# A binding that intrigues me



## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

The Ride Nitrane Contraband bindings intrigue me.

Off the cuff, I'd like to say that they honestly look like a heap plastic junk, based on videos and pictures I've seen of course. But I've never witnessed them in person. Also, I really like the idea of Ride's wedgie footbeds, but that's not exclusive to the contraband binding line.

Anyhow, similar to Flow bindings, I like the idea of uniform pressure and one method of tightening the binding. I hear they take a bit to set up, and once they're set up, they're only really going to work well with exactly the boot you used to set the up with. That's rather inconvenient, which would suggest maybe it's a flawed design. Regardless of the design and any flaws therein, I'm curious as to how the binding will feel, because after all, that's what really matters.

So please feel free to post your impressions if you own a pair. I wish I lived in a better area. I'd demo this stuff and write reviews all the time if I could.

EDIT: I'm refreshing this thread with another binding that's kind of interesting- The GNU AG Fastec bindings. I find it very odd that I can't find a single review or review video on the internet that even mentions Fastec bindings. The most I could find were various promo videos. I'm going to add a post at the end as well.


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## WaterPog (Mar 23, 2009)

I don't know if I'd call it a "flawed design" but just one that isn't as flexible as the standard just like the standard isn't a quick or consistent as the contraband...everything is a tradeoff.


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2010)

phile00 said:


> The Ride Nitrane Contraband bindings intrigue me.
> 
> Off the cuff, I'd like to say that they honestly look like a heap plastic junk, based on videos and pictures I've seen of course. But I've never witnessed them in person. Also, I really like the idea of Ride's wedgie footbeds, but that's not exclusive to the contraband binding line.
> 
> ...


I actually ride the contraband bindings not the nitrane. But im looking to find out more info on the wedgie footbed system


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

WaterPog said:


> I don't know if I'd call it a "flawed design" but just one that isn't as flexible as the standard just like the standard isn't a quick or consistent as the contraband...everything is a tradeoff.


Well, I was just acknowledging that it's so locked in that it doesn't have much variability if you use other boots, or want your friend to try it out. I'm sure there's another way to make that binding to be more adjustable on the fly. But I agree, everything has a tradeoff. The question is, is that tradeoff worth the price of entry? Do they work as advertised? Are they really a progression in binding design like flow?


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## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

Those do look pretty cool. The wedgie system is a good idea, and I like how you can adjust the width. But whats the deal, is it supposed to be a better hold, or is it designed to be a faster way of getting in / out?


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

freshy said:


> Those do look pretty cool. The wedgie system is a good idea, and I like how you can adjust the width. But whats the deal, is it supposed to be a better hold, or is it designed to be a faster way of getting in / out?


The idea is that it's supposed to be fast, light, and comfy. As they say, the v-strep secures your big toe but doesn't crush the ball of your foot.


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## john doe (Nov 6, 2009)

I own the original Contrabands. First, they work as advertised. They will hold your foot down as much as you want. I can adjust them to the point that I can feel the strap start to crush the toe of my boot. They are faster and easier to get into then 2 strap bindings but still not as fast as Flows. They are really light. 

They are really tricky to get set up right. The idea of letting a friend demo them is horrifying to me because of what it takes to adjust them to a new boot. Also, because the toe and ankle are connected, the fit can get messed up if you have your pants cuff under the strap or something liket that.

My complaints specific to my Contrabands is that I wish they were a little stiffer and had thicker ankle strap. Both those things are done on the Nitranes plus you get the wedgie footbeds that I wish I could get.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2010)

What about the GNU fastec bindings? Much better than flows, and much less moving parts than the K2 sinches


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

somebodyelse5 said:


> What about the GNU fastec bindings? Much better than flows, and much less moving parts than the K2 sinches


They look pretty neat, but reviews are sparse. How exactly are they much better than flows?


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2010)

john doe said:


> I own the original Contrabands. First, they work as advertised. They will hold your foot down as much as you want. I can adjust them to the point that I can feel the strap start to crush the toe of my boot. They are faster and easier to get into then 2 strap bindings but still not as fast as Flows. They are really light.
> 
> They are really tricky to get set up right. The idea of letting a friend demo them is horrifying to me because of what it takes to adjust them to a new boot. Also, because the toe and ankle are connected, the fit can get messed up if you have your pants cuff under the strap or something liket that.
> 
> My complaints specific to my Contrabands is that I wish they were a little stiffer and had thicker ankle strap. Both those things are done on the Nitranes plus you get the wedgie footbeds that I wish I could get.


Basically it looks like the wedgie system is keyed and i was gonna see fi its possible to order the keyed padding to add to the bindings cause i own the origionals as well


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

john doe said:


> I own the original Contrabands. First, they work as advertised. They will hold your foot down as much as you want. I can adjust them to the point that I can feel the strap start to crush the toe of my boot. They are faster and easier to get into then 2 strap bindings but still not as fast as Flows. They are really light.
> 
> They are really tricky to get set up right. The idea of letting a friend demo them is horrifying to me because of what it takes to adjust them to a new boot. Also, because the toe and ankle are connected, the fit can get messed up if you have your pants cuff under the strap or something liket that.
> 
> My complaints specific to my Contrabands is that I wish they were a little stiffer and had thicker ankle strap. Both those things are done on the Nitranes plus you get the wedgie footbeds that I wish I could get.


Yeah, that's pretty much what I figured in terms of adjustability. I actually contacted Ride and asked them about the webbing on the toe strap of the Nitranes ripping. They admitted that they do see it happen, and they always offer a free replacement. I'm pretty sure the toe strap of the Nitranes are going to be engineered differently next year to prevent this from happening.


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## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

Crayon said:


> Basically it looks like the wedgie system is keyed and i was gonna see fi its possible to order the keyed padding to add to the bindings cause i own the origionals as well


Yup.

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/bindings/22856-08-09-ride-contraband-mod-wedgies.html


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

Another binding that intrigues me is the GNU AG fastec bindings. I know the AG's are a newer model of GNU's fastec binding, but I can't believe that from last year to this year, I can't find a single review, be it on a website or even youtube. It's baffling. The concept looks cool. I'd like to give them a try. They're selling these things to someone. Who freakin' has a pair!? Speak up!


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2010)

phile00 said:


> Another binding that intrigues me is the GNU AG fastec bindings. I know the AG's are a newer model of GNU's fastec binding, but I can't believe that from last year to this year, I can't find a single review, be it on a website or even youtube. It's baffling. The concept looks cool. I'd like to give them a try. They're selling these things to someone. Who freakin' has a pair!? Speak up!


Im riding a pair of the B-Famous bindings. They are girls but they are equivalent to the AGRO, only difference is that they dont have the A-symetric High back. My only recomendation is to buy them smaller than you would need them. Its easier to make the binding work for a bigger boot than for a smaller. Just my opinion.


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

somebodyelse5 said:


> Im riding a pair of the B-Famous bindings. They are girls but they are equivalent to the AGRO, only difference is that they dont have the A-symetric High back. My only recomendation is to buy them smaller than you would need them. Its easier to make the binding work for a bigger boot than for a smaller. Just my opinion.


Do you like them though? Are they good quality? Are there any limitations in performance? etc.? 

I wear a size 9 boot. Their sizing chart for large says 8-10. Wouldn't you have too much boot hangover (not on the board but on the bindings) on a smaller pair? Seems like you might lose a degree of control like that.


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2010)

phile00 said:


> Do you like them though? Are they good quality? Are there any limitations in performance? etc.?
> 
> I wear a size 9 boot. Their sizing chart for large says 8-10. Wouldn't you have too much boot hangover (not on the board but on the bindings) on a smaller pair? Seems like you might lose a degree of control like that.


Im in the middle of my size range for the bindings im using, they are the womens medium. My only concern comes when dealing with the toe cup. and how tight it needs to be, i cant get the toe to come in far enough so that its tight, without setting the highback tension all the way up, with that set so high i have forward lean like a mad dog and thats not fun. I rode one day with them and switched back to my bent metals to finish off the trip. I was planning on messing with them when i was back at school (30 min from a hill) and seeing how i could dial them in but i hurt myself and havent been riding. it just takes some tuning. My dad has a pair and loves them.


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

somebodyelse5 said:


> Im in the middle of my size range for the bindings im using, they are the womens medium. My only concern comes when dealing with the toe cup. and how tight it needs to be, i cant get the toe to come in far enough so that its tight, without setting the highback tension all the way up, with that set so high i have forward lean like a mad dog and thats not fun. I rode one day with them and switched back to my bent metals to finish off the trip. I was planning on messing with them when i was back at school (30 min from a hill) and seeing how i could dial them in but i hurt myself and havent been riding. it just takes some tuning. My dad has a pair and loves them.


Well, my boots are mostly dialed in in terms of getting rid of my foot pain, but I realized something as I was messing around with my two boards.

I have really sensitive feet that are easily prone to circulation being cut off, even when I have a proper arch in my feet. So I was messing around with my Goliath that has K2 Autos on them and despite the fact that they're a really great quality binding, the ankle tightening strap is what causes me the most trouble. When I strap one board on then the other and compare the feelings within a minute or two of each other, the autos are uncomfortable. Pretty much all bindings with an ankle strap are uncomfortable on me. I have a Nitro Sub Pop that has Flow Nxt-At bindings on it and it feels way better. No pressure points. The high back creates the tightness, rather than a rachet strap. I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of my autos and buying another pair of flows, or possibly trying fastec bindings. I might post my autos on the forum today.


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2010)

phile00 said:


> Well, my boots are mostly dialed in in terms of getting rid of my foot pain, but I realized something as I was messing around with my two boards.
> 
> I have really sensitive feet that are easily prone to circulation being cut off, even when I have a proper arch in my feet. So I was messing around with my Goliath that has K2 Autos on them and despite the fact that they're a really great quality binding, the ankle tightening strap is what causes me the most trouble. When I strap one board on then the other and compare the feelings within a minute or two of each other, the autos are uncomfortable. Pretty much all bindings with an ankle strap are uncomfortable on me. I have a Nitro Sub Pop that has Flow Nxt-At bindings on it and it feels way better. No pressure points. The high back creates the tightness, rather than a rachet strap. I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of my autos and buying another pair of flows, or possibly trying fastec bindings. I might post my autos on the forum today.


I know that with the fastecs the ankle strap is wicked soft. It almost feels like an inch of neoprene lol. Whats nice is that you set how tight they are with the sliding clip, and thats as tight as they are all day. with my bent metals i would always find myself ratcheting down as the day goes on, it wasnt like i needed to be tighter in i just progressively cranked down more. cant do that with these. If you need them tighter its really simple to do, but its not like a ratchet strap.


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

somebodyelse5 said:


> I know that with the fastecs the ankle strap is wicked soft. It almost feels like an inch of neoprene lol. Whats nice is that you set how tight they are with the sliding clip, and thats as tight as they are all day. with my bent metals i would always find myself ratcheting down as the day goes on, it wasnt like i needed to be tighter in i just progressively cranked down more. cant do that with these. If you need them tighter its really simple to do, but its not like a ratchet strap.


I wish someone would conduct an "alternative bindings" shootout. Nitranes, NXT-ATSE, GNU AG Fastecs, K2 Cinches, K2 Autos, etc.


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2010)

phile00 said:


> I wish someone would to an alternative bindings shootout. Nitranes, NXT-ATSE, GNU AG Fastecs, K2 Cinches, K2 Autos, etc.


would what?



Have you looked into bent metal bindings??
I have a set of burnt resins from like 07 and they are some kickass bindings. They are conventional strap, but they are super adjustable. You might look into those, couldnt hurt ya know?

I just broke my toe strap this season befor i got my gnus, Ive been very happy with these bindings. deepest heel cup in the industry (or last time i checked)


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

somebodyelse5 said:


> would what?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


meant to say "I wish someone would do an alternative bindings shootout", but I edited it to say conduct. You know, compare and contrast all the non traditional binding offerings.

I've tried Bent Metal before. Basically, heel straps bother my feet.


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2010)

phile00 said:


> meant to say "I wish someone would do an alternative bindings shootout", but I edited it to say conduct. You know, compare and contrast all the non traditional binding offerings.
> 
> I've tried Bent Metal before. Basically, heel straps bother my feet.


Oh ok gotcha. 

Couldnt hurt to suggest haha. I know after a day or so of riding my right shin, just above my ankle gets sore. After i ride this season (wont be for a while becaue of my knee) I can let you know how the gnus feel. I know that they have the strap you dislike, but the first thing i noticed strapping in was how comfy they actually were. As they get broken in/used ill let you know if the comfyness stays consistent!!!


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## phile00 (Jan 7, 2009)

somebodyelse5 said:


> Oh ok gotcha.
> 
> Couldnt hurt to suggest haha. I know after a day or so of riding my right shin, just above my ankle gets sore. After i ride this season (wont be for a while becaue of my knee) I can let you know how the gnus feel. I know that they have the strap you dislike, but the first thing i noticed strapping in was how comfy they actually were. As they get broken in/used ill let you know if the comfyness stays consistent!!!


Yeah I'm definitely giving them consideration. Hah,I just noticed I wrote "heel strap" in my post. Meant to write "ankle strap".


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## tonicusa (Feb 27, 2008)

The Ride Nitranes are awesome. Never thought I would try them as I am a die hard Burton CO2 rider. However even though I wear Burton boots the Ride Nitranes fit closer with more contact points than the CO2s because of all the adjustability of the Nitrane design. I actually find them more responsive than the CO2s because of this. I love the cant beds and the ability to adjust the flexibility of the anklestrap as well. Really glad I gave these a try I'm riding them with the K2 Believer Flatline and it's a sick all mountain and park setup.


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