I was thinking about doing this myself and found your video, made the same changes and really like the functionality plus I can switch between ski's easily
Tom, this was awesome... I was just looking at which binding to buy and was wondering about just getting the cable traverse binding and later getting the hardwire parts to put on there.... Then I found this video.. hooray!
If you are mounting up a new set of skis then my recommendation is to just go with the hardwire binding instead of trying to modify the cable binding at a later date. Most people who ski the Voile hardwire leave it on the ski in the stowed position for the uphill and flats and then simply unstow it and clamp it to their boot when needed. I did this modification mainly because I preferred the feel of the hardwire over the spring cables and I wanted an easy way to attach and remove the hardwire without having to take my skis off. I also had multiple sets of skis with the spring cable binding, so it was much simpler and cheaper for me to do this. I'm glad you found this useful, but please be careful.
@@jalanG10 The screw hole pattern is the same so you can mount the Hardwire rat trap component on the traverse riser but I'm not sure why one would do that. The binding at 3:04 in this video is the Voile cable traverse binding. The heel riser is about the same height as the heel lever when stowed, so it works in a similar fashion to the Voile hardwire with the modification. You just have to be careful that you don't grind away too much of the "hook" so that they become disconnected when in that position. The binding on the ski at 2:22 is the Voile 3 pin cable binding. On that binding, the heel riser is not high enough to accommodate the hardwire in a stowed position, but easy enough to put on and take off with the modification.
I have the hardwire bindings. To add more power to the binding I installed the Switchback X2 cartridges. Added a bit more power and a little more control. If you want more power just get 22 designs Axls. I love my Axls.
That's awesome Tom! I'd like to ski some slopes that would be much to aggressive for typical nordic skis. I'm interested in alpine touring bindings but wondering if that would be overkill or too cumbersome for rolling terrain... what are your thoughts?
Most of my friends ski AT gear when we are out in the backcountry "touring for turns". They love their gear and tend to use it instead of XC gear if the focus is downhill. They all have XC gear as well, and use it for kick and glide tours and rolling terrain. If you have watched my multiday ski tour video czcams.com/video/BdiR6FvFTBM/video.html my ski partner is skiing AT gear and I'm skiing Voile Objectives / 3 pins / leathers. I did not bring along hardwires or cables for this trip. It takes some time to transition between the tour mode and the downhill mode with AT gear and I think it would be a pain for rolling terrain, but for many, having plastic boots and locked heels gives the control and confidence needed on the downhill. On the flats, the AT gear won't feel anything like Nordic XC gear, and what you gain on the downhill end of things your give up everywhere else. My AT friends move along just as fast on the flats and uphill as I do when I'm in my "downhill setup" (Voile Hyper V6's, Switchback X2, Scarpa T2 plastic boots) Their AT gear is actually lighter in weight. In that scenario, the main advantage I have is that I can switch between the downhill/uphill mode with the flip of a lever, and that is particularly useful with my "waxless" skis when I'm not using skins. I've been a free heeler for so long, it is hard for me to imagine skiing in any other fashion, but I've known a lot of people who have switched to AT. Telemark is what makes me happy. The common joke with my friends is that AT stands for "after telemark" :) At any rate, thanks for tuning in and if you decide to try some AT gear, drop me a comment to let me know how it goes.
Tom, Another great video! I am glad you were able to flatten the hooks enough by just hammering them. I noticed on the video taken from the side that that on both bindings the springs did not appear to compress as your heel moved upwards. I think the position of the pivot point on the binding toe does not change enough to get a lot of help from the springs. It looks like the springs actually put more forward pressure on your heel than downward pressure. Do you find this to be the case? Thanks, -Mike
I think you are correct. They do offer some forward resistance, but for me, most of the benefit is from the additional lateral support. Some might want to adjust the springs tighter, especially if they are using a plastic boot like the T4. Plastic boots already offer lots of lateral support so it might be better to have more forward resistance, but for me, I like the softer, more natural feel of a looser tension when skiing a leather boot.
@@tomm9850 No idea, I frankensteined together a 3 pin voile hardwire binding from 4 different scrap skis with bindings from the dumpster. However, i soon came to realize that the hardwire did add nothing except weight for my skiing experience.
Just catching this now and loving the blacksmithing. I wonder if it makes sense to heat the hook with a propane torch prior to hammering? I wish I could take mine off when not using. I've had them slip from under the heel piece wire -> flopping around state and that's just not very nice while skiing. Looks like you all finally got some nice looking conditions up there too, glad you could enjoy it!
I'm sure that heating the metal would have made it easier to flatten, but I was worried that it might weaken the steel. Hammering can change the structure of steel as well, but I'm hoping that the rods will maintain their strength without becoming brittle. Only time will tell.
@@tomm9850 yea metalworking always seems like an art to me. I read wikipedia on annealing and am not any more sure about what one would do. It seems like the amount of flattening is pretty small so I guess I wouldn't be worried about it. Keep us posted!
Yes you are correct with both. Heating would soften or anneal the metal (not good for eventual use/abuse of skiing), and it also changes the structure by deforming it with a hammer cold. Best process would be to heat the metal (red hot) and let it cool by itself to anneal and soften. Then gently hammer to position, then heat again (red hot) and plunge in a quench tank to quickly cool and harden or temper the metal realigning the molecules. Nice job with the adaption BTW! 👍✌️
Any idea if the 3pc hooks will fit in the hardwire toe piece? I love the hardwire for resort and for slabby days. On soft days on mellow runs and touring I usually just run pins with the hardwire locked down. I keep clipping edges on the hardwire cartridges, want to have a middle ground between pins only and hardwire for mellow soft days, shed a bit of weight etc.
Unfortunately, I no longer have the spring cables, so I can't check to see if they would fit in the hardwire toe piece. Yann Troutet modified a spring cable to fit a Switchback, and I expect the hardwire attachment is similar. Check out his CZcams video czcams.com/video/l6C4EL4RdnY/video.html
Hi Tom, Thanks for this very interesting mod! Just came from the Voile website and It seems like they don't sell the hardwire binding as a kit... We have to buy spring cartridges, binding rods, and levers? Is that correct? The only kit assy I can see there is the Switchback backcountry kit...do you think the Switchback assy could do the job as well? Thanks for the video.
I bought the blue spring cartridges, hardwire rods, and heel levers separately. Just a word of caution. My Alfa Greenland boots are size 42, and the medium rods were too long. According to Voile's specifications, the medium sized rods should have worked, so be sure to check for length with your boot before you modify the rods.
@@Abophoto I'm not sure if the switchback kit would fit as I don't have a pair of switchbacks to measure and compare the length of the rods and springs. I think the switchback kit is for one spring and wire assembly, so the price is similar to buying the replacement parts for the 3 pin hardwire.
@@tomm9850 Oh you’re right Tom about the switchback kit, the cost mentionned is just for one side, I didn’t see it, so it’s about the same as the hardwire kit. Thx for the infos!
Have you run into any issues with leather boots twisting and popping out of the hardwires? Maybe thats more of an issue with the switchbacks because they don't have pins?
The Alfa Greenland in this video has a good firm heel with a nice shelf as well as a groove that pairs very well with the Voile clamp. I have not had any issues with the boot popping out of the hardwire and I prefer a "loose" tension. I've never tried to ski a leather boot with the switchback so I have no experience with that combination. If you haven't already, be sure to check out my cables vs hardwire video czcams.com/video/e4bkvJVNQG0/video.html
You are absolutely correct. If you are starting from scratch and want a hardwire, then buy and install a hardwire. In my case, I have two pairs of skis that I've owned for a couple of years, a set of SBound 98's with Voile's cable telemark binding and a set of Objectives with Voile's cable traverse bindings. I've never been happy using the spring cable with my leather boots and I wanted to see if the hardwires would be an improvement. I also wanted the ability to easily remove the hardwire while still standing on the skis, so I decided to make a "Frankenstein" binding. It is a good solution for me. I'm sure there are others out there who are in a similar boat. If you haven't already, check out my previous video where I discuss my thoughts on the cable / hardwire / performance czcams.com/video/e4bkvJVNQG0/video.html
I just bought a pair of Voilé 3PHW for my new Åsnes Combat NATO skis but have not installed the bindings nor skied with them yet. A friend of mine doubted that the 3PHW is too high with its 20 mm risers for kick and glide. Here in Skandinavia we do long distances of kick and glide when skitouring. I would absolutely like to have the benefit of the added HW support for the downhill but not loose any of the cross country skiability for the flats. Could you comment on that based on your experience? Should I rather mount this binding on the lower 3PC Traverse risers for my purpose? Does it work?
@@Altavista4537 I haven't skied the Combat NATO, but looking at the specs (84 62 72) I think you will be just fine on the kick and glide sections with the 20 mm risers. I'm sure it will feel a little strange at first, but it won't take long before you become accustomed to the extra height, especially if you are skiing off trail. If you are skiing long distances where you won't need the additional support of the hardwire, then you will be much happier with them in your pack. Of course you have the option to just mount the 3 pin without the riser, and then only put the hardwires on when you need them. That scenario would be similar to what I'm doing on my SBound 98 (no riser)
I would love to see some more of that skiing at the end 😊 pretty sweet conditions. Thanks for the video.
Will do. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you are having a great ski season.
Great video. I learned a lot about bindings from this video! Thank you Tom.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the video Tom! (And all your others!!) Very helpful!
Thanks for tuning in and I appreciate the feedback.
Thanks for the video, love simple solutions that involve whacking something with a hammer!
:)
I was thinking about doing this myself and found your video, made the same changes and really like the functionality plus I can switch between ski's easily
Thats fantastic. Great minds think alike. :)
Tom, this was awesome... I was just looking at which binding to buy and was wondering about just getting the cable traverse binding and later getting the hardwire parts to put on there.... Then I found this video.. hooray!
If you are mounting up a new set of skis then my recommendation is to just go with the hardwire binding instead of trying to modify the cable binding at a later date. Most people who ski the Voile hardwire leave it on the ski in the stowed position for the uphill and flats and then simply unstow it and clamp it to their boot when needed. I did this modification mainly because I preferred the feel of the hardwire over the spring cables and I wanted an easy way to attach and remove the hardwire without having to take my skis off. I also had multiple sets of skis with the spring cable binding, so it was much simpler and cheaper for me to do this. I'm glad you found this useful, but please be careful.
@@tomm9850 Do you know if the hardwire binding can be mounted on the risers that the 3 pin cable traverse binding comes with?
@@jalanG10 The screw hole pattern is the same so you can mount the Hardwire rat trap component on the traverse riser but I'm not sure why one would do that. The binding at 3:04 in this video is the Voile cable traverse binding. The heel riser is about the same height as the heel lever when stowed, so it works in a similar fashion to the Voile hardwire with the modification. You just have to be careful that you don't grind away too much of the "hook" so that they become disconnected when in that position. The binding on the ski at 2:22 is the Voile 3 pin cable binding. On that binding, the heel riser is not high enough to accommodate the hardwire in a stowed position, but easy enough to put on and take off with the modification.
I have the hardwire bindings. To add more power to the binding I installed the Switchback X2 cartridges. Added a bit more power and a little more control. If you want more power just get 22 designs Axls. I love my Axls.
That's awesome Tom! I'd like to ski some slopes that would be much to aggressive for typical nordic skis. I'm interested in alpine touring bindings but wondering if that would be overkill or too cumbersome for rolling terrain... what are your thoughts?
Most of my friends ski AT gear when we are out in the backcountry "touring for turns". They love their gear and tend to use it instead of XC gear if the focus is downhill. They all have XC gear as well, and use it for kick and glide tours and rolling terrain. If you have watched my multiday ski tour video czcams.com/video/BdiR6FvFTBM/video.html my ski partner is skiing AT gear and I'm skiing Voile Objectives / 3 pins / leathers. I did not bring along hardwires or cables for this trip. It takes some time to transition between the tour mode and the downhill mode with AT gear and I think it would be a pain for rolling terrain, but for many, having plastic boots and locked heels gives the control and confidence needed on the downhill. On the flats, the AT gear won't feel anything like Nordic XC gear, and what you gain on the downhill end of things your give up everywhere else. My AT friends move along just as fast on the flats and uphill as I do when I'm in my "downhill setup" (Voile Hyper V6's, Switchback X2, Scarpa T2 plastic boots) Their AT gear is actually lighter in weight. In that scenario, the main advantage I have is that I can switch between the downhill/uphill mode with the flip of a lever, and that is particularly useful with my "waxless" skis when I'm not using skins. I've been a free heeler for so long, it is hard for me to imagine skiing in any other fashion, but I've known a lot of people who have switched to AT. Telemark is what makes me happy. The common joke with my friends is that AT stands for "after telemark" :) At any rate, thanks for tuning in and if you decide to try some AT gear, drop me a comment to let me know how it goes.
Tom,
Another great video! I am glad you were able to flatten the hooks enough by just hammering them. I noticed on the video taken from the side that that on both bindings the springs did not appear to compress as your heel moved upwards. I think the position of the pivot point on the binding toe does not change enough to get a lot of help from the springs. It looks like the springs actually put more forward pressure on your heel than downward pressure.
Do you find this to be the case?
Thanks,
-Mike
I think you are correct. They do offer some forward resistance, but for me, most of the benefit is from the additional lateral support. Some might want to adjust the springs tighter, especially if they are using a plastic boot like the T4. Plastic boots already offer lots of lateral support so it might be better to have more forward resistance, but for me, I like the softer, more natural feel of a looser tension when skiing a leather boot.
The hardwire from rottefella Cobra fits right on without modifications.
This is great to know. Are the Cobra hardwires still available as parts?
@@tomm9850 No idea, I frankensteined together a 3 pin voile hardwire binding from 4 different scrap skis with bindings from the dumpster. However, i soon came to realize that the hardwire did add nothing except weight for my skiing experience.
Just catching this now and loving the blacksmithing. I wonder if it makes sense to heat the hook with a propane torch prior to hammering? I wish I could take mine off when not using. I've had them slip from under the heel piece wire -> flopping around state and that's just not very nice while skiing. Looks like you all finally got some nice looking conditions up there too, glad you could enjoy it!
I'm sure that heating the metal would have made it easier to flatten, but I was worried that it might weaken the steel. Hammering can change the structure of steel as well, but I'm hoping that the rods will maintain their strength without becoming brittle. Only time will tell.
@@tomm9850 yea metalworking always seems like an art to me. I read wikipedia on annealing and am not any more sure about what one would do. It seems like the amount of flattening is pretty small so I guess I wouldn't be worried about it. Keep us posted!
Yes you are correct with both. Heating would soften or anneal the metal (not good for eventual use/abuse of skiing), and it also changes the structure by deforming it with a hammer cold. Best process would be to heat the metal (red hot) and let it cool by itself to anneal and soften. Then gently hammer to position, then heat again (red hot) and plunge in a quench tank to quickly cool and harden or temper the metal realigning the molecules. Nice job with the adaption BTW! 👍✌️
Any idea if the 3pc hooks will fit in the hardwire toe piece? I love the hardwire for resort and for slabby days. On soft days on mellow runs and touring I usually just run pins with the hardwire locked down. I keep clipping edges on the hardwire cartridges, want to have a middle ground between pins only and hardwire for mellow soft days, shed a bit of weight etc.
Unfortunately, I no longer have the spring cables, so I can't check to see if they would fit in the hardwire toe piece. Yann Troutet modified a spring cable to fit a Switchback, and I expect the hardwire attachment is similar. Check out his CZcams video czcams.com/video/l6C4EL4RdnY/video.html
Hi Tom,
Thanks for this very interesting mod! Just came from the Voile website and It seems like they don't sell the hardwire binding as a kit...
We have to buy spring cartridges, binding rods, and levers? Is that correct?
The only kit assy I can see there is the Switchback backcountry kit...do you think the Switchback assy could do the job as well?
Thanks for the video.
I bought the blue spring cartridges, hardwire rods, and heel levers separately. Just a word of caution. My Alfa Greenland boots are size 42, and the medium rods were too long. According to Voile's specifications, the medium sized rods should have worked, so be sure to check for length with your boot before you modify the rods.
@@tomm9850 Do you think that switchback backcountry kit would fit? because the switchback kit is a lot cheaper...
@@Abophoto I'm not sure if the switchback kit would fit as I don't have a pair of switchbacks to measure and compare the length of the rods and springs. I think the switchback kit is for one spring and wire assembly, so the price is similar to buying the replacement parts for the 3 pin hardwire.
@@tomm9850 Oh you’re right Tom about the switchback kit, the cost mentionned is just for one side, I didn’t see it, so it’s about the same as the hardwire kit. Thx for the infos!
Have you run into any issues with leather boots twisting and popping out of the hardwires? Maybe thats more of an issue with the switchbacks because they don't have pins?
The Alfa Greenland in this video has a good firm heel with a nice shelf as well as a groove that pairs very well with the Voile clamp. I have not had any issues with the boot popping out of the hardwire and I prefer a "loose" tension. I've never tried to ski a leather boot with the switchback so I have no experience with that combination. If you haven't already, be sure to check out my cables vs hardwire video czcams.com/video/e4bkvJVNQG0/video.html
why not just use the full hardwire ?
You are absolutely correct. If you are starting from scratch and want a hardwire, then buy and install a hardwire. In my case, I have two pairs of skis that I've owned for a couple of years, a set of SBound 98's with Voile's cable telemark binding and a set of Objectives with Voile's cable traverse bindings. I've never been happy using the spring cable with my leather boots and I wanted to see if the hardwires would be an improvement. I also wanted the ability to easily remove the hardwire while still standing on the skis, so I decided to make a "Frankenstein" binding. It is a good solution for me. I'm sure there are others out there who are in a similar boat. If you haven't already, check out my previous video where I discuss my thoughts on the cable / hardwire / performance czcams.com/video/e4bkvJVNQG0/video.html
@@tomm9850 thanks for the reply i am in Australia most of the time i am skiing crud/wet snow sow its plastic boots (outofboundscrowns)
Yes, there is nothing that beats a plastic boot for downhill control.
I just bought a pair of Voilé 3PHW for my new Åsnes Combat NATO skis but have not installed the bindings nor skied with them yet.
A friend of mine doubted that the 3PHW is too high with its 20 mm risers for kick and glide. Here in Skandinavia we do long distances of kick and glide when skitouring. I would absolutely like to have the benefit of the added HW support for the downhill but not loose any of the cross country skiability for the flats.
Could you comment on that based on your experience?
Should I rather mount this binding on the lower 3PC Traverse risers for my purpose? Does it work?
@@Altavista4537 I haven't skied the Combat NATO, but looking at the specs (84 62 72) I think you will be just fine on the kick and glide sections with the 20 mm risers. I'm sure it will feel a little strange at first, but it won't take long before you become accustomed to the extra height, especially if you are skiing off trail. If you are skiing long distances where you won't need the additional support of the hardwire, then you will be much happier with them in your pack. Of course you have the option to just mount the 3 pin without the riser, and then only put the hardwires on when you need them. That scenario would be similar to what I'm doing on my SBound 98 (no riser)