@kimchi this is what I did last year. The toe buckle entered perfectly. just a change. one for another.
In the ankle buckle I made the walls wider. A very simple customization of the piece. I understand that it does not affect safety since the buckle really grips the strap with the screw. but if you make the hole wider with a drill, there will be no cuts.
Since you say you break many things, it may be legitimate for you to doubt. but I'm going to try it with complete confidence.
If after Christmas I don't write in EL again, it's because they didn't work well..
I like the skate tech and the surf mode strap becouse i like the straps down in the unckle. But the jones buckles are bad.. very poor and fragile construction
ninja_nate wrote: ↑Fri Dec 01, 2023 3:25 pm
thanks for this write up! im guessing most people will say its worth upgrading the straps to burton for the buckles alone but this gives me more confidence in taking my recently purchased mercurys out without upgrading anything. the guy at the shop i bought them from claimed the jones buckles havent been having the same issues as years prior (and he has plenty of spares if i run into issues lol) but i think kimchi mentioned his buckles from last yr had issues. appreciate all the pics and thorough review!
Yesterday I tested the Jones Mercury on the mountain for the first time.
Jones toe straps and burton on the ankle.
The Jones toe ratchets worked fine (they are brand new!) but sometimes they remained open, they didn't return in place, after I tightened the toe straps.
I don't now if I trust them anymore... I think I'll switch to Burton DT even on the toes.
I'm generally super gentle with gear, I think I only broke a burton toe ratchet in my first riding year, and maybe I replaced a couple from union, but the Union toe ratchets 10/12 year ago were criticized by anyone. Then they fixed it. I had a lot of union bindings after those, and never ever had an issue.
Same thing with the Jones ratchets, all the time, they seem fine though, and the straps are nice in «surf mode». Looking to swap out the highback though.
casjcade wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2023 11:09 am
Same thing with the Jones ratchets, all the time, they seem fine though, and the straps are nice in «surf mode». Looking to swap out the highback though.
Yea, I'm kind of bummed. I actually like the newer strap on the Mercury, but I am sick of replacing ratchets.
casjcade wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2023 11:09 am
Same thing with the Jones ratchets, all the time, they seem fine though, and the straps are nice in «surf mode». Looking to swap out the highback though.
Yea, I'm kind of bummed. I actually like the newer strap on the Mercury, but I am sick of replacing ratchets.
At this point, the benefits of Nows are just too subtle for me to deal with replacing half the parts on a brand new pair of bindings. Trying these Ultras and Holograms tomorrow on the Super 8, looking forward to quality straps and ratchets.
to be fair, I didn't have any issues with the past year Now Drive ratchets.
Anyway, I'm going to contact Jones support about the toe ratchets.
Maybe they'll send me two new ratchets.
(I think it's a matter of time, in few seasons this issues will be ironed out, and I'm really happy about my mercury's riding, and smoothness)
eleveneightnate wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2023 11:41 am
At this point, the benefits of Nows are just too subtle for me to deal with replacing half the parts on a brand new pair of bindings. Trying these Ultras and Holograms tomorrow on the Super 8, looking forward to quality straps and ratchets.
@jota that strap mod to accommodate Burton ratchets is super clever, but I break way too much shit to chance cutting into plastic. I'm sure 99.9% of people would be ok, but I have a magically extreme outlier ability to break shit. Brands should put me on rider testing, if I can't break something in ~50 days, the average consumer has nothing to worry about lol.
kimchi wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 11:37 am
How'd the Ultras do?
Just got off the hill. So, they’re an interesting binding. On one hand, they have that super locked in feeling in the heels that all Unions have because of the heelcup. On the other, I would not call them responsive edge to edge. They’re definitely not the most unresponsive binding I’ve ever ridden, but if you’re looking for Now-ish level of response I think you’d be very bummed. They made my Super 8 feel Super Sluggish and it’s not a sluggish board at all.
They did have a nice flex/board feel with the mini disk, but the heel cup kinda fucks that up. It’s so stiff that it’s always trying to get you back to center/upright even though the rest of the binding wants to let you tweak it. Just a weird combination of material flexes IMO. I guess if you want an overall soft binding that locks in your heels, they could work.
i will say that all that crazy cushioning under foot worked as advertised and they were super comfy all around. Straps felt great, highback was comfy but very soft, etc etc.
I rode the Holograms today, too, and they had more response edge to edge while also giving me better tweakabilty for butters and slashing carves. Best of both worlds and I think they’re the keeper between the two for me.
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Last edited by eleveneightnate on Sun Dec 03, 2023 5:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Think we chatted about this but I had the oddest experience with Salomon Shadowfit. I had large Defenders I loved when I was running 10.5 Burton Imperials. Railing edge-to-edge response and funny legitimately surfy feel. I prefer more lateral support but they were comfortable.
I fell out of the size range when I went to size 10 Adidas, could not get the toe straps to hold. Couple years later I bought medium Defenders cheap off Snowboard Trader and HATED them. Rode half a day, could barely turn and immediately sold them without riding them ever again hated them. I didn't have the second pair long enough to really scrutinize, but something between the boot change and the size change completely changed the way they felt to me.
Thanks for the Ultra lowdown. That's about what I expected-- my interest was piqued because I was surprised to see glowing praise from two riders Id expect to be on a more supportive binding, Longo and the non-Fawcett Tribute guy.
