How To Choose Snowboard Bindings

Your snowboard binding is often the last thing people look at but they are a key to a great snowboard set-up.  Snowboard bindings are what anchor your feet9 to the snowboard and drive power from your body, legs and feet into the board. A good pair of bindings will allow you to control your board with ease, keep your feet comfortable and absorb vibrations.

Flex & Riding Style

There are lots of different styles of bindings that vary in tech and stiffness so that you can dial in to your riding style whether you are a freerider, are hitting the park, all-mountain cruising or chasing powder.  Its important to match up your riding style, board type and boot type to ensure your binding aligns with these things.  For example if you are riding a mid-flex, mid-range board generally you will want to look at a similiar characteristic binding.  

  • Soft - The highback, baseplate, heelcup are made from softer materials (i.e urethane) that can flex more on rails, tweak and grabs. Because the binding is less sensitive to movement you have a little be of leeway if you don’t land completely straight off a kicker and it is more forgiving for beginners who are not as precise actions.
  • Medium - Aimed at those who want to ride all the terrain a blend of performance and forgiveness ideal for intermediates.
  • Stiff - Stiff materials are more atuned to your movements providing a responsive ride for when you are going fast and need ultimate control. Expert snowboarders who are riding big mountain freestyle lines and huge features tend to choose stiff bindings.

 

The Anatomy Of A Binding

Highback

This part of the binding supports the back of the boot providing a stable platform. There are several different styles of highbacks:  

Wingback:it has wings that wrap around the top of your boot for extra support; useful for presses and rails.

Lowback:smaller in height than a normal highback it allows for more freedom of movement but sacrifices support.

Asymmetric:these highbacks are specific to the left and right foot. They work more efficiently than a standard symmetric highback by being able to pick up a rider’s energy transfer quicker.

Carbon Fibre:replacing glass fibre the carbon increases both response and control.

Baseplate

All of the binding components attach to the baseplate and this, in turn, is fixed to the snowboard.

Footbed

Acts as cushioning for impacts and the contour of the footbed matches boot profiles - creating a better fit. Some footbeds feature canting - the footbed lies on a slight angle reducing pressure on your knees and helping generate more pop. 

Heelcup

Helps to holds your boot in the binding and transfer power into the baseplate.

Forward Lean

Adjusts the angle of the highback to your natural stance. A large forward lean angle drives the binding to react quickly to your movement whilst a small angle supports tweaks and grabs.

Ankle strap

Stops your heel lifting out of the binding when you are turning.

Toe strap

This strap sits over or on top of your toes adding support.

Ratchet

The ratchet tightens the ankle and toe straps locking your boot into the binding. 

Ladder

Made from hardy plastics they allow you to make micro-adjustments to the fit of ankle and toe straps.

Mounting Your Bindings

    Most snowboards come with what is called a 4 x 4 insert pattern on them. K2 Snowboards invented this and has since become the industry standard.  Four bolts fix the binding through a baseplate to the board.  The baseplates can be rotated so the bindings sit at angles on the board.  Riding angles are a little bit of a personal preferance but generally follow below

    All-Mountain/Powder/Freeride - Back foot a little flatter front foot pointed out like -9 degrees back foot and 12 degrees front foot.

    Park - Often called duck stance you have you feet angled the same so no matter which way you ride it feels same.  A duck stance may look like -12 degrees rear foot and 12 degrees front foot.

    Burton EST is a different system that has a CNC machined strip along the centre of a board, channel systems remove the need for a baseplate, with two screws on the outer edge of the binding fixing it to the snowboard. The binding can be moved up and down the channel till you find the perfect preference for your stance. Burton says this system improves the feel and flex which other brands contest of course.  Currently, Burton and Endeavour snowboards are only two brands that use a channel system.

    Sîzing

    It's important to get the right size binding for your boots to avoid pressure points or a sloppy fit. Snowboard boots that are the same size can have different widths or lengths depending on their construction. The best way to check if the bindings are the correct size is to bring them into one of our stores and test them out. Look out for gaps between the boot and binding, if they spill over the sides, or excessive overhang at the toe or heel.  

    • Your foot feels comfortable in the binding (no pressure points) without being sloppy.
    • There should be enough support and cushioning with some feedback (being able to feel the terrain).
    • The binding can naturally flex with the snowboard and boots (without swaying) – they are all working as one.

    We note what size boots fit into all the different binding brands when you shop online so all you need to do is look at your boot size and match to binding option.