Fritschi Freeride issues

Hi all,

I got my wife a pair of freerides this Christmas and they seem to work just fine except when she tries to step into the bindings. No matter how hard she pushes, the heel of her boot just won't lock down in the binding. She has to bend down and physically lift up on the back of the binding to click in. I've checked the DIN settings and the length of the binding and everything appears to be set up correctly. Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas how to solve it?

Thanks,
Brian

Could be that the heel of the ski boot is worn right at the back edge and therefore doesn't engage the lever properly.???
My wife also had this problem but it wasn't the binding or ski, just the way she tried to click in. She could never exert enough force by just kicking her heel down.
I showed her how to put all the weight on her heel by leaning back and slowly pressing down through her heels rather than try an explosive kick down and now she can do it every time.
Previous to that she thought the binding defective but it wasn't.
Not suggesting that's the case here but maybe????

Could be that the heel of the ski boot is worn right at the back edge and therefore doesn't engage the lever properly.???
My wife also had this problem  but it wasn't the binding or ski, just the way she tried to click in.  She could never exert enough force by just kicking  her heel down.
I showed her how to put all the weight on her heel by leaning back and slowly pressing down through her heels rather than try an explosive kick down and now she can do it every time.
Previous to that she thought the binding defective but it wasn't.
Not suggesting that's the case here but maybe????

I can't even get the boot to click in with my hands. Really strange. And her boots and bindings are brand new.

mmmhhh.  ???
Might want to try the SLOW , lean back and press down with heels things though just to rule it out.
For 6 months I went through the " you need to fix my bindings, they're broke" from the wifey until I showed her this technique and she finally agreed to try it and not blame the bindings and me. ;D

If they are adjusted for the right length, correct DIN etc, don't know what it could be?

Edit. Further thoughts. What kind of boot AT or Alpine? Check the toe height . If set up for an AT boot sometimes if used with a Alpine boot which sometimes have thicker toe bill, you can't get the toe piece in as far as it should go and makes heel engagement difficult.

Back the toe height off all the way and wind down din to minimum then set length v.slightly long - what happens now?

Try a different boot.

I have this same problem with my son's diamer II's. He can only engage them by bending down and pulling him up, but I just assumed it was because at 75lbs he didn't have the weight and strength to do it. I'll have to check the toe height and see if that helps.

The din has to be set at the front AND THE BACK of the binding and the height has to be set too.

I destroyed a pair of bindings by not setting them right a couple seasons ago (I thought my lousy skiing was because I was getting old). Eric at Marmot and schooled me on this last summer when I bought the new bindings and now I can change boots when ever I want.

You might want to have a good ski technician look at them with you.

Hi I have experienced this phenom with my wife's Fritschis. In her case it's due to the size of the boot sole, she is a Garmont Sheride sole size 270mm. This is what happens. When she starts to step in to the binding the treadle pedal for the brake starts to rotate forward unfortunately the treadle moves forward as it rotates and slips off the front of the heel block of the boot before it can retract the brake and hangs up there jamming the entry into the binding, it's a total piss off. Basically the small garmont boots are incompatible with the Fritchi brakes, that being said here is what I did to McQiver it. I got some old vibram hiking boot soles and cut a piece of rubber thick enough to fill the instep void in essence lengthening the heel block by an inch and a quarter then I barge cemented it in place. Now the brake pedal slides along the extended heel block and she can step right in. Works like a charm now and the wife is a happy camper and we all know how important that is!

Hmmm a wife problem ?
don't think so. Iv'e set up a few std fritschis and my 4 sets of shortened fritschis. Try setting bindings in std . position for toe height and length of sole. If you still get a lame closing of the heel try adjusting the heel back a tad. That has always worked for me. On my shortened versions where the markings have no meaning I aim for 1/4 " . This is not to say there can't be lug problems. I use a std business card for for the toeheight feeler gage. Of course do all this at your own risk.