Binding Model: Ride A-9

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

Rider Weight: 200lbs

Location: Copper Mountain

Conditions: Overcast skies, puking snow, high winds, cold temps, and heavy chopped out pow underneath.

Binding Adjustability: The big thing with adjustments is you have 2 disc choices in plastic or aluminum. This means if you want more lateral play and flex underfoot you go with the plastic, if you want it more rigid you go with aluminum. Then you have flip cams on the straps to lengthen or shorten them. The heel cup is adjustable which will help with centering the boot in the binding. You have multiple placements for the highback and heel strap if you want to rotate it or center the strap. Then there’s the forward lean adjustment on the highback as well as a little room to slide the footbed forward or backward.

Straps: The heel strap is a three piece minimalist design. This makes it ideal to fit over the instep of your foot and lock you in. These aren’t overly bulky and do their job with relative ease. The toe strap is thinner and has rubber in the cut out meaning it grips the tip of a boot more. With it being so thin a more pointy boot shape is going to fit better than something that’s blunted. It also might slip off as I had happen with me more than once, just the nature of the beast. If you’re oldschool you can run this over the top as well.

Ratchets: These were redesigned last year and man are they awesome. They climb well, stay locked in, and release with zero effort. There’s not much more to say about these than they work.

Highbacks: There’s a little natural forward lean to this and you feel it. What’s nice is that these are narrower and have a little more curvature so they cradle the back spine of the boot. This gives it a more snug and secure feel when you’re driving into them.

Binding Flex: I opted to use these with the plastic disc which gave them a little more lateral flex underfoot. Over all this is a stiffer more responsive binding but it doesn’t feel like a bear trap that you have to man handle. You have power toe to heel with a little more give laterally with some natural binding roll due to the beveling of the base tray. The straps are secure but not hindering when you push into them. Overall it’s an all mountain powerhouse binding.

Ride: These are a very smooth and damp binding. You notice right away that they do a great job dissipating chatter underfoot and just let you keep transferring power down into the edge. If anything it’s a precision binding with a lot of power.

Rider in Mind: Someone that likes a smooth powerful damp ride.

Personal Thoughts: I’ve never been a fan of aluminum bindings, just too much chatter with them. This new generation of Ride bindings does such a good job of stopping that but giving you solid power transmission into your board. While this binding isn’t as stiff or powerful as the A-10 it’s also not as more all mountain freestyle approachable as the A-8 it fits right in between them lending itself to having the forgiving feel of the 8 but the power of the 10 without the price.

Comparable Bindings: Bent Metal Solution, Rome Cleaver, Atlas Super Pro