Marker KingPin for freestyle bc setup

I got a kingpin on my JJs for a freestyle BC ski and I have no complaints. They have released when I’ve eaten shit and stayed on otherwise. Clicking in on sketchy jump in-runs with the pins is tedious but might just be skill issue. When I’m skiing BC I notice the difference in boot preformance way more than bindings compared to my alpine gear so I can’t critique too much.

heard the early gen kingpins had problems?

deadhead420I got a kingpin on my JJs for a freestyle BC ski and I have no complaints. They have released when I’ve eaten shit and stayed on otherwise. Clicking in on sketchy jump in-runs with the pins is tedious but might just be skill issue. When I’m skiing BC I notice the difference in boot preformance way more than bindings compared to my alpine gear so I can’t critique too much.

heard the early gen kingpins had problems?

ok great ! yes i have early gen kingpins 13 and they release each time i try to engage a bit the edge in the take-off.... marker will send me new gen of the front insert bindings.

Thanks for your feedbacks i will try to mount them on my candide 4.0

Vince_Rafook great ! yes i have early gen kingpins 13 and they release each time i try to engage a bit the edge in the take-off.... marker will send me new gen of the front insert bindings.

Thanks for your feedbacks i will try to mount them on my candide 4.0

Early gen kingpins are known for shearing off pins in the toe. Might be good to have someone knowledgeable check them over.

Hell no. the din on them is made up like all pin bindings because of the toe, there is no consistent lateral or vertical release in the toes. I also see many that are absolutely clapped after a year or two. If you want lighter weight and not the clunk of casts, then get shifts, just a bit heavier than kingpin and actually safe. Or get ATK or salomon mtn pin binding (look at what nikolai shirmer and josh daiek ski on them) and save a bunch of weight. Kingpins are a pin binding with a fancy coat on that gives you a false sense of security.
And if you can just wait a year there are 3 (that I know of) hybrid and pseudo-hybrid bindings comping out (atk, tyrolia, alpenflow)
I am also a certified kingpin hater - but these are my reasons.

sammy c hits park on his white walkers with kingpin so don’t see why you can’t

There will technically be less consistent release from the toe especially. Less efficient power transmission, limited elastic travel, old ones can be super clapped. Also I've seen the pins shear on pretty much all generation toepieces except for the most recent version. I think you'd get better performance for value with a Shift 13 previous gen on sale (set up properly!), that being said the Kingpins have a pretty dedicated following so I don't necessarily think you'll have a bad experience

JuviticusThere will technically be less consistent release from the toe especially. Less efficient power transmission, limited elastic travel, old ones can be super clapped. Also I've seen the pins shear on pretty much all generation toepieces except for the most recent version. I think you'd get better performance for value with a Shift 13 previous gen on sale (set up properly!), that being said the Kingpins have a pretty dedicated following so I don't necessarily think you'll have a bad experience

bruh not the salomon shits

I have never heard anyone who actually skis shifts recommend to buy shifts. Especially not for someone looking to jump off shit.

SchoessI have never heard anyone who actually skis shifts recommend to buy shifts. Especially not for someone looking to jump off shit.

I mean yeah, if you're actually sending and don't care about weight get CAST or Duke's or whatever version of that, they are just better. I'll dog on Shifts as much as the next guy because I'm a tech and I'm fixing them all damn time. Imo still better than Kingpins though

Yeah cast for myself is what I'm getting next, but in my wife's situation I think cast is crazy overkill and also way too heavy. Climbing mountains is really hard and I want to make her life easier on the uphill so she can enjoy the downhill as much as possible. In your experience, what problems do shifts have? From what I understand, they really need to be setup correctly to work to a decent degree, but I haven't heard specificly what people referr to with that. I myself do all my own shop work including mounting and am fairly competent, I just haven't worked in a public shop so I don't see the volume that you guys do, nor do I encounter a huge variety of gear.

JuviticusI mean yeah, if you're actually sending and don't care about weight get CAST or Duke's or whatever version of that, they are just better. I'll dog on Shifts as much as the next guy because I'm a tech and I'm fixing them all damn time. Imo still better than Kingpins though

SchoessYeah cast for myself is what I'm getting next, but in my wife's situation I think cast is crazy overkill and also way too heavy. Climbing mountains is really hard and I want to make her life easier on the uphill so she can enjoy the downhill as much as possible. In your experience, what problems do shifts have? From what I understand, they really need to be setup correctly to work to a decent degree, but I haven't heard specificly what people referr to with that. I myself do all my own shop work including mounting and am fairly competent, I just haven't worked in a public shop so I don't see the volume that you guys do, nor do I encounter a huge variety of gear.

The primary thing is replacing the little metal clip that holds the toe lever in ski mode. Most of the time its user error, where someone is using their pole to push down the lever to open the pin arms to get their boot in, but they miss and hit the clip which bends it down. Although I have seen it bent upwards which is not user error. The other big one is replacing or reattaching the brakes. 1st gen brakes were known to pop out of walk mode sometimes, as well as the brakes just seem to come off sometimes on both 1st and 2nd gen. I don't know how it's physically possible for them to come off but they do.

I should mention the dispite all this I own 1st gen shifts and have never had any of these issues with them. I think they're great for myself (advanced skiier but not expert) and for the vast majority of the hybrid touring customers, aka anyone who can't invert or rotate more than 3

SchoessYeah cast for myself is what I'm getting next, but in my wife's situation I think cast is crazy overkill and also way too heavy. Climbing mountains is really hard and I want to make her life easier on the uphill so she can enjoy the downhill as much as possible. In your experience, what problems do shifts have? From what I understand, they really need to be setup correctly to work to a decent degree, but I haven't heard specificly what people referr to with that. I myself do all my own shop work including mounting and am fairly competent, I just haven't worked in a public shop so I don't see the volume that you guys do, nor do I encounter a huge variety of gear.

Sounds like a full pin setup would be better for her than a hybrid binding. Full pins are getting really good. ATK, Fritschi, dynafit, Salomon, they are all good just find a deal. I’m only on the edge of the uphill scene but only pins I’ve heard bad about is G3 and marker full pins, no idea why honestly

**This post was edited on Feb 14th 2025 at 2:49:08pm

deadhead420Sounds like a full pin setup would be better for her than a hybrid binding. Full pins are getting really good. ATK, Fritschi, dynafit, Salomon, they are all good just find a deal. I’m only on the edge of the uphill scene but only pins I’ve heard bad about is G3 and marker full pins, no idea why honestly

**This post was edited on Feb 14th 2025 at 2:49:08pm

ATK bindings are nuts, just expensive. Probably the best performance to weight ratio out there rn. Dynafit has something for everyone really, and some really good stuff at a decent price too, and most shops will have something from them on sale. The salomon mtn tour (more expensive one) are quite nice i really like mine, and if you're worried about how they ski go see what josh daiek does on them. Salomon's other one, the mtn summit is just designed as a more toned down, less durable version of it for a similar weight. Haven't seen too many fritschi out in the wild, they just seem a bit clunky to me, and not the biggest fan of how much plastic there is in their toes. People talk shit on G3 becasue their bindings get clapped quickly, at least the ions do. But im on season 2 of skiing hard on the zeds and so far have no issues with them whatsoever. I'm not the biggest fan of marker's alpinist just because the toe is almost entirely plastic/composite, so i am a bit worried as to how durable they are over a long period of time, but have not hear anything bad about them (and many people ski on them from what ive seen).