Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

I have an older pair of Rotefella NTN bindings that I bought used this year. couple of questions:

1) how do I adjust the stiffness of the bindings? do I simply turn the blue plastic pieces to the right( to tighten)? is there any risk in over-tightening the springs and grenading the bindings?

2) anyone else have problems with snow collecting under the white binding plate? for me it was packing in there and turning to solid ice. kind of hassle

I only had these for one season, but yes, you can turn the knobs to adjust both activity (slightly) and release pressure. They used to sell red tubes that were stiffer, but now it looks like the Scarpa site only has green (soft) and blue (which are medium). I do find the reds on Freeheellife's site, but sold out. They would have better info, though. I don't think you can harm them by overtightening them.

I also found that if you put a strip of gorilla tape (or duct tape) on the plate on the ski, it reduced build up quite well.
You can also get some relief by spraying some silicone lubricant on the plate and letting it dry. I've found that works on the NTN bindings I've used (Freedom, Freeride, Meidjo).

Yep, turning the blue knobs adjusts the springs. Viewed from the top, there's two windows at the back of the flex plate that will show the number settings that you're at (1-5, applicable only when the binding is in the open position). The general rule of thumb is to run the color springs you have at the lowest setting possible (as the lower settings will allow a little more range of motion/spring rate in the binding before bottoming out). For instance, red springs at 1/2 may be equal to blue at 3/4 or green at 5 for a given weight/boot length. In you had access to all those springs, the stiffer spring at a lower setting would be ideal (red).

If you crank them up past 5, I would say you're playing with fire, and will be much more likely to break your bindings or pull out of the ski. Once a spring bottoms out, you're applying all that force to the binding and the screws, and something will eventually give (most likely the toe cage or binding frame on that vintage freeride).

Snow build-up can be reduced/mitigated with some anti-ice tape down the base-plate of the binding as MSU says

Yep, silicone lube is your best friend here... Just screw clockwise for more tension... No risk of over-thightening, you will not be able to go further at some point when you reach the end of the screw...

My guess is that there are no marks on your tubes?
2.1 and 2.2 versions of the bindings had tubes with marks from 1 to 5 etched on the tubes. But the marks were printed on previous versions and they would wear after a season or two... Your only solution if the marks are gone would be to mark them again comparing with etched ones side by side... I've done it many times on older used tubes... Just to make sure tension is even on all 4 tubes...

thanks for the tips guys.

I've got this!

so it appears that the detents that are supposed to hold the adjustment of the springs are shot, so the torque of the compressed spring is pushing past the worn detents. I just compared my crispi boot in my Bomber bishop binding to my Scarpa Intuition in the Rotefella free ride and the bishop setup is quite a bit stiffer. the rotefella is probably on the loosest setting right now. looks like Backcountry sells springs. not sure if the catch on the binding is also worn with would prevent the detent from working properly

Johnny....you saved my bacon here: "But the marks were printed on previous versions and they would wear after a season or two... Your only solution if the marks are gone would be to mark them again comparing with etched ones side by side..." Found the old original softer springs in my box and was able to remark the newer markless stiffies. Every now and then, the Google machine gets you exactly what you're looking for....mucho gracias. Steve, NSP-senior, PSIA-tele3

edgarini wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 01, 2022 3:20 am

Johnny....you saved my bacon here: Every now and then, the Google machine gets you exactly what you're looking for....mucho gracias.

Ahhhhh! You're welcome @edgarini ! This is the main reason why this place exists...!

Better look at this thread now, you will probably need it quite soon...