Binding Model: Jones Meteorite
Binding Size: Medium
Stance and Angles: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boot Used: K2 Thraxis
Boot Size: 10
Board Used: Telos Mike Ranquet 156
Rider Weight: 200lbs
Location: Copper Mountain
Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies, some wind, warm temps, lumpy chunder snow, heavy corduroy, and a bit of ice.
Binding Adjustability: There’s your standard flip cam adjustments for moving the straps in or out. You can swap out the bushings as desired for soft, medium, or hard. The heel strap can be flipped from soft and surfy to stiff and freeride oriented. There is a forward lean adjustment. Compared to other bindings it’s pretty meat and potatoes.
Straps: What’s nice about these straps is that you can flip them from soft to stiff. I rode them in the surf mode so they had a bit more give in them. Now the thing with the heel strap is that it’s more of that old school design with the amount of material it has. This means it’s a bit bulkier. With the toe strap it’s a molded rubber that just cups the boots toebox. Inside the toe strap there’s ridges that grip better than others.
Ratchets: These climbed well and stayed locked in. I never found them to slip. While the heel is a one finger quick release the toe is not. Now what’s nice is that you can release the toe from the front with a little pushing.
Highbacks: This is a softer highback and has a lot of flex. When you push back into it there’s a little rebound but not enough to overpower you. The forward lean adjuster is a little tight so you do have to pull it a bit harder than you think to get it to slide down to give you more forward lean.
Binding Flex: While this is supposed to be a softer binding it isn’t that soft. The lateral flex is pretty much non existent. With that it gives it a stiffer feel even if it’s a slightly stiffer than middle of the road. Now I did ride these with the heel strap set to the surf setting so that gave it a bit more forward flex.
Ride: The ride of this binding is very smooth and consistent. You feel the power in the toe and heel when you are rocking on the skate tech.
Rider in Mind: All mountain rider.
Personal Thoughts: This binding felt way stiffer than the marketing leads you to believe. Sure it has an older strap so it’s not just gripping the instep of the boot and letting you drive through it, but still there was a complete lack of lateral play. I do like the way Skate Tech feels and the power it drives down into the edge is amazing. Overall if you’re looking for a slightly stiffer all mountain binding this may work.
Comparable Bindings: K2 Formula, Ride C-8, Union Force
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