So I am not sure how many people on the board will find this interesting or useful but this summer I bent a set of Rossignol Axial brakes to fit wider skis and actually remembered to take some photos. Before I lose the pictures and the information escapes my small brain, I decided to post up a half baked How To on bending Axial and Axial 2 brakes. I went beyond just bending the brakes and also dismatled the brake assembly into pieces and reassembled them just to see how it all worked.
It's pretty easy and requires intelligence of a 10 year old (or maybe a Marc), but before I did it myself I found the though a bit intimidating. The following proves its cake and as wide brakes for the older Rossi/Look Axial bindings become harder to find since they are no longer produced more people might start bending than before - not to mention a ludicrous price of 40+ bucks that some internet vendors charge for these things. Also, the Axial 2 brakes that come standard on most Look/Rossi bindings can barely clear 80mm wide skis. Anything past that and you have to bend or buy wide brakes. The following applies to both Axial and Axial 2 brakes as their construction is very similar, plus metal is metal, Newtons laws of physics still apply and Marc is still a big zero.
So here it goes. I am assuming you can dismatle the binding which isn't very hard to do once you see how its put together and what the various pieces do.
The Various Parts of the Binding
RIGHT: The actual brakes that pop out to stop your ski from sliding into the woods after you do your imitation of Marc skiing on a bunny slope.
MIDDLE: The pad that you step on to push the brakes up when you click in. The spring that makes the brake popout possible and the shaft that attaches the spring and the pad to the brake housing. I hope Marc isn't too jealous of the length.
LEFT: The actual binding housing. The plastic cover that goes over the housing/spring/shaft assembly.
Step Number 1: Secure the Brake for Bending
You can find various ways to do this, but I had a pretty limited set of tools and the following arrangement worked for me.
Step Number 2: Bend the Brake
Slide a pipe (a bike seat pipe would work) onto the brake and bend up. This is where some force and caution is required. The metal used in the brakes are COMPLETE overkill. Also be careful to bend only as much as you need to. Clearly my cat was less than impressed with my technique and that light fixture on the left is now hanging in my kitchen in case you are wondering Marc. And no, you can't come over to check my cat out so stop PMing me.
Step Number 3: Place the Spring ino Housing
Make sure you place the spring in there facing in the proper direction. If you get it wrong it won't pop the brakes out. This is pretty intuitive and you'd have to be a real Marc to screw it up.
Step Number 4: Attach the Pad to Housing
The picture should explain things better than I can write. It also shows the plastic housing cover on the assembly. You want to put the cover on before insering your awesome bent brakes.
Step Number 5: Insert the Brakes into Housing
Again, the picture is pretty self explanatory. Although be careful to insert the brakes facing the right way, they are not symmetric.
Step Number 6: Push the Brake into Pad
This is where it all comes together as you push the bent brakes into the space between the plastic cover and the metal bottom of the Pad. It requires some force and might take a while until you get the right amount of force and finesse to get it to pop in.
Step Number 7: Admire Your Work
Ahh, sweet victory. You have proven that you are smarter than a 3rd grader.
Step Number 8: And you thought you were done - send me a check for $10 which isn't much considering I save you $40.
Disclaimer: If you are Marc, this is probably over your head and you should not attempt this without supervision from neighborhood cub scout.
It's pretty easy and requires intelligence of a 10 year old (or maybe a Marc), but before I did it myself I found the though a bit intimidating. The following proves its cake and as wide brakes for the older Rossi/Look Axial bindings become harder to find since they are no longer produced more people might start bending than before - not to mention a ludicrous price of 40+ bucks that some internet vendors charge for these things. Also, the Axial 2 brakes that come standard on most Look/Rossi bindings can barely clear 80mm wide skis. Anything past that and you have to bend or buy wide brakes. The following applies to both Axial and Axial 2 brakes as their construction is very similar, plus metal is metal, Newtons laws of physics still apply and Marc is still a big zero.
So here it goes. I am assuming you can dismatle the binding which isn't very hard to do once you see how its put together and what the various pieces do.
The Various Parts of the Binding
RIGHT: The actual brakes that pop out to stop your ski from sliding into the woods after you do your imitation of Marc skiing on a bunny slope.
MIDDLE: The pad that you step on to push the brakes up when you click in. The spring that makes the brake popout possible and the shaft that attaches the spring and the pad to the brake housing. I hope Marc isn't too jealous of the length.
LEFT: The actual binding housing. The plastic cover that goes over the housing/spring/shaft assembly.
Step Number 1: Secure the Brake for Bending
You can find various ways to do this, but I had a pretty limited set of tools and the following arrangement worked for me.
Step Number 2: Bend the Brake
Slide a pipe (a bike seat pipe would work) onto the brake and bend up. This is where some force and caution is required. The metal used in the brakes are COMPLETE overkill. Also be careful to bend only as much as you need to. Clearly my cat was less than impressed with my technique and that light fixture on the left is now hanging in my kitchen in case you are wondering Marc. And no, you can't come over to check my cat out so stop PMing me.
Step Number 3: Place the Spring ino Housing
Make sure you place the spring in there facing in the proper direction. If you get it wrong it won't pop the brakes out. This is pretty intuitive and you'd have to be a real Marc to screw it up.
Step Number 4: Attach the Pad to Housing
The picture should explain things better than I can write. It also shows the plastic housing cover on the assembly. You want to put the cover on before insering your awesome bent brakes.
Step Number 5: Insert the Brakes into Housing
Again, the picture is pretty self explanatory. Although be careful to insert the brakes facing the right way, they are not symmetric.
Step Number 6: Push the Brake into Pad
This is where it all comes together as you push the bent brakes into the space between the plastic cover and the metal bottom of the Pad. It requires some force and might take a while until you get the right amount of force and finesse to get it to pop in.
Step Number 7: Admire Your Work
Ahh, sweet victory. You have proven that you are smarter than a 3rd grader.
Step Number 8: And you thought you were done - send me a check for $10 which isn't much considering I save you $40.
Disclaimer: If you are Marc, this is probably over your head and you should not attempt this without supervision from neighborhood cub scout.
, you can just pop the brakes out of the housing, bend and pop them back in.
