BINDINGS

[scrub]

I forgot about this guy's reviews, I enjoyed this comparison. Nice to see him actually riding the stuff too!

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This season I’ve been lucky to demo a pretty broad selection of bindings.
NOT including my own franked Union setups, I’ve ridden the following companies (and the number of different models): Bent Metal (2), Flux (3), Burton (3 incl. SO), Rome (1), Nidecker (1), Skate-Tech (2), Ride (1), K2 (2), Salomon (1), Union (3)

I’ve tried justifying how any brand might be superior to another. From the components, to durability and warranty, availability of parts, quality of the product at different tiers of price point, to overall performance and offerings catered to different applications of snowboarding. Sure, some brand might make a slightly more comfy strap or a burlier buckle or faster flad, etc., but overall? Union’s top dog and it’s not even close, IMO.
I’m sounding like fanboy #1 but I hated Union bindings for years and years. A bunch of people here have heard me talk shit about Union in the past, in person even. Lots of things sucked about them since the brand’s inception, and I think a good number of us experienced those issues ourselves. But they’ve fixed the things that plagued them and now most everyone else feels jankier and less refined. That attention to detail and feedback has gone a long way for the brand, at least in how I perceive it. I think traditional two-strap bindings have hit their apex, with Union at the helm. Any “new” tech in the traditional realm of bindings is a recycled or reengineered idea, which Union is continuing to do as well. I think it explains companies’ venture into quick-entry systems. It’ll be interesting to see where it all goes.

[jota]

A few days ago, on a chairlift, I met a snowboarder and his skier girlfriend. He told me that he had just bought a new Lib C2 but that his bindings had been borrowed from a friend of his. He asked me about my bindings and told me that he had been looking at the fast entry ones (he called them hybrid system) but he was talking about phase and nidecker and also the Clew… and when we got to the top, he asked me about my level and then asked me if I could teach him some tricks to learn how to turn… he only knew how to go straight… after explaining a few things to him, I got off the chairlift and left… damn, I didn’t even know what to think…

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I heard dude in the lift line last week RAVING about his Clews. I wanted to say something but when I looked over, he looked like the kind of guy that gets dropped off to work, if you know what I mean. Then I was actually kinda stoked for him because he chose snowboarding over skiing.

[scrub]

I just put my Malavita wingbacks on Snowboard Trader. Great bindings and I'll probably regret it since I looked for a set for a minute.

[Supra]

I went to a shop yesterday and looked at bindings and came to the following conclusions: the Rome straps seem really nice, Bent Metals are heavy, and I will likely pick up some Union Forces since they hit the quality, adjustability, and price point I'm looking for.

I always just come back to Union for those reasons. My anecdotes with various brands/bindings are as follows:

• Arbor: cheap, heavy, super low quality straps

• Bataleon/Rome: best toe straps, love the hybrid disc that's between full size and mini, best adjustability and, with that, way too many little screws that come loose, not a fan of the full metal wrap chassis

• Bent Metal: have never tried them, they always looked cheap/janky to me but I'm totally open to my perception of them being wrong

• Burton: good ankle straps and buckles, terrible adjustability (with re:flex), aging chassis that's very behind on footbed/dampening tech and those stupid little board breaker wings + hard plastic baseplate are a no-go for me after having a few boards suffer some damage from them

• Fix: have only messed with them in shops, but I'm not gonna lie, I've been wanting to try these for a while and next year's lineup looks good. Kinda just following the Force formula but I've heard they're solid and they're super affordable

• Flux: would totally have a pair or two but zero dampening/cushioning for my aging joints

• K2: the three new ones (Edition, Bond, Program) are great, very good dampening/cushioning, comfy straps, but they're heavy and the disc is massive and creates a huge dead spot underfoot

• Nidecker: tried the new Kaon X, felt cheap as hell

• Nitro: seems like they've been making the same binding for 15 years?

• Now/Yes: great if you swap all the straps/buckles, they fit your boot, and you don't prioritize lateral flex. cushioning is next level, skate tech is subtle and not worth the other shortcomings for me

• Ride: checked out the new A and C lines in a shop a few years ago and they were the heaviest bindings I've ever felt. Straps were really narrow. Don't see a reason to try them unless they were on super sale?

• Salomon: love Shadowfit, hate the lack of adjustability since I'm right between sizes, and last season they replaced their cushy footbeds with cheap hard plastic, so it's a no from me these days

• Union: high quality, constant innovation, reliability (these days), tons of options (love that they make both full and mini disc), generally lightweight, lots of binding for price (especially the Ultra, Force, and Strata), tons of support for spare parts, etc

No dampening on Flux's? I just stepped into Terje's binding for next year and it is really cushy underfoot. I haven't ridden any recently though.

All these posts (all 2 of them) touting Union has me thinking I'll take another look at them...if I don't get some Flux's before.

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Flux added some corner dampening to their baseplates sometime in the last few seasons. It takes away some of the chatter but the difference is negligible compared to older iterations. And their buckles haven’t been updated in forever; they still rattle around and have a weird bit of play before the spring engages. I get Flux’s appeal, especially for the carving/snowsurf crowd. The response is excellent and they look good mounted double posi. On the other hand, for a company that’s been making bindings for over 30 years, one would expect more development and innovation beyond a buckle with a bottle opener.

[scrub]

they still rattle around and have a weird bit of play before the spring engages.

The fiddly forward lean adjustment and the rattling buckles were why I sold my Flux SR.

[casjcade]

I went to a shop yesterday and looked at bindings and came to the following conclusions: the Rome straps seem really nice, Bent Metals are heavy, and I will likely pick up some Union Forces since they hit the quality, adjustability, and price point I'm looking for.

I always just come back to Union for those reasons. My anecdotes with various brands/bindings are as follows:

• Arbor: cheap, heavy, super low quality straps

• Bataleon/Rome: best toe straps, love the hybrid disc that's between full size and mini, best adjustability and, with that, way too many little screws that come loose, not a fan of the full metal wrap chassis

• Bent Metal: have never tried them, they always looked cheap/janky to me but I'm totally open to my perception of them being wrong

• Burton: good ankle straps and buckles, terrible adjustability (with re:flex), aging chassis that's very behind on footbed/dampening tech and those stupid little board breaker wings + hard plastic baseplate are a no-go for me after having a few boards suffer some damage from them

• Fix: have only messed with them in shops, but I'm not gonna lie, I've been wanting to try these for a while and next year's lineup looks good. Kinda just following the Force formula but I've heard they're solid and they're super affordable

• Flux: would totally have a pair or two but zero dampening/cushioning for my aging joints

• K2: the three new ones (Edition, Bond, Program) are great, very good dampening/cushioning, comfy straps, but they're heavy and the disc is massive and creates a huge dead spot underfoot

• Nidecker: tried the new Kaon X, felt cheap as hell

• Nitro: seems like they've been making the same binding for 15 years?

• Now/Yes: great if you swap all the straps/buckles, they fit your boot, and you don't prioritize lateral flex. cushioning is next level, skate tech is subtle and not worth the other shortcomings for me

• Ride: checked out the new A and C lines in a shop a few years ago and they were the heaviest bindings I've ever felt. Straps were really narrow. Don't see a reason to try them unless they were on super sale?

• Salomon: love Shadowfit, hate the lack of adjustability since I'm right between sizes, and last season they replaced their cushy footbeds with cheap hard plastic, so it's a no from me these days

• Union: high quality, constant innovation, reliability (these days), tons of options (love that they make both full and mini disc), generally lightweight, lots of binding for price (especially the Ultra, Force, and Strata), tons of support for spare parts, etc

No dampening on Flux's? I just stepped into Terje's binding for next year and it is really cushy underfoot. I haven't ridden any recently though.

All these posts (all 2 of them) touting Union has me thinking I'll take another look at them...if I don't get some Flux's before.

I think the TH model FootOn is the exception, but the Boost version has a little more of the same foam they usually have, and a slightly steeper toeramp (I think?).

[dielahn]

• Bataleon/Rome: best toe straps, love the hybrid disc that's between full size and mini, best adjustability and, with that, way too many little screws that come loose, not a fan of the full metal wrap chassis

• Burton: good ankle straps and buckles, terrible adjustability (with re:flex), aging chassis that's very behind on footbed/dampening tech and those stupid little board breaker wings + hard plastic baseplate are a no-go for me after having a few boards suffer some damage from them

I've seen a handful of broken Rome bindings -- snapped highbacks or chassis -- but never seen the screws come loose myself. It strikes me as a "possible" issue vs. something that actually happens often. I'm 2 seasons into riding Bataleon and always double check the many screws, but I've never noticed any coming loose.

On channel boards, I feel like the screws loosen every 1-2 days. No amount of Loctite seems to fix it... It's definitely better than that.

I do miss Burton ratchets and ladders. Bataleon ratchets freeze and get stuck. The ladders also get chewed up quickly.