Downhill
Skiing down, a change was noticeable, too, mainly in the power of the spring tension in the Freedom.
NTN Freerides, which I had grown accustomed to skiing with red tubes that provide the most spring tension, were significantly more powerful than the green tubes that came with my Freedoms. However, it is possible to swap out green tubes for red in the Freedom, and while this did increase the feel of the power in the binding, it still wasn’t enough to be completely on par with the Freeride.
The difference in flex was subtle but noticeable, though it’s tough to say whether this was based purely on spring tension, the different construction of the plate that latches to your bootsole, or perhaps both. But it should be noted that the Freedom had as slightly softer flex with a feel of slightly less control.
That being said, on the scale of power and precision within the telemark binding market as a whole, the Freedom still sits on the powerful end, especially with an upgrade to red tubes. And for those telemarkers who found the Freeride too stiff and strong, you might really enjoy the Freedom’s (with green tubes) slightly softer feel.
The Freedom also feels a little bit different because of its lighter weight. Where the heavier Freeride made my ski more powerful in plowing through chop and crud, my Freedoms (which I’ve also had mounted on a light Surface ski), definitely felt a bit more chattery and likely to get tossed when encountering difficult conditions. This is probably a common side effect when switching to any lighter weight set-up, but seems worth mentioning.
While those differences do lead to a noticeably different feel between the Freedom and Freeride, both are substantially different / sturdier than many other types of telemark bindings, given their similar design. The solid plate connecting to your foot to your ski instead of a “cable” means both bindings still provide superior lateral control, especially for how relatively lightweight the Freedom is. Any swinging that your foot may do in a cable binding is gone, so while the binding has lightened up and feels slightly looser in spring tension, its lateral edge-to-edge control is still probably its most defining feature.
Bottom Line
In general, Rotefella quite successfully created a lighter-weight binding with the same innovative features that make NTN stand out from the rest of telemark bindings. Yes, sadly, the beauty of the Freeride’s ability to move from ski to ski without a re-mount is gone. But in many ways, the re-thinking of materials and construction largely improved the look and feel of the binding. And most importantly, backcountry telemarkers who want to be more efficient on the way up now have an option within NTN technology.
You can now read Paul Forward’s 2nd Look of the NTN Freedom.
Kate: noticed in your review of the new freedom ntn binding you bemoaned the fact the binding can’t be swapped between multiple pairs of skis. Have you checked out quiverkillers? They can be found at quiverkiller.com and are threaded steel inserts which are mounted into skis and the binding can be moved back and forth from ski to ski just by backing out the binding screws and then switching to the next ski equipped with the quiverkiller system. I have been using quiverkillers this season after a suggestion from a friend and find I can swap out dynafits for ntn freeride with no trouble on the same ski. My quiverkillers were professionally mounted by mike at mammoth mountaineering in mammoth lakes, but people with the right skills can do the mount themselves. The Quiverkiller system does raise the price, but is way, way cheaper than buying multiple pairs of bindings/skis. I have used both bindings for touring and for lift served skiing. So far the system seems totally solid and friends also have had no complaints. BTY, maybe a quiverkiller test/review would be an interesting read.
Joe
Kate. My wife and I have been using the Rotofella NTN bindings for 3 years and I do NOT believe that they have a lateral release function. I had put my boot into the binding and tried to make it release by having people hold the ski and pushing/kicking the boot. No luck. No release/ Am I doing something wrong? Please advise.
Jeff, I ski Freerides set to the recommended resistance for my weight (per Rottefella’s instructions) and have yet to release… had a tumble earlier this season and really wanted them to release, but ended up with a twisted knee instead. The bottom line is that I definitely wouldn’t trust them to come off.
I performed my own ad hoc lateral release comparison (not standardized, so I can not give absolute numbers here) comparing the “Fritschi Xenic AT Binding”, “The Meidjo Telemark Binding”, and the “Rottefella Freedom”. The lateral release of the Fritschi was set to 5. The lateral release setting of the Meidjo was also set “low”. The spring tension of the Meidjo was set to 3 out of 5. The boot was flat for the following tests without any further downforce (which would likely increase release forces for telemark setups). The spring tension of the Rottefella was also set to 3 out of 5 (blue box).
The Fritschi and the Meidjo released roughly at the same force. Combining the Meidjo second toe with the Fritschi heel (yep, weird setup, albeit note that Meidjo also has its own AT heel) increased release force by about 10% (this is the result what I was really after).
I was not able to release the Rottefella Freedom. I had to stop where there was about 60% force increase compared to where the Fritschi did release. At that point the range of the available force meter bottomed out (equiv. 50kg !) and also the whole setup reached its limit.
From experience: I never had a release with the Rottefella in more than 5 years of usage. I had releases with the old 75mm system (Targa) in the past.
My conclusion: the Rottefella does not release or at least only with unacceptable high forces.
DO NOT TRUST RELEASE ON FREEDOM OR FREERIDE.
They don’t. At least never when you need them too. I jacked my knee up once on a no release. Healed and kept skiing.
Shortly after I spiral fractured my fib.
Sold them this year and switching to the Meidjos.