I just bought a pair of Salomon Teneighty Gun skis from an REI scratch and dent sale, and now I need bindings. I haven’t been on real skis for a very long time, as I normally ride 98cm Skiboards from Line. (Skiboards use non-releasing bindings.)
Note: the new skis are twin tips that need a binding with a wide brake.
What would you suggest I look for?
What difference does it make?
Pretty much any binding should have brakes wide enough now. In my years of racing, I found Salomon bindings to be far and away the most durable.
Make sure you get some sort of lift plates, too.
OK, thanks. Durability is good.
The skis are 90mm wide at the waist; does this mean I need a brake listed at 90mm or 100mm? (I see that brakes are swappable, I just want to know how wide I need them.)
What do lift plates give me, exactly?
You should be good with the 90mm brakes, but I’d double check.
With the newer shaped skis, you can carve much more aggressively. This means you’ve got a greater edge angle than you did with traditional skis. Without the lift plate, you’ll boot out a lot. Booting out is when the inside of your boot comes into contact with the snow. This causes you to lose your edge and (usually) fall.