MattL

Has anyone replaced their Reflex R-Style buckles with some aluminum buckles? I've had my rear reflex for over 5 years now and I still love it, however it has begun to show its age. Recently, I have noticed that the mounting screws have begun to rust. Additionally and more importantly, the ratchets on the buckles have worn down and now slip. Ideally, I would like to buy new mounting screws from Reflex, and find new buckles for my binding. I'm fine with the basic plastic buckles that come with the binding, but if I'm going to get new ones, I figured I may as well upgrade them to something better. The issue is that after buying the mounting screws and Reflex's aluminum buckles, I've spent more than it would cost to just buy a new boot altogether. On the other hand, since the boot itself is in good condition, this just seems wasteful...

My main question is: has someone else found snow ski buckles that work well with Reflex boots (front boots or r style)? I'm not sure if this will be any cheaper or better than what reflex has to offer, but I figured I'd see if any of y'all have experience with this already.

My ski team’s slalom ski has a Radar RTP on it and the thread holding the foot wrap to the place has ripped. This seems to be a common issue with these bindings. Has anyone repaired this by retreading it to the plate? If so, what thread did you use? 

Please watch the following video before reading the text below.

So this is the 2nd time in a row that I have gotten cut on my Toe Side. I for sure get the ski at least 85 degrees around, but probably at 90 every time, however I have asked judges why it was cut and I have concluded that because my body doesn't rotate sideways, (only my knee and down does) I get cut on them. So is tricking not about what the ski does anymore? Picture this... You put your feet in a 90 degree angle. Your non-dominate (handle) foot is pointing forward, and your other foot is turned 90 degrees to the side or your dominate foot. Now lift your forward facing foot on to the seat of a chair. This is how I am when I do a TS. My whole body isn't turned sideways, however as long as your foot is 90 degrees, the ski will have the same angle. I have learned this technique because I have flexible hips and it is not necessary for me to rotate my whole body to get my ski around the full 90 degrees. There were separate judges, however this has been a recurring problem for me. There appears to be a bias that favors more experienced skiers and it gives them the benefit of the doubt. There appears to be a bias favoring more advanced skiers. When questionable or obscured from view, it is assumed their trick was sufficient scoreable while a less experienced skier doing the exact same motion is assumed to be insufficient to score.

Skiing in the pool before I hit the lake. I was 3 years old.