# Union Force or Force SL



## Guest (Dec 14, 2009)

Hey community

I'm a bit confused which Union bindings i should get...

Union Force or Force SL

Which one of the two is stiffer as there is different information on the web?

I'd use it for riding the groomers and some pow and to play around the whole mountain generally.

I'll use them on my Bataleon Goliath board.

Thanks for advice ;-)


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## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

Neither. Get bindings that don't use ten year old tech. There are a couple people on this forum who are actually in the know, and they don't think too highly of the Unions.

A lot of people seem to be real happy with the Flux line of bindings recently. 

If you're going to spend the money on bindings, you should at least give yourself a chance and investigate other brands via customer feedback on buzzillions, dogfunk, and sierrasnowboard instead of listening to the 'Union Force' parrots here.


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## jr05 (Oct 14, 2009)

Spunk,
Can you expand on this a little bit? I just got some new Union bindings for this season and haven't ridden them yet, but am impressed with their construction.

1) What are the improvements in technology that the other brands have that Unions lack?
2) What are the complaints the "people in the know" have about the Unions?

Thanks.


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## jyjuke (Dec 10, 2008)

Both of those choices will work for what you've mentioned. If you have the extra cash to shell out you can go ahead and go with the SL's. SL's are lighter than the regular Forces.

Just took my regular Forces out for the first time yesterday and I couldnt be happier. Spent all day on groomers and in the park. Call it a hype or whatever but Union is the real deal and I can not be anymore satisfied. If I had any complaint on Union, it would be about the toe strap. The toe strap fits differently on every boot. Had a friend try out my board yesterday and he had trouble with his DC Judges fitting properly (he also had a size 11.5 boots compared to my 10.5 so it might have worked better if we adjusted the bindings), but the toe strap fits nice and snug on my 32 Lashed boots. So I would recommend going into a shop with your boots and seeing how they strap in if you were thinking about getting them.

Here are some of the bindings I used to ride so you can get an idea of where I'm coming from:
- Burton Missions : My first pair of bindings and I've actually owned a couple different models from different years. When I thought buying all Burton made me "cool"
- Burton Cartels : The next year I upgraded to Cartels, still on my full Burton set-up. I will say though, that Cartels are nice bindings in their line up.
- Rome 390s : Rode those Cartels for a few seasons and finally grew out of the whole Burton era of my 'career' and decided to venture out to different companies. 390's are SICK, still own them and I was planning on still using them this season, but after yesterday I don't know if I'll end up switching. 
- Union Forces : New for this year.

As you can see there are plenty of other sick options out there. I'd say do some research and see what you can find. It was hard for me to put my 390s away and look for different options and noticed this "hype" on Union and I figured I'd try it out and see how they are. It might be too early to say anything, but for now, two thumbs up for Union :thumbsup::thumbsup:. Great company who I don't mind supporting, also backed with lifetime warranty on baseplates.


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## maf05r6 (Mar 3, 2008)

I own a pair of Force MCs and this year got a pair of Force SLs. I haven't gotten to ride the SLs yet but the MCs were very nice last year. I'll continue to use them on my primary board and put the SLs on a scaremaster to play around on. I haven't heard anything bad about Union and they have help up very well for me.


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## Guest (Dec 14, 2009)

Thanks for your tips so far....

I'm pretty sure that it will be a union model. it's just about which one you would prefer.....is the forces sl just a lighter forces or is there any difference in stiffness or whatever?


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## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

jr05 said:


> Spunk,
> Can you expand on this a little bit? I just got some new Union bindings for this season and haven't ridden them yet, but am impressed with their construction.
> 
> 1) What are the improvements in technology that the other brands have that Unions lack?
> ...





BurtonAvenger said:


> Union bindings were cool when I rode them 10 years ago and they were called Drake. Good marketing nothing different than Drake.





little devil said:


> So theres nothing wrong with union? Other than the fact that there marketing ploy is working?





BurtonAvenger said:


> Or the fact that the ratchets are a 10 plus year old design that fails, the heel cups in the 08 and older models used to shift supposedly fixed this year but I have my doubts still, highbacks are soft as shit regardless, and the fact there's nothing special to warrant their prices. Oh magnesium yeah anyone that's been around should know that magnesium is not a metal you want near your feet.


BA will be the first person to call you stupid for taking him blindly at his word, but some facts are just facts, and have nothing to do with opinions. A ten year old ratchet is a ten year old ratchet... period. Magnesium is a metal more prone to integral failure under the types of stresses found in snowboarding base plates.

Mostly I just love kicking the 'Jesus rocks Union Force!' hornet's nest. It's a lot of fun watching the fanboys who don't actually know why they chose the Unions get bent out of shape. :laugh:

I want to make it clear right now: I've never used Unions - but something stinks with the trend in binding recommendations on this forum, and here it is:

This time last year everyone was screaming 'Rome Targa' a LOT like they're screaming 'Union Force' this year. If the Rome's were so great, how did they get unseated by a ten-year old rehash of Drake? If the Rome's weren't all that great, why was everybody screaming 'Get Rome'? If the Rome's really ARE that great, what is everyone doing screaming 'Union' all of a sudden? Just last February, the Rome's were good enough to anyone with two feet... Now they don't cut the mustard as well as a binding with 10 year old tech. Why? It's hype. That's all it is. Think about your average boarder - you're not exactly marketing to a universally high-brow demographic here. Marketing ploys work, and they work well on snowboarding kids who care more about being cool than having good gear. :dunno:

Whisper the word 'bindings' here, and ten kids will pop their heads out to squawk 'Union Force... Raarrr.. Polly wanna cracker.' Maybe 1/3 of them got the bindings for a real reason relating to their own requirements.

Next year it'll probably be Flux bindings. From what I've read, however, the Flux's this year really do deserve the hype. Just about all the reviews I've read are of the customers getting big woodies from them.

I just maintain the same as I did in my original post: Maybe the Unions are for you. Great. But make sure they are right for YOU - not for five other kids who got them without ever trying them on because they were right for five other kids who said 'get them' and so on and so on. You're dropping $100+ on them, you owe it to yourself and your wallet to check out what you can. Right now, the Flux bindings seem to be REALLY garnering a lot of praise, particularly the Titan model. That's why I tell people to check them out. And don't stop there, check out K2, Burton (shudder), Flow, Rome, and Bent Metal just to name a few.

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/equipment-reviews/21054-flux-bindings-review.html
Flux Snowboard Binding Reviews | Best Flux Snowboard Binding | Flux Snowboard Bindings


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## Tuan209 (Dec 26, 2008)

Just had a few runs this weekend on the Union Forces, and I agree with some that it is a bit over-hyped. It is a very solid binding, but it is really no better than some of its competition. The built quality on the Forces is excellent and its relatively light weight, and I like their simplicity. The Forces biggest drawbacks are the toe-strap and ratchet. I hated the ratchet, especially compared to the 390s I was coming from which was buttery smooth.


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## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

SL is stiffer and lighter. Either should work find on your Goliath, but I think you'd be just fine with the regular Forces. There are Union fanboys and haters alike on this forum. Bottom line, they're very solid bindings, lightweight, reliable, plenty of adjustments, easy to find replacement parts, and priced very well for what you get. No distinct tech gimmicks like ICS or step-in or hinged baseplates, etc...just well-designed, a good value, and reliable.


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## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

flux is the new union is the new rome here


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## Guest (Dec 15, 2009)

MunkySpunk said:


> Neither. Get bindings that don't use ten year old tech. There are a couple people on this forum who are actually in the know, and they don't think too highly of the Unions.
> 
> A lot of people seem to be real happy with the Flux line of bindings recently.
> 
> If you're going to spend the money on bindings, you should at least give yourself a chance and investigate other brands via customer feedback on buzzillions, dogfunk, and sierrasnowboard instead of listening to the 'Union Force' parrots here.


aside from magnesium buckles that you say dont hold up to the particular stresses of boarding, whats old tech about them?


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## millerman (Dec 16, 2009)




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## hanzosteel (Oct 7, 2009)

Steezydoesit said:


> aside from magnesium buckles that you say dont hold up to the particular stresses of boarding, whats old tech about them?


guess you haven't bought a binding this last decade, that toe strap ratchet is outdated and chincey as hell for a $200+ binding that gets so much hype. these things are mediocre at best. ankle strap, highback, dampening - all mediocre. cartels and rides are lighter. these things don't excel at anything but lack in toe strap and toe rachet design and i've had quality issues with the heelcup. fill me in, what's the big deal? must be the bright colors.


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## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

Steezydoesit said:


> aside from magnesium buckles that you say dont hold up to the particular stresses of boarding, whats old tech about them?


Never said anything about magnesium buckles. I hope you read more carefully when/if you do your own research.

The heelcups are magnesium. It's very impressive sounding, and it's light weight. Unfortunately, it is prone to failure with the leverage and torque forces involved in boarding.

The ratchets are just 10 year old 'cheapest we could find' ratchets that Union threw on there, and their design is prone to failure from what I've read. I don't have any personal experience with them, but if there is one thing I absolutely don't want happening while I'm boarding, it's for my foot to fly out of the binding.

I'm not saying don't get the Unions. I'm saying don't be just another monkey-see-monkey-do kid who falls for the hype, do your own research and find the bindings that are right for you. If all you care about is having the same thing as all your friends in some sort of aborted attempt at clonal self-expression, shop with that in mind. If you want performance, shop with that in mind. There's plenty of reliable resources out there.


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## jr05 (Oct 14, 2009)

> monkey-see-monkey-do kid who falls for the hype


don't you mean munky see munky do? Wow worst joke of the day....sorry


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2009)

MunkySpunk said:


> Never said anything about magnesium buckles. I hope you read more carefully when/if you do your own research.
> 
> The heel cups are magnesium. It's very impressive sounding, and it's light weight. Unfortunately, it is prone to failure with the leverage and torque forces involved in boarding.
> 
> ...


I apologize for the misinterpretation, Dogfunk threw me off because it has the heel cup listed as "Anodized aluminum heel cups transfer energy from your boot to your board for superior edge-to-edge control".

I posted here because i AM doing research on what i should be buying and YOU seem to be reputable on the subject. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I don't really care for the sarcasm, but the hate seems to be strong in you.

I didnt know that they lacked toe straps and I didn't see anything about that in the reviews either. So thanks for the info, that definitely changes things.


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## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

Steezydoesit said:


> I don't really care for the sarcasm, but the hate seems to be strong in you.


It's a packaged deal. :laugh:


> I didnt know that they lacked toe straps and I didn't see anything about that in the reviews either. So thanks for the info, that definitely changes things.


Lack them? God I hope not. I think what Hanzo meant was that he wasn't very impressed by the performance of the toe strap. 

As far as me being reputable. Far from it. I rock Flow NXT-AT's, and you either love 'em or hate 'em. Most people hate. I think most people just don't know how to dial in the Flows. :laugh:

I learned on Ride SPi. They're not the lightest things on the planet, but they are possibly the most bullet proof and simple (in a good way) binding out there. Big thumbs up for a beginner bindings.

Every review I've ever heard about Flux is basically their owners drooling and raving about them. So I put them in the 'worth checking out' category. 

That's about all I've got. :laugh:


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## ScBlack (Dec 9, 2008)

Only the Union Force MC have Magnesium heelcups, the regular Force and SL are aluminum


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2009)

ive got a pair of ride spi's from about 6 years ago and they havent really worked out for me
-lean is a pain in the ass to adjust on the fly
-padding on the inside of the straps feel like lumps in the morning and rocks at the end of the day
-buckles get stuck all the time
-straps pull your feet down at such an angle that it crushes your outer toes
-the straps themselves are a giant pain in the ass
-its a pain in the ass to adjust the fuckers


Buuuuut in the newer models i can see that quite a few of these issues are fixed, if not all of them. I'll definitely be getting ride boots though. Tried on the anthems a few days ago and got an instant woody. They didnt have half sizes thouhg :/


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2009)

I am really impressed with the flow line up for this year. I'll probably be upgrading my bindings soon to some Flow M9 SE's or some NXT's.

That's just me though.


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