Okay.
So forgive me- this may take me quite a few words to articulate my thoughts on this…
The first point I want to make is that Johnny is speaking exclusively about “Cross-Country Shoes”. Any comment he makes about “XCD” purely refers to downhill skiing with cross-country shoes and bindings. He is not comparing XC boots and bindings to rigid powerful Telemark boots and bindings.
SO FACT- NNN is a better cross-country technology than NN. This is just a fact. It is world-class athletic competition that pushes the evolution of this. If NN were a better XC technology we would still see the RAT TRAP on the world circuit.
SO- FACTS.
NNN is designed, and meticulously manufactured according to Rottefella’s obsessive standards. This includes both the binding and the boot sole!!!! There is ZERO play between the boot and the binding. Something that cannot be said about NN. I have NEVER seen a boot mounted in a 3-pin bale that does not have lateral play in it.
Other facts- there is a limit to the torque that an NNN binding can handle. The NNN-BC binding has a wider platform than standard NNN- therefore it can handle more torsional force than a standard NNN platform (designed for the track). NN- with its 75mm platform- can handle more torsional forces than even the widest NNN-BC platform- the 68mm Magnum. Therefore, one can mount great big fucking downhill boots on a 75mm baseplate and it doesn’t rip it all to hell. And the biggest most rigid downhill Telemark boots require much more than old-school NN 3-screw mount!
Comparing a big-mountain Telemark boot to a XC boot is assnine.
I suppose Rottefella could keep increasing the width of the NNNBC binding plate to accommodate more and more torsional force as Johnny keeps putting NNNBC on wider and wider skis…But- Rottefella probably needs more than a couple of XCD Voyageurs to make the business case for a NNNBC binding with a 80mm base plate…
So now the lies.
NNN is prone to breakage and the fucking “toe bar ripping out”. How come there are no photos of this phenomenon on the ubiquitous internet? How come a company like Alfa’s premier expedition boot is the Polar NNN-BC? I have over 5000kms of hillcountry touring on my current Alaska NNBC boots- over hill, underhill, deep fucking snow, breakable crust, hemiboreal tree thickets, endless semi-frozen brooks of ice and water- there now is a little bit of play and movement in the toe bar (on my right foot)- but the fucking bar has certainly not ripped out…
A boot sole separating or tearing off has nothing to do with binding failure.
The internet is full of videos of people grabbing a super sissy wimpy NNN track touring boot and bending it all over the place. The funniest videos are the ones where the boot is engaged in the binding and the boot sole doesn’t even budge a millimeter, while it is engaged in the binding rails and the boot-upper bends and twists all over the place and the commentator suggests that this is somehow evidence that the binding sucks!
Soft, cross-country boots are not torsionally rigid- period. This has nothing to do with the binding. What motivates some asshole with waaaay too much time to make home videos- and clearly not enough time to ski- trying to convince us that XC touring boots are soft and not downhill boots?
So here comes the real dilemma.
NN-75mm is an excellent and highly versatile binding platform. Does it offer the highest performance XC performance? NO. Does it offer the highest performance downhill performance? NO.
Fighting about whether NN is better than NNN is leads to the same horrific outcome where the Nazi Party gets elected because all of the truly representative vote is split voting for fucking assholes that want to be the Queen and won’t go to the Capital and learn to get along with everyone that was elected…
At the XC/XCD end of the spectrum, there is a LOT of overlap between NNN-BC and NN.
This overlap continues to split our purchasing vote.
The refusal of old crusty Baby-Boomers to trust the “toe-bar” of NNN- despite the fact that a boot weighted on a NNN binding is not supported by the toe bar, but the binding rails- means that the boundaries of NNNBC boots have actually not been pushed. Why are manufacturers no longer producing boots like the Alpina 2500? Not because they didn’t work- or weren’t worthy of improvement- but, because people don’t like change.
So- that leads us to the Present.
Most-downhill focused Telemark skiers have opted for more and more rigid and powerful boots, to drive wider and wider skis- needing bindings that will handle all of that torque (CERTAINLY waaaaay to much torque for a meagre 58mm NNNBC binding plate to handle…
Track-based XC skiing has long since abandoned NN…
Nordic tourers can choose between NNNBC or NN…In one sense this a great thing. And for those of us that can’t find a damn NNNBC boot that will fit- or vice-versa- the availability of both platforms is a saviour!!!!
But if one wants more support than a “XC shoe” can offer- but doesn’t want the Ball-and-Chain of a Downhill boot on our feet- the only option currently is to rely on old-school 3-pin NN-75mm Telemark touring boots. This is not because NNNBC bindings won’t handle such a boot- it is because these skiers still prefer to buy NN-75mm 3pin boots.
I personally much prefer NNNBC for backcountry Nordic touring. As a xcountry technology it is better than NN. If I could buy a more supportive light Telemark boot that would work with NNN-BC I would drop NN-75mm for this type of skiing…
But seeing as how I can’t buy a boot as supportive as an Asolo Extreme or Garmont Excursion with an NNNBC sole- I will continue to use both NNNBC and NN.
And I will continue to worry about the Fascists being elected and getting rid of whichever binding platform is not Macho enough- regardless of what people actually want and need…
And BTW- the popularity of NNNBC is due to all of those backcountry Nordic ski tourers in Fennoscandia- not a result of the very meagre North American Nordic Backcountry market…
Long love and live both NNN and NN.
I just hope that there is always enough Nordic ski tourers in the world that manufacturers keep making equipment suitable for distance traveling in the remote hills, mountains and Polar wastelands…
Otherwise we would only have SkiMo and freestyle track equipment to buy…
Even Classic Kick & Glide cross-country competition only continues to exist because of tradition and culture…
If you want to fly on the track- skate. And try skating in 3 feet of fresh snow…
In the end, we may all end up returning to homemade wooden skis, fur boots, permanent skins, and a tiak/lurk/hunting spear…
