Rob Stevens Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 Did I see, in other posts, a mention of Bomber Industries making a soft boot binding? I can't see any sign of them in the Bomber store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 Were you maybe thinking of Catek's soft binding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Stevens Posted November 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 I guess so... What's the site? Anyone use them? Heavy bastards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swt Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 I guess so... What's the site? www.catek.com The Freeride 2 is slated to ship in the second half of November. The new iteration pares about 20-25% of the weight off without compromising strength or performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Stevens Posted November 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I was on your site SWT... I will look out for the pre-order. I'm currently on a C60 and like them very much, but the new ones look a bit fluffy. What would be your binders weight compared to those? I'm not sure about the ride height... it looks a little tall for my taste, but more edge angle seems to be the tradeoff. CASI discount, eh? Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I was on your site SWT... I will look out for the pre-order.I'm currently on a C60 and like them very much, but the new ones look a bit fluffy. Could you elaborate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I'm just wondering, with a soft boot/binding interface, does micro amount of cant and lift adjustment really matter? I mean, I can have snow piled up on the bottom of my boot, squeeze down the straps and I don't feel any difference (with a soft boot). If it doesn't matter, is there any benefit to the Catek binding? I love their O2s, I have a pair, but can't see plunking down almost $300 when a pair of Burton Cartels will do nicely for $100 less. Am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I'm just wondering, with a soft boot/binding interface, does micro amount of cant and lift adjustment really matter? I mean, I can have snow piled up on the bottom of my boot, squeeze down the straps and I don't feel any difference (with a soft boot). If it doesn't matter, is there any benefit to the Catek binding? I love their O2s, I have a pair, but can't see plunking down almost $300 when a pair of Burton Cartels will do nicely for $100 less. Am I missing something?You are right that cant/lift adjustment is less important in softboots. The main benefit of the Cateks are their responsiveness and power,However, while softboots are less sensitive to cant/lift, you still can definitely change the way the board rides and your weight distribution (front/back bindings) for cants. Adding lift is also noticeable. Here a long discussion on cant/lift with Freerides (be prepared to read monolithic, rambling, but very informative posts without newlines separating paragraphs). http://www.catek.com/forum/read.php?f=1&i=1176&t=1176 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Stevens Posted November 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I'm a bit hesitant to get into another pair of them because of the turn towards micro-adjustability. They look more and more like P1's every year. The first ones were simple and strong. (with the exception of a few shattered highbacks) I'd like to see that the top line binding, intended for a rider who has their setup dialled, have adjusters that were designed for overall strenth as the paramount consideration. It does surprise me that the heel loop profile of the C60's baseplate is still so low and fat. Simple carving aside, I would have thought that one of their pro pipe riders would have found a bootout problem on late, highly edged turns up the pipe wall. The Cateks, with their high, flat heel loop would seem to have this licked, but I'm still not convinced about the lift. I rode Palmer risers for a time and found that turning was great, but landing jumps could be a little "twitchy" sometimes. An unintended shift over the edge was more likely to lead to unwanted edge grip. It's too bad an optional baseplate, for direct mounting is not available. It would be good to be able to test them side by side with the C60's on the same board, down the same mixed terrain run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 Rob, I don't ride softies but other bindings people keep praising over and over are the Nidecker 800 and 900. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordy Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 Just like Neil said check out the high end Nidecker. I ran them in BX for a bit. Way sick.... the LDS pad is sweet. Rusty has them now, perhaps he will post. The high back and straps rip. I stopped riding burtons the first day I tried the Nideckers. I am how ever back to burtons since i really only ride soft snow in soft boots and they are priced right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I tried the original Catek FRs and while I saw the appeal I found myself going back to my older Salomon SP6's. Actually these particular Cateks had been outfitted with the same strap/highbcaks as my Salomons had by a previous owner. I just found the feel all wrong for powder riding and also found my foot moving around on the baseplate too much. I sent some suggestions to Catek and would try the FR2's if they followed up on any of my suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I'm a bit hesitant to get into another pair of them because of the turn towards micro-adjustability. They look more and more like P1's every year.Simple carving aside, I would have thought that one of their pro pipe riders would have found a bootout problem on late, highly edged turns up the pipe wall. It would be good to be able to test them side by side with the C60's on the same board, down the same mixed terrain run. I'm looking for a light/stiff binding for potential splitboarding (this is still a pipe dream of mine). Yes I know noboards would be even lighter :) Any thoughts on the Burton CO2? I would want a binding that is stiff, but light. I actually have the Nidecker 800s and there are a great stiff binding, but tend to run on medium-weight side (Cateks are on the heavy-side).BTW, I guess you haven't ridden halfpipes in recent years. At the speeds needed to air out of a superpipe, attempting to do "late, highly edged turns up the pipe wall" is virtually impossible due to lack of edgehold (not enough "Normal" force perpendicular to the wall). People try to do it, but they skid out and lose speed. You always want to line up *early* as you approach the wall, then go as flat as possible as you go up the board (because any turning almost always will make you lose speed). Check out Shaun Whites halfpipe run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Stevens Posted November 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I get you about the speeds needed to air out, but I'm thinking more in terms of a recovery move, just to stay on your feet, rather than falling and losing all your speed. That sort of panic edge might have to be used anywhere... flat, trans, wall, vert... wherever. It must not be a problem for their pipe jocks, though as Burton hasn't changed their baseplate design in a while. C02's huh? I've never seen them, but if they have a carbon structure like the 60's, they'll be as light as you can get. Mind you, a regular plastic binder like the Cartels would probably be fine as a super stiff baseplate / highback really only should pay off in harder conditions. The one concern I would have with any soft binder for touring would have to be durability. ALWAYS carry spare parts. When heli or snowmo, I usually have one complete binding, dissasembled, in my pack. I don't split, but should think that it would be 10x as critical to carry spares when you can't just "motor" home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 I get you about the speeds needed to air out, I'm thinking more in terms of a recovery move, just to stay on your feet, rather than falling and losing all your speed. That sort of panic edge might have to be used anywhere... flat, trans, wall, vert... wherever.Again, at the speeds needed to actually air out, if you were panic edge that much you will lose all of your speed, and most likely I think you would fall and crash anyways. I had a pair of Salomon SP4s that also had a big heel loop that tended to dig into the snow on hard heelside carves on me (very annoying), it was never a problem for me in the pipe and I definitely have done some "hard panic edges" in my time. C02's huh? I've never seen them, but if they have a carbon structure like the 60's, they'll be as light as you can get. Mind you, a regular plastic binder like the Cartels would probably be fine as a super stiff baseplate / highback really only should pay off in harder conditions. The one concern I would have with any soft binder for touring would have to be durability. ALWAYS carry spare parts. When heli or snowmo, I usually have one complete binding, dissasembled, in my pack. I don't split, but should think that it would be 10x as critical to carry spares when you can't just "motor" home. That's a good point about stiffness being less important for bc powder. Maybe I should be looking for light and durable (least moving parts). I would definitely bring extra screws and lots of duct tape :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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