# Clew - Step in bindings



## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Not needing special boots is a big deal. I think that's the biggest show stopper with Burton step-ins, since if you don't like Burton boots, you don't have a lot of choice. I'd want to see how robust the latching system is.

The biggest problem will be if they're only available by online ordering, because very few people will want to commit that kind of money sight unseen.


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## SEWiShred (Jan 19, 2019)

Never used them, looks like it addresses all the theoretical problems I have with Burton step ons. I've always been more of a Flow guy because I like having the straps on my foot, Clew solves that. That being said, quick entry becomes far less valuable the larger your runs are. If you are not on a real mountain, quick strap in is really important, you can run laps around people easily. On real mountains, they are actually worse because you get snow stuck in places. Flow hybrids still have an advantage there where you can use them like a traditional binding if the rear entry thing is a problem, like in deep snow. 

I would be interested to see how they handle in deep snow, but like I said, this is more for people on smaller hills, they'll see the biggest advantage of it. But at one point you have to wonder if dropping that much money to go down a hill under 1,000 feet of vertical drop is worth it? 

359E is about USD$428, that's a lot to spend on bindings. I hate to keep falling back to Flows but that's more expensive than the highest end Flow bindings. In fact the cheapest Flow bindings are only $169. 

But it's a step up from Burton. I have wide feet, going with Burton step on means I basically have one choice of boot.


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

still not impressed with these, i think they had a kickstarter campaign a few years ago. seem super finicky and easily damaged if you walk with them on your boot.


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## jstar (Sep 21, 2016)

Looks like you still have to bend over to tighten the toe strap, so your saving maybe 5 seconds by not doing the ankle strap each time??

Oh, unless you sit down to strap in, then it should allow you to stay standing up and save a bit more time....


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## MCrides (Feb 25, 2019)

That's a pretty slick design. Curious if anyone here has used them.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

Here’s the big thing they’re missing, simplicity.

Flows, when you use the reclining high back for exit/entry, have less moving parts than traditional strap bindings. So do Burton Step one, and the “wear” parts are pretty easy to replace. Clicker is tried and true at this point, ClickerX or whatever is just an alteration of clicker.

these have more complication than traditional bindings and you still have to adjust the toe strap everytime? Nah.

Also, Burton Fusions existed, for 1 year....








Burton Fusion Conventional user reviews : 4.9 out of 5 - 3 reviews - outdoorreview.com


Burton Fusion Conventional user reviews : 4.9 out of 5 - 3 reviews - outdoorreview.com




www.outdoorreview.com


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## Jimi7 (Jan 14, 2020)

I like the concept, but the buckles look cheap and a screw for the FLAD on $400 bindings.... I'll pass at that price point.


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## Venom93corba (11 mo ago)

So after watching multiple reviews on these I've pretty much decided these will be my next bindings. But... I hate spending $400 to pre order them and waiting 10 months to receive them, especially since their from a different country. Too many things can go wrong on that. And if you don't pre order them then the normal price is $500. Sorry but these aren't worth 5 hundo, and if they stick to that price the company won't last long. But I l do love that you can use any boot for these. I even saw I guy review them and he used his Burton step on boots with no issues. On the down side they were more than double the weight of the Burton step on bindings (1.2lbs vs 2.7lbs). Anybody else on here have any thought about them?


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## jstar (Sep 21, 2016)

Maybe just wait and get some supermatics?? 

That way you’ll have some sort of customer service and/or parts easily accessible, cuz you know… Nidecker is an established snowboard brand.

Just my 2 cents.


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## Venom93corba (11 mo ago)

Have they announced pricing? I can't find anything on them.


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

Venom93corba said:


> So after watching multiple reviews on these I've pretty much decided these will be my next bindings. But... I hate spending $400 to pre order them and waiting 10 months to receive them, especially since their from a different country. Too many things can go wrong on that. And if you don't pre order them then the normal price is $500. Sorry but these aren't worth 5 hundo, and if they stick to that price the company won't last long. But I l do love that you can use any boot for these. I even saw I guy review them and he used his Burton step on boots with no issues. On the down side they were more than double the weight of the Burton step on bindings (1.2lbs vs 2.7lbs). Anybody else on here have any thought about them?


Sucker, you shouldn’t have bought into the kookhouse marketing campaign, paid reviews and lemming endorsements.
I hope it works out for you but that is a ridiculous amount of time to have $400 tied up by a company that might go under any day for a suspect product.


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## Kevington (Feb 8, 2018)

I saw someone with these on the hill recently (Damüls, Austria). He was walking to the lift, dragging a new Custom X along the snow on a leash, ready to side-slip into the future. I was already kind of nostalgically tickled to see a leash at all then realised it seemed to be a product designed for dragging a snowboard behind you in the snow. THEN I looked at his feet and there were binding highbacks attached to his boots. Oh dear. 

If you desperately need an expensive alternative to regular bindings that mean you don't need to strap in then at least get them from a company that already produces snowboard equipment. Clew looks like a company started by an engineer who went snowboarding twice and didn't like strapping in because he/she was used to ski boots (which is basically the target market for this type of binding, lets be honest). These 'reinventing the wheel' brands pop up quite often but personally I would avoid them.


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

bseracka said:


> Sucker, you shouldn’t have bought into the kookhouse marketing campaign, paid reviews and lemming endorsements.
> I hope it works out for you but that is a ridiculous amount of time to have $400 tied up by a company that might go under any day for a suspect product.


You might want to reread what you replied to.


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## NT.Thunder (Jan 4, 2020)

I’m not a fan of the marketing borderline spam I’ve seen from some mediums, but if they work for you more power to you


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## Radialhead (Jan 3, 2018)

Ignore the people slating them without even seeing them; they're brilliant. Yes they're expensive but the design & build quality's top notch.


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## Venom93corba (11 mo ago)

It's OK to disagree guys, I'm not offended. New companies are always scarey and their tech is always controversial but if nobody ever pushed the boundaries we'd all still be in strap ins. I'm also considering the Nidecker Supermatics. I like the fact that I'm not limited to a certain boot and I like the hybrid design of both of them using straps as well that keeps you absolutely planted in the binding.


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

I actually like the look and perceived quality of the Nidecker supermatics. In what is shaping up to look like a very similar price point to the clews there is certainly something to be said for the well though out design of Nidecker and the security that comes along with buying from a reputable company.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

I have not riddent them, but I have played with the Supermatics in person in 0* weather. They were intuitive and smooth. The mechanism that keeps them in place looks really sturdy and the fine details just look well thought out. And being a "regular" strap binding, I would actually consider riding these.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

I also tend to look at catastrophic failure when it comes to stuff like this. With Clew that means your foot is definitely coming off the board, with Supermatics or Flow it doesn't. And I've seen the testing behind StepOn and pretty much trust that any catastrophic failure is likely user error, hence avoidable.


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## Radialhead (Jan 3, 2018)

Clews have two separate independent hefty metal locking points at the rear, both with two positions to cater for any ice under the heal. Both would have to fail at the same time, & even then the only way your foot comes out is straight up so you'd still be able to ride. 
I'm heading to Austria next week for a couple of weeks, so I'll be sure to report back if I die horribly after a catastrophic failure.


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## gosts (Feb 26, 2014)

hope to be able to chk these soon


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

Radialhead said:


> Clews have two separate independent hefty metal locking points at the rear, both with two positions to cater for any ice under the heal. Both would have to fail at the same time, & even then the only way your foot comes out is straight up so you'd still be able to ride.
> I'm heading to Austria next week for a couple of weeks, so I'll be sure to report back if I die horribly after a catastrophic failure.


It's been a few weeks and no update on your experience; should we assume the clews killed you?


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## Radialhead (Jan 3, 2018)

bseracka said:


> It's been a few weeks and no update on your experience; should we assume the clews killed you?


Day 6 and I'm still very much alive, despite my wife's best attempts at plying me with grappa.


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

Enjoy, looks like a carving wonderland at your feet


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## Radialhead (Jan 3, 2018)

Well I made it home in one piece after two weeks of playing on these wide, empty slopes. The Clews performed flawlessly, I doubt I'll ever buy any other bindings in the future. Now Pilots & Pathron-branded SP Fastecs for sale if anyone in the UK's interested.


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## finboy (12 mo ago)

The idea is interesting but I always wonder what happens if something proprietary breaks at the resort and you can’t get replacements. I could see it being a day ender because you can’t find a buckle.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

Dood was walking around the demo in Feb at Loveland looking for a ladder. No one had anything that fit. At a demo. Better stock up


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## finboy (12 mo ago)

Nivek said:


> Dood was walking around the demo in Feb at Loveland looking for a ladder. No one had anything that fit. At a demo. Better stock up


that doesn’t bode well. I hade a buddy with Rome buildings from probably 8 years ago break a strap about 3 runs into one of our last board days. The techs at the base of the mountain saved the day by macgyvering something together, and we kept riding. If he was riding these things, realistically we would have all had to call it a day because we aren’t making our buddy sit around for 5 hours waiting for us to wrap our day.

I’ll take a set of cartels and deal with strapping up on the top of the run thanks


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## Jimi7 (Jan 14, 2020)

finboy said:


> that doesn’t bode well. I hade a buddy with Rome buildings from probably 8 years ago break a strap about 3 runs into one of our last board days. The techs at the base of the mountain saved the day by macgyvering something together, and we kept riding. If he was riding these things, realistically we would have all had to call it a day because we aren’t making our buddy sit around for 5 hours waiting for us to wrap our day.
> 
> I’ll take a set of cartels and deal with strapping up on the top of the run thanks


Parts availability is the nice thing about the big brands, especially Burton.


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

finboy said:


> that doesn’t bode well. I hade a buddy with Rome buildings from probably 8 years ago break a strap about 3 runs into one of our last board days. The techs at the base of the mountain saved the day by macgyvering something together, and we kept riding. If he was riding these things, realistically we would have all had to call it a day because we aren’t making our buddy sit around for 5 hours waiting for us to wrap our day.
> 
> I’ll take a set of cartels and deal with strapping up on the top of the run thanks


Buddy can't entertain himself at the bar? Shame.


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## Jimi7 (Jan 14, 2020)

ridethecliche said:


> Buddy can't entertain himself at the bar? Shame.


I spent a day (a powder day no less) in the cafeteria after breaking my nose and concussing myself at Breck. No reason others should suffer just because I over estimated my abilities. 😉


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