Tele Bulldog, NTxBulldog, Spike Observations from TTIPs
Grant 12nov10, pp2, more RT Bulldog Praise
I purchased the RTBs for skiing the resort. I ride a gondy often so having to bend over to clip in, attach a leash, etc is a pain in the @ss. I really enjoy the step in but wouldn’t feel comfortable without the pins plate installed as I have had the heel bar disengage from my boot while skiing. I could ski it with the pins until it re-engaged. The brakes work well and don’t get caught up.
While I did install the free pivot slider on the RTBs, it is a pain to actually engage. The mounting screws need to be loose enough to allow it to slide and as said above, the tolerance is minimal. Probably not bad to do at the parking lot but I could see your friends with a button or switch on their bindings skiing away while you work on it. Additionally the climbing riser at the heel is a little kludgy as well.
If you decide to use the RTBs as a backcountry binding, I highly encourage you to ski them at the resort several times first to make sure everything is set properly. RTBs do take some set up time to ensure the rear heel block is properly measured and to get used to the step in feature. One disadvantage is the boot pin holes can get blocked with snow that make stepping in tough. Something to consider if you plan on booting in the BC.
Response to Mitch and Big Tim review : Burnt. Mtn.’s NTxBulldog, Mar. 2011.
Details on the new Bulldog lineup for 2011/12, Sept. 2011
RT Bulldog Spike – still around?, Sept. 2011
fogey, p1, 13sept11, RT Bulldog Spike – still around?
Range of motion is quite a bit better than NTN, and NTN has more range of motion than Hammerheads. I’m picky about range of motion and the Spikes will be my everyday touring binding.
Lateral stability is not as good as NTN, but feels better to me than HHs, Axls or Switchbacks (no experience with O1s). I’m un-mechanical, but having a single rigid tube seems to reduce the wiggle room that’s there with two independently connected side cables.
The toepiece is not HH snug. The wiggle room there is front-to-back, not side-to-side–in other words, a split second of delay engaging when the knee bends and the boot flexes. Louis has a tweak to tighten things up, but a couple of days were not enough for me to get that dialed in.
Attaching the heel riser to the tube is a plus–easier to flip up and down and no need for a hunk of plastic on the ski (especially the big hunk on NTN). If you like multiple riser heights, though, you don’t have them.
The mechanism for engaging the binding and switching from touring to downhill mode is not–speaking here as a fool–as foolproof as a Switchback or Axl–but step-in is more of a plus than I thought it would be.
Mitch’s Review of RT Bulldog, Winter 2011
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3 comments
3 pings
Great design and great feeling for turns, but the durability issues make these a tough choice.
I wrote the original 12Nov10 review above. I’m now several years into skiing both the RTB and the NTB version of this binding. Last year I used the NT Bulldog (original, not spike) as my primary backcountry binding. It has much greater range of motion than the NTN Freeride, is significantly lighter, and I found there is essentially nothing given up on the downhill (particularly in soft snow). The free pivot slider is still slightly kludgy, but I use the older version and I’ve seen the improvements to the new slide which appears much smoother and even pole activated. I will continue to ski the NT version and look forward to purchasing the Spike model as it appears to be very close to ‘dialed in’.
one quick note. The new Spike base has a 6 screw mount, which makes it very solid. The forward 4 screw pattern is the same as the original Targa mounts, so you can use a regular 4 hole tele jig. Then, using the Spike ski binding as a jig, drill the rear last two holes.
if Eastern skiers are in the Stowe area, I donated a pair of the original milled aluminum Tele Bulldog bindings (see above pic) to the Stowe Ski Museum. I am not sure if they are on display yet.
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