New Tesla in Spark Shop

REI has them backordered too. They cancel your order 30 days after placing it if the merch doesn’t come in, so it seems like a useless excersize at this point to order one if they really wont ship until Oct.

The first batch of bindings (size large) are shipping! :bananas:

The size small bindings are still backordered, as are all the accoutrements like extra board interfaces and crampons.

Got mine today. They look and work amazing(ly). My pucks were spot on for the new baseplates. The toe ramp locking action is snappy and positive (we’ll see if that lasts). The touring bracket pivot is totally smooth (stainless pin in brass sleeve) and getting the pins lined up and engaged is very easy (in my warm shop, anyway). I’ll be curious to see what it is like to work the heel risers with a pole basket, but overall this seems like it could be a significant step forward in form and function with the elimination of the pin. The only thing I liked better about my old Karakorams than the Sparks was the lack of a pin, and now even that one point has been negated. Great job, Spark! :bow:

Some detail pics…

Touring brackets:

Plastic heel plate to support the heel risers:

Sliding the “pins” into the touring bracket:

Snapping the toe ramp down to lock into the bracket:

The underside of the toe ramp pivot point:

The toe ramp uses a resistance/friction fit against the inside of one of the pivot pins to create the lock-in ‘snap’. I can see this part wearing and making the toe ramp floppy in the future. The plastic part is replaceable though:

Heel risers: the low position (inner bar) is 11.5º and the high (outer bar) is 17.5º (on a side note, the current Voile dual height risers offer 13º and 19º rises, so if the new Spark 17.5º doesn’t seem too extreme in general use, I might just remove the lower rise bar to simplify the up and down)….

the prototypes from last winter are great but this new one are a other dimension 😉
will doe his homeworke perfect. they are stiffy in the front and all works.
but we must wait for snow :banghead:

burton

@prior_rider wrote:

I will be eager to read how these perform in variable condition snow. I know I was quite disappointed with the Karakorums which needed to have all snow cleared from anywhere near the interface. It’s easy to demonstrate how they click / engage in a dry room as in these photos. It is another thing altogether to reliably work in stick cold snow conditions.

I agree on the K-binders, but I’m not sure I understand your concern on this one. The snow is cleared just like the old ones in placing the bindings on and the only moving part is the ramp, which appears to be clear of the pins. I’ve not had a ton of times where the front of the puck is caked and I can’t attach the pin, with this there is no pin. On the tour brackets I’ve never ever had a problem with snow clogging the holes.

Well luckily Spark products are made in Bozeman, MT and they will be able to send out some new touring brackets super fast. I’ve always received great help with their sales department.

If they were made in China they would have to kill the 11 year old who packed them incorrectly. I’m sure that the young shredder who was packing them here in the ol’ USA must of had an off day and packed up a grip of them without the correct amount of touring brackets.

Having worked in manufacturing I can say that sometimes stuff gets f’d up and although it’s lame, that shit just happens. I got my new Magnetos without any problems and I’m super stoked that they were made by a dirtbags like myself in this crap economy. I’m sure the Spark guys are on top of those miss-packed parts and are having them shipped back to the factory ASAP.

Guys , can you tell me from where I can buy an extra heeel loops for my 11-12 spark burner?I bought a tesla afterburner kit and it looks that the 11-12 heel loops doesn’t match to 13-14 baseplate kit!tks

I saw on their website the heel loop kit wich is compatible with 11-12 bindings.It was better if I knew that before I bought the baseplate kit.On tactics, from where I bought this ,the product specification did not mention that the heeel loop is needed .They only mentioned compatibility with 11-12 ,12-13 or 13-14 bindings,that’s it.