Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Hello

Has anyone on the forum experience with the Meidjo 2.0 binding and the optional alpine heel?

I started Telemark just a year ago and I like it really much, but I still also like normal Alpine skiing.
I’ve skied with the NTN system and I was almost ready to buy this, until I heard of the Meidjo. Since I also need a new pair of Alpine ski’s, I think the Meidjo is maybe a good Alternative, or not? One set is more easy to transport then two.
My telemark skills are very basic, so only on blue or red slopes.

Alpine I’m an overall skier, I like carved turns on bleu/red slopes, small turns on black slopes and I also like Moguls and a bit (of safe) off track skiing.

I have concerns about the building quality of the Meidjo’s (Not only success stories on the web) and the high price of it.

Greetings from Belgium
Jelle

P.S. Excuse me for my English, I’m not a native speaker 

Greetings Jelle,

Sorry there is no love here for the Meidjo. I encourage people to add this content, but it seems it never comes, or if it does, there are no responses.

I'll direct you to this forum, they may be able to answer your questions.

Good luck,
Mike

The Meidjo is a good idea in works. The binding had serious durability issues, including the heel piece. I bought the entire rig, including heel piece, for the exact reasons you mentioned. The material holding the heel piece lock pin busted out the first time I stepped into it, meaning the AT heel prong could not stay locked in. This is a design flaw. As for the telemark binding itself: the AT toe pin springs are severely undersprung, which means they open under stress, and the small stainless formed piece that holds the second heel bale has inadequate strength by design, which means it transfers a lot of upward pull onto the aft mount points. I ripped these mount points screws out of my skis the second or third day on them. This is a common complaint. I ditched the Meidjo after which. Trying this binding was an expensive mistake.

Harris wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:16 am

The Meidjo is a good idea in works. The binding had serious durability issues, including the heel piece. I bought the entire rig, including heel piece, for the exact reasons you mentioned. The material holding the heel piece lock pin busted out the first time I stepped into it, meaning the AT heel prong could not stay locked in. This is a design flaw. As for the telemark binding itself: the AT toe pin springs are severely undersprung, which means they open under stress, and the small stainless formed piece that holds the second heel bale has inadequate strength by design, which means it transfers a lot of upward pull onto the aft mount points. I ripped these mount points screws out of my skis the second or third day on them. This is a common complaint. I ditched the Meidjo after which. Trying this binding was an expensive mistake.

I could not agree more.

I got the latest version of the Meidjo / InWild binding this winter (2023) and it is still poor quality in many ways. The alpine heel is the worst, just completely useless, either popping out or not releasing at all. I have never had any problems with my Marker AT bindings, but Meidjo has turned a great idea into a garbage product, despite the high price.

The Meidjo is not a perfect binding (I can say this from experience, after recently breaking my fibula in a non-release, slow twisting fall while using this binding), but is it fair to say that MOST of the dissatisfaction is aimed that the Alpine Heel piece?

There are other issues, I know, like icing, and breakage problems with a previous version of the flex plate, for example.

I’m not defending the Meidjo — dislike it all you want — just trying to clarify.
Seems like there are plenty of people who are happy to keep using the product.

Sort of like the many different brands and models of Alpine bindings, each with happy users, there are many different Telemark bindings, each with a fan-base, but few (are there any besides Meidjo?) with an Alpine heel.
(I have never used the Meidjo Alpine Heel.)

Again, not defending Meidjo, just asking a clarifying question: Is it mostly the Alpine heel that people are unhappy with?

An interesting thread here:

https://www.backcountrytalk.com/forum/g ... heel/page2

Especially as a telemark skier in the early days of learning and for one who alpine skis regularly, I would restrict my alpine turns (with a heel hold down) to alpine or AT gear. This is for safety reasons. You will not get a reliable release from the setup you've described.

Use the tely bindings of your choice to tely ski. If you want to make lots of parallel turns on that gear, the Rottefella Freedom (not Freeride) is nice because the heel is a little lower than the toe, so it's easier on your quads. Also, it releases. I don't think it's a very sturdy binding, though.