Binding Model: Nidecker Kaon-Plus

Binding Size: Large

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: Copper Mountain

Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies, warm temps, perfect corduroy, a little ice in spots, and some left over hot pow off the runs if you knew where to look.

Binding Adjustability: The toe strap has pop pins in the chassis with two placements so you can set it forward or backwards. The straps have flip cams for dialing in the length. The highback has 4 placements for rotation as well as its forward lean adjustment.

Straps: So here’s the unique thing about this binding the heel strap has a second attachment that links it to the toe strap. This changes the pressure and power dynamic. One thing I noticed was that the lower attachment to the toe strap pulls the center of the heel strap off the instep relieving pressure. This makes it a little more loose and surfy. Now if that’s something you don’t like you’ll find yourself cranking it down, but if you suffer from instep pressure this could be a nice addition to alleviating that problem. The toe strap has a giant cut out so that it will fit most boot shapes.

Ratchets: So I had 3 out of the 4 ratchets stick open on me at some point when cranking on them. I attribute this to them being new out of the box and as I locked in my front foot and left it in for 3 plus hours I didn’t see it happen to that binding again, but the back foot it was something that periodically did happen through the day. Now when they were working they fed into the mouth easily, climbed well, and released as they should.

Highbacks: This is a softer highback so there’s a lot of flex when you drive into it, especially where the big cut out is. The forward lean adjustment works how you would expect it to.

Binding Flex: Underfoot this binding is stiffer and responsive, it actually has a bigger imprint due to how the base chassis is made. But laterally and through the straps it’s closer to a middle of the road flex. There’s more give in the straps, especially in the heel strap as I already mentioned.

Ride: Underfoot this binding is super damp, that foam pad coupled with the shape of the chassis works to deaden all vibrations. It’s through the strap that you notice it’s a bit more surfy.

Rider in Mind: Surfy cruiser all mountain guy.

Personal Thoughts: i think if you have instep issues with bindings this strap makes some sense as it alleviates the pressure due to that third option. But if you like it more responsive this isn’t what you want. I ended up having to crank it down. I will say adjusting them really doesn’t take any extra time than a traditional two strap binding.

Comparable Bindings: Union Strata, K2 Lien AT, Rome Vice