Anything wrong with SnoPro bindings?

[skategoat]

There's a lot of talk here about TDs (obviously), Catek, F2 and even Burton but little love for SnoPros. I have a pair on my daughter's board, the SnoPro Race, and I think it's a really solid binding. Similar in design and simple like the F2. Beefy bails (5mm, I think).

Any bad experiences with these or just not common enough to warrant interest?

[carvedog]

There's a lot of talk here about TDs (obviously), Catek, F2 and even Burton but little love for SnoPros. I have a pair on my daughter's board, the SnoPro Race, and I think it's a really solid binding. Similar in design and simple like the F2. Beefy bails (5mm, I think).

Any bad experiences with these or just not common enough to warrant interest?

I had some on a board that I sold. :smashfrea. They worked fine for me and even then I was pushing 230-235 lbs. Seems like they were all metal base with a metal disc in the middle. And those bails were beef.

[BlueB]

I love mine. Got few pairs on AM and Pow boards. I could easilly settle for Snowpro Race on all boards if I havn't had the TD2s for race boards.

Bails are super strong, 6mm. Damping is good, adjustabillity is great, latteral flex is good.

Often you can score them cheaper then F2 / Burton.

Down sides:

- Like all the shim systems, you pretty much have to fiddle a lot to change lift/cant. The best is to set and forget.

- Stopper for the rear bail is very small, so the bail can collapse backwrds when you are not carreful when stepping in. I made a small shock cord on one pair to keep the rear bail up.

- When setting the lift/cant 1st time, you have to retighten the 4 toe/heel block screws once you are in the cold. No movement noticed after one retightening.

- The set pin in the toe/heel block lenght mechanism is sitting somewhat shallow in the slot. DO NOT extend them to project over the last notch and do not ride with loose 4 screws mentioned earlier. This may cause the slipping of the pin out of the slot. Never happened to me, but Dave Espi managed to do it. It would be a good idea to replace the set pin (cross-dowel is the common joinery term) with another 2mm longer. I havn't found the right product yet, but it should exist. On one of the pairs I did about 30 days so far and never had any problems.

[kmartshopper]

I just upgraded mine to TD2's very recently. I'll probably use them on a second board.

Basically everything BlueB said... plus I'd add that it could be a pain to get shims if you want a lot of lift. People often say you can order shims from Dan Yoja (?), but I was cheap and cut my own - quite a stack of shims, but not as much as I wanted. I don't know if the OEM lift shims give you forward tilt to the boot surface, or just raise the rear block (as my way did). I was worried about going higher than I did due to how the boot sat on the now uneven surface. I now have a 6deg disk on my TD2's which is much more than I was able to get on the SPs. Again, check on the OEM shims if this is a question for you. Also, getting new bolts to match the lift takes a little searching - and if you go to long, they will dig into your topsheet. (my boo-boo)

They also wobble side-to-side more than the TD2's, but maybe some people may want that (BlueB mentions the lateral flex below).

All just inconvenience stuff though... they never gave me any trouble in use, and they were CHEAP in the classifieds :)

________

MATURE SEX

[powell1.8]

I have a couple of pairs and have no complaints. Make sure you check the mounting screws regularly. I had my binding slip while riding the other day. It just spun loose mid carve. Kinda scary, but I survived. I don't blame the binding though. I had been neglecting to give them a once over for too long.

[Jon Dahl]

The only real complaint that I see with them is not mentioned here. They have a tendancy towards binding suck more that any other binding I have seen. A softer core board will see this in the topsheet, not just the bottom. I've seen two different boards with this, a Hot Blast and a F2 Breezer, so it's not just a one time operator error induced problem. I will keep using mine on my Tanker, with A/T boots, because they actually work better than my TD2's with Dynafit boots.

[skategoat]

I have noticed both the mounting screws and the retaining screws for the toe and heel pieces seem to loosen over time. I have to keep drilling into my daughter's head that any looseness or movement is not desirable and that she needs to tell me or her coach about it.

Unlike the F2s, if the mounting screws loosen, the binding will spin. On the F2s, the rubber gasket seems to keep them tight. I really like the F2s. I sure wish they'd get their act together.

[Fastskiguy]

I've got the redneck setup with snowpros in front and TD2 SI's in back and they are working just fine...have about 24 days in this year on two boards set up this way.

[BlueB]

Henry,

Wet mount the binding to the board. It would create such a vacuum that you would struggle to remo the bindings later on. I noticed this by accident, as I often ride in warmer conditions...

Toe/heel pieces never loosened on me after retightening in the cold. They loosen up when you mount them indoors and do not retighten in the cold. Also, retighten the length adjustor in the cold.

[felix]

I had both bindings loose on first use. Mounted them in my basement (with exactly same force as usual) and once one the hill I didn't notice what was going wrong. Crashed on the first harder carve, didn't notice the problem. Made two easy carves until wanting to do laid out carve and again i crashed. One more time of a rather bad crash and was really annoyed about booting out with supposedly 55/50 angles. Took a chance to look down and scaringly I noticed that I was standing duckstance on my Swoard and could turn both bindings with almost no force so I skidded down the mountain (still about 400m vert) to the lift to retighten them. Felt unsecure with those bindings for the rest of the day.

Other than that the non Step-In seem to be allright. Don't even consider getting the step-ins IMHO (I won one pair at a race and they get no use at all, I rather unmount/mount other bindings than using them). The length adjustement may break as well. What I have heard is that the Race Pro are allright, the Race Ltd. however rather bad.

[Dave ESPI]

I blew out the heel cup bail screw on the rear foot of the binding last season ( find old thread).

SnowPro are fine if you have a smaller foot, or are not an agressive rider.

Me, I'll pass on owning a pair ever again.

[skategoat]

Thanks for all the feedback guys and the mounting tip Boris. I will be extra diligent on checking screws.

BTW, I picked up another pair, used, and I'd like to replace some parts on them. If anyone has a broken or used up pair and would like to sell them to me for parts, please send me an email.

[patmoore]

I had a pair on my Hot Shine board. I don't know if it was an older pair but the sole length adjustment was done with a single adjustment by screwdriver. Over time they, had a tendency to loosen and I actually came out of the front binding twice.

[snowghost]

For snowpro info see the snowpro binding reviews on the bomber web site for pro and con. I raced, taught and trained on Hot logicals and snowpro plates from about 1990 ("BB"-before bomber) to 1997, when Paul Alden, formerly of Burton in the 1980's, handled the U.S. distribution of both products. Never had a problem with snowpro's, except they were a little heavy.

Anyone want to sell a set of snowpro race? Click profile and send me an email.

[Buckles]

One thing I think is wrong with them is that some models do not accept a size 12 boot. I just bought a new set of Race and can't use them without grinding my boots down. They almost work. I will have to buy smaller boots now.