HO hardshell

[JBB]

Recently this forum convinced me that the best way to protect my bad ankle was to move to a releasable hardshell bindings. I have a line on the HO syndicate hardshells. Does anyone have experience with them?

[david_quail]

Great product except LINK to another thread

[Deanoski]

Great choice

[aupatking]

Great system with, hands-down, the best boot out there. The base pieces are brittle, and if you're hard on equipment, you'll go through some base segments. Hopefully HO will get that bit sorted soon

[Greg Banish]

I broke my ankle last year and moved to a Syndicate hardshell for this year. So far, it has saved me twice. Good investment.

[Horton]

@aupatking I talked to John Travers about it over the weekend. The brittle base part issue should be completely a thing of the past. People that have the old parts should be able to just get them swapped out under warranty. As for the boot, yeah I think it's the best thing out there.

[david_quail]

@Horton That's fantastic. I love mine but had cracked a few parts. My dealer and HO were fantastic about getting me replacements, but I'm glad to hear that the hassle of doing so will be a thing of the past.

[JBB]

Thanks for the heads up on the brittle parts. I confirmed that I would be receiving the updated base to the binding, and pulled the trigger!

[Jaypro]

as I sit here recovering from my torn ACL, the releasable binding looks appealing to me. I am on a Connelly Sync binding which I like. I am just a 15 off 30 mph skier working on 22'. Is this too much boot for me?

[OldboyII]

Silvreta release unit does work only when heel lifts. Like in OTF fall.

Therefore will not protect ACL in very rare fall with flat twisting motion of the ski.

I have same issue + tib fracture and looking into MOB option.

[BraceMaker]

Panda hunting

 

[Horton]

@BraceMaker please start another thread if you want to promote another brand. It's not about protecting an Advertiser it's about trying to keep information organized and threads on topic.

[BraceMaker]

Apologies @Horton To be clear mine is parts from 3 different systems grafted together for oldboys viewing. I knew it to be off topic but it was specific to @OldboyII

And OP seems to be more curious about the safety of releasable binders.

[skierjp]

Here in Florida Reflx is the overwhelming majority. Remember HO has only had their binding out for less then a year. To me it seems way to stiff.

[jayski]

@skierjp coming off the Reflex to the HO I did not find the actual boot any stiffer, in the all black rwflex the forefoot is actually softer and if you have a white cuff reflex the whole thing is softer. But the big difference is the foot bed which makes the setup more responsive than the reflex there is no play in the HO system as there is in the reflex.

[skierjp]

Agree

[Horton]

Bump

[whitecaps]

@jayski, what about the Reflex 3 that is out now? Will the improved/embedded footbed make the Reflex 3 on the same order of responsiveness as the HO?

[Stevie Boy]

So where are HO with the foot bed, is it still work in progress or is the slightly thicker cradle doing the job ?

[jayski]

@whitecaps from what I can see in the picture there is no footbed in the forward portion of the foot...regardless of the toe loop I think play will still exist in that area, the HO FULL footbed inhibits that movement and increases responsiveness

[spicoli]

Safety, seems like we skied for hundred yrs in rubber with a bunch of black and blue ankles seems like since all theses safe binding came out I see and me included and 3 ski.buddys broke legs what gives

[BraceMaker]

@spicoli I snapped a femur in a rubber boot. So I wouldn't exactly say 100 years of no issues. I am very specific about what I'll strap into, last weekend I tried a ski with a wileys, I don't think I'll go back. In some ways I think that there are fitment issues, I moved to full wrap liners after a tongue style stressed my achilles and the support of the wrap I feel reduces how hard you hit the end of the release - 2 layers of liner there.

[6balls]

@spicoli and @BraceMaker yah I snapped my tib-fib like dry twigs in rubber. Had skied them for 35 years in competition at a high level...always came out nothing more than an ankle sprain. Came out this time in the end...too late for my tib/fib/knee/achilles/tendons in my foot.

I favor releasable bindings. It's going to take a bit to get used to them now that I can ski again and thus get my buoy count back up, but that's ok. I considered reflex style (was considering just prior to my injury), and now have a MOB system on my ski.

Pretty cool set up. Have only taken one fall worth a release and it did so. No releases when it shouldn't but limited experience thus far.

[spicoli]

I guess back in the day no Internet to here about it

[JBB]

As a follow-up to this thread, I was finally able to try out the new set-up over the weekend. WOW, the experience is extremely different with the hard-shells. I felt like it set me back quite a bit. I suppose a couple more runs, and familiarization with the new boots, I will be back to my old (and often broken) self.

Thanks again for all the info!

[lundberg]

@JBB this might make you feel better. I made the switch at the end of this season as well. I had been skiing in "liner release" bindings (Prodigy and vMax) and moved to the HO hardshell (still using vMax Choptop in the back). My first time out in the HO hardshell I missed two starts in a row (I had not missed a start since 2013), and once I did get up I could barely ski, to the point I almost felt hopeless. I got home and checked my measurements, decided to move the bindings back a little and then tried again a couple days later. The second time was much better and now after 7 outings it feels great and my confidence is back.

[david_quail]

@JBB That was my exact experience as well. I actually failed 5 of my first 9 starts. If I was lucky enough to get up, I'd then go to pull out to set up my gates .... nothing really happened.

 

After a while. things started to feel more normal.

 

I have no idea why it's such a different feeling. Especially the failed starts.

[BraceMaker]

Odd thing but I think people in rubber will curl their toes when getting up to sort of grab the bindings... See if you notice this your next pull you won't be able to do it in a snug hard shell