fritschi heel lock problems?

I'm reviving this one because my Diamir's finally died on Monday while skiing at Alpental (still smiling by the way). I had no problems while skinning/skiing, but just this morning I gave my skis a quick once over to check for edge/base problems and if my retro-fit work on my dying bindings was holding up. I was very disapointed to see that the metal (think it is titanium) that holds the toe-piece to the ski was cracked near the rear set of screws that holds it to the ski. Both sides too! Oh great! I just spent 3 hours fixing other problems with these things a few weeks ago, and now they just have to be replaced. A call to BD is coming, so maybe I can include them in the package when I send them my Lasers to get their buckle fixed. Anyway, for those of you out there with Naxos, Fritchi Freerides, Fritchi 3's, Silverettas...what do you think? I'm not really concerned about weight. I want longevity. Give me the dirt! What would you recomend?<br><br>Wish I had my digi cam back to show you all what I did to my Diamir's. I re-tapped two different holes in the center rail and sunk fatter screws into them. These screws had sheared and need to be replaced. They were the screws that held the heel piece in place on the rail, and the screws that hold the toe-pieces' DIN mechanism into the rail - pretty important screws! I also noticed that the rail is held into the toepiece by two pins. These pins were slowly working their way out. I was able to work them out by grabbing them with a pair of needle nose. This allowed me to pull the rail out of the toepiece. I was then shocked to discover that the only force holding the pins into the holes in the center rail is the tension created by the toepiece DIN mechanism (shear force on the pins from a spring). I replaced these pins with a bolt, two washers, and a nylon lock nut. They've been bomber since then - waste of time though.

Seeing you already own the Scarpa Lasers, you might consider the Dynafit Tourlite Tech bindings. Although the binding may appear "light", I have been using them for over 7 years on differrent skis and have had no problems. I'm 6'3", 210 lb and used them on numerous week long ski traverses carrying a 50 lb pack and never had any problems. Dynafit had problems with the TriStep toepiece and replaced it with the Comfort toepiece this year. The Toulite Tech model has remained essentially unchanged for years . It seems to be the binding"of choice" in the Randonee Rally's.<br><br>Zap

I've heard several reports of Naxos breaking, toepiece, heelpiece, etc. Check here for a very current thread. No holy grail yet.

I'll second Zap's suggestion.<br>I wore out two sets of Fritschi's. When returning the second set for "adjustment" I asked the shop tech which AT bindings had the fewest problems. The answer was the dynafits by a very large margin. Five years later I haven't even seen any indications of wear showing up, with 40 - 50 days per year of use. And like Zap, I'm no lightweight, either.

Well, after a few calls between BD customer service and the local shop, I have a set of Freerides. I needed something quick for a trip starting tomorrow, and they'll slide right into the existing holes in my skis (plus the price was right due to BD's wonderfully helpful,and understanding customer service reps). Seriously, they've always been great to deal with. While picking up my bindings I did take a good long look at the Naxos and discussed pros/cons with a shop guy. I had read the cascadeclimbers.com thread and Lou's pages about the Naxos before I went in there. Sure enough, the toepiece seems fragile. It is all plastic and narrow in one spot, plus there was a lot of play in the linkage arms. They seem to have a great platform to build from though. Should see the Naxo II's anytime soon I guess...thanks for your replies. When I get my "light" set-up (someday) I will definately go with the Dynafits - you guys are the best gear reviewers around.

I'll third Ron J's suggestion. Just get Dynafit bindings and be done with it. Unless, of course, you enjoy messing with bindings.