I am looking to bye one of these bindings.I would pretty much only ski them on powder days and BC, They both have pros and cons.I like how simple the fritschi is, and the duke seamed a bit bulky but strong. I do weigh 200 lbs witch makes me question the fritschi a bit, but I am pretty light on my feet for being a beef cake. Some people swear by the fritschi other people dukes.
I was wondering what the Buzz opinion was.
went through three pairs of freerides, got the dukes, not going back. get a dynafit setup for long tours and the integreated dukes on a pair of Blizzards for your side country set, you'll be stoked.
I ski the dukes every day. there is no reason not to get them. if it is weight you are worried about, marker cam out with a scaled down duke called the baron. check them out. pretty much the same binding, just lighter and not quite as sturdy all around.
then again I am a big guy, 300lbs and I was told that the barron is a resort binding made to look the part, the duke is a better binding but heavyer in its build, the barron has a lower din setting and weaker springs. it is great if you want the look but the duke has the parts you are going to want if you are in the backcountry, some of those other pos are made with to much plastic in the wrong places ie the bd freeride, there is one other and im not sure of the name but its a nixon or somthing. that is the only other that is worth the money. dyna-fit has the good stuff for long tours and a good bc descent. look might have one as well
the other binding is the naxo not nixon and there is also the silveretta, both are good but the duke is where it is at get it, at... ha you kill me missus H.
IMO it all about weight. If you are heavier 185 + and ski aggressive you want the dukes. If you want a light weight binding that tours very, very well go w/ the freerides. I haven't skied the dukes but have heard an seen they're bomber. after skiing free rides the last 3 seasons there is no way that there claim of "12" on the din chart holds any water. its more like a 9 i go flyn out of those damn lego binders all the time on 12(even w/ the forward pressure bumped up), however they tour sweet. i'm goin dukes and dynafits this season....
You have to decide what you want to do with the skis, i know that these days we all want to do it all on one pair of skis but the fact remains that certain things are best handled by certain gear. If you want to tour alot and actually hit the backcountry get the fritschis if you want side country go dukes. If you are yo yoing backcountry do you want to take your skis off at the top and bottom of every run and deal with clearing snow out of your dukes or if you are just trying to get out gates at the resort you might want the less efficient but more bomber dukes, they both have apllications at which they excel. Just depends on what you want. Id go fritschis and hike all day personally
John,
If you plan on using skins and already have a boot dialed, go FF. Deal with the low DIN setting as we have all done so far. Dukes are no exactly motivating for travel up-hill and always having to take the boot out for walk mode sucks for near country. Might as well shoulder skis with real binding for East Vail, unless your yo-yo'n out there. DONT bump the fwd pressure up as it will usually release easer, not harder. I found increasing downward toe pressure and DE-creasing FWD pressure helped with a harder release. GOod luck, I'm going Dynafit FT12 to max the amount of powder. Something to think about.
Jonathon,
thought I'd add my $0.02. I have both bindings. I've been through several pairs of fritschis and just got the dukes last season. Once you're skiing you can't beat the Duke for it's alpine binding feel and bomber skiability, but beware the climbing bar on the Duke is substantialy shorter than the freeride and sucks for climbing up steeps. While the freeride does not have the same feel for skiing I've found it to be very reliable in-bounds, sidecountry and BC touring and I'm able to climb the steepest climbs without problems . For what it's worth, this year I'm planning on getting the Baron and trying to retrofit a taller climbing bar.
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