# Malavita vs Cartel



## Joe Matroni

Hey guys,

I am an all mountain rider i prefer riding trees and powder and also like bombing groomers and get a good clip going in the pow and if i have a nice line in the trees. usually ride keystone and breck

I found some malavitas 2017 new basically for free. been riding them on a NS ripsaw 159 and have another thread on getting the right board will demo a west and snowtrooper as my season rental is coming to an end. question is I've heard i may of wanted cartels and i am unsure what the differences are between cartel and vitas or even genesis.

do you think there is much of a difference between these bindings that would 1, change my day or be worth spending 300$ on vs the free vitas. or do you think there is a better binding that would be better fit in general. 

thanks!


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## ekb18c

Nope. Some will tell you that they actually prefer the malavitas over the cartels. I've found that the vitas have a stiffer highback, which is what i like. 

I've owned the vitas, cartels, and genesis and honestly there is just very minor differences with each. 

You should be good.


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## Joe Matroni

ok sweet ill keep what i got and not worry if i got the wrong stuff despite it being free.


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## Joe Matroni

ekb18c said:


> Nope. Some will tell you that they actually prefer the malavitas over the cartels. I've found that the vitas have a stiffer highback, which is what i like.
> 
> I've owned the vitas, cartels, and genesis and honestly there is just very minor differences with each.
> 
> You should be good.


also what angles do you ride?? and what setting highback? I've been riding a 7 on my high backs and was 15+ and 0 and changed it to 9+ and 0 back when demoing the Ultimate Ride by Salomon, which felt a little better i felt that on the 15+ and 0 back it was hard to keep the board straight it kept wanting to veer to the left (i am regular) the 9+ seemed to help keep it straighter.


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## sabatoa

Rock what you got for free. I have an older pair of Cartels (2012/2013) and this season I picked up the 2017 Malativas and I can't tell the difference when riding. They have minor differences that all favor the Malavita with asthetic and function, but my ride experience is the same.


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## Joe Matroni

sabatoa said:


> Rock what you got for free. I have an older pair of Cartels (2012/2013) and this season I picked up the 2017 Malativas and I can't tell the difference when riding. They have minor differences that all favor the Malavita with asthetic and function, but my ride experience is the same.


ahh ok got it, will do! make me happy i was worried after talking that i got something i don't really want or favor. what angles and high back do you ride and what kind of variable affect what you may be riding that day?


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## sabatoa

Joe Matroni said:


> ahh ok got it, will do! make me happy i was worried after talking that i got something i don't really want or favor. what angles and high back do you ride and what kind of variable affect what you may be riding that day?


I ride 15/-15 and use a minimal forward lean, maybe +3. 

I use that same +3 on the highback on both my symmetric and my assymetrical board because I don't feel as though I need the extra torque to get my heel side carves in. I don't adjust my equipment for conditions, like on pow days I don't put my bindings towards the tail or anything. I have a board I ride for deep or chunky, and another board for park and groomers, that's really the extent of the customization that I do for variable conditions.

Disclaimer: I'm not big into tech specifics and I'm not much of a gear whore. I ride what I have and I don't putz around with it. I set it the way I like and I forget about it.


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## jstar

I have the cartels, malavitas, and cartel ltd, all 2016/17. Use the vitas on my park board, ltds on aggressive all mountain board, and regular cartels on powder board. 

I have interchanged all of them, the ltd is the only one I can feel a difference. Simply due to the high back I'm assuming. Or maybe it's all mental.

I would stick with what you got.


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## Triple8Sol

The Cartels feel softer than the Vitas due to the highback, but both are basically interchangeable. I have the Vita wingback, so that was my final decision. Sounds like in your case, the price is right too.


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## Jonny C

Now a days, Malavitas VS Cartel are very similar and you can only notice a slightly better response in the Malavitas due to the highback stiffness and rubber.
I would stick with the Malavitas. They are great bindings and they are supposed to be an alternative to who doesn't want to have a highly responsive bindings like Genesis bindings.
There is no reason to buy a pair of Cartel or Genesis bindings having these ones for free.


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## w4rtortle

How do the missions shape up against these ones you guys have mentioned?


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## GDimac

w4rtortle said:


> How do the missions shape up against these ones you guys have mentioned?


From my understanding from what my shop buddy told me is that the Missions got the tech from the previous Cartels, passed down to it.


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## Jonny C

GDimac said:


> From my understanding from what my shop buddy told me is that the Missions got the tech from the previous Cartels, passed down to it.



That's not 100% accurate. I've been following the Burton bindings lineup for years. They do share a lot of the material and design from the higher binding versions but that doesnt mean that this years Cartel bindings will be next years Mission bindings. It's a seller pitch from Burton and all the bindings from Burton share this evolution path.
Example: One year the mission bindings got their straps from the Cartel bindings and the Cartel bindings got their straps from the Malavita bindings. However, the base plate and the high back makes it still the same Mission bindings from all the previous years. 
I remember when the Malavitas didnt had any rubber mesh in the high back, something they inherited from the Genesis bindings.

So there are small improvements each year, sometimes there are no evolutions at all, but the tech, as they say, is not 100% transferred from one binding to a lower model binding from one year to another. To be 100% accurate, the real tech transfer from one binding to another can take more than 5 evolutions, which means 5 years.


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