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So just got my new Blaze's and set them up, awesome! But one question: In touring mode they do not come to rest on the solid base of the climbing wire set up the way the Voile plates do. Instead they drop directly on to the climbing wire itself when the wire is laying flat (not an issue if the climbing wire is up). This seems to put a fair bit of torque on the wire and the base the wire sits in. Seems like over time it could potentially weaken and maybe even break the climbing wire base?

Were the previous Sparks plates like this too, and/or anyone else have any issues with this?

I just picked up the Blaze bindings as well.
I had to file out notches on the touring bracket because the bindings were coming into contact with the bracket not allowing them to come close to sitting flush on the climbing heel pad. I filed out notches and now they sit properly on the climbing heel pad.

The base of the binding does come in contact with the climbing wire when in the touring mode. However, it only comes into contact with the wire about a half of a mm before contacting the the pad. The plastic bumper tube on the wire is what is making that contact happen. But it is so minimal I'm not worried.

I am assuming that your climbing heel pads have the raised rectangular block in the middle of the pad? Could the issue be the shape/bend of the climbing wire?

I would post pictures but I am having a lot of trouble trying to figure out how to do it!

^I'm experiencing the same thing. To illustrate, the upper right quadrant of this photo shows where the black anodizing has been ground off where it was hitting my touring bracket:

I ground it down with a file and now it's OK.

And yes, the binder rests on the climbing wire when it's not fully loaded, but I'm not concerned with that.

Hey splitters,
There is a small amount of interference on the new Voile touring brackets that I didn't catch before production started. I was trying to keep that surface really close to the back of the brackets to make it easy to line up the pins, however the touring brackets changed shape a bit with Voile's new version. If you notice a bit of interference, the best way to break in your bindings is to hit the skin track. The little bit of extra material will be removed and won't won't harm the brackets or the baseplates. You don't have to file or torch or weld anything! Just get out on the hill and use them and they'll break in just right. If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with us!

what do you mean by "Just hit the skin track"??

So I assume the new touring bracket makes this a non issue? Any ETA? Id like to keep my Blazes all shiny and can wait for the new brackets....

Thanks guys. Hitting the skin track means just start using em and the issue will resolve itself. Filing out tiny notches into the touring bracket also works, and I doubt weakens the bracket at all. Anyway, the Voile bracket is definitely the weak link in the system now so hopefully something new is coming soon!

I would like to add that there was more than "a small amount of interference" in the way the binding was contacting the the touring bracket. Although, my Voile hardware is 3 years old. Has the Voile touring bracket changed shape drastically since then?
I bought the large size bindings and there was at least 2-3cm of space between the heel pad and the binding's base. When pushed down so the binding's base came in contact with the heel pad the touring bracket was having a large amount of torque applied to it.
This is definitely not something that would have worked itself out by hitting the skin track!
I filed notches into the brackets and I am set. Which means I am still happy with my purchase!

Can anyone post photos of where to file the notches in the touring bracket...I can't figure out where the problem lies.

I'm having the same problem where the binding sits like 3cm above the heel in touring mode. shit ain't right.

here's what my situation looks like right now:


if I push the binding down anymore it stresses the touring bracket...no good.

Cheers,

- Derek

Do you see the photo that I posted above, in this thread? The silver scratched-up part on the binder shows where the interference is, and hence where you should file. Like, ten passes with my file, and it was good to go. Only a tiny bit of material needs to be removed to allow the binder heel to sit properly.

I filed the binder, not the bracket, cuz it seemed easier.

[quote="RideEverything"]I would like to add that there was more than "a small amount of interference" in the way the binding was contacting the the touring bracket. Although, my Voile hardware is 3 years old. Has the Voile touring bracket changed shape drastically since then?
I bought the large size bindings and there was at least 2-3cm of space between the heel pad and the binding's base. When pushed down so the binding's base came in contact with the heel pad the touring bracket was having a large amount of torque applied to it.
This is definitely not something that would have worked itself out by hitting the skin track!
quote]

Q4T, experiencing the same here. Big torque applied to the bracket, I'm pushing 255 with no gear, I will shred that bracket. The only thing I think that may have been "worked out on the skin track" would be me...postholing home. I do however dig the binding and with some mods think it will be killer in the BC.

Small thing I noticed... the glue did not stick the padding to the highback on one of the bindings, peeled right off when I fondled them out of the box.

Seriously? You guys just spent $300 on bindings and now have to take a file to them in order to make them work? Something is wrong with this picture.

C,
A couple of things to remember....

Spark was the first company to listen to the needs of splitters and make a splitboard specific binding. This dramatically improved splitboard performance and the overall experience for everyone from old skool splitters to noobs. In my opinion it was a historic event within the sport and pretty much every splitter from then on out has benefited from it or will benefit from it in the future. The integrated slider track/baseplate is the formula of the future whether that be with Sparks, Voile Light Rails, and even new systems like Karakoram. So when a small issue like this pops up within our segment from a company that we love and respect, we as splitters are generally much more understanding than we might be if it were a normal company in mainstream snowboarding.

As others have said, its really not a big issue either, there's just a small section to take down or you can get the new LT touring brackets and they dont need to be taken down at all.