History of the Salomon Driver Series Bindings with SkiTalk.com

Jim Schaffner joins Phil Pugliese on this walk down memory lane, with the history of the Salomon Driver Series of ski bindings.
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0:00 - Intro Salomon Driver series of bindings
0:40 - Jim Schaffner talks about his history with Salomon
1:20 - Starting in the 1970s with Salomon building ski edges
1:35 - Salomon 404 and 505 bindings evolved into the 444 and 555 bindings
2:10 - Going in depth about the 727 and 727 Equip in the late 1970s
6:15 - The developments going into the 1980s Intro
7:05 - In depth with the evolution of the 737 and the 3 hole toe pattern the 747 and 747 magnesium
13:40 - Going into the late 1980s and the 957 multi-control toe
17:20 - Demonstration of how the multi-control toe/boot interface was an improvement at the time
20:55 - Developments going into the 1990s evolving into the 977 with dampener and new colors, propulse and lifters or plates or suspensions
27:27 - Turning attention from Driver to the Spheric, first mention of knee safety in bindings
29:58 - Talking about the Derby Flex, or DFlex plate, originally developed to dampen skis
32:10 - Developments going into the 2000s and the STH, STH Lab, and STH Steel
35:05 - Big boy bindings, with DIN that starts at 11-17 or 14-20.
36:15 - Phil shows the original 727 with the black or green spring, cross hatch for adjusting with special tool.
39:25 - Talking about the changes and introduction of STH2
40:35 - Introduction of their current binding, the Strive, lowering the center of gravity on the toe.
41:35 - Bindings are continuing to be improved upon for both safety and performance
42:25 - Discussion about demo vs consumer versions of bindings

[@robbyrez]

Great job Phil!
Loved the walk down memory lane.

[@thomasmedeiros5722]

So what are the significant differences in the new Strive 12, 14 and 16 bindings besides the obvious DIN and MN adjustments on the 16MN toe. I purchased 2 sets of Strive 14 GW instead of the Strive 12GW. Both have automatic toe height. Did I get a stronger heel for the price difference. My recommended DIN is 6.5 which is well within the range of both models for a type III skier with my height,weight, age and BSL.

[@skitalkdotcom]

The heel is the main difference between the 12, 14 and 16. As you move up, the heel changes.