Need a recommendation for freeride bindings... >>

After a season riding Burton Moto boots and Custom bindings, I think I
want a change of bindings. Thanks to Surefoot, I got the liners of the
boots built up a little around the ankle and eliminated heel lift, and
now I have a very comfortable pair of boots. my bindings, though, don't
really feel right. The straps crush th etop of my feet, and the overall
flex of the bindings feel too sloppy for me. I'd like to hear anybody's
opinions on a stiffer and more "plugged-in" feeling binding.

KenO wrote:
After a season riding Burton Moto boots and Custom bindings, I think
I
want a change of bindings. Thanks to Surefoot, I got the liners of
the
boots built up a little around the ankle and eliminated heel lift,
and
now I have a very comfortable pair of boots. my bindings, though,
don't
really feel right. The straps crush th etop of my feet, and the
overall
flex of the bindings feel too sloppy for me. I'd like to hear
anybody's
opinions on a stiffer and more "plugged-in" feeling binding.

Hmm... well there will be a lot of bindings that are a fair bit more
secure than the very flexy/loose Burton Customs. So in the past couple
of years I've ridden Clicker BSTs, Clicker HB Pros (both step-ins),
Burton Mission, Salomon SP4 Shaped, Burton P1MDs, Catek Freerides and
Nidecker 800 Pros - I've also demo'd Sims Links, Ride EX, Burton
C16(?), and Switch bindings and perhaps a few others.

My favorite binding overall right now is the Nidecker 800 Pros (the
Nidecker 900s have even nicer strap but are $50 more expensive), the
ankle strap is super wide and really holds the boot down well without
you needing to crank down on the straps. The binding also happens to be
my favorite performing binding overall. Pretty stiff and very
responsive (way more than most Burton models unless you go to their
$270 models) and they have these very cool lateral dampening system
built into it... it's basically a thin foam gasket that sits under the
binding and soaks up high frequency "chatter" without making the
handling all mushy. The foam creates a riser effect, letting you ride
slightly narrow boards without worry of boot drag. They might still
have some at SFOsnow.com (where I bought mine), the Carbon 900s are
even more of freeride oriented binding with gel-injected strap pads
(the 800 don't have those) and a stiffer, taller, assymmetrical
highback that lets you really gets some power into your heelside turns.

If you like Burton, I found the Burton Mission to hold your foot down
pretty well and lightly them overall slightly more than my Salomon SP4
(which I found super solid, but a bit chunky and I was always
overtightening the straps). I've also used the Burton P1MD and the
straps are nice and cushy, but I dislike where they are places (even
with the different placement options), also I can bend the entire
baseplate off the binding just by flexing my shin forwards and back
(and since I'm onl 150 lbs, this isn't confidence inspiring) - but I
guess that are the "medium" flex bindgs (Burton in general is pretty
soft). I have not tried the capstrap, but I doubt it would help.

BTW, I have Surefoot custom footbeds myself and they are much better
than the stock Superfeet ones I had before, since these are my first
past of customs, I can't tell you how good a custom they are but they
do help keep my flat footed arches from collapsing (it's noticeable
with any other footbed or lack thereof) when I put a lot of constant
push on them (like alpine snowboarding as opposed to running, where
there a lot of "air time").

Hope this helps,
--Arvin

KenO wrote:
I'd like to hear anybody's
opinions on a stiffer and more "plugged-in" feeling binding.

Any decent plate binding will work well for you. I got a set of F2
Titanflex this year that I like quite a bit.

You'll have to ditch those pooftah soft boots, first.

Neil

On Tue, 10 May 2005 09:19:48 -0600, Neil Gendzwill
wrote:

You'll have to ditch those pooftah soft boots, first.

What does sexual orientation have to do with boot selection?

-- Robert

Gay's tend to stand weird on the board because of getting it up the poop
hole so much?

Neil Gendzwill wrote:
KenO wrote:
I'd like to hear anybody's
opinions on a stiffer and more "plugged-in" feeling binding.

Any decent plate binding will work well for you. I got a set of F2
Titanflex this year that I like quite a bit.

You'll have to ditch those pooftah soft boots, first.

Neil

That was helpful Neil ;] Way to convince newcomers that hardbooters are
not intolerant militant exclusionists! (just kidding)

Do you like the Titanflexes better than TD2? Since I only weight 150
lbs, I feel like the TD2 are a bit overkill for my needs - although I
do like the E-ring dampening. How damp are the Titanflexes?

lonerider wrote:

That was helpful Neil ;] Way to convince newcomers that hardbooters are
not intolerant militant exclusionists! (just kidding)

At least somebody's humour detector is functioning.

Do you like the Titanflexes better than TD2? Since I only weight 150
lbs, I feel like the TD2 are a bit overkill for my needs - although I
do like the E-ring dampening. How damp are the Titanflexes?

I don't have TD2s, frankly I think they're way too expensive and
overkill for the kind of riding I do. I have not had one single
reliability issue with my old Proflex RS, which have plastic in them and
everything. For that matter, I rode Burton Race Plates for years and
never broke anything either, although I would prefer they had less give
to them. I appreciate the engineering that goes into the TD2s, and I
know that people who buy them love them but what I use works well for me.

As far as dampening - I dunno, they don't seem to do any more dampening
than my old Proflexes. But I changed board and binding together this
year. Now I've got the old Proflexes on my Tanker, which is a
considerable softer and more forgiving board than my Coiler AM.
Previously they were on my old Prior, also softer and more forgiving
than the AM. So maybe the Titanflex is taking some of the edge off the
AM, and maybe not. Frankly looking at the way it's all connectd up I
doubt the rubber is doing much. They stand higher off the board due to
the added little rubber pieces which I haven't decided if I like or not.
Next year I may just convert them to remove the dampening stuff, it's
easy to do.

Neil