Reflex set up

[Lovell]

So I ruptured my Achilles last summer in a Wiley front that I skied great in. My recovery went well and I bought a Reflex front for this year.

 

I ordered a white cuff Reflex and accompanying plate etc. So, I skied for the first time in 8 months yesterday. I put the Reflex plate on the ski. Then I went to the lake and tested the release per the Horton and Mapple video. It felt good, but I was pretty nervous given my injury, recovery, new bindings etc. I Click in get up, pull out for the gate, go through the gates and the front boot releases at the horseshoe. I get in the boat and head back to the dock to figure out what is going on. There were several experienced Reflex users on the dock. It appeared that any backward pressure on the release would cause the nose of the boot to pop out of the horseshoe which was not evident when we tested at first. The conventional wisdom on the dock was to move the release forward, but there were no holes in the plate, we did move the release to the front holes of the hinge, but it did not change the lack of forward pressure.

 

After fiddling for a couple of hours the consensus was the plate was too big.

 

Thoughts re the the lack of forward pressure?

 

I did nervously put the Wiley back on and ski a slow and long set , which was super fun and my ankle held up so the day was not a total loss.

[Gloersen]

@Lovell -

 

could be that the toe bar is mounted on the plate too far forward.

 

also the toe bar may have been supplied with spacers that need to be placed between the toe bar and flange mounting nuts; this gives the bar more height and allows the bar to be mounted on the plate properly further back (perhaps 1 hole back from where it may be currently improperly positioned) such that the toe of the shell protrudes through more (if recalled correctly, could be the spacers are needed for >/= size 8 shells).

 

Follow the supplied directions closely if available or refer to their .pdf

 

Reflex User Manual

[BRY]

STOP!

let me say that again

STOP!

Assumption: You know the toe came/comes out because of a release with the heel remaining cocked. If heel uncocked, i.e. released, other issues can be at play. Also assume purchased new from real dealer (you said "ordered").

 

There is no way with a properly set up Reflex the toe can come out as described unless the heel releases. The toe is in the horseshoe a couple inches and should get dents where it pushes against the horseshoe. If it is as you describe then something is very, very wrong and very dangerous. Set up properly I believe (and have severely tested the theory for years) that the Reflex is very safe and reliable when properly set up.

It takes a very firm push on the heel piece to clip in the boot. Three or four fingers won't do it, solid push required. If less or way more, something wrong, don't use, investigate.

 

I suggest you first check the size of the boot (should be stamped somewhere). Next, using diagrams in the manual @Gloersen posted above, check to make sure you have the proper size plate for your boot (2 sizes). If correct then, using diagrams again, make sure the horseshoe and heel piece are in the correct holes for your plate and boot. If proper plate but wrong holes move to the exact holes in the diagrams , and bitch dealer out. If wrong plate send back, have dealer cross ship a all new proper set up and bitch them out. If all correct as per diagram call dealer for assistance, possibly send you a new plate/release assembly.

 

The above should resolve the issue you describe, sure it's a positioning/size issue. Too high horseshoe and it will bump up/down with occasional pre-release but can't come out at toe. If purchased used from "some dude on the internet" the the above should still help but could just be a worn out or poorly modified system.

 

I got my first Reflex from Remi and have had almost all, including black, white and supershell. Currently on white as works best for me. Very familiar and have set up several friends, no issues for any of us as it just works and skis awesome.

[gregy]

Post some pics. Something is definitely wrong. What size shell?

[Lovell]

Thanks guys. Purchased new from an authorized dealer who will remain unnamed. The dealer did not include the manual provided above, which I was concerned about, but watched some set up videos. Now having read the manual and done some further online reading, I am almost certain that I was provided the correct size 10 boot and the plate for the size 12 boot or the super shell. The plate as delivered had no specific identifying info on it making it al that much more confusing.

 

Needless to say, the whole set up is going back.

[Lovell]

Following up on this, the retailer replaced the plate with the plate that fits a size 10 and it is working correctly now. Skied with the binding on the new plate and it felt pretty good.

[RAWSki]

I am just now putting a reflex front boot on my ski, how long should it take to adjust? Any advice is welcome. I tried to keep my heel in the same location as my rubber binding. It also seems like my rear binding is going to prevent the heel mechanism from laying back fully during a release, anyone had this issue?

[bkreis]

@RAWSki it'll release if necessary..at first keep the top buckle a little less than snug. You'll get a lot more input to the ski going to reflex. As you get used to additional edge control you should be able to tighten up the top buckle. should be 2 sets or less. hardest part is the initial trust of the change.

[jedgell]

I'm going through the same change now. First set I had all the buckles cranked tight, couldn't run an opener, could barely get out of the water. Second set loosened the top buckle and felt much better, ran several passes. Will still take a few more sets to feel comfortable.

I also had the concern about the release hitting the back R-Style, it's hard to get the boot in, but it releases fine.

[Jmoski]

If your loosening up the top buckle, make sure you can still step out/release on the dock. Otherwise you run the risk of ankle movement delaying or worse preventing release in a crash.

[miski]

I am coming back from an ugly ankle injury, just skied first set in 10 months on new binding setup and trying to figure out what is rust from time off vs. new setup.

 

One new addition is the cuff range limit strap which would have saved me from injury in the first place. This limit feels great checking release on the dock - I have it set to engage before my ankle hurts and I feel completely safe that I will release before over ranging my ankle. On the water in the few passes I attempted, I have much more tip pressure than I remember. I love it on my gate turn in, but wasn't able to figure this out off the buoy - again, after just a few passes.

 

One obvious option would be to loosen the strap, but that isn't an option for my ankle. I believe I do still have a reasonable ankle/cuff range so am not relegated to straight leg skiing, but I will be on the strap a lot if not most of the time.

 

The Reflex manual doesn't include setup info for the limit strap. I would be grateful to hear other skiers experience with settings on this limit strap. Thanks ahead.

[RAWSki]

Well after one ugly set I had to tighten the buckles a little to feel like I have control. The ski feels better-faster across the wakes. My on side feels better but my off side is Awful! I need the wind to settle so I can get in some more sets soon. I think this change is going to take longer than I hoped.

[Waternut]

@miski I feel your pain. Thankfully I never seriously injured my ankle but it is very weak mostly from a year or two of using the black cuff Reflex boot with stiff release settings and lots of crashes. The countless times I've rolled my ankles doing other things hasn't helped much either. Watching videos of people pulling their foot out of the release makes me cringe so I did the test years ago and haven't done it since because it usually makes my ankle hurt doing it on dry land.

 

I still run my top buckle fairly loose. I'd call it snug at best. Unfortunately, this also means that in a release, the force is transmitted through my ankle since the top buckle isn't doing much. That said, my release setting is off the scale on the light side. The bottom of the white indicating line is above the 4 on my release mechanism. I'm 6' tall and 190 lbs and in 4-5 years of skiing, I've only pre-released once when I tried going to an even lower release setting. Maybe 1 in 4 times I release, my back foot will still be in the RTP and I slip my foot in the RTP every time I get up so it's not in there super tight.

 

As for the limiting strap, I run that pretty tight. I found the middle setting would allow my ankle to be the limiting factor and not the flexion strap. My flexion strap about 1.375 inches from the end.