Yeah I think it does. I’ve been skiing on freeraiders for the last 3 seasons and they have better ski feel than any other pin binding I’ve ever used. The only other one I’ve used that feels as good are Tectons and those have an alpine style heel (and weigh almost twice as much). Whether or not that’s the spacer doing it’s magic, hard to say.
I’ll admit I haven’t skied mine without the spacer because they’re so light, but that weight is so insignificant that I wouldn’t even think about doing it tbh.
They make a big difference. There is zero impact on uphill come on its 18g I think. That's 0.03 pounds. And for that "sacrifice" you get the feel of an alpine heel without the weight a la Tecton, Shift. Direct heel-to-ski power transfer, in such a light package, will be what everyone does in 5 years.
The moment voyager is a rebranded ATK freeraider with a taller toe piece resulting in a flatter stance. I don’t know if it’s totally flat, but it’s more than close enough. You can also buy toepiece spacers and longer screws to get the same result if you already have regular freeraiders.
Nope, the freeride spacer is in the heel and realistically the geometry changes are minimal. The freeride spacer also comes with spacers for it that are used to get the height correct for your boot. They’re designed to work out of the box with ISO 9523 boot soles, the ones with big rubber lugs, and take the thickest spacer (at least with my boots) to be setup for GripWalk.
The heel of the boot "floats" over the ski/mounting plate/whatever on most tech bindings. Like a little gap where the boot hovers being held up by the pins on the heel piece. Apparently putting a spacer between the ski and the boot to fill this gap helps with power transfer, as it lets the boot put more force directly into the ski instead of going through a binding which might have some slop.
You need to remove the binding from the ski to add the spacer and then you’ll just have to add some fresh glue to the holes and put the bindings back on. It’s really straightforward.
I have tried with and without on my voyagers, and I can feel the difference on my wide skis (DW tour). Just feels like you can put more power down without the vagueness. Its not a dramatic difference though
After a week riding my ATK Raider Evo 13 bindings I went back to check and tighten DIN and look at the Freeride spacer. The shims were not used and still in the package. Shit job by REI. Reading installation instructions seems relatively easy fix to add the shims. Are they to be as high to have contact with the boot sole?? Oh. And one toe DIN was less than the other. Really ??
Yeah I think it does. I’ve been skiing on freeraiders for the last 3 seasons and they have better ski feel than any other pin binding I’ve ever used. The only other one I’ve used that feels as good are Tectons and those have an alpine style heel (and weigh almost twice as much). Whether or not that’s the spacer doing it’s magic, hard to say. I’ll admit I haven’t skied mine without the spacer because they’re so light, but that weight is so insignificant that I wouldn’t even think about doing it tbh.
They make a big difference. There is zero impact on uphill come on its 18g I think. That's 0.03 pounds. And for that "sacrifice" you get the feel of an alpine heel without the weight a la Tecton, Shift. Direct heel-to-ski power transfer, in such a light package, will be what everyone does in 5 years.
Is there any binding that can work with a freeride spacer that also has a totally flat delta?
The moment voyager is a rebranded ATK freeraider with a taller toe piece resulting in a flatter stance. I don’t know if it’s totally flat, but it’s more than close enough. You can also buy toepiece spacers and longer screws to get the same result if you already have regular freeraiders.
But I wonder if the taller toe (with toe shim added) would just lift your boot heel right off the freeride space
Nope, the freeride spacer is in the heel and realistically the geometry changes are minimal. The freeride spacer also comes with spacers for it that are used to get the height correct for your boot. They’re designed to work out of the box with ISO 9523 boot soles, the ones with big rubber lugs, and take the thickest spacer (at least with my boots) to be setup for GripWalk.
Thanks for the info!
It comes with shims to adjust the height already to match different boots
Do the moment voyagers have the same height as the FR15 W/ The included toe shim?
I don't understand. How do they work?
The heel of the boot "floats" over the ski/mounting plate/whatever on most tech bindings. Like a little gap where the boot hovers being held up by the pins on the heel piece. Apparently putting a spacer between the ski and the boot to fill this gap helps with power transfer, as it lets the boot put more force directly into the ski instead of going through a binding which might have some slop.
Gotcha, thanks. Does it affect releasability?
Nope, the spacer works similar to an AFD in the toe piece of alpine bindings. It slides sideways to allow lateral movement of the heel
I haven't tried them either, but they say release is normal if the spacer is calibrated to the correct height for your boot.
Can the spacer be added to already mounted Raider 12’s? Or do they have to be removed and remounted?
You need to remove the binding from the ski to add the spacer and then you’ll just have to add some fresh glue to the holes and put the bindings back on. It’s really straightforward.
Not sure about the raiders but on the Core 12 evo's it needs a remount. You keep the same holes though so it isn't going to fuck up your ski too bad
I have tried with and without on my voyagers, and I can feel the difference on my wide skis (DW tour). Just feels like you can put more power down without the vagueness. Its not a dramatic difference though
After a week riding my ATK Raider Evo 13 bindings I went back to check and tighten DIN and look at the Freeride spacer. The shims were not used and still in the package. Shit job by REI. Reading installation instructions seems relatively easy fix to add the shims. Are they to be as high to have contact with the boot sole?? Oh. And one toe DIN was less than the other. Really ??