# Union Charger first impressions (Capo comparison)



## DrnknZag

Long story short, I had Ride Capos for the last 3 seasons (about 100 days) and loved them, but I broke the aluminum baseplate last weekend so I sent them in for warranty and picked up the Chargers are a replacement because I wanted to try something new.

So I pretty much ride all/big mountain, anything from just surfing pow to natural hits to big mountain steeps/chutes. My Capos have been swapped between my Salomon Sick Stick (big mountain, pow) and various other all mountain decks (Berzerker, Highlife, SL, DH2). Put them through everything and loved them.

So now on to the Chargers.... mounted on my Sick Stick, 12" of fresh heavy pow at Stevens Pass.

First impressions..... very very similar to the Capos. The highback is slightly stiffer (pretty stiff in the grand scheme of things) and very responsive. The baseplate isn't quite as stiff as the aluminum Ride chassis though, but it does allow for a more natural flex of the deck. The ankle strap is nice and supportive, no huge difference from the Capo, but the toe strap falls short. The web Ride toe strap is tops in my book. Nothing comes close. The ratchets on the Unions are probably the best I've ever had my hands on. Very solid feel, great ratcheting, waaaay better than the Ride ones (or any other binding for that matter).

Overall, both bindings are very similar. Looking at price point though, I don't see the Unions being worth $60 more than the Capos. Don't get me wrong, I'm still really happy with the Chargers, but if I were concerned about the price point, the Capos win out.

Props to Union for making a very high quality binding in the Chargers. You've come a very long way since the last time I demo'd some Union bindings.


----------



## ridinbend

I love my ride spi on my sick stick. A bit outdated, but I just love the stiff responsiveness of the ride bindings along with the canted foot beds.


----------



## DrnknZag

Whelp, the attachment point on the carbon highbacks broke on my 2nd day on these bindings. I guess we'll find out how easy it is to deal with Union warranty....


----------



## linvillegorge

DrnknZag said:


> Props to Union for making a very high quality binding in the Chargers. You've come a very long way since the last time I demo'd some Union bindings.





DrnknZag said:


> Whelp, the attachment point on the carbon highbacks broke on my 2nd day on these bindings.


LOL

:laugh:


----------



## DrnknZag

linvillegorge said:


> LOL
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> :laugh:




Yeah really....



Fit and finish, or quality appearance Union has stepped it up.



Actual quality I guess not.



I'm not too happy right now. Happened on my 1st day of a 3 day Whistler trip, now I gotta figure out how I'm going to ride tomorrow.


----------



## SnowDogWax

Was ready to buy Union Chargers now???


----------



## linvillegorge

SnowDogWax said:


> Was ready to buy Union Chargers now???


Flux DM :thumbsup:


----------



## DrnknZag

SnowDogWax said:


> Was ready to buy Union Chargers now???




Or Ride Capos too.......


----------



## skip11

Get some NOW bindings


----------



## tdn

linvillegorge said:


> Flux DM :thumbsup:


:thumbsup:


----------



## linvillegorge

skip11 said:


> Get some NOW bindings


Pretty stoked on these. Loving my IPOs. Flux and Now, tough to go wrong either way.


----------



## F1EA

Yikes! sucks to have this kind of mishaps when you go on a trip...

Union does look solid like you said, and many people have put them through the test and have good feedback, so hopefully it's a freak thing. Most bindings kinda work the same... so for me quality is absolutely PARAMOUNT.


----------



## SnowDogWax

How did the fix go with the Union bindings…


----------



## DrnknZag

^^Fix? They're off to Union for warranty. The shop I bought them at is going to give me store credit if I don't want them back. Not sure what I'll do yet, but I'm really leaning towards getting another set of Capos.


----------



## DrnknZag

Got a full refund on the Chargers and picked up another set of Capos. I'll be set for another 100 days riding.


----------



## drstone

ridinbend said:


> I love my ride spi on my sick stick. A bit outdated, but I just love the stiff responsiveness of the ride bindings along with the canted foot beds.


my 390 boss's just shit the bed a few days ago...somehow managed to break the highback and warp the heel loop and not notice. anyway, i switched back to my old ride spi's, and they are indeed the shit. blew those rome bindings out of the water. i got the 390b warranty replacement and im not gonna bother putting them back on. 

is there anything current thats similar to the spi??


----------



## DrnknZag

^^The Capo is the new SPi.


----------



## drstone

awesome, just wanted to double check cause first i was thinking it was the el hefe


----------



## DrnknZag

The El Hefe is basically a replacement for the CAD. If you liked the SPi, you'll like the Capo.


----------



## trpa_ec

DrnknZag said:


> Whelp, the attachment point on the carbon highbacks broke on my 2nd day on these bindings. I guess we'll find out how easy it is to deal with Union warranty....


My Union Chargers just broke at the same point today on my 3rd day ever on my 2013/2014 Chargers.

Here are the images

Here is the failed highback mount. 









The cracked carbon doesn't look like much but goes completely through.


----------



## taco tuesday

Contact Unions warranty department. I did the same thing to my 13/14 chargers on day two. They gave me a few choices of what to do and I chose to go with factory highbacks. They sent me the factory highbacks and a replacement 14/15 charger highback.


----------



## trpa_ec

I sent them an e-mail. Hopefully they'll get back to me soon.


----------



## Chef Jer

trpa_ec said:


> I sent them an e-mail. Hopefully they'll get back to me soon.


They're really good. I'd be shocked if you don't have a response tomorrow.


----------



## trpa_ec

Chef Jer said:


> They're really good. I'd be shocked if you don't have a response tomorrow.


You were right. C3/Union has the best customer service ever. A new highback is on its way to me today. Awesome CS team.


----------

