The Step On thread

[casjcade]

So got asked by a few that started out on Stepon what bindings to get, as they are making the leap to strap bindings, because they want to progress in park riding. Stepon is the new rental gear.

[Kevington]

Well yes, that would be one solution.

I was more suggesting that if Burton/Step-on are trying to make their system the industry norm then some sort of release mechanism that activates under the heaviest of impacts might make sense. Something that kicks in before your boots break would be nice.

oh...i see now. pro's competing in big air with their step-ons (because step-ons have become the standard), landing a 50ft jump, there is a high chance one of their heavy bindings will release their boot. sounds more like jackass than big air.

since there was the comparison to ski-bindings and their release mechanism: It's not like ski bindings do not have a customizable release point. The skiers that do racing (and I guess freestyle dudes as well) have their release point set to an amount of force where the average skier would already have a broken leg. Just to be clear: I am not saying that I want this for snowboarding, but for ski-bindings that customization is basically a screw. The whole release mechanisms definitely adds weight, but I don't think the customization is to blame here.

As multiple videos have shown, above a certain level of impact you are getting ejected whether you like it or not. Better to design the system so that an easily replaceable part fails first rather than the €700 boot, or your leg.

[Kevington]

I'm down to watch jackass big air. Jus sayn

Instantaneous release if you touch your boot (or butt) while in the air.

[McK21]

If you're interested there's the video that I told you where an Italian pro explain why pro's don't use stepon, it's at the end of the video

[C.Fuzzy]

If you're interested there's the video that I told you where an Italian pro explain why pro's don't use stepon, it's at the end of the video

I don't speak Italian but I'm guessing what he said was that pros don't ride steppons because their sponsors pay them to ride something else and as soon as somebody offers to pay them more to ride step ons than they probably will.

Like Stevens and FASE.

Pros are just people who get paid to ride and they ride good but that doesn't necessarily mean they know a lot about the equipment and oftentimes I bet that guys around here know more about the equipment then a lot of pros.

They also don't seem to have a ton of choices when it comes to who they ride for in the sense that whoever is willing to pay them to ride is often their best option.

But alas... I may just have to grapple with the realization I may never go pro and I will just have to happily ride for funzies

[McK21]

Yeah, I know, it's kind of obvious, it's a pro and he get paid to give a good word or two about his sponsors, but it makes sense, in fact I do feel that difference when I ride Stepons, but I'm not a pro so I don't care about it.

[casjcade]

He said that pros don't use stepons because it takes at least two years to learn how to ride them, and ain't nobody got time for that. But he was fully committed and doesn't do alot of competitions, so he has mastered it.

[C.Fuzzy]

2 years is... I could learn to ski in 2 years. Complete a tech school degree and learn a trade or become an contractor. Form a militia of mercenaries and take over an island country.

Idk. Took me a few days to adapt. They're not so different that it's like learning a whole new sport.

[AyAyRon]

The simple fact is, and anyone with a functioning brain can intuitively understand this, they are less secure than a strap binding. You simply can't engineer that heel cleat boot interface to be as secure as all the mass and material the strap interface provides. This is a legitimate safety/confidence issue for people who put a ton of stress and strain on the equipment (meaning large amount of torque and impact, repeatedly).

Is the average guy who drops 15-foot cliffs and post reflexively and autistically whenever anyone criticizes his precious step on bindings going to be affected by this? Clearly not. Are they still going to spastically post in defense of an inanimate system produced by a company that doesn't even know he exists? Clearly yes.

[C.Fuzzy]

The simple fact is, and anyone with a functioning brain can intuitively understand this, they are less secure than a strap binding. You simply can't engineer that heel cleat boot interface to be as secure as all the mass and material the strap interface provides. This is a legitimate safety/confidence issue for people who put a ton of stress and strain on the equipment (meaning large amount of torque and impact, repeatedly).

Is the average guy who drops 15-foot cliffs and post reflexively and autistically whenever anyone criticizes his precious step on bindings going to be affected by this? Clearly not. Are they still going to spastically post in defense of an inanimate system produced by a company that doesn't even know he exists? Clearly yes.

Well, weve heard it here... definitively, 4 strapons are better than none.

Bonus I guess is straps are animate systems that have consciousness, self movement and biological processes?

And only manufacturers of strap bindings know their customers exist.

A functioning brain has no way around these facts.

/thread