Binding Model: Nitro Team Pro
Buy it here:
The House: https://bit.ly/3WwwO4Y
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3I2CtLq
Evo: https://bit.ly/3GjWdJq
Binding Size: Medium
Stance and Angles: 21.5 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boot Used: K2 Thraxis
Boot Size: 10
Board Used: Telos Mike Ranquet
Rider Weight: 200lbs
Location: Arapahoe Basin
Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies, warmer temps, frozen snow, chop, chunder, ice, and perfect hero snow on the groomers.
Binding Adjustability: The heel cup is fully adjustable to center the boot. Then you have a two placement push pin system on the toe strap to center it. There are flip cams on the toe and the heel to lengthen or shorten the straps. The highback has 3 settings for rotation if that’s your thing. Finally there’s a set screw on the inside of the highback to adjust the forward lean.
Straps: So the big thing to talk about with this binding is that they still use a sewn strap instead of an injection molded one. This means that it will stretch and break in over time. It is a little more cut out and minimal which helps it contour better to your boots instep. The toe strap is their Uber Grip with Vibram. This gives it more grip than other straps and with the giant cutout you’ll notice it fits a magnitude of boot shapes.
Ratchets: The one thing I noticed with these is that it takes a little extra effort to feed the ladder in initially before the teeth grip and it starts to climb. That basically means you’re ramming it in harder. Once you do have it set it climbs well enough and releases easily with the one finger quick tab. I never had them slip or prematurely release.
Highbacks: So there’s some outside cupping on the highback that cradles the side of the boot towards the ratchets. This helps when you drive into it. The flex is a little bit stiffer and while it does have a minimal design it doesn’t overly tweak too much when you drive into it. The forward lean adjustment is a set screw on the inside of the highback which reduces the weight a little, the only downside is if you’re a guy that adjust forward lean as the day goes on you can’t do that.
Binding Flex: The overall flex is somewhere slightly past middle of the road. You notice that it’s a little stiffer in the heel cup and highback but the heel strap has some give. The lateral flex is amplified from the mini disk underfoot.
Ride: That Stealth Air Base Frame really provides some ample dampening. It just absorbs chatter which lends itself to being a more smooth ride underfoot but still provides power and play up top.
Rider in Mind: All mountain freestyle guy that wants superb dampening.
Personal Thoughts: I was in a medium and it was tight on my size 10 boots. It pinched them right at the heel and I could feel it, so consider that if you have a bulkier boot which I don’t mine is more middle of the road. The heel straps while plush I know will break in and stretch a bit. That toe strap is amazing for its grip. The ratchets are OK but at this point I think they feel a bit flimsy compared to others on the market. While it did have 3 degrees of canting in the footbed I never noticed it so that was nice. It’s a good binding, but it’s not a great binding.
Comparable Bindings:
Rome DOD: https://bit.ly/3vfI3lZ
Ride C-8: https://bit.ly/3WGZKqr
Bent Metal Transfer: https://bit.ly/3Vkngbz
