Binding Model: Jones Mercury
Buy it here:
Christy Sports: https://bit.ly/3DxqAux
The House: https://bit.ly/3CYTnq4
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DstoZO
Evo: https://bit.ly/3StaYwg
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: Sunny bluebird skies, zero wind, warmer temps, slush, chop, chunder, ice, and perfect hero snow on the groomers.
Binding Adjustability: The big talking point is you can adjust the binding hardness underfoot from soft to medium or hard. There’s twist cams on the straps to lengthen or shorten them as well as flipping the heel strap from freeride mode to surf mode to give it more play or more stiffness. The highback has a flip tab to lengthen or shorten the forward lean.
Straps: The heel strap has two positions to make it surfy or more freeride oriented. I rode them in the surf setting and while there was more give in them it wasn’t overly drastic. These heel straps are of the minimal design that gets rid of any plush fabric and makes the boot provide the padding while they hold you in. The toe strap has a great shaping to it that will let it cover snub nose, pointy, or rounded boot shapes with ease and stay on.
Ratchets: These did their job and did them well. You could rely on them to climb and release as they were supposed to. My only negative is please for the love of god if you put a one finger release tab on one, put it on the other.
Highbacks: The highback is a little shorter and has a true zero forward lean. This helps reduce calf bite but still lets you push back into it when you want to charge on your heel edge. The forward lean adjustment is easy to use on the fly.
Binding Flex: The overall flex is all mountain freestyle and feels familiar when you’re cruising around. It does lack a little lateral play which is pretty standard for anything with Skatetech but it makes up for that slightly by letting you swap the straps to surf mode. The power out of the toe to heel is unmatched though.
Ride: This is a consistent ride with power out of the toe and heel that is only slightly greater than the lateral play. There is some chatter felt underfoot as these aren’t the most damp bindings out there.
Rider in Mind: All mountain freestyle guy.
Personal Thoughts: The new toe strap is a nice addition to this binding it does what you want it to. There’s a level of consistent power transmission from toe to heel that is unmatched in my opinion with Skatetech. This binding did its job and let you charge when you needed to or be laid back when you wanted to.
Comparable Bindings:
Union Strata: https://bit.ly/3SyLIET
K2 Lien AT: https://bit.ly/3DwDkRO
Rome Katana: https://bit.ly/3VXLGt9
