On the inline skates, I was going to say that the position of the wheels laterally under your foot matters a lot too. But yeah, I can see how the delta or ramp angle would have a big effect too. As a tele skier, I have messed around with the delta angle and found that flat was terrible for me. Yet I don't want too much forward lean either. I modify my boots more than the bindings these days to get the geometry right for my biomechanics and the way I like to ride. As for skis, I totally agree. Whenever I don't like a ski it's always one of two things.Either it's the tune or it's the mounting point. I'm very sensitive to both. I have one friend who I sometimes trade skis with. I always hate his skis and he hates mine. The difference is what we are used to and it isn't the ski design. His skis are never tuned. The edges are always beat to hell. Also, his bindings are always mounted according to conventional tele wisdom, which says to mount -2 cm. He uses the stiffest tele boots and most active bindings to generate tip pressure. I like a softer boot and even cut the top buckle off a 4 buckle boot and I mount on the line or up to +2. For me, enough tip pressure is easy to generate from that position.
Incredibly helpful and pinpointed guidance in this discussion! As someone with terrible dorsiflexion rom, super excited to experiment with heel wedges / ramp angle this upcoming season.
I also noticed that years ago, when my favorite binding was changed with increase of delta. Didnt like it anymore. Always wondered why brands dont give this important info in their product description (instead of unsubstantial marketing waffeling). Thanks for doing this video! I prefer 0 delta, by the way. Salomon/ Atomic do not offer that anymore (in the more solid performance section).
Agree i think this info should be stated on the website! It shouldn’t be something you need to go out and find out if it really makes or breaks a ski working for you
Really good info Tom. I’ll have to check my skis. But going back to fore aft binding position. I have changed certain bindings from the factory mark. On my K2 bolt 174 skis. When I first skied them I felt it really hard to make short turn and get the tip in gauged. The bindings were adjustable for boot size, so I moved the whole binding forward 2 settings. Now they ski great, make a good feeling short turn and still are great at high speed carving. Cheers
My 2019 Look spx rockerflex 15 is 31.5/28mm for heel/toe height. My Rossignol 2021 Look spx rockrace 15 is 31.2/27.6mm. My Fischer 2020 z18 race service binding has 3.5mm different heel/toe piece height.
Difficult to find a non race binding with zero delta. A shorter boot sole length with a lot of delta in the binding makes the problem worse. A few millimeters is HUGE! Heel lifts, and ramp angle of boot board, serve a different function. Get to know and talk to a good boot fitter. Too bad there is no industry standard. Very few coaches/instructors are knowledgeable and have a critical eye for this area of performance. The boot fitter’s job is to put each skier in a neutral position. If you are at a plateau in your development, this is the first place you should investigate. Great job guys!,
Another fantastic bit of information Tom. Sent me running for my verniers to measure my bindings. I will most certainly be comparing the feel of skis with a fresh perspective. Love your passion for skiing and helping others improve. I am in my 60s and still trying to improve my carving, toppling, edge angle similarity, angles etc. Love the technical aspect and biomechanics.
Good video! I have always felt setting boots' forward lean minimum gives me more responsive ski handling. The same is true for delta. This podcast makes a lot of sense.
Awesome. I learned years ago, especially on sl skis I like 0 delta. Tge skis skied the same brand to brand but binding lift made a huge impact on ski ability. Balace and hip placement.
What about different boot soles - alpine, WTR, gripwalk, touring - and their effect on AFD heights? My Shift bindings move up & down thru quite a fair range to suit different boot soles, which presumably has an effect on effective delta angle.
Awesome, thanks for making this video! I was trying recently Salomon skis for the first time in my life after skiing on Volkl and I felt huge difference. I am quite sure now that it was not only the quality of the skis but also the delta angle.
After the great first podcast you did with Lou I did measure the deltas on my different pairs of skis, which were Atomic FIS sl's and Dynastar Master GS, and indeed found a difference of give or take 3-4mm on the Look binding versus 0 on the Atomics. I liked the Atomic bindings more, the X16 var version, because I could play with the variable position until I found the position that worked best for me. I had some trouble finding a comfortable position on the Dynastars so I did change it's delta to 0 by adding a spacer on the toe piece and immediately felt the difference. So I'm indeed very convinced of the importance of finding the delta that works best for you and sticking with it for all your pairs. I recently changed to another brand but still use the raceplate, binding and setup of my Atomics and the transition went super smooth. I do think it's a pitty that (to my knowledge) only Atomic (Salomon) make a racebinding that can easily be changed in position for/aft, a lot of people would make huge steps by being able to play with that position
Excellent discussion! Several “Aha” moments, though it puts me in a hard place as I typically rent skis when I go out west in the US. Prior to my most recent trip, I thought I wasn’t getting forward enough in my Tecnica Mach 1s, but the sensations I felt on the slopes didn’t track with that assumption. My quads were getting lit up on steeper pitches, and I felt my weight on the balls of my feet instead of even pressure on my feet and shin on the tongue. Realizing I was out of balance and leaning back after fighting to hard to get forward made my head spin, but set me down a rabbit hole on forums and videos like this. I want to have my boot cuffs looked at to ensure my calves aren’t pushing me even further forward, and now I’m considering buying skis so I can control the delta of my bindings… Now to find a setup that will allow experimentation. Thanks again for the great information.
I ski on flat skis with Marker Griffon bindings so I can’t do much with the delta. My ankle dorsiflection is not great and is my main off-season focus. Thinking about your conversation makes me think that maybe I’m maxed out and is possibly why my start of turn metric is just fair(Carv). Maybe I should straighten my cuff angle, take out the spoiler and remove the heel piece under my liner. Just start as low and straight as possible, see how that feels and add on if necessary. As to fore/aft I feel like I should defer to the engineer unless I know exactly why I’m moving it. I’m not there yet. Thanks for giving me a feeling to look for as I experiment with different settings.
Tom, Good conversation with Lou (spoke to couple years ago) I' m Masters racer at Sun Valley ,ID Our snow(manmade ) is very reactive to setups , I've used dail claipers to measure binding deltas, Make my own binding shims .5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 3mm (I use Maker X-Race 18's on my race quiver mostly Dobs but Atomic for Sl . Latest , use digital angle guage to measue my binding delta and and also my boot board delta to get a basis to start setup experiments (I call getting into trim , like a pilot trims his flght controls in level flight so doesnt have to fight the controls to fly) When measuing my deltas I use a peice of flat stock alu plate about the length of my boot sole (with slot cut out for the brakes) , place ski on pedestal only as long as binding length (to minimize ski camber effects) Zero out guage on pedistal first . Can do similar with boot board and combine the two for a total delta Plug boot board deltas may come with 2.5 , 3+ up to 4 deg depending on brand , Ramp, cant and fore aft binding postion are all parts to experment with to the gget your induidual setup in Trim . I've found the longer the ski the less delta needed. Have fun !
nice! ha we you listened to the podcast I did with Lou a while back on Binding placement? It’s on the big picture Skiing podcast and you’ll need to go back a few years. Or search Lou Rosenfeld
@@Bigpictureskiing I try and send you some pictures of my resume tools I ve used the dia calliper for some time But just stated using dig angle indicator I always have 1" Gorila tape in my pocket for fine tuning . SL gleamed if toe is too high has trouble getting feet back under at apex Lifting heal helped solve If binding are too far fwd tips were too nervous. My boot boards Lang ZAs are 3 deg and bindings 1.5 Deg ramps I need less spoiler now All about getting trimmed out . All fun stuff ! Ski racing ,It's a disesse 😎
Thanks for the info. Yet non-flat Rossi seems to be very sucessfull in WorldCup. Seems to me that this kind of recommendations would be more useful if individual differences are accounted for. For short & small feet skiers flat may be the way, but what about tall & large feet? Ramon Zenhousern seems to be doing just fine on Rossis.
Was just sitting here saddened by seeing Lou closed his shop and now here he is again!!! Where is the Campbell balancer now that the shop is no more???
Hey Tom....greetings from Sugarloaf Mountain, Me. USA. Would like to address your comment on your Vockll WC sl skis moving your binding back now. At the level you ski I would encourage you to not move the binding but get Markers shim kit for their race plate. It is very easy to change your delta and comes with longer screws if needed. You can also stack the shims to increase the sole height of the snow. For you explore cumulative angle i.e. your measured boot ramp angle and measured delta angle. 2.3-2.5.°
I assume these shims mount between plate and binding? So they should work on any X-cell, even if mounted flat? Where can one buy these shim kits? A google search reveals virtually nothing...
How does this correlate to boot forward lean angles? Say a freestyle boot like a full tilt thats quite upright compared to a race boot. The Formula 130 LV comes with a substantial 16 degrees of forward lean.
I have very low dorsiflexion, and as a result my bootfitter added a 5mm cork under the foot plus my custom footbed (which seems to also have some lift on its own). My boots are the salomon 130 supra boa 26.5cm, 12.5 forward lean (no spoilers), ramp angle of the Salomon Alphas is 4 degrees, so I assume same? In cases like mine, I am purposefully ramped up to an angle of lets say conservatively doing the math with chatgpt --- 4 degrees of boot plus 1.5 degrees (cork + footbed 7.5mm lift at 26.5cm length) = 5.5 degrees Delta ---, and this is an inevitable consequence in order to gain in ankle flex potential/range of motion. Putting a cork under my toes would just negate any cork under my heel, and reduce range of motion, it is not an option in order to reduce the delta. The only solution I see is external to the foot, and this video really opened my eyes. That said, due to the nature of my skis and my style, I ski reckoner 102s mostly, the ski is quite symmetrical and there isnt much that can be done in working with delta through adjusting binding position, or is there? not to mention that these skis are mostly supposed to be mounted close to the center. Any ideas?
in the case of non-adjustable bindings and a significant delta angle (5-10mm or more), do you think the front part of the binding could be leveled using a flat piece of plastic (or some other material; 5-10mm) to equalize the height of the front and rear bindings and thus reduce the delta angle? in other words, the front binding would simply be unscrewed, placed on top of an appropriate thickness of plastic, and then screwed back in (i assume that slightly longer screws would need to be used, but that shouldn't be a problem)...what do you think, could this potentially be a solution?
I assume you are talking about the boot board that runs the length of most boots. If yes, absolutely never remove it, but depending on the construction it may be possible to lower it at the heel by grinding the top. Never grind the bottom.
Personally I’d argue for a low delta angle but not zero. You loose valuable toe pressure and tail control when flattening your heel. When thinking about driving the book forward in racing, a few degrees helps; too much hurts.
Ok, now your messing with my mind…. One more thing to worry about. 6ft tall with 28.5 ski boots with a heel lift in them since I have larger calves. I ski on Rossignol Hero MT Ti and I love them. Being a Carv user, I know that I score high in the Start of turn metric. I have also improved a lot my End of turn metric last season. It leads me to think that I have improved my overall fore/aft balance last season with my actual ski/boots/binding setup or even, despite my setup. Am i correct to assume that ? BTW, SkiIQ is 158. I am still hoping to improve.
1) Stupid to change those all the time, if not standard, this should be adjustable 2) Delta an lean are plenty different stuff. If you squat a bit, so angle your knees, you are ok all the time, but: if you tut stuff under you heels, youll fee strange. So, inmy mind we do not need ramps and deltas at all, but we need lean made in boots. And that is a problem nowadays, boots are all too upward and learners ski with their heels and bum.
On the inline skates, I was going to say that the position of the wheels laterally under your foot matters a lot too. But yeah, I can see how the delta or ramp angle would have a big effect too. As a tele skier, I have messed around with the delta angle and found that flat was terrible for me. Yet I don't want too much forward lean either. I modify my boots more than the bindings these days to get the geometry right for my biomechanics and the way I like to ride.
As for skis, I totally agree. Whenever I don't like a ski it's always one of two things.Either it's the tune or it's the mounting point. I'm very sensitive to both. I have one friend who I sometimes trade skis with. I always hate his skis and he hates mine. The difference is what we are used to and it isn't the ski design. His skis are never tuned. The edges are always beat to hell. Also, his bindings are always mounted according to conventional tele wisdom, which says to mount -2 cm. He uses the stiffest tele boots and most active bindings to generate tip pressure. I like a softer boot and even cut the top buckle off a 4 buckle boot and I mount on the line or up to +2. For me, enough tip pressure is easy to generate from that position.
Incredibly helpful and pinpointed guidance in this discussion! As someone with terrible dorsiflexion rom, super excited to experiment with heel wedges / ramp angle this upcoming season.
Yeah I’ve found the right angle makes a huge difference!
I got my boots from Lou and was so sad to learn that he retired before the start of last season. It's great to see him here!
I also noticed that years ago, when my favorite binding was changed with increase of delta. Didnt like it anymore. Always wondered why brands dont give this important info in their product description (instead of unsubstantial marketing waffeling).
Thanks for doing this video!
I prefer 0 delta, by the way. Salomon/ Atomic do not offer that anymore (in the more solid performance section).
Agree i think this info should be stated on the website! It shouldn’t be something you need to go out and find out if it really makes or breaks a ski working for you
Really good info Tom. I’ll have to check my skis. But going back to fore aft binding position. I have changed certain bindings from the factory mark. On my K2 bolt 174 skis. When I first skied them I felt it really hard to make short turn and get the tip in gauged. The bindings were adjustable for boot size, so I moved the whole binding forward 2 settings. Now they ski great, make a good feeling short turn and still are great at high speed carving. Cheers
My 2019 Look spx rockerflex 15 is 31.5/28mm for heel/toe height. My Rossignol 2021 Look spx rockrace 15 is 31.2/27.6mm. My Fischer 2020 z18 race service binding has 3.5mm different heel/toe piece height.
Difficult to find a non race binding with zero delta. A shorter boot sole length with a lot of delta in the binding makes the problem worse. A few millimeters is HUGE! Heel lifts, and ramp angle of boot board, serve a different function. Get to know and talk to a good boot fitter. Too bad there is no industry standard. Very few coaches/instructors are knowledgeable and have a critical eye for this area of performance. The boot fitter’s job is to put each skier in a neutral position. If you are at a plateau in your development, this is the first place you should investigate. Great job guys!,
Awesome- Women In Skiing clinics CSIA should have a look at this! Thank you for this!
Another fantastic bit of information Tom. Sent me running for my verniers to measure my bindings. I will most certainly be comparing the feel of skis with a fresh perspective. Love your passion for skiing and helping others improve. I am in my 60s and still trying to improve my carving, toppling, edge angle similarity, angles etc. Love the technical aspect and biomechanics.
Good video! I have always felt setting boots' forward lean minimum gives me more responsive ski handling. The same is true for delta. This podcast makes a lot of sense.
Awesome. I learned years ago, especially on sl skis I like 0 delta. Tge skis skied the same brand to brand but binding lift made a huge impact on ski ability. Balace and hip placement.
What about different boot soles - alpine, WTR, gripwalk, touring - and their effect on AFD heights? My Shift bindings move up & down thru quite a fair range to suit different boot soles, which presumably has an effect on effective delta angle.
Awesome, thanks for making this video! I was trying recently Salomon skis for the first time in my life after skiing on Volkl and I felt huge difference. I am quite sure now that it was not only the quality of the skis but also the delta angle.
After the great first podcast you did with Lou I did measure the deltas on my different pairs of skis, which were Atomic FIS sl's and Dynastar Master GS, and indeed found a difference of give or take 3-4mm on the Look binding versus 0 on the Atomics. I liked the Atomic bindings more, the X16 var version, because I could play with the variable position until I found the position that worked best for me.
I had some trouble finding a comfortable position on the Dynastars so I did change it's delta to 0 by adding a spacer on the toe piece and immediately felt the difference.
So I'm indeed very convinced of the importance of finding the delta that works best for you and sticking with it for all your pairs. I recently changed to another brand but still use the raceplate, binding and setup of my Atomics and the transition went super smooth.
I do think it's a pitty that (to my knowledge) only Atomic (Salomon) make a racebinding that can easily be changed in position for/aft, a lot of people would make huge steps by being able to play with that position
Excellent discussion! Several “Aha” moments, though it puts me in a hard place as I typically rent skis when I go out west in the US. Prior to my most recent trip, I thought I wasn’t getting forward enough in my Tecnica Mach 1s, but the sensations I felt on the slopes didn’t track with that assumption. My quads were getting lit up on steeper pitches, and I felt my weight on the balls of my feet instead of even pressure on my feet and shin on the tongue. Realizing I was out of balance and leaning back after fighting to hard to get forward made my head spin, but set me down a rabbit hole on forums and videos like this. I want to have my boot cuffs looked at to ensure my calves aren’t pushing me even further forward, and now I’m considering buying skis so I can control the delta of my bindings… Now to find a setup that will allow experimentation. Thanks again for the great information.
I ski on flat skis with Marker Griffon bindings so I can’t do much with the delta. My ankle dorsiflection is not great and is my main off-season focus. Thinking about your conversation makes me think that maybe I’m maxed out and is possibly why my start of turn metric is just fair(Carv). Maybe I should straighten my cuff angle, take out the spoiler and remove the heel piece under my liner. Just start as low and straight as possible, see how that feels and add on if necessary. As to fore/aft I feel like I should defer to the engineer unless I know exactly why I’m moving it. I’m not there yet. Thanks for giving me a feeling to look for as I experiment with different settings.
Tom, Good conversation with Lou (spoke to couple years ago) I' m Masters racer at Sun Valley ,ID Our snow(manmade ) is very reactive to setups , I've used dail claipers to measure binding deltas, Make my own binding shims .5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 3mm (I use Maker X-Race 18's on my race quiver mostly Dobs but Atomic for Sl . Latest , use digital angle guage to measue my binding delta and and also my boot board delta to get a basis to start setup experiments (I call getting into trim , like a pilot trims his flght controls in level flight so doesnt have to fight the controls to fly) When measuing my deltas I use a peice of flat stock alu plate about the length of my boot sole (with slot cut out for the brakes) , place ski on pedestal only as long as binding length (to minimize ski camber effects) Zero out guage on pedistal first . Can do similar with boot board and combine the two for a total delta Plug boot board deltas may come with 2.5 , 3+ up to 4 deg depending on brand , Ramp, cant and fore aft binding postion are all parts to experment with to the gget your induidual setup in Trim . I've found the longer the ski the less delta needed. Have fun !
nice! ha we you listened to the podcast I did with Lou a while back on Binding placement? It’s on the big picture Skiing podcast and you’ll need to go back a few years. Or search Lou Rosenfeld
@@Bigpictureskiing I try and send you some pictures of my resume tools I ve used the dia calliper for some time But just stated using dig angle indicator I always have 1" Gorila tape in my pocket for fine tuning . SL gleamed if toe is too high has trouble getting feet back under at apex Lifting heal helped solve If binding are too far fwd tips were too nervous. My boot boards Lang ZAs are 3 deg and bindings 1.5 Deg ramps I need less spoiler now All about getting trimmed out . All fun stuff ! Ski racing ,It's a disesse 😎
a list of different manufacturers deltas, would be useful.
i always thought look bindings were fairly flat,especially the pivots
What about the boot ramp angle ? can also this be an additional differentiator (following exact same analysis made about binding delta angle) ?
Great conversation!! What about foot bed delta?? I have tecnica & boot board has heafty 13mm delta. Is that normal??
Thanks for the info. Yet non-flat Rossi seems to be very sucessfull in WorldCup. Seems to me that this kind of recommendations would be more useful if individual differences are accounted for. For short & small feet skiers flat may be the way, but what about tall & large feet? Ramon Zenhousern seems to be doing just fine on Rossis.
I think the point is in this podcast that it is individual. You need to test and check what works. Nothing against Rossi.
Was just sitting here saddened by seeing Lou closed his shop and now here he is again!!! Where is the Campbell balancer now that the shop is no more???
Hey Tom....greetings from Sugarloaf Mountain, Me. USA. Would like to address your comment on your Vockll WC sl skis moving your binding back now. At the level you ski I would encourage you to not move the binding but get Markers shim kit for their race plate. It is very easy to change your delta and comes with longer screws if needed. You can also stack the shims to increase the sole height of the snow. For you explore cumulative angle i.e. your measured boot ramp angle and measured delta angle. 2.3-2.5.°
I assume these shims mount between plate and binding? So they should work on any X-cell, even if mounted flat? Where can one buy these shim kits? A google search reveals virtually nothing...
such a meaningful video!
How does this correlate to boot forward lean angles? Say a freestyle boot like a full tilt thats quite upright compared to a race boot. The Formula 130 LV comes with a substantial 16 degrees of forward lean.
I have very low dorsiflexion, and as a result my bootfitter added a 5mm cork under the foot plus my custom footbed (which seems to also have some lift on its own). My boots are the salomon 130 supra boa 26.5cm, 12.5 forward lean (no spoilers), ramp angle of the Salomon Alphas is 4 degrees, so I assume same? In cases like mine, I am purposefully ramped up to an angle of lets say conservatively doing the math with chatgpt --- 4 degrees of boot plus 1.5 degrees (cork + footbed 7.5mm lift at 26.5cm length) = 5.5 degrees Delta ---, and this is an inevitable consequence in order to gain in ankle flex potential/range of motion. Putting a cork under my toes would just negate any cork under my heel, and reduce range of motion, it is not an option in order to reduce the delta. The only solution I see is external to the foot, and this video really opened my eyes. That said, due to the nature of my skis and my style, I ski reckoner 102s mostly, the ski is quite symmetrical and there isnt much that can be done in working with delta through adjusting binding position, or is there? not to mention that these skis are mostly supposed to be mounted close to the center. Any ideas?
in the case of non-adjustable bindings and a significant delta angle (5-10mm or more), do you think the front part of the binding could be leveled using a flat piece of plastic (or some other material; 5-10mm) to equalize the height of the front and rear bindings and thus reduce the delta angle? in other words, the front binding would simply be unscrewed, placed on top of an appropriate thickness of plastic, and then screwed back in (i assume that slightly longer screws would need to be used, but that shouldn't be a problem)...what do you think, could this potentially be a solution?
Why the manufacturers set up with high delta?
Same question.
What delta look/rossi binding?
Should we also consider removing plastic heel wedge found under the ski boot liner?
I assume you are talking about the boot board that runs the length of most boots. If yes, absolutely never remove it, but depending on the construction it may be possible to lower it at the heel by grinding the top. Never grind the bottom.
@@louisrosenfeld1203 Thank you!
@@davidchkhartishvili9845 You are very welcome.
Personally I’d argue for a low delta angle but not zero. You loose valuable toe pressure and tail control when flattening your heel. When thinking about driving the book forward in racing, a few degrees helps; too much hurts.
Ok, now your messing with my mind….
One more thing to worry about.
6ft tall with 28.5 ski boots with a heel lift in them since I have larger calves. I ski on Rossignol Hero MT Ti and I love them.
Being a Carv user, I know that I score high in the Start of turn metric. I have also improved a lot my End of turn metric last season. It leads me to think that I have improved my overall fore/aft balance last season with my actual ski/boots/binding setup or even, despite my setup. Am i correct to assume that ?
BTW, SkiIQ is 158. I am still hoping to improve.
banger!
1) Stupid to change those all the time, if not standard, this should be adjustable 2) Delta an lean are plenty different stuff. If you squat a bit, so angle your knees, you are ok all the time, but: if you tut stuff under you heels, youll fee strange. So, inmy mind we do not need ramps and deltas at all, but we need lean made in boots. And that is a problem nowadays, boots are all too upward and learners ski with their heels and bum.
does he actually use 0mm delta? @Bigpictureskiing
No I have about 2degrees
@@Bigpictureskiing does steeper slope require more delta?