About The Good Ride Snowboard Binding Reviews

Remember this isn’t an exact science but just a general guideline so you can get an idea of what might work best for you.  This is just our perspective so don’t turn this into the gospel on how things ride but instead just use it as a starting point.

Often ratings can change even if the binding didn’t.  For example if bindings from other manufacturers have a new innovation that makes buttering easier or shock absorption better  than before then the rating of other bindings might change because of that.

Also I enter these ratings in manually and sometimes there are mistakes.  So if you see anything that looks off let me know.

Bars  1 2 3 4 5
Flex Soft Med/Soft Medium Med/Stiff Stiff
Boot Support Loose Med/Loose Medium Firm Locked In
Turn Initiation Slow Med/Slow Medium Quick Very Quick
Buttering Slow Med/Slow Medium Quick Very Quick

 

Snowflakes 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Adjustability Poor Poor Average Average Good Good Great Great Excellent Excellent
Comfort Poor Poor Average Average Good Good Great Great Excellent Excellent
Ratchet System Poor Poor Average Average Good Good Great Great Excellent Excellent
Shock Absorption Poor Poor Average Average Good Good Great Great Excellent Excellent

 

Flex: This is mainly about how stiff is this binding in the high back but it’s also about how stiff the base plate is as well.

Adjustability: How much can you make this binding work for your size boot and your riding style. How well does the forward lean, toe strap, ankle strap, base plate & high back adjust? Is it tool-less or does it require a tool? If it requires a tool, do you need just one?

Comfort: These days this is mainly about the ankle strap and heel loop.  Does it have pressure points or take a long time to break in?

Turn Initiation: How well does this binding help you to turn the board and transition from edge to edge?

Buttering: How easy is it to flex the board length wise for butters, presses, Ollies and Nollies.

Boot Support: How does this binding wrap around your boot from Toe Strap to Ankle Strap to High Back? Does it feel loose with lot’s of range of movement or does it feel locked in and supportive.  Some like to be locked in place, some like it loose with a lot of freedom and some like it in between.

Ratchet System: How well does the binding’s ankle and toe straps go on and come off.  Do they stick or come undone or do you forget they exist they work so well?

Shock Absorption: Does it have a lot of padding to handle hard landings or rough runs? Will it help keep your knees and joints intact?  Will it help your board handle speed better. A lot of people call a binding or board “Damp” but that is different from shock absorption. Damp can reduce chatter at speed but it doesn’t always reduce shock absorption.  Of the two we feel shock absorption is most important because your body can only withstand a certain amount of bumpy terrain and bad landings.

Approximate Weight: It’s not super important for most but some like to know the weight.  We can’t weigh all the bindings and most companies won’t disclose the weight so we just tell you how it feels in our hands when we are playing around with them.  I’ll just tell you if it Feels Light, Feels Normal or Feels Heavy. If I can weigh it I’ll give it a go but otherwise it’s just gonna be by feel.