Busted Thumbscrews

[TN_Boarder]

I bought the Obrien Vision board with Link bindings back in May. Yesterday, I dug the edge of my board during a butterslide and the board was ripped off my feet. I knew something felt really weird. One of my bindings completely came off the board and was still on my foot, while the board floated several feet away with the other binding still attached. It appears that the head of the thumbscrew for the Link bindings is plastic and the head completely came off leaving the metal stud in the board. Now I am short one thunmscrew and clamp and the other thumbscrew is in bad shape as well. Has anybody had similar problems? Can I purchase new thumbscrews and clamps (hopefully better quality) and where can I get them? It just seems odd to me that they would blow this quick. This made for a really sad afternoon of skiing and kneeboarding since my board was the only one on my boat. I will not go boarding again unless I have spares on hand.

[gotmyboat]

You should be able to tap the stud out with a reverse drill bit. The screws are readily available at ski and board shops. At least it was only your board that got busted up.

Good Luck,
Dave

[Smrtz]

We had exactly the same experience with the Obrien Xennon bindings.. the store we bought them was kind enough to replace them.. this is a design flaw with those screws they cant take the pounding and the plastic head will blow off the screw.
Also we had the same bindings replaced twice and have upgraded to the Radon bindings now and so far so good.

that is the 4th set of obrien bindings that have ripped or broken in the last 2 years. i personally have switched and use the hyperlite bindings with the boa system.. I love them and would probably only consider switching for the CWB hinge tech bindings

Its not just you their bindings are poorly manufactured from my experience

Cheers!

[Smrtz]

Also, obrien makes replacenment packages of just the piece tha holds the binding to the board as well as the screws we bought an extra pack just to be safe!

[TN_Boarder]

I'll try to post pics when I get home (at the office right now). I talked to O'brien and the guy said they do not sell these things separately but he did say since the thing was under waranty Bart's (where I bought the board) should replace the whole package. I called Bart's and they said if nothing more was damaged, they would just send replacement thumbscrews and clamps. Problem is I got a weekend planned and they can't get 'em here until next week. The screws didn't strip out so I should be able to take some plyers and turn the stud out. Ed, where are you located and how quick could you get me those parts. I just called the local board shop and they do not carry O'brien stuff and said he probably doesn't have what I need. How much do bindings differ among brands? Does only O'brien use this clamp system? I know how bad it felt yesterday afternoon and I can't imagine sufferring through an entire weekend.

[Smrtz]

100% they do sell replacements! as for the clamp system lots of bindings use a clamp system however they dont use plastic to hold the binding to the board the clamps are usually composite and thet screw down using a flat headed screw and washer..

Its totally a design flaw with those. you can tell the plastic isnt even as hard as normal thumb screws..

Will beinteresting to see if they change the design of these things next year

PS I have nothing against obrien.. I ride player 137 last years daniel watkins board, My wife rides the Dallas Friday Vixen, and Brother rides the Vice... Great boards just not great quality low to mid end bindings...

You know the thing is for those people that buy them to ride on their 1-2 week vacation every year and thats it they are great. If you ride all the time they just dont stand up!

[TN_Boarder]

Yeah, I just found a local board shop that caries O'brien and they do have replacesments (10$ a set). Funny how O'brien personell don't even know what they carry. Thank God for the Internet!! Will definitely be keeping extra on hand from now on. Thanks guys.

[EUSTACE]

Give these a look.
http://buywake.com/catalog/detail/AM_1183

IMO O’brien stuff lags a bit behind; I think Smrtz kind of hit it! a lot of their stuff seem to be built for the casual rider.

Good Luck, E

[TN_Boarder]

My wife took my good thumbscrews and clamps into the local board shop that told me over the phone yesterday that they had replacements and they looked at her like she was crazy. They carry O'brien gear and they said they had never seen anything like this. What's the deal? Is this a new system or what?

[Smrtz]

I have a feeling the reason the dealers dont know is poor product training and product knowledge from obrien to the dealer... Unless the people you buy from ride they probably have no idea whats going on...they are the ones more likely to notice these little things!

If your dealer insists they dont know what you are talking about find out who the obrien distributor is and go direct... summer is a wastin!!

Good Luck!