duds. There were a lot of one-trick ponies. The biggest, unsung change between now and then is - line choice.

Versatility of line choice on any given ski didn't really exist until about 2005 and wasn't completely common until about 2010.
 

LiquidFeet

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....Versatility of line choice on any given ski didn't really exist until about 2005 and wasn't completely common until about 2010.
And yet there are many recreational skiers, groomer skiers in particular, who have only one turn and only one line choice in their toolbox. Despite the versatility of the skis beneath them.
 
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Andrew Read

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Had to post the triumphant conclusion. Was able to mount the bindings myself on the K2s and Dynastars and ski them for their first time in 25 years. Was a bit of a learning process, but you cant even see those 4 extra holes on the K2s. Thanks for all the advice; was definitely not as hard as I made it out to be.
20221218_151739.jpg

Bonus content of the Fisher and Olin garage sale skis my dad used. Some fine additions to the quiver.
 

Philpug

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Had to post the triumphant conclusion. Was able to mount the bindings myself on the K2s and Dynastars and ski them for their first time in 25 years. Was a bit of a learning process, but you cant even see those 4 extra holes on the K2s. Thanks for all the advice; was definitely not as hard as I made it out to be.
View attachment 186406
Bonus content of the Fisher and Olin garage sale skis my dad used. Some fine additions to the quiver.
That G9 is the best of the lot. One of the first GS skis with a tip over 90mm.
 

Philpug

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Isn’t the G9 an early shaped ski?
Every ski is a "shaped" ski, Dynastar didn't get into a modern (for the day) design until the Speed SF.
 
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Andrew Read

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I did some rough calculations and at 195cm the G9s have a radius of like ~35m. Hard to really push them at the little 250 foot hill I went to, but they were MEAN. Cannot wait to bring them out West.
 
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Andrew Read

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That Olin DTSL is a fabulous ski. Rocked multiple pair back in the day with Look Z Turntables.
Picked those up from a thrift store last week for only 30$. Barely used, and they have the nice Salomon bindings with the metal heels and worm screw adjuster. Hadn't heard of the ski before, but he's pretty happy with it.

Do you remember what year they're from?
 

hrstrat57

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Olin later did a cap type version of their PSIA demo team slalom beautiful blue. Had those too in 200, smooth ski at moderate speed turned on a dime like a good demo ski should. 94/95 IIRC. I’d guess yours are 91/92. I had saved 30 years of Ski and Sking gear review mags just tossed em all this summer. Sorry but you should be able to hunt them down on the internet somewhere.

my favorite ski all time was Olin RTS 205’s. Ugly tops but gorgeous sintered base pebble grain. Had purple and yellow Look z9’s on those. Awesome skis. Sold the binding on eBay for huge money about 10 yrs ago.

edit:
See a pair of these cheap grab em

D1A2723C-4449-474A-AF4E-D87E437AB0A5.jpeg
 
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