Why any board I ride has a leash

[OldsnowboarderME]

:roll:

 

[AdironRider]

Im sorry, but this thread should be titled "why I should never use step in bindings" and not "why any board I ride has a leash". Leashes are completely pointless on normal strap in bindings. With normal bindings not only do you get better response and feel, but you also would have to completley blow out both bindings/straps while riding, or 2 straps why riding a lift, to have the problem you had today. Step in bindings suck. Period.

 

[bobbutts]

I switched from clicker to somewhat more conventional bindings (k2 cinch) and I would also suggest staying away from step ins as a general rule of thumb. The level of control on the straps is clearly improved IMO. The biggest difference seems to be when landing so if you stay grounded it is less of a difference.

 

[dmc]

Im sorry, but this thread should be titled "why I should never use step in bindings" .

Was just about to write that...

 

[dmc]

I was at Attitash Friday and while riding the lift I had something happen that had never occurred before that day. My board came off my front foot and the only thing that saved it from causing someone damage was the leash. I used Burton step-in bindings. I had just finished coming off a black run with no problems. While I was on the chair I was trying to put my board on the foot rest when I felt a huge tug on my leg. I look down and there is my board tangling off the leash. I was saved a walk down the hill not to mention a possible run away board or someone getting hit from a falling board. All I can figure is that I must have released the binding while trying to put the board on the foot rest.

If I used stepins or even plates - I'd use a leash...

I've seen a few boards at Tuckermans fly down the Headwall unattatched.. So sad...
So I tend to bring a leash there - click in before strapping in on some ice ledge.. - you bet ya....

 

[dmc]

A liftie at Shawnee said they couldn't go up unless they had a leash on. I told them to go to the car and get them.

Even though I generally don't use one.. I still have one handy when I'm at a new area - just in case of that situation..

 

[danny p]

for the first 3-4 years i rode k2 clickers (step-in bindings). while it was nice to be able to click in on the lift, etc., they held me down for so long. Replaced them with regulars strappers and immediately progressed by leaps and bounds. I still have a friend that rides them and swears by them, but my experience is quite the opposite. Leash laws suck! Never once have I been asked about riding without a leash at a VT resort, while anytime I ride at any ny/ma resort I almost always get hassled to the point where I have to go get one from my car and put it on!

 

[AdironRider]

Ive ridden all over NE, and now over 20 days here in Jackson, and have never once been hassled about not wearing a leash.

Strap in bindings have much more response due to the nature of how your strapped in (toe and heel straps as opposed to two little hooks in the center of your feet), as well as the utilization of a highback. The highback not only provides much better control on heelside turns, but you can also adjust forward lean to increase response on toe sides as well. Step ins have no ability to aid in this manner. Plus, as you now know, can fall off at will. Hence they suck.

 

[ckofer]

IMHO, leashes should be attached to one one of the unused binding holes. This way they are completely independent of the binding.

Some of us "old" riders like the step-ins. I'm not as flexible as I'd like to be (arthritic crap) and really don't miss playing around with the bindings each run. I can see why the industry has abandoned the approach though. Every boot and binding were unique - no brand mixing allowed. This makes it hard to share and demo boards. I will agree also that some designs gave you poor control and others had ice-up problems. I've got some now-obsolete Head X4's with a stiff boot that really works well.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Step in binding for snowboards are for gapers..leashes are required for nearly every ski area in the world..use them..

 

[dmc]

leashes are required for nearly every ski area in the world..use them..

Don't need it... Only been checked once.. In all my years of riding(almost 20) - I've only pulled out of a binding twice and only one foot..

Once on a horribly violent landing with Burton lowbacks and another wearing Flows... Anyone want to buy a set?

Probably more of a good thing for beginners - who may take their board off and try to walk somewhere...

 

[dmc]

Out of all the stepins I tried I like the SI the best - Like the highback..

 

[bobbutts]

equipment isn't everything..
remember when Lane Meyer defeated Roy Stalin down the K-12 with one ski?
A strong skier or rider will get by on anything and a gaper will still suck on the hottest gear.

 

[wintersyndrome]

equipment isn't everything..
remember when Lane Meyer defeated Roy Stalin down the K-12 with one ski?
A strong skier or rider will get by on anything and a gaper will still suck on the hottest gear.

:wink:
Ha
Step in Bindings suck so bad even Ricky wouldn't use them


merry "CHRIIIIISSSSSTMAS" everyone

 

[ckofer]

Don't make me turn on you like a hungry wild dog .. :wink:

I guess we know what the leash is for.

 

[Method9455]

My Burton Si have an adjustable highback on them .. I have found the boot is locked much tightly with Si. I can not lift my heel or toe off the plate when I am locked in but I could always wiggle a little bit with straps. If I ensure I am properly locked in I have never come out of a binding unintentionally. I like Si because there are no hot spots on top of my foot and it feels more natural. Hey GSS .. Snowboarding is about having your own stance and style... one is not a gaper because of preferred equipment or style of riding.. Snowboarding is about individualism, no one needs to use the same gear or have the same stance.

We have been trying to dump our long left over SI bindings for 3 or 4 years now at work, they are marked for $25 want a pair? Boots are $25 too. I sell them to beginners but no higher in the skill level.

What is wrong with step in bindings?
1) If they are not adjusted correctly, the highback does nothing, some don't even have a highback

2) They jam with ice, I've seen it happen many times and it is a day ender

3) They are less responsive. Sure YOU just push down on your heel and toe because thats all you can do without anything pushing down on top. With a strap binding when I lay into a heelside turn I'm lifting up against the straps just as much as I'm pushing down. You would have to push twice as hard as I have to because you don't have that.

4) The boot is all of your stiffness on a toeside turn. So either the boot is really stiff and heavy, or soft and unresponsive. Generally the latter is true.

5) There is no adjustment. I have a binding on my park board that is flexy, and a binding on my freeriding board that is super stiff. I use the same boots for both, on my park board I have more range of motion, on my free ride board I have more response, just as I want it to be. There is no way to do that on a step in.

6) You are locked into one manufacturer's binding and boot together, and at this point there aren't all that many models to choose from.

7) Can't share the board. I have two boards, if I want to introduce someone new, they rent boots and borrow my park setup. If you have step ins, that wouldn't work out unless you adjust them. And did I mention how fickle the adjustments are on SI setups?

8) They can fail more easily. As yours did on the lift, you can pop out. Strap in bindings are much more affirmative. Plus if one strap fails you have 3 more to save it. If the baseplate fails, well I've never seen that happen. But at that point something way more serious is happening to you, and it is probably a good thing that it failed.

As for leashes - leashes are stupid on strap in bindings because they go from the boot to the base. All of the straps aren't going to fail at once, so what did you backup? But what if the base itself fails? Then the leash does nothing. there should be an insert about 4" in front of the binding they connect to if it where really about safety.

The best option if you want the ease of step in a Flow. You don't have to sit down to do it. And you always had to bend down to get in and out of SI anyway, they aren't nearly as perfected as ski bindings.

 

[RENO]

Used Clickers my first year and hated them and the Shimano Skylord boots. Used Straps for several years and they were a lot better. Been using Flows for several years now and they are great. I can still use any boot I want ( I currently use Salomon F20's) and no sitting on my ass cranking straps and no straps digging into my foot. The new Flow NXT's work great for me! I like the Burton straps with toe caps also, but haven't tried them. Whatever works for you and makes you happy, stick with it. I'm not here to call someone an idiot or gaper for what he's using. I don't care. Just putting in my 2 cents...

 

[AdironRider]

We have been trying to dump our long left over SI bindings for 3 or 4 years now at work, they are marked for $25 want a pair? Boots are $25 too. I sell them to beginners but no higher in the skill level.

What is wrong with step in bindings?
1) If they are not adjusted correctly, the highback does nothing, some don't even have a highback

2) They jam with ice, I've seen it happen many times and it is a day ender

3) They are less responsive. Sure YOU just push down on your heel and toe because thats all you can do without anything pushing down on top. With a strap binding when I lay into a heelside turn I'm lifting up against the straps just as much as I'm pushing down. You would have to push twice as hard as I have to because you don't have that.

4) The boot is all of your stiffness on a toeside turn. So either the boot is really stiff and heavy, or soft and unresponsive. Generally the latter is true.

5) There is no adjustment. I have a binding on my park board that is flexy, and a binding on my freeriding board that is super stiff. I use the same boots for both, on my park board I have more range of motion, on my free ride board I have more response, just as I want it to be. There is no way to do that on a step in.

6) You are locked into one manufacturer's binding and boot together, and at this point there aren't all that many models to choose from.

7) Can't share the board. I have two boards, if I want to introduce someone new, they rent boots and borrow my park setup. If you have step ins, that wouldn't work out unless you adjust them. And did I mention how fickle the adjustments are on SI setups?

8) They can fail more easily. As yours did on the lift, you can pop out. Strap in bindings are much more affirmative. Plus if one strap fails you have 3 more to save it. If the baseplate fails, well I've never seen that happen. But at that point something way more serious is happening to you, and it is probably a good thing that it failed.

As for leashes - leashes are stupid on strap in bindings because they go from the boot to the base. All of the straps aren't going to fail at once, so what did you backup? But what if the base itself fails? Then the leash does nothing. there should be an insert about 4" in front of the binding they connect to if it where really about safety.

The best option if you want the ease of step in a Flow. You don't have to sit down to do it. And you always had to bend down to get in and out of SI anyway, they aren't nearly as perfected as ski bindings.

Laymens terms, they suck.

 

[tcharron]

I am sure that opinion is based on all your extensive experience with all types of Si .. I am sure one day I will have to convert to straps because Burton will no longer make them. I am sure in a few years I will be very much the gaper but I will be over 60 by then and I won't really care about the "opinions" ( meaning yours) on my setup. Wait a minute I think I am already there ...

Umm..

Didn't Burton already stop making Si bindings? :blink:

 

[tcharron]

I was at Attitash Friday and while riding the lift I had something happen that had never occurred before that day. My board came off my front foot and the only thing that saved it from causing someone damage was the leash. I used Burton step-in bindings. I had just finished coming off a black run with no problems. While I was on the chair I was trying to put my board on the foot rest when I felt a huge tug on my leg. I look down and there is my board tangling off the leash. I was saved a walk down the hill not to mention a possible run away board or someone getting hit from a falling board. All I can figure is that I must have released the binding while trying to put the board on the foot rest.

When I read the subject line, I swear I was ready for a, 'Cause my feet are barking!' post.