Once you have your board choice dialed in and you have settled on your choice of camber you need something to strap onto your new pride and joy with. When it comes to choosing bindings there are a lot of options out there so to help you get the right choice first time here are your essentials.
Bindings are the link between you and your board. With this in mind the best guide to choosing the right binding is matching it to 3 things.
Riding style – The more aggressive the rider the stiffer the binding. The more rails and butters a rider wants to do, the softer the binding to do it with.
Size – A big guy will need a stiffer binding if he wants quick response and lots of support from them because he will bend them more easily. For the smaller riders amongst us, the opposite is true as a light rider can ride much softer bindings and find them responsive and supportive in relation to their weight.
The rest of the set up – A stiff pair of bindings in between soft board and boots will effect the balance of a set up. When everything matches you get the optimum ‘feel’ from your set up. Think of your set up as moving like a chain reaction, taking your actions and releasing their effects onto the snow. You can certainly ride with stiff boots and bindings and a soft board or vice versa as long as the odd one out of the three is at the end. Put this in the middle and it serves as a blocking point. Finding the optimum balance for your set up allows you to make the most of your investment and have the most possible fun on the snow.
Features to focus on.
Highbacks and forward lean. This enables a rider to bend their knees without trying, therefore helping them put the board on edge more easily. Great for beginners and aggressive riders in backcountry or pipe, not so good for jibbers.
Toe caps. This pulls the foot into the highback. If the heel of a boot is snug in the heel cup the binding and boot will be able to do their job. It also spreads out the pressure on the foot by pulling against the solid part of the boot rather than on top. The foot has a major artery running along the top of it so putting excess pressure on the top of the foot reduces blood flow to the toes. With greater blood flow the foot stays warmer for longer which feels good!!!
Straps and baseplates – Soft and supportive is good. Memory foam, leather and gel inserts all offer greater comfort for the rider. Burton offers a lifetime warranty on their base plate again this season for the ultimate piece of mind and Rome, Flow and Forum are using metal in their designs to give you the ultimate in strength.
Bindings work or fail ultimately by their fit with your boots. Too big and your boot moves around in the binding so if you are adding new bindings to your set up this winter there is a lot to be said for bringing your boots down to the shop with you when you come. When you get here you will see all your old favourites with Burton, Forum and Rome and the new addition to our range for the ultimate in convenience Flow.
