DIY Skibike - Foot Skis Mk2 Version
Posted: Friday, 23 December 2011 by Mark Kinnon in Labels: D.I.Y., SkiBike, Skibob
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The first pair of footskis I made a couple of years ago have definitely seen better days. After roughly 8 weeks of use, the bases look like a grizzly bear has been chewing at them. Ric Platt commented on their excessive weight, which I blame on a very heavy turntable binding design at the rear.
In the early Autumn, whilst prices were lowest, I was able to source a pair of new old stock (NOS) Tyrolia 190D bindings from eBay. I don't know a huge amount about bindings, but the truth of the matter is that they were cheap and matched the colour of the skis they were to be mounted to.
Installation was remarkably straightforward. Both bindings required just 4 self tapping screws each. One nifty feature of the rear binding is that both it and the safety brake ride on a shared rail. This made the installation very straightforward, once the rail was secured you could slide the other components into place. A locking track allows for an inch of fore / aft adjustment for different boots.
The only disadvantage I failed to spot, is that it requires an inch or two of ski behind the heel mounting point. Most commercial footskis designs have very little ski behind the heel, this makes it easy to dig your heels in when stationery which works much like the handbrake on a car. It is about the coolest thing you can do on footskis.
The skis I used were my original skis from the 90s, cut down for my first DIY skibike outings and now cut down further still. Who would have thought skibiking could be so green?
In the early Autumn, whilst prices were lowest, I was able to source a pair of new old stock (NOS) Tyrolia 190D bindings from eBay. I don't know a huge amount about bindings, but the truth of the matter is that they were cheap and matched the colour of the skis they were to be mounted to.
Installation was remarkably straightforward. Both bindings required just 4 self tapping screws each. One nifty feature of the rear binding is that both it and the safety brake ride on a shared rail. This made the installation very straightforward, once the rail was secured you could slide the other components into place. A locking track allows for an inch of fore / aft adjustment for different boots.
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| New footskis - matching bindings, nice |
The only disadvantage I failed to spot, is that it requires an inch or two of ski behind the heel mounting point. Most commercial footskis designs have very little ski behind the heel, this makes it easy to dig your heels in when stationery which works much like the handbrake on a car. It is about the coolest thing you can do on footskis.
The skis I used were my original skis from the 90s, cut down for my first DIY skibike outings and now cut down further still. Who would have thought skibiking could be so green?