Soft Board Bindings

[John Gilmour]

Nice to see someone who is also pretty deep into getting performance out of his bindings . The binding boot interface and amount of “compliance “ a term taken from phono (vinyl records) needles and tone arms tells you how to match the system compliance  for instance a steel boot and steel binding would have no compliance with the snow , and a Catek would have more, F2 race titanium , more, old burton race plates (too much - some used those with flexon comps to try and induce more compliance .

 

softboot carving is more Compliant but the issue is you want progressively less give as you flex more .  Some boots don’t have progressive compliance (like the bricks old K2 clicker)  some were too compliant (like a standard burton hale). 
 

IMHO the older Union Carbons I use are not compliant enough and do like  chalk until it  starts getting piles of loose snow atop, then my carving gets more limited. 
 

I would rather ride a slightly narrower all mountain directional with a powder nose than the 156 Jones hovercraft spoon - but we get a lot of fresh Aspen snow on a regular basis and for much of this month a plate binding set up would have overloaded  the snow.

I would be the first to admit I have a weird riding style that requires most of your settings to be optimized to work properly and for that reason I don’t always tell people to ride with  the stance I use unless they have rotatable high backs, movable heel cups ( not mini discs) and movable foot Ramps .

Honestly  if you take away my favored stance , I won’t be able , at my age,  to ride better than Joe Schmoe .  I need the ability to load the board for my riding style . On the bright side , in terms of fun factor I give up some powder performance but gain versatility and comfort, provided the snow isn’t bulletproof like so much of East Coast conditions in Spring freeze thaw. (Hard boots required )
 

This morning Aspen was rock hard ( no snow off of skiers tails) until 10:30 so I just cook breakfast and start later.
 

What is  your email . I’ll send you a video clip shot by an Aussie.  I tried several other takes at higher speed on steeper terrain but this is the only one that has me in frame . 
 

I would love to make a franken binding , but it’s easier when people ask to just say - go buy XYZ. ( Union force ) . The Union buckles springs fail and also drag - causing less than ideal strap placement . Reversing the strap is good but it makes it a bit harder to clip in and out .

IMHO no one has made a truly good ankle strap yet , and few boots do anything like varying foam thickness and material thickness to offer progressive compliance .

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by John Gilmour

[John Gilmour]

I do want to try new soft boot bindings as my Unions are falling apart after a few seasons .

 

I just put some high angle carving up on Startchasing  Instagram .  Sadly the best shots were all blown higher up on copper - this is the flatter area at the bottom so I could not extend the carve much by more than say. An extra 15 feet as opposed to nearly 49-70 feet on say Ruthie’s  . Still it’s fun to see some higher edge angle in soft boots .

Edited March 26, 2022 by John Gilmour

[D.Roe]

On 1/20/2022 at 10:33 PM, scottishsurfer said:

Looks like PHK have a new version of there Mix binding also. It's a dumb question but whats the point of the spring system, it just looks like a liabilty that will decrease the boot out angle when the board is up on edge

https://www.phk-italia.com/prodotto/mix-gara/

 

That's also my concern with the Mix G.A.R.A. binding.  (BTW, the G.A.R.A. is now on sale at 10% off.)  I'm wondering whether the excessive heelcup overhang could be reduced by moving the binding farther to toe side, and adjusting the highback closer to the heelcup -- there seems to be a lot of wasted space between the highback and heelcup on the product page's photo. The ear or tab for the spring piston appears to be wide enough to allow the highback and spring to be moved farther back.

Has anyone who possesses this Mix G.A.R.A. tried adjusting the highback closer to the heelcup?  Is it possible?  BTW, I'm not concerned with losing the ability to fold the highback for transport.

Thanks! 

David 

(...who managed to get 4 days at Stubai, May 7-10, before it got really hot -- probably the last this season as it's looking like a hot, dry Spring/Summer)

Edited May 19, 2022 by D.Roe
(typo, clarification)

[curvy]

On 2/12/2022 at 6:14 PM, curvy said:

You did it - CX returned, no boarding this season anywhere near anyways - let's see how this supermatic system will hold up with reviews on the snow. This video of them looks promising, even if I don't understand a word.

https://youtu.be/PelS__Oy7hU

'Nother season, nother dollar

Any news or even experiences with the supermatic?

Let's see if I get to see some snow this season...

[RoroSnow]

Have a look over there...... 

 

[GeoffV]

I just picked up the 1st set of  the Supermatic’s from my local shop today. I’ll post reviews once I get on snow in hopefully less than a month.

4 hours ago, RoroSnow said:

Have a look over there...... 

 

 

[curvy]

Thanks guys, I'll keep an eye on it!

[slopestar]

On 10/23/2022 at 2:58 PM, GeoffV said:

I just picked up the 1st set of  the Supermatic’s from my local shop today. I’ll post reviews once I get on snow in hopefully less than a month.

 

Wifey just her pair! they look pretty sweet. Afraid i will destroy them on my hard charger softy boards. they are stout though. i hope she hates them!

[andygere]

My Supermatics arrived today, and out of the box they look impressive. I was originally thinking about putting them on my powder board (Rossignol Sushi) but these things are pretty burly and may find a home on my Coiler BXFR. I currently have a set of Now O-Drives on that board, and they are really terrific, but at times I crave convenience.  The Supermatics feel pretty heavy, and the BXFR is a heavy rig already, so we'll see. Some back problems over the years make the bend over buckle-in painful after a couple of days, and I can't stand sitting down to strap in. 

I really like the locking ratchets, which hold the setting when the highback is open. This is something that was really lacking on all of the Flows I've owned. Every one would  readjust while skating around, fully defeating the rear entry convenience.  The canted footbeds suit my stance and riding style, so I'm stoked about that feature too.  The footbeds also have a slick pad in the forward part to make it easier to slide the foot in. That and the roller on the heel cup make a lot of sense. The Flows would chew the heel area of my boots up pretty good from kicking in, and I'm hoping these features will help solve that. The cross strap that sort of holds the toe and instep strap apart from one another, and looks like a better design than my NX-2 hybrids. 

When I get them mounted up and have few days on them, I'll report back with a review.

[John Gilmour]

Any report thinking about the 2023 model?

[slabber]

Just watched this video and learned a couple things I hadn't realized.   Release on Supermatic is press down vs Burton pull up,  I think main thing for me is how many moving parts the Supermatics have...  Step On definitely seems a lot simpler, just need to add cost of boots, assuming you are ok with Burton boots etc.  

 

[Neil Gendzwill]

The press down release on the Nideckers makes it hard to modify for those of us with mobility issues. I pretty easily added a pull cable to extend the release on my step-ons.