nice... i am pretty sold, but am waiting for the garmont boots to come out, and it is gonna be exspAnsive...but i think the boots are sold out right now anyhow.. and apparently 1 binding will do because you can switch the bindings pretty quick like with mounting plates... heres What TK noted:
Pro's
*This is the biggest one here - you can apply edge pressure to the entire running surface of the ski much better than a traditional tele binding, almost like an alpine binding. This would be in comparison to a say a cranked Hammer Head in # 5 with preload which puts far more pressure on the tip of the ski than the tail. This is revolutionary for tele, even if BD can one up it at some point down the road, its still leaps and bounds ahead of what's out there..
*4 cartridges to adjust the pre load from as soft as old 3-pins, to almost locked down heels. Lots of room for adjustment
*Touring mode, 90% of the difference between a non-touring mode and touring mode bindings. Even skiing in warm wet snow that sticks to skins in NM in March-May I had less issues with NTN's than my 01's and if you blindfolded me I would have a hard time telling you which had a more efficient touring mode.
*Adjustable Release
*I will take a good ski break over a leash any day, especially in the back country when worried about an avi pulling you into a slide because of a still connected ski.
*AT compatibility, great for people wanting one boot for both or looking to try tele skis. I think of someone like my girlfriend in this scenario. She could get the boots for her existing AT ski setup, then start trying tele once in a while without a 2nd pair of boots. Also skied the Crispi's in the Marker Dukes, that is a pretty versatile boot that skied alpine pretty well.
*Quick change mounting plates, for those of us with quivers. One pair of bindings and multiple plates make it <1 minute to move the binding from ski to ski and around $50 MSRP. Much cheaper than $300/pair 01's/G3's ect.
Con's
*Only two boots models on the market - if neither of them fit well, you are out of luck
*Tele skiers with poor form and who weight their downhill legs are going to have issues adjusting. Long run it will be good because they will learn better technique and weight the back foot with a better stance, but some will complain because they will struggle with their poor technique.
*Reliability is still unproven, but looks quite bomber with lots of stainless steel and 150 grams over the R8. I would take this binding in the part any day over a G3.
*Not backwards compatible with old bindings (with cheap extra mounting plates, this is less of an issue)
*Only works for size 26.5 and up, excludes all the beautiful, small footed people out there.
So in summary, I am sold on NTN if I can get some boots that fit good, I will happily convert my quiver to NTN next year (pro form by chance?
. It tours just as good as my 01's, but it has such good edge hold that I thought made groomers fun even on noodle powder skis (and I'm not a groomer fan). Plus the safety of having a release in the back country and it weighs the same as my current set up. I also loved the extra mounting plates and ease of moving it from ski to ski cheaply and quickly. I really thought it sucked going back to regular bindings, but want a bigger boot than the Scarpa.
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Thanks for the beta Tim!
Linear Mode
