# Who rides Salomon Relay bindings?



## kimchijajonshim (Aug 19, 2007)

I own two pairs: XLTs (which they don't make anymore) and the Relay Pros. I love 'em both. I really didn't like it the first time I demoed it, but now the free ranging heelcup feels liberating to me. It's definitely a different ride and much more surfy than traditional binders. I have very sensitive feet and tend to get pretty bad pressure points over the top of my foot with traditional binders... because of the soft heelcup and limited canting on these things, my feet stay much more comfortable throughout the day which is the main draw for me.

Cons: 
- Salomon ratchets stink, at least their older design did. I know they have new ratchets for this season, so I hope they're an improvement. 
- With the free ranging heelcup you lose a fair bit of side-to-side support, so you have to throw more weight into your presses. More subtle movements can get lost. Probably not the best option if you're doing super technical jibbing or crazy ground tricks all the time.
- Salomon's customer service is absolutely atrocious. They will not deal directly with the customer and all warranties (even if you just need a ratchet) must be done through a Salomon dealer. It's pretty weak.

I wouldn't have them as my ONLY bindings (still like to rock traditional bindings on occasion), but these are some of my favorite bindings.


----------



## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

Really, only 1 person?


----------



## kimchijajonshim (Aug 19, 2007)

I'm surprised so many of your boys ride them. I'm one of the few people I know who's even heard of them and I pretty rarely see them on the mountain. Salomon did a shit job of marketing the tech (has shit marketing period, really), expanded the line for a couple years to five models (four guys, one girl), then contracted it back down to three (two guys, one girl). I'm a little worried that they'll scrap the entire concept soon.


----------



## jlm1976 (Feb 26, 2009)

*Relays*

I have the Relay Pro's and love them. Their rachets used to suck, but I think I have really improved them quite a bit. They are definitely a love/hate kind of thing. My friends are split right down the middle between loving how they feel and thinking they are one of the worst bindings on the market. 
Personally, I think they are the most comfortable binding I've ever ridden since the whole binding conforms to your foot and lets your foot and ankle flex naturally. It almost feels like you don't even have a binding on.
Performance wise, I actually prefer them for presses and such as I feel I can get my weight farther forward or back on the board than a traditional binding. For carving and freeriding, I feel like I can really get my weight forward and dive into a turn without having lost edge-to-edge response.


----------



## kimchijajonshim (Aug 19, 2007)

jlm1976 said:


> I have the Relay Pro's and love them. Their rachets used to suck, but I think I have really improved them quite a bit. They are definitely a love/hate kind of thing. My friends are split right down the middle between loving how they feel and thinking they are one of the worst bindings on the market.
> Personally, I think they are the most comfortable binding I've ever ridden since the whole binding conforms to your foot and lets your foot and ankle flex naturally. It almost feels like you don't even have a binding on.
> Performance wise, I actually prefer them for presses and such as I feel I can get my weight farther forward or back on the board than a traditional binding. For carving and freeriding, I feel like I can really get my weight forward and dive into a turn without having lost edge-to-edge response.


I'm warrantying the ratchets on my XLTs (having ratchets that shitty on a $300+ retail binding is unacceptable) so I hope the new ones are as big an improvement as you say. That's by far my biggest complaint about both my Relays.

I agree on the not feeling like your wearing bindings deal. It's kind of a trip. I still prefer pressing with traditional binders because of the side-side support, but I see what you mean about being able to get your weight farther back.

Definitely a love 'em or hate 'em kind of binding. I hope they're selling enough to continue production.


----------



## RaID (Aug 27, 2009)

I run a pair 09 Salomon Relay Series bidnings on my NS SL. I generally ride all mountain, ie groomer, trees, steeps, powder, very beginner park. Personally I didnt find them to be such a major change from traditional solid heal cup bindings. This is probably because i went from a bottom of the line K2 binding to the Relays, with a toe cap, much better heal strap and footbeds. I guess they were the changes I observed more than the non solid heelcup. 

As mentioned above the ratches are a bit rubbish (they get jammed every now and then) and you have to setup the toe cap quite specifically to make sure it stays on the boot. The Relay Series model is i would say on the heavy side but that wouldnt be the problem with the top of the line model. (i was meant to purchase the much lighter XLTs but got sent the wrong model luckily the price was still good).

Personally i think the relay series is a pretty good concept and would recommend them.


A friend of mine bought a pair after seeing mine and has been vary happy with their performance as well.


----------



## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

So are the ratchets the same across the board? Do some models have different ratchets, or did they change they up over the years? I think they've been making the Relays for like 4-5yrs now...


----------



## kimchijajonshim (Aug 19, 2007)

I don't see any significant differences between the ratchets on my Pros and my XLTs other than the fact that the XLT grip better but don't release as easily (which sucks). They look slightly different this year, hopefully they are improved over what I have.


----------

