It's time for SW's, would appreciate some guidance

[icebiker]

After a couple seasons on my Donek Axxess 172 using Race Plates, I am ready to go to SW's based on recommendations from some of you and on some threads I've read. I'm going with the SW's because I want bindings that give me that lateral flex, but are beefier than my 10 year old Race Plates. I realize they now come in SI, but I'm going for the standard. Before I place the order, I'd like your guidance on what density e-pads and e-rings to order. A bit about me:

• 6'3"
  
• 210 lbs on the bathroom scale
  
• 50 yrs old, moderately fit, but knees starting to show a little age
  
• Moderately aggressive carver, but not a racer/speed demon. Prefer speed scrubbing turns across the slope.
  
• Also ride narrow/bumped-up trails when necessary, so prefer a forgiving setup
  
• Mainly ride the Ice Coast, so plenty of iffy conditions
  

My gut tells me to order blue pads and rings, since on one hand i'm heavy, on the other I ride hard/icy conditions.

What say you?

thanks in advance.

[teach]

I'm about the same size and weight and ride the same conditions. You can use any e-rings. I prefer blue and have not tried anything harder. The yellow seem to work fine on softer boards, but for a stiffer board they seem mismatched. The soft (yellow) e-pads (in the toe and heel block) allow very free movement. This is fun on some boards -- it feels as if you can throw your weight across the board without the board reacting until you're already on the other side. But I think it may create a hammering effect on the hardware, with the brunt of it being borne by the lug. So I avoid the yellow e-pads now. (The SW set includes both so you don't need to choose when you order. EDIT -- WRONG! Sorry for the misinformation!) The blue still allow a lot of movement but with less risk of bottoming out.

I'd get the blue e-rings and then see if someone has some yellow you could try just to see the difference. I may have some.

Edited November 6, 2013 by teach
correct wrong information

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Blue epads and yellow cant/base elastomers.

Wait a few days to a week and buy up the used standard sidewinders at those that want SI finally get their's.

Bryan

[icebiker]

Thanks guys. Bryan, curious as to the yellow e-ring recommendation. Reason I ask is that my current Race Plates (flexy as they are laterally), are pretty much direct-mount to the board (other than that thin ribber gasket). So edge control is pretty good. The SW's, on the other hand, have a thick elastomer between the baseplate and board, for which I assume softer = less edge control? The Bomber store recommends for someone over 200lbs to go blue or even red. Would like to get the same edge control as my Race Plates...so am wondering now if the choice is no so much blue vs yellow, but blue vs red?

[Puddy Tat]

I'm 215lbs. When i first purchased TD3s i initially used the yellows and found it to be a Cadillac-like ride compared to my old O2 (Fritsche?) bindings for carving. The yellows suck up a huge amount of vibration.

Then I shifted to blues and found the edge-to-edge response was much faster, at the expense of giving up some vibration dampining.

Nowadays I use blues on my carving decks and yellows on my all-mountain decks. Though your millage may vary. At the end of the day a second set of elastomers is a pretty cheap investment.

Dave

[icebiker]

I'd get the blue e-rings and then see if someone has some yellow you could try just to see the difference. I may have some.

Thanks teach, I recall you're not far from me, I'll take you up on that offer when the time comes. I decided in the end to splurge and get the SW SI's and Fin-tec heels. Merry Chris-makah to me ;-) Very psyched.

Dave, thanks. Good idea on the second set.

[fin]

icebiker,

All advice here is good and solid and I agree with most. Here is my general input on selecting these items when you buy the Bomber Bindings.

E-rings:

Red - VERY hard, that is why we made them "brick" red. We do not sell many of these but we do have them as some people really want the stiffest interface they can create.

Blue - Excellent combination of absorption and edge control. When in doubt, start with Blue.

Yellow - lots of absorption and the most movement. Smooth ride but give up some bite on the edge.

E-Pads:

These are more weight dependent. If you run yellows and you are a heavy guy (say over 180lbs) you can really push them to their limits. So at your weight I would go blues.

Correction: as mentioned in a post here the SW binding do NOT come with both sets of E-pads. You need to pick which ones you want at purchase.

Also note: the SW SI have a fixed e-pad under the heel. It cannot be removed or changed. We change the front E-pads to create the set-up you want.

[Corey]

I'm 205-210 lbs and like the yellow on ice. In theory, they absorb more of the high-frequency stuff that make my knees hurt.

I haven't even tried the blue rings before, I really should try them this year to see if they fit with my riding or not.

[RCrobar]

Hi Fin

Also note: the SW SI have a fixed e-pad under the heel. It cannot be removed or changed. We change the front E-pads to create the set-up you want.

Why?

To the untrained eye it would appear that you would need the SAME e-pad under the heel and the toe of the binding, in order to have uniformed movement laterally of the boot and binding.

If the heel is a stiff e-pad and the toe is a soft e-pad ... how is the movement uniformed? I am sure the movement is uniformed, but how does this work?

Thanks for taking the time to clue in the untrained eye.

Cheers

Rob

[fin]

Rob,

Actually you do not need them to be the same hardness pads (under the heel vs toe). All that happens is you get a average of the two. We have actually been doing this with the standard SW for years now with no issues. One of our distributors actually orders all their bindings this way. We have come to call it a "hybrid" set-up.

However, the purest in me always sets up the heel as blue and the toe as yellow as the heel is where the force begins and then you travel to the toe. So the toe should be softer than the heel to not induce a weird twist in the boot. But in reality, probably not even a noticeable difference.

So if you feel you need a set-up between medium and soft, a Hybrid setup gives you this.

[icebiker]

Thanks Fin. I ended up ordering blue rings and blue pads last night...went with my gut based on input on this thread and many other posts on the awesome original SW's. THink I may take Dave's advice and get a second (yellow) set of rings if I try teach's and like them. Can't wait to try the SI's out!

Quick related question: In a thread from when SW's were first introduced, someone made mention of having to get the "long plate" version for his size 30 boots. I didn't think SW's came with different length plates, or do they? I am a 31, want to be sure what ordered fits!

Thanks again.

Greg

[fin]

First, huge thank you for the order. We appreciate it. We are not a big company and every sale impacts us is a good way.

You only need to be concerned on the Long Plate version for regular (toe clip) bindings. All the SI models (both SI and SW SI) work up to M31 snowboard boots. So you are good to go.

[teach]

Confirming that I have both yellow e-rings and yellow e-pads you are free to try out. I edited my previous post to correct the misinformation regarding what's in the SW set.

[icebiker]

Got my SW SI's. I'm speechless. Fin and Michelle, thank YOU for making such rippin good stuff. Can't wait for my first run of the season.

Teach, thanks, will let you about the yellows. Hope we can get a PA/NJ group ride together one day this season.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Mine arrived as well. Beautiful work Fin! Very well thought out. Burly construction. I am anxious to see if these will replace the bindings on my powder boards. Also going to put them on the back foot and see how I like that flex. I think if you put a TD2 cant on the front and a BP on the back it will be just about perfect as far as height. Nice work Bomber Industries !!

[Shred Gruumer]

Sounds mushy.. but it will put a spring in your step...haha