Burton Bindings

Posted: 23 August 2010 05:47 PM

Hey all - I have a 2010 159 T6 which I’m looking to get bindings for some time before the end of the year. 

It seems to me that the obvious choices would be C60, CO2 or Cartel, but I’m finding it hard to come to a decision.  Does anyone have any experience of these bindings and know if it’s worth spending the extra cash on say the C60’s?  Any other bindings worth considering?

I’m going to be doing a full season in Whistler at the end of the year so want to get the best that I can.

Cheers

Posted: 27 August 2010 05:15 PM

Hey there Drake,
sorry for the late reply but I’ve been quite busy these days so yeah.. sorry again.
To answer some of your questions:
Doing a full season it should be really helpful to buy a pair of bindings for which you can get replacement parts quick and everywhere. So concerning this aspect, you’re surely not wrong about going with Burton bindings.
Burton is doing it’s job for quite some time so you can be sure you won’t buy any wretched equip going with the big B.
The Cartels are pretty common standard allmountain-freestyle bindings. I heard the highback was a bit inconvenient for some riders but that was 2 or 3 years ago, so there’s a good chance they fixed this issue already.

Other good binding companies you could have a look at are e.g. Union (the Force’s motto is “down for duration”, definitely check them out or maybe the Force SL which does have a stiffer highback), Salomon, Rome, Ride and/or Raidens (Nitro).
They do all have well built bindings in their lineup and you probably will not be disappointed by their products.

Oh and just as a quick reminder: Only because you want to get ‘the best you can get’, you shouldn’t go with the most expensive equip, just make sure it’s fitting your needs! No need to spend a fortune on bindings just because they are like 20g less heavy than a similar binding.

Just my 2 cents, hope it helped a little.
Cheers, Tobi

Posted: 31 August 2010 03:08 PM

The temptation is to go for the super light C60s! However, you might find the stiffness of the binding makes for short days on the mountain. Stiff highbacks and precision straps are great for short bursts of riding but they can cause cramp and calf bashing on hard snow days.

I’m not sure about the C02s, but friends have had a few issues with the highback cracking, of course they got replacement highbacks on the warranty (the Burton warranty is amazing) but it’s still a pain when you have to take the day off riding to replace them.

That leaves the Cartels. I’d probably go for these. Solid straps, unfussy highback and leightweight compared to most brands lightest bindings. Plus you won;t be paying the cost of a top of the range board for bindings.

Those are my thoughts.

Posted: 01 September 2010 08:07 AM

I rode the Burton Malavita’s with last seasons T6 and thought they were awesome. Pretty stiff and responsive but bulletproof and nicely padded….....worth a look fo sho.

Posted: 01 September 2010 03:06 PM

Hi guys – thanks for all the responses, it’s all really useful info.  I always think that it’s really hard to find decent advice on gear and it’s nice to find somewhere where it seems as though you can get some.  Great site by the way - the board reviews are awesome!

I’m going to be doing an instructors course in Whistler so it’s really useful to start thinking about some of the issues that you raised.  In particular, comfort vs rigidity!  I hadn’t really given this much though and had just been focusing on finding a good stiff set of bindings to match the stiffness and natural characteristics of the board. 

Rich, like you said, it certainly is tempting to go for the C60’s, but taking a step back, I doubt that I’d notice the weight (and/or stiffness) difference between them and say the Cartel’s and it’s certainly worth remembering that spending pretty much every day for three months in the same bindings might ask a few questions of my feet and calfs!!

I’ve also heard that the CO2’s have problems with the highback cracking (I think that I also came across C60’s having the same problem, but I may have made this up…), so it seems that if I’m going to go Burton, the Cartel’s or as ‘The Real Tom Eubank’ suggests, the Malavita’s, are definitely worth a look.

In terms of other brands, I’m a bit clueless so I guess need to do a bit more research.  I have (a probably irrational) concern that as I have a Burton board (with channel/EST) I should stick with Burton bindings.  I did however have a look at the Ride website last week and was interested in their contraband toe strap system - have you guys had the chance to check this out??  Do you reckon that it’s any good tech or just a gimic??

Thanks ever so for the help so far – if there are any other specific bindings that you think might be worth my while checking out, I’d really appreciate the directions.

Keep up the good work with the site – it’s an awesome resource!

Cheers

Andy

Posted: 01 September 2010 03:53 PM

Well, the Contrabands are out on the market for quite some seasons so it does probably not perform too shabby..
Didn’t have the chance to take one out for a ride, though.

And just as another thought: in case you are considering bindings of other brands as well, this season’s UNION bindings do support the EST system as well, I am just not sure if that’s the case for all of their models.

Posted: 03 September 2010 08:53 AM

I fooled around with Contrabands in the store last season, the idea seems cool however the toe strap once it’s preset can’t be adjusted easily so you are kinda at their mercy.