Ride Bandita Contraband Review And Buying Advice
Where To Buy
80% of outdoor sports products are not listed or sold online.
Our team has relationships with hundreds of local snowboarding and outdoor sports shops.
We'll call the shops and email you a list of stores along with pricing and availability.
Not sure what to buy?
Get custom advice from Good Ride editors James and Steph.
Ride Bandita Contraband 2012 - 2011 Review by The Good Ride
You will either love these or hate them. What we have seen lately is many of these contraband bindings are the only ones left in the shop at the end of the season. The one strap adjustment is what K2, These are a serious pain in the ass to adjust and also can feel a little off and less supportive than others. Flow and Gnu are all doing with their bindings are supposed to be easier to strap on but none of us at the good ride really care about getting in and out quickly from a binding. Another problem is the toe strap cannot be adjusted when the binding is on the board. So if the fit needs adjustment you have to take off your bindings and spend some time to do so. Another thing is the rubber on the toe strap seems like it won’t’ last a long time and doesn’t have the same hold as a traditional toe strap. We aren’t sure about that but feel it’s worth mentioning. The positive side is the padding is good in the base plate and the contact with the snowboard is minimal. This makes for good shock absorption and turns initiation. Another thing to mention is the Contraband line takes a lot of effort to dial out and a lot of tools. The instructional video is really elaborate and detailed which could be frustrating. If it doesn’t work right on the hill you have to take the bindings all the way off to adjust the toe strap. For 2012 Ride changed the high back and we like the newer high back over the old because it has a better range of movement. All in all this not for everyone but if you have the patience it might work.
Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews. No one is perfect and we do make money from the “Where To Buy” links below, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.