In Praise of Flow Bindings
(Bindings: One of those perpetual debating points among riders. Here’s my view.)
I have an 3-year old pair of Flow bindings and I love ’em. One reason is that straps are too complicated for me. I know that sounds like I am an idiot, but there you go. The fact that I was a novice rider when I tried them may have had something to do with it.
The switch to Flows came when, at the end of one run, I spent 5 minutes, without success, trying to unlatch a pair of (cheap, used) strap bindings. I then found a way to pull my feet out of my boots, with straps still buckled in. I walked, in stocking feet, to my car and then drove to my favorite ski shop, where I bought both a pair of Flow FR-11 bindings and some Ride boots.
What do I like about Flows? Obviously, no messing with the tiny notches on the strap bindings. Plus, getting into the binding is quick: slide in foot, push lever from its open position to a closed one, and go. It’s like putting on a pair of loafers compared with lacing up tennis shoes. While other riders are messing with their straps at the top of the hill, I’m already sliding away. Sometimes I even start sliding before I put the lever into place. It’s that easy.
A bonus is that you don’t have as much bending or crouching–good for the aging body.
Some people have praised Flows for eliminating pressure points that they got from straps. As I never stayed on straps long enough for this to be an issue, I can’t speak to it.
There are several raps against Flows. Some of it is style prejudice–the “you’re not a REAL snowboarder unless you do this” nonsense. I’ve read some complaints that they are somehow less secure than straps. I doubt that; the Flow professional team regularly medals at freestyle events, suggesting that the binding style is quite suitable for jumping in the air, if that’s your thing.
The most legitimate knock on Flows is that they tend to be heavier than a strap binding. This is probably true of the older versions such as the ones that I have. But I have also read that the Flow NXT (newer models) are much lighter than the old ones.
I think that Flows would be good for a beginner (and many other riders), since it simplifies time on the snow at a point when so many things are new and different, if not difficult.
During a clinic last week, we pretended to be new students. We took a tow rope (one foot out) halfway up the bunny hill and sat down for a few minutes. Then we had to get the free feet into a binding.
At that point, the lever that slips into the highback can get in the way. If for some reason I have a foot out and the ground isn’t flat, I often find it easier to do a flip (we call it a “turtle roll”) so that I am facing uphill. Then I dig my foot into the binding, slap the lever into place, and stand up toeside. (Obviously if I want to start out heelside, then I have to roll again.) Rolling may not be an easy task for a beginner.
As for the k2 cinch, I tried them one day and wasn’t impressed. It felt awkward getting in, for one thing. In my Flow bindings, my foot goes in flat. In the Cinch, the toes go in, followed by the heel, followed by the heel pushing down an elevator of some sort. That’s an extra step that I found rather weird and inexplicable.
The word I’ve read is that it’s not quite ready for prime time; Flow has their model going for a while now, but the Cinch is still new and the first year presented some problems. I think this may be the third year for the Cinch.
One guy whose judgment I normally trust on snowboarding thinks that both the Flow and the Cinch have too many moving parts, which means that they are susceptible to breaking down. He prefers straps. Obviously, I don’t share his conclusion.
You can find a lot of discussion about bindings at either http://snowboard.colonies.com/forums/forum/21/ or at http://www.graysontrays.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=9
By the way, I wouldn’t recommend driving in snowboard boots, at least based on my one experience. There wasn’t enough give in my boot to make me feel comfortable controlling the pedal(s). Then again, I was using a clutch, too.