Of Bindage

Sorry you people finding our site through odd searches, this really is about bindage, not bondage. At the end of this past WB trip, I picked up a set of this years Burton Cartel bindings courtesy of the cool people at Showcase snowboard shop in Whistler village.  I only rode them one day, but that was enough for me to do a review here on how it compares to the Flows I’ve been using for years. I started a season or two on some entry level strap bindings, then switched to Flows. Flows are a pretty clever quick entry design that makes use of folding back the highbacks to allow entry into the bindings. They did not suffer the problems of step/click-in binding system of clogging with snow, having to precisely place boot, and possibly its biggest was being able to use just about any conventional boot. Once set up, the quick entry feature really works, get off the lift, move to where you want to start, place foot into binding, flip up the highback and latch and you’re ready to go. When you get proficient in it, you can use it to great advantage when you get stuck on the flats. Release and pull foot out of binding, use loose foot to skate, and when you get enough speed going put foot back into binding and flip it closed while still moving and continue riding. Was awesome for that. One early disadvantages was its porky weight, that was solved when I moved to their top of the line Team bindings. Magnesium and fiber reinforced parts, but with a price to go along with the top of the line billing, even though they were still made in China. Seems they never sold that well as they eventually showed up in closeout shops at deep discount. Another problem that Flows were known for were nuts and bolts that would work themselves loose. The last pair of Teams I got solved this, but introduced another problem in the process. The new fasteners were so rattle proof that you could barely take them apart for adjustments. I had a pretty high failure rate where I destroyed a number of them to adjust the bindings. Which kind of negated the other reason to get the high dollar Teams. The Teams have the highest adjustability in the positions for the straps and high back, although the designs have made it to the lower models now. I’ve also had a strap failure and buckle failure although this was after a few seasons.

Aside from those issues, I thought the latest Flow Teams I had were pretty good. That was because I didn’t know better. The moment I installed and strapped into the Cartels, I could feel the diference in connection. Dry fitting them in the condo room, I could bend and torque my board so much easier and further than I could with the Flows. Actually I bought these Cartels because I was already realizing that the Flows were too big. Thats the other problem, they come only in two sizes of bindings, so the M/Ls I was using end up too big. I really came to this realization after going through 4 boots and this final current pair are pretty dialed in, but I was still getting heel lift and foot aching. Part of the problem was in trying to compensate for the looseness of the bindings, I would keep cranking the boots tighter.

The first run down the slopes in my new Cartels was an eye opener. The response in the board was so snappy it almost caught me off guard. Almost like when I went from my flexy entry level board to my current carbon stringered higher level board. With the heightened level of response, there was less effort required, and less wasted motion. I noticed on the flat cat tracks I could ride faster too. I think this will help save my feet too.

Sorry Flow, I’m going to give up the convenience of being able to click in on the move for the repsonse and control of the strap in Cartels. For all mountain, this is the way to go. Maybe for someone else with either bigger or smaller feet the Flows will fit tighter, and maybe for those who are aspiring No Boarders and like a loose feel it’ll work for them. But I’m moving on and not looking back.