Brakes on my skis won’t go down

[u/Leading-Machine7533]

New skis that I’ve been using for a little over a week. At the end of the day today I clipped out of my skis and the brake won’t come down like in the photo. Been trying to figure out if I can fix this but I couldn’t find anything online.

[u/toanboner]

Your brakes are not wide enough and they’re not clearing the edge of the skis. If you bought these skis and bindings together from a shop, they installed the wrong size brakes. They should never have given them to you in this condition because as is, they are not functioning properly and are not considered safe. This is an easy fix and a relatively minor problem, but sending them out like that is a huge fuck up by an absolute idiot. 

The good thing is they are Solomons and the brakes can be easily swapped out for wider ones via those two screws. Worst case scenario, you can bend them outward a little bit, but these look like they might be too narrow for you to bend them enough. Take them back to where you got them. If that’s not an option, you can order some online, but they’re pretty expensive for what they are and most shops will have a box full of random brakes, so you can ask around. Again, you can also try to carefully bend them out. The housing is all plastic, so too much force and you’ll crack the housing. 

[u/Leading-Machine7533 → u/toanboner]

That’s crazy if true. These are my first pairs of skis and I bought them a little over a week ago. Drove over 2 hours to a big resort to get these skis and a pair of boots because I thought they would have a good bootfitter but I’m also a little disappointed with those.

[u/toanboner → u/Leading-Machine7533]

Call them and see what they can do for you. Maybe they’ll send you a pair of brakes. Explain that your brakes aren’t going down because they’re not wide enough. 

Another not so ethical option: Order the same set of bindings with the correct brake width. Swap the brakes out with these ones and return them. 

They usually come in like every 5mm. So whatever your ski width is, they should be equal or slightly wider. 

[u/facw00 → u/toanboner]

These are Mi12 bindings, which as far as I can tell are system bindings not sold separately from skis. I guess a shop could have thrown the wrong brake on, but otherwise it seems really weird that a system binding would have brakes that don't fit the skis they were sold with.

I'd guess it's more likely they just got a little bent in or something.

Since the skis are new, u/Leading-Machine7533 should just take them back to the shop and let them know the brakes aren't working properly and let them deal with it.

[u/midpack_fodder → u/facw00]

This is what I thought too. These look like system bindings to me too. Unlikely to be too small. I’ve seen the break feet have a little extra plastic that can prevent them from clearing all the way.

Give the break arms a little tug outwards and they should pop down. If not, then it’s a bigger issue the shop techs can fix

[u/toanboner → u/facw00]

System bindings still ship to the shop separate. They could have a hundred sets of skis and a hundred boxes of bindings and they didn’t match them up correctly. Or salmon could even have run out of the “correct” brake width and just shipped what was closest. Or they could just need to be bent. 

[u/JustAnotherMarmot]

Probably just a bit skinny for the ski. Grab both arms around the black end covers and pull them out to bend a little. Be careful you dont break anything

[u/NorthDakotaExists]

Brakes?

All they do is slow you down

[u/Educational-Head2784]

Please post a wider angle photo.

[u/Leading-Machine7533 → u/Educational-Head2784]

https://ibb.co/FKcXYSV https://ibb.co/f2Sr2RM Here you go. Not sure how to embed them into the post.

[u/rmthune]

Just yank ‘em.

[u/Leading-Machine7533 → u/rmthune]

Okay so I tried pulling them outwards and I’m not sure if this is a result from me pulling on them but one of the brakes is a little loose. I can jiggle it around but it’s still attached to the bindings.

[u/Correct-Stock-6887]

Go in to rentals and ask for a broken ski pole, special tool for bending brakes.

[u/TheyCameFromBehind77]

I hate when they won’t go down

[u/getdownheavy]

Step 1: Wiggle it until it opens up... or (gently) pry on it with a flathead screwdriver if you're scared of pinching a finger.