Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Fourth coast: Yes, adding spacers can shorten the cable length - at lease sometimes. Gonna be hard to find in a shop, I'd check with any long established xc/bc shops, especially smaller specialized ones. Let me know if you don't find anything; I might come up with some if I dig thru my parts bin and take apart some springs.

Fourthcoast, if you're still in need I just received two pair nib Riva IIs and could spare two spacers. But before we do that have you tried to flip the upper spacer over so it stops at the top of the lower stopper instead of sliding over it. That will take up almost .25/inch. You will need to wrap some electrical tape around it to secure it to the cable. How many spacers are on there now? My bindings came with four and I doubt you could add another without bottoming out at the heel piece.

Thanks for the responses phoenix and al. And a big thanks for the offer to help!

I still need to get a wrench and my skis in the same room together and actually open up the binding. I am not sure what is in there for spacers.

al -- So far I see why you like this binding. It is very lightweight, can be mounted totally flat AND you can get in and out of the binding without messing with 3-pin alignment. There does not seem to be anything similar still in production.

Maybe the problem is that I have the wrong expectation for cable tension. Setting up the Swtichback X2s I followed Voile's instructions to get the right amount of what I think they called 'pre-tension'. With these Riva II bindings I can't get anywhere near that same tension right now and I have no instructions to follow.

Does anyone have a good 'rule of thumb' to know that I have the tension set correctly?

This is from the instruction sheet that came with them:" To arrive at the proper tension of the springs it may be necessary to remove or replace the spacers a couple of times. The tension on the springs is correct when the latch causes the springs to stretch open as it is raised into place. Tension can be fine tuned by rotating the opposite (threaded) spring. NOTE: The butt of the handle latch should index into the groove on your boot heel- not the welt"

It's pretty simple, for me proper tension is somewhere between having that little stretch in the spring while flipping the heel lever so they don't feel as if they may come off and not so tight that you feel like you're going to get a hernia in your thumb when you take them off. It is easy and quick to make adjustments in the field so you be able to find what feels best to you w/o much hassle.

Hi Al,

I was able to get the cable out and flipped the single spacer over. It seems to be OK even without electrical tape. Will it fall out somehow without tape? I don't see exactly why I need to tape it.

I seem to have a better adjustment range this way. Thank you for the suggestion.

FourthCoast wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:04 pm

Hi Al,

I was able to get the cable out and flipped the single spacer over. It seems to be OK even without electrical tape. Will it fall out somehow without tape? I don't see exactly why I need to tape it.

I seem to have a better adjustment range this way. Thank you for the suggestion.

I'm glad it worked out for you.
It does seem like the spring is tight enough to hold the stopper in place when there is no tension on it. What happens when the spring stretches and bends IDK so I personally would use the tape.

Al, I opened up one by binding and tried to add tape. The fit is so tight that the spring scrapes off even a very small bit of tape when I try to reassemble it. Have you done this successfully before?

No, I never had to do it. It should work w/o the tape, it was just for added insurance.

Thanks Al. I have been resort skiing with the stopper flipped around. No trouble so far. This was a very helpful suggestion. I am happy with this binding. Now my technique and physique need some help.

There was another way to shorten the cable for Riva 2 that I assume would work with a Riva Z. A fitting mounted forward of the toe-piece on most demo skis back when Riva 2 was pretty standard. It had two or three grooves for the cable ahead of the toe-piece. Were these ever offered/available outside the demo supply sources?

I seem to remember two lengths of Riva 2 cables back then too.

Apologies if none of this applies to Riva Z. Seems like if should from what I've seen of the Riva Z but haven't used one.