The 2022 Rome Cleaver Snowboard Binding Review
Binding Model: Rome Cleaver
Binding Size: M/L
Stance and Angles: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boot Used: K2 Thraxis
Boot Size: 10
Board Used: Telos Mike Ranquet
Rider Weight: 200lbs
Location: Arapahoe Basin
Conditions: A mix of blue to gray skies with high cloud coverage, sustained moderate winds at the top of the mountain, ice, chunder, death cookies, perfect corduroy, and cooler temps.
Binding Adjustability: You have flip tabs on the straps to lengthen or shorten them. The toe straps are on a pin system with multiple placement options. There’s the Pivotmount Max which lets you set the heel strap up higher or lower which is good for people that get instep pressure. There’s multiple options for highback rotation and you can actually cant the highback with a 3 and 6 degree option. It also has a standard flip and slide forward lean adjustment. The baseplate cover is adjustable with a simple slide forward or backwards. Finally the biggest option is the heelcup is fully adjustable.
Straps: The Aux strap on the heel is designed to perfectly contour to any boot instep shape but still retain strength as you tighten it down. This relieves any pinch points but makes it flex more in unison with the boot. The toe strap contours to any boot shape and never slips off.
Ratchets: These do their job well. You will notice right away at how they climb with ease. The wider mouth on them allows the ladder to feed in with relative ease. They never stick and release with the flick of your index finger.
Highbacks: This highback is carbon infused and you notice that right away when you push aggressively into it. There’s a lot of power out of it compared to others in the Rome line. You’ll feel your boot push into this and notice that power transmission. If you like to charge this is solid.
Binding Flex: While this is the stiffest binding in the Rome line up it’s not as stiff as others on the market. It has a predictable stiffer flex but it’s not overly demanding to the point you’re left wondering if you have enough muscle to ride it for the day. I would put it right between a middle of the road and full blown freeride hard charger.
Ride: When it comes to the overall ride of this binding it feels predictable and powerful. Almost as if you’ve been on this binding forever and know you can charge when you need to or be laid back when you want to. You do lose some of the lateral play due to the Full Wrap heel cup but it does give you more power.
Rider in Mind: The guy that likes to charge and demands performance from their binding but doesn’t want to be overwhelmed.
Personal Thoughts: This is essentially the old Targa replacement and I had been told by numerous people that this was a super stiff binding. It’s not, it’s a predictable flexing binding that has power where you want it and can let you play when you need to. The Full Wrap heelcup gives more lateral power and drive that you feel in the board which is nice as you don’t lose any energy when you flex the board.
Comparable Bindings: Union Atlas, Now Drives, Ride C-10