Question about Atomic bindings

Graphics and the height of the binding. Any would be perfectly fine on her 9.22s, but the Ride binding would look the best, which is a prime concern,at least for my wife. The Ride binding has a slight bit more lift than the Race binding, which is good for Atomics with no lifter plate. Also, the Race bindings really don't have an AFD, which probbaly isn't the best thing in the world for freeskiing.

To be honest, if you don't have the Atomic plate, I would consider other brands of bindings. I'm not crazy about how Atomics work, but I use them because my lifters are predrilled for them and I'm to cheap to swap out the plates. I tend to gravitate towards Marker when I have the choice, but I've also had decent results with Salomon and Look/Rossi as well. There are some nice features to Atomic bindings you can't get anywhere else (sizing without redrilling, varizone adjustment, and the brake retaining clips come to mind), but I still prefer other brands.

I prefer the 614 over the 412 for structural reasons (it has a lot more metal in it), but I haven't had any problems with my 412s yet. They sell for pretty much the same on eBay right now (within $10-$20).

If I'm reading my (partial) 2002/2003 Atomic product guide correctly, the heights of the various models are: Race 16.5mm, Xentrix 24mm, and Centro 27mm. Centro is their demo binding, and it is a bit high and kinda clunky.

From what I can tell, the reason for the different heights is that their race skis already have a lifter and are limited by FIS regulations. The Centros are just high because of their added mechanisms. I have them on a pair of second-generation 9.16s to loan out, and with the lifter it is like being on a hypercarver.

I rarely use my Varizone adjustments. If you start her out in the early part of the season on these skis, you shouldn't have a problem. Play a little on easier than normal terrain for a while to get her used to them, and she'll adapt just fine- as long as the skis are somewhat sized correctly for her.

The Ride series bindings are in fact higher by about 8mm I believe and as said above the difference you are looking at is height and cosmetics. The Xentrix was renamed Ride so it's the same binding. I strongly advise you put on the Ride binding. The extra height is the way to go to help tip the slightly wider R22 (72mm under foot) up on edge. I have no problems with the binding and I also suggest you turn the forward pressure screw about 2mm further in then being flush with the housing.

Hey nasa
Alaska Mike and L7 have got the facts sorted out for you, so here is some more opinion. If you're going for an Atomic binding, I agree that the Ride 4.12 is the one. I use them on a pair of R10.20 and they seem fine. Sometimes I wonder if less lift would make the ski easier in firm rough conditions, other than that I don't think about it which I take to mean that the amount of lift is working well. And I have had a couple of heel pre-releases so this season will be trying the suggestion of winding up the forward pressure slightly.

What I LOVE about these bindings is the Varizone - I use it all the time and it makes a significant and useful difference to the ski's handling. I use 3 of the 4 positions in roughly equal proportions depending on the hill I'm at and the conditions that day. Its so easy to use, sometimes I'll move it just for a couple of runs on a different part of the mountain. To me it means one less thing to think about - once I've found the optimum position for the conditions I can get on with skiing without wondering if I would be having more fun if the bindings had been mounted in a different (fixed) position. Some people probably never think about this anyway, but I used to, so it helps. I wish all bindings had this feature.

I also use Salomon and Look. They all have their good and not so good points. I do think there's something to be said for choosing a binding that is a good aesthetic match for the ski, so this is a legitimate (but small) factor in the decision process. Look good => feel good => ski good. So I'm putting Fritschi Diamirs on my new R9.22s, Look turntables on my Bandit XX, and duct tape on the rip in my pants

grum

[ May 29, 2003, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: grum ]

Keep in mind that the 10.20 comes with a lift plate already on it so the extra lift of the ride binding gets to be quite a bit of height. The 9.22 does not have that plate mounted on it so the lift of the ride binding is really just bringing you to what I think would be a minimum lift for that width of ski.

Another feature of the race binding is that it has one more adjustment in the binding position. I believe the ride had 4 and the race has 5.