BINDINGS: Salomon SPX carbon, Drake Podium, Burton C-16

Hi Jason,

Thanks for the reply. I have thought "dang my board is heavy" so
everything is slowly being replaced.
With Tech Nine's and a Ross'ie Nomad 167 Wide, I feel like I am on a
log. A fast log, but a log none the less.
So I am eyeing Honeycomb boards (Burton, Palmer, Zuma, Sims) and Burton
Missions or maybe Ride Flights for bindings.
I saw the nicely machined aluminum bindings you had a link to. Nice, but
they do look heavy which sparked the question.

Regards


Chris



Jason Watkins wrote:

How much do they weigh?



More than most bindings, but surprisingly light considering how
monsterously strong they are. I don't remember thinking "dang my board
is heavy" on the lift or anything, so I don't think it's an issue to
worry about.

I would recommend Drake or Ride bindings with metal base plates. A
stiff plate transmits your force with much less degradation and flex
than a plastic bottomed binding.
Unless you are going for Super-G slalom riding (in which case you
should be on a carving board with plastic boots) I would highly
recommend you try a ** softer ** boot. Efficient transmission of
force and responsiveness is transmitted via the highback, straps, and
baseplate. A stiff boot only inhibits your ability to lean and tweak
on the board.
I would not recommend any of the Burton plastic bindings. The high
dollar Burton plastic stuff is still not as stiff and responsive as a
Ride LX ($120).
I spent 4 seasons on a Burton Custom bindings. Not bad at all. But
if you wanna ride the park, or turn better in most conditions, I
recommend Ride or Drake.
Oh, the weight. You will find little difference between a mid-level
Ride binding, and a high dollar Salomon or Burton binding. Save you
dollars. Get a lighter board. :-)

Wishing you many epic rides !
Jason


(dhl28) wrote in message . com...
I am interested in Salomon SPX carbon, Drake Podium or Burton C-16 and
I want to know some info about them. I know all of them contain
carbon highbacks and etc, but I like very stiff setting. So,which one
is the most responsive (Stiffest) binding? Also, which one is the
lightest one? I am using Malamute boots and Drake Matrix now. Any
input would be appreciated.

Unless you are going for Super-G slalom riding (in which case you
should be on a carving board with plastic boots) I would highly
recommend you try a ** softer ** boot. Efficient transmission of
force and responsiveness is transmitted via the highback, straps, and
baseplate. A stiff boot only inhibits your ability to lean and tweak
on the board.

I disagree. I recommend that unless you are spending most of your time
in the pipe, rails, or in the park and doing advanced tricks, get
stiffer boots. Highbacks doesn't help you on toeside turns. (3-strap
bindings might be the exception... but who makes those anymore???)
Flexy boots = loss of power on topsides, baseplates and straps won't
make up for that.

Remember, allboots break in including stiff ones. Once you break stiff
boots in, you'll be able to tweak just fine. But you'll still be able
to crank powerful toeside carves 0 although not as powerful as on hard
boots (unless you're an absolute god)

Mike T

(Jason M.) wrote in message . com...
I would recommend Drake or Ride bindings with metal base plates. A
stiff plate transmits your force with much less degradation and flex
than a plastic bottomed binding.
Unless you are going for Super-G slalom riding (in which case you
should be on a carving board with plastic boots) I would highly
recommend you try a ** softer ** boot. Efficient transmission of
force and responsiveness is transmitted via the highback, straps, and
baseplate. A stiff boot only inhibits your ability to lean and tweak
on the board.
I would not recommend any of the Burton plastic bindings. The high
dollar Burton plastic stuff is still not as stiff and responsive as a
Ride LX ($120).
I spent 4 seasons on a Burton Custom bindings. Not bad at all. But
if you wanna ride the park, or turn better in most conditions, I
recommend Ride or Drake.
Oh, the weight. You will find little difference between a mid-level
Ride binding, and a high dollar Salomon or Burton binding. Save you
dollars. Get a lighter board. :-)

Wishing you many epic rides !
Jason

What you saw about having a stiff binding makes sense (and agrees with
what else has been said). And the Ride LX look like a nice pair of
bindings. However, I'm not sure I agree with your comment that "A
stiff boot only inhibits your ability to lean and tweak on the board."
I agree that a stiff boot will inhibit your ability to lean and tweak
on a board, however I disagree that a stiff boot has no advantages. I
mean you said yourself that a stiff boot and binding combo (hard boots
and plate bindings) are the best for carving turns. From that I would
assume that performance and responsiveness will improve as you
increase the stiffness of the boots and the bindings. I don't see how
getting softer boots help this in anyway... sure you can lean and
tweak a lot, but that doesn't help your carve.

On a toeside, you aren't using the highback... all the force is
supplied by the upper ankle strap or the boot itself (simple force
diagram shows that). If you look at the angle of the upper strap which
wrapped around your ankle - it simply doesn't have that leverage to
give you enough force for a toeside. If the boot is very stiff, it
acts like a big level transfering the force from your shins down
toward the toe of the boot (must more effective this just trying to
stand on your toes). This in turn presses on the toeramp of the
binding and gives you the toeside edge. The Ride LX's description
seems to imply this idea as well by mentioning that it has "Fixed-Toe
Drive Plate for powerful toeside leverage" compared to "Formed EVA
Pads for shock absorption and vibration damping." From this I would
believe that the straps keep your boot snugly in place, the highback
that gives you the heelside power, and the toeramp (via the boot
stiffness) gives your the toeside power.

Just my interpretation. I think getting Ride or Drake bindings are
fine suggestions, just wondering about the suggestion to get a
**softer** boot.

Just my interpretation. I think getting Ride or Drake bindings are
fine suggestions, just wondering about the suggestion to get a
**softer** boot.

Yeah, I've found myself always wishing for stiffer boots. I know
exactly nil about rails, etc, but thinking about the physics, I think
that's about the only place where a lot of ankle flexability will help
you.