Binding Model: Rome DOD

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: There’s flip cams on the straps to lengthen or shorten them. You have your standard forward lean adjustment on the highback as well as the ability to rotate it. With the chassis you can adjust the heel cup forward or backward to fit your boot as well as the toe ramp/baseplate cover.

Straps: The heel strap is Romes Ultralight version which is a one piece foam that contours well enough to any boot shape but isn’t as minimalist as their Aux version. The way it’s designed it has more give to it than rebound. The toe strap is their Aux strap which contours to just about any boot shape on the planet and stays locked in.

Ratchets: The ratchets are smooth and fluid. You never notice them sticking or having issues when they climb. The one finger quick release works well and never fumbles when you use it.

Highbacks: The highback is there and there’s a bit more give to it with the way ti’s shaped and the cutout above the forward lean adjustment. At the end of the day it does what it needs to do.

Binding Flex: The overall flex feels like a middle of the road. It’s not overly demanding but it’s not so forgiving that you can’t charge or push it to the limit when you need to. The Full Wrap heel cup allows for you to put more power on the outside of the binding instead of it having more give like their Asym Wrap heel cup.

Ride: The ride is predictable and smooth in this binding. You can feel the power transmission where you need it but it’s not so powerful that you’re bringing your A game all the time. The dampening underfoot does its job but doesn’t stand out as being anything more than what its predecessor had.

Rider in Mind: All mountain rider that does a bit of everything.

Personal Thoughts: It’s essentially a downgraded Cleaver with the lack of the Pivotmount and Aux heel strap. It has a consistent flex to it that feels like a binding you’ve ridden a hundred days before. For what it is, it gets the job done. The 2.5 degree canted footbed I used didn’t even seem that noticeable compared to others like it.

Comparable Bindings: Union Force, Ride C-8, Burton Cartel