PHIOKKA Highlander Bindings. Good for EC?

[drcr]

PHIOKKA Highlander
http://yyzcanuck.com/E_product_bindings_highlander.htm

There are two posts going on at bomber and catek on the isolation of of shock and vibration of the TD2s and Cateks in particular.

Bomber Thread: http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/s ... genumber=1
Catek Thread: http://www.catek.com/forum/read.php?f=1&i=1710&t=1690

Dave of yyzcauck mentioned the Highlanders and provided a few "caveman" sketches in the Catek thread. Anyone tried this binding on a Swoard / EC technique?

[Arnaud]

From alpinecarving.com :
http://www.alpinecarving.com/binding_model.html#other

* The PH-1 bindings are great for freecarving. They are similar in feel to the Bombers. The 6mm bail option is recommended over the 5mm bails. It requires 3 hex wrenches for full adjustment: 3mm, 4mm, and 5mm. It is 3D and 4x4 compatible, and the footprint is 14.0 cm in diameter.
* The Highlander bindings are preferred by racers. These bindings have a low profile, keeping your boots close to the board for highest responsiveness. It has an F2-style center disk with a gasket that provides vibration dampening. All adjustments can be made with a #3 Phillips screwdriver. It has a smaller 10.5 cm diameter footprint that preserves the flex pattern of the board.

HTH

PH1 are great for EC but a little heavy (> 1800 g)

Arnaud

[Lee]

Since Phiokka is now avaliable in Holland http://www.phiokka.nl I have both the PH1 and the Highlander. The PH1 comes standard with 6mm bails and the highlander with 5mm bails. I find both excellent for carving The PH1 gives some extra clearance to prevent toe and heel drag due to its raised baseplate. The highlander even with 5mm bails has better response. I have fitted the highlander with aluminum canting plates while the PH1 has a "plastic" canting plate wich gives some dampening.

[drcr]

Thanks for the input.

[tigger]

looks similar to the pogo bindings

[Lee]

When i Visited Phiokka in Torino, Fulvio Tosco the CEO of Phiokka told me he makes the bindings for other brands like Virus... Pogo as well so it seems...

Fulvio makes aircraft parts... so he has the CNC machines to make stuff... The snowboard gear is just for the love of the sport....

[Hans]

Since Phiokka is now avaliable in Holland http://www.phiokka.nl I have both the PH1 and the Highlander.

Hi, Lee
Interesting, where are those bindings for sale in the Netherlands?

Greets, Hans.

[Lee]

Michel is doing the Phiokka promotion this season... Next season it will be available in several shops in Holland and Belgium... But if you want it now... just mail Michel.

[lobella]

Hi Lee, I' ve some questions for you about the PH1 bindings....

I' ve bought the PH1 last week at Italian Spot where I' ve known Fulvio Tosco.

I' d like to know if you' re using them flat, and in the case if you have mounted the plate directly on the disk, or you have coupled the two plastic discs between the plate and the base.

Another things that I' ve not understood : Fulvio told me that the plastic rings under the heels and the tips must be set in contact wuth the board' s surface...but in this case will this settings prevent the binding from absorb the vibrations ? It seems strange because they prevent the disk to float over the PVC disk placed under the binding base.

thank you veru much in advance for your help

Lorenzo

[Arnaud]

I' d like to know if you' re using them flat

Yes, flat

and in the case if you have mounted the plate directly on the disk, or you have coupled the two plastic discs between the plate and the base.

Directly on aluminium base, without plastics disk.
Be carefull with screw length, to avoid base damage

the plastic rings under the heels and the tips

no such rings on my PH1 . Only the PVC sheet under circular base.
Maybe it's new for 2005 ?

Arnaud

[Lee]

I use them with the plastic canting disc.... so not flat...

I know what you mean with the "feet".. I don't use them... but only because they don't fit. My boots are to small to let the extended screws fit outside the base disk.

If you want a stiffer setup and your boots are big enough you could use the "feet"

[Lee]

I also use additional lifting plates all around

[lobella]

thank you very much for all the informations.

I' ve decided to use the bindings flat on the base disk.

I' ve left in place the small feet, but with a margin from the board' s surface, so if I feel too soft setup i can, on the slopes, change the setup and making the bindings more rigid ( i think... ).

Lee, are the lifting plates yuo' re using in aluminium ?
If I' ve understood yiu' re using the plates as a general lift, not only under
the heels....why ?

What do you think about the PH1, I' m really happy with theyr look, very well constructed...but I' m waiting to test them


bye

Lorenzo

___________________

Madd 168 / Black Hole 168 / Oxygen Proton GS 172 /
Scott Strike 180 / A strange thing with the same Swoard lenght, radius, and waist width...
A lot of Snowpro FAST Race / Phiokka Ph1
Raichle AF700, UPS mach RX

[Lee]

The lifting plate i use are made of plastic... the black stripes you can see on the pic.
It gains extra clearance from the edge during carving... it's just a test... see how it works... i let you know when we are back from Val Thorens in the first week of 2005.

The built quality is great. there are a few points that need some attention like the length of the front bail (the "toe sole" does not sit perfect on the front support) and the lever is a bit to far down the "dead" point so it releases some pressure when it "clicks" down on the nose of my boot.

Other brands use a "screw" to adjust the lever travel to fit the boot.

The rest is perfectly made... i'm gonna buy me an other set for my donek.

[Arjan]

I also use the canting wedges but don't have that round baseplate, so directly on the board. I did find out that the screws for the heel and toe piece were a bit too long...they almost hit the board. I have to saw them off a little bit.

Lee and I will do some extended testing in Val Thorens first week of January. We will test the Doneks (Axis and SL), Phiokka bindings...will be an interesting week

Oh, of course do some major EC-training on several boards and make a video for Nils, since he does not believe we are able to EC on almost any alpine board