Telemark's dirty little secret

[SteveK]

We all know what I'm talking about, but no one will admit it.

The undercurrent is always there, sometimes breaking to the surface. Discrimination that no one will admit to. Ostracization. And those that partake have been beaten down, shamed into silence.

Yes, those of us who bend over, flip a heel lever, tie a bungee cord around our ankle, then wrap duct tape around it all in the hopes that we won't get ejected from our ski on the next turn, have been marginalized to the point of becoming invisible.

Even vbulletin is part of this unspoken yet all encompassing effort to stamp out a tiny, dwindling minority:

"The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search:
7tm"

The first free pivot tele binding. The only DIN releasable binding. Sure, the climbing bar was designed by a masochist who should be hunted down and strung up forthwith, but hey, we'd all keel over dead if there wasn't at least one thing seriously wrong with a tele binding.

I understand that no one will post on this thread, it's all just part of the conspiracy, and the approbation that we, the few, bear when discussing this binding that we are stuck with - I mean love.

[freeheelwilly]

I have no idea what this thread is about. I think the OP is trying to be funny (in that really pathetic, geeky sort of way that makes everyone feel uncomfortable) and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a sort of "insiders' joke" about a telemark binding (if by "insiders" you mean "congenitally awkward" and by "joke" you mean "thing that's not even remotely funny.")


This is classic Happy Forum fail; what the Big Bang Theory would look like during a writer's strike.

[FixedGearHead]

OK..., Just for fun going to revive this one, really not sure if it ever really died.

[Quadzilla]

Not going to speak for Steve, but I think the jest is that there is no love for 7TM even so it has a pretty reliable release feature which is rare for a tele binding.

[FixedGearHead]

I'm still on my Hammerheads. Haven't quite made the jump to NTN yet. I suppose I will at some point but I'm pretty happy where I am right now. So yes I still shuffle to get my skis on and have leashes in bounds.

[freeheelwilly]

I think the jest is that there is no love for 7TM even so it has a pretty reliable release feature which is rare for a tele binding.

That's the "jest"? Good fucking grief.

If the humor police ever get wind of what's going on over here, y'all are going away for a long, long time.

[Clydesdad]

Personally, I like this post A LOT and I get it even though I never skied the binding in question. I did try to tour with the original NTN and always wondered why my heel post had to weigh twice what a normal bar weighed and then not work very well... From what I've heard the Freedom is a much better set-up...

But hey, that's just me (and, I fear, I'll be back to an occasional lurk soon enough, much as I was on Ttips)...

Hate on, if you must... (smileys, hugs, etc.)

[yersinlepoleAunt]

That's the "jest"? Good fucking grief.

If the humor police ever get wind of what's going on over here, y'all are going away for a long, long time.

Joined the grammar police I see...Good for you!!!
BTW, spell "humor" "humour" next time, if you REALLY
want to impress! ..

[chamonix]

Well I skied 7TMs for years. First the All mountain (a pretty wobbly binding) then the somewhat better 7TM Powers. My boot was the super comfortable Ener-G. I even skied the Vallee Blanc on 7TMs, and I liked the idea of a releaseable tele binding, with brakes.. But then I remembered how from time to time I would get ejected from the binding, just going over a bump, and have to dive on my ski as it took off, the binding plate still on the ski! This happened a few times over the years; I only once had a release where the plate actually released from the ski, allowing the brakes to extend.

Then I tried the first NTN boot, the Scarpa TX, with the Intuition Liner, and there was no going back. I used this TX boot with the NT Bulldog binding, and it was lighter, and more responsive, better edging than the 7TM Power. My 75mm Ener-G boots were really getting soft, too. So here are my old orange Rapid Transits heading out to a new owner on Tele-Turnaround. And the new, NT Bulldog setup, on my newer, blue RTs.
RIP, 7TM

[cesare]

Y'know, I thought the 7TM release system was really dialed. My biggest problem was the skiability of the binding. Other bindings just ski so much better, even original Switchbacks. Enough better that I eventually abandoned the 7TM. I remember someone made a frankenbinding by cutting the wings off the toe plate and mounting another binding on top of it. I almost thought about trying that myself but it seemed more than a little beyond my primitive prototyping skills. Too bad they kind of stopped with the power tour and didn't make something more powerful with a switch instead of a post you have to remove at the risk of dropping it in the snow.

Really slick release system.

Oh, and my first thought on seeing the title was it was about how much weed some of us smoke. But that really isn't much of a secret, especially in CO and WA these days.

[william]

7TM was good for a while, but they stopped trying to improve it and it stayed heavy and clunky.

Now all the cool kids have switched to NTN, or so I hear.

[SteveK]

Now all the cool kids have switched to NTN, or so I hear.

You hear that, Nick D?

[LightRanger]

Y'know, I thought the 7TM release system was really dialed. My biggest problem was the skiability of the binding. Other bindings just ski so much better, even original Switchbacks. Enough better that I eventually abandoned the 7TM. I remember someone made a frankenbinding by cutting the wings off the toe plate and mounting another binding on top of it. I almost thought about trying that myself but it seemed more than a little beyond my primitive prototyping skills. Too bad they kind of stopped with the power tour and didn't make something more powerful with a switch instead of a post you have to remove at the risk of dropping it in the snow.

This. And then, after switching to Hammerheads, my constant refrain to people was, "I used to ski releasable tele bindings, but they didn't ski very well."

[Paul Lutes]

This. And then, after switching to Hammerheads, my constant refrain to people was, "I used to ski releasable tele bindings, but they didn't ski very well."

Same here; performance should always be the number one objective in a tele binding, even over safety since free-heel is inherently safer than fixed heel but also inherently harder (in large part because of the binding) than fixed.

[Quadzilla]

Same here; performance should always be the number one objective in a tele binding, even over safety since free-heel is inherently safer than fixed heel but also inherently harder (in large part because of the binding) than fixed.

What? please explain how free heel is "inherently safer" than fixed heel.