Marker Duke 2007

Overall

These are great for the person who skis down most of the time but wants the option to climb a short ways to get a pow stash or to ski the backside of something but for a touring trip I would recommend dynafits or a lighter solution. Overall I enjoyed my season on these

Performance

I call these regular bindings with a touring function, they ski like 914's or any 14 din burly alpine binding. They aren't ideal for touring, they're heavy for long tours and ice builds up in the tracks so they can be a bitch to go in and out of touring mode. They're ideal for sidecountry jaunts, so a 45 min-2 hour skin and not much more, otherwise your legs start hurting. But they ski so well it's worth the slog up with them and after a little while it isn't that bad

Design

They look pretty cool i guess and the only design flaw really is the switch in and out of touring mode, it's a good system for torsional rigidity but it's a bitch to grab with big gloves on, I had to take my gloves off a few times and that sucks when it's cold and snowing

Value

These things are priced steeply but I'd say it's worth it, I got them cheap so try if you can but if you have to pay retail it's worth it

Characteristics

I'll start off by saying these are not typical markers, no biometric toe piece=limited pre-releasing. I had the din between 9 and 11, just getting a sense of what I liked and I only released a few times, I took some big crashes off cliffs and these things stayed right on. I never had them release on me just skiing, you have to release either straight up by pulling your heels or by twisting out with your heels. I never had the toes release on me just mostly the heels. They prefer to come out straight up than side to side, but if you have the din high enough these things will have trouble releasing, a very strong binding

Durability

They just get a little scratched, that's it, I also oiled the tracks a few times to make the switch to touring a little easier

• Terrain
  Park
  Pow
• Design
  Clean
  Busy
• Durability
  Fragile
  Durable
• Weight
  Light
  Heavy
• Style
  Uncool
  Cool
• Reliability
  Sketchy
  Trustworthy

Overall

A great touring binding for someone who wants the touring option, but is really a skier at heart, not a climber.

Performance

These are the most solid binding you will find with touring capability, hands down. This does come at sacrifice of some weight and convenience as far as touring laps goes, but I'm very happy with my choice. I thought the plastic on the base wouldnt hold up that great, but I havent noticed any compromise in their integrity over around 45 or 50 days, so I'd say theyre good. Touring is nice and smooth, you notice the extra weight after around an hour or so, but I also tour with alpine boots so that might contribute.

Design

I think this is a great design for what I use it for. I like skiing, and I tour for a good ski, so postholing up top is a sacrifice I don't mind making for the payoff of actually feeling solid on your skis on the way down. Only slight qualm I could have is the heel riser which is at a good height for most slopes, but for sustained steeps its too little and its a pain to lower for the flats. This is getting really nit-picky though, they perform great on all aspects in my opinion. The higher mounting took a little getting used to but I'm over it.

Value

I pro-formed them, so they were still expensive but so are all touring bindings. Not that much more than frischis and I always hear of frischis breaking, so I just went with dukes.

Characteristics

Super solid, Ive got them at 12 though, I'm 5'9" 155 so they shouldnt realease all that often. that said, they have released when I've expected them to which is nice and they havent hurt me at all. This is the highest din rating Ive ever had on a binding and its nice not maxing out the bindings for once.

Durability

Best you'll find in a touring binding, they havent shown any bad aspects in 50 days or so thus far.

• Terrain
  Park
  Pow
• Design
  Clean
  Busy
• Durability
  Fragile
  Durable
• Weight
  Light
  Heavy
• Style
  Uncool
  Cool
• Reliability
  Sketchy
  Trustworthy

Overall

These get a high rating in my books because they are exactly as described. If you want an alpine binding with a touring function these are the ones. Perfect for short slackcountry tours. I can't give them a perfect 10 due to the design flaw in the mechanical lever, but they are close.

Performance

They do exactly what I thought they would. They are essentially and alpine binding with a touring function. For a touring binding they are pretty heavy but there much more convenient then lugging around alpine trekkers which really don't work that great anyways. So if your going to be doing short day-trip tours and aren't super concerned about weight and don't want to give up anything on the way down or when your in bounds, these are it.

Design

Design seems pretty good. There are a few weak areas (specifically the single screw supporting the lever). I have seen broken/ripped out levers so that could be a design flaw but it wasn't fixed for next year so it couldn't have been that large an issue.

Value

They are a pretty great value. In comparison to buying alpine trekkers and an alpine 16 din binding you are definetly saving money.

Characteristics

Seems to release at a slightly easier level then other bindings I have had(rossis,looks, and salomons). Luckily the din goes to 16 so as long as you turn it up a notch or two then there is no problems with pre-release.

Durability

For me no complaints on durability. However I have seen broken levers. I would be careful about hucking to much on these things. THey definitely can take more abuse then any other touring binding. But I wouldn't be bringing these things into the park just as a preventative. Most broken pairs I have seen have come from switch landings.

• Terrain
  Park
  Pow
• Design
  Clean
  Busy
• Durability
  Fragile
  Durable
• Weight
  Light
  Heavy
• Style
  Uncool
  Cool
• Reliability
  Sketchy
  Trustworthy