# 2016 Now Drive vs Ride Capo for Flagship?



## Chordslinger (Mar 18, 2014)

I've got a set of 2014 Capos on my Flagship, and the '16 Drives have caught my eye as a possible upgrade to the kit. I like the Capos generally, but am curious about the Drive "Skate Tech" as a way to take the edge off of this stiff board.

Does anyone with experience with both bindings have a comment on what to expect if I move to the Drives? Will I miss the canted footbed? 

More info: 

Me - 240 lbs / 6'6"
2014 Flagship 168W
Burton Ion boots - size 12

Riding style: All mountain charging, steeps, trees, see lots of bumps throughout the day. No park, just beginning to learn jumps on small natural features.


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## Daniel.lane (Feb 26, 2016)

So first off I would start by saying the drives are Jeremy jones signature bindings, that in itself says you can't go wrong by throwing them on the flagship. 

If you're worried about not having a canted footbed with the drives, just know that with the skate tech the dampening is really good withe these bindings, so they will be good on the knees. Other words you can live without the canted footbed. These are pretty comfortable bindings to ride.

Finally I have never ridden a binding with the response of a NOW binding. These guys are doing it right with the skate tech. It is a big difference in the ride. I have a pair of the NOW pilots and they get switched between my jones hovercraft (powder board) and my Salomon drift rocker (all mountain freestyle board)


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## Clevocapri (Jun 7, 2014)

Don't Burton Ions have a Autocant style cushioning anyway?

So you would be getting help from your boots. Ive also heard as you need less effort to get the same response with the drives it takes less of a toll on your knee's/legs.

I just ordered some 2016 Drives so im yet to test them. But they sound like they will be sweet!


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## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

I have some Drives and I think they are awesome, having said that I put some Union Factories on my main board because I found I wanted even more response than the Drives. If your looking for the ultimate in response and want to go with Now I'd say look into the Overdrives.
The Drives are now on my Yes 420 and I find they compliment that board a lot better than my Darker Series which is my hard charger. Personally I found I had to work a little harder to get that super quick edge to edge response maybe because you have a little play or just overcoming that little bit of surfy feeling; it's hard to explain the Unions are just better transferring that energy with the slightest movement while the Drives you had to almost exaggerate the movements at least to get that super quick edge to edge. I'm not saying the Drives are sluggish but a traditional stiff binder is just faster or more efficient at transferring energy. I guess the best comparison I could make is the Drives are more like turning a skateboard with loose trucks and the Factories are more like using the tail of a skate to turn. Guess it all depends on what you are really looking for, for my pow stick surfy is preferable but for trees, moguls and hard carving I prefer making smaller faster movements for turn on a dime response.


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## Motogp990 (Mar 10, 2013)

I had 2013 capos and I currently have 2015 Drives.

I like the Drives significantly more, however its probably more personal preference than actually "better".

It's more what I didn't like about the Capos compared to what I like about the Drives, which for me makes the Drives that much better.

I'm now not a fan of an aluminum chassis. I didn't like the feel and feedback it gave me. And I felt the footbed was too plush/thick for me. Again, it didn't give me the level of feedback I like.

As far as the canting. I didn't really notice it. 

Fwiw, I had a pair of 2013 diodes and I liked them better than the Capo's as well


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

I have both... Capos and Drive.

Like both of them... but I'd put the Capos on a board where you want response, but also want to move around over the board a bit more. I really like the cushy footbeds and canting. I guess I'm older than MotoGP hehehe but still, the Now footbeds are really plush too.

So for a freeride stick like the Flagship, I'd definitely go with the Drives. Capos would match the mountain twin, and other aggressive freestiley boards......


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## joebloggs13 (Feb 28, 2013)

I own a 2016 Arbor Steepwater, which is as stiff or stiffer than the Flagship, and I have 2016 Burton Diodes on it. Paired with my Ions it's a pretty responsive setup. The Ride El Hefe would be a stiffer binding than the Capo if you want to go that route. I also looked at the Now O-Drives for my board but went with the Diodes, as I had heard of ratchet failures with Now bindings.


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## Chordslinger (Mar 18, 2014)

I ended up buying the Drives the day after the original post. 3 days of riding so far with the Flagship / Drive combo, and it's certainly an upgrade.
Feel very connected to the board, solid but smooth. I'm running the medium (yellow) stoppers for now, but will swap for the hard ones and see if I can notice a change. No question a more responsive binding than the Capo. Far more comfortable as well, and I don't notice the lack of canting. Did a few runs today with my Highlife that also has Capos, and the difference was felt immediately.

Now to sell a couple sets of Capos and pick up another set of Drives....


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## Loki (Mar 6, 2015)

The key difference I noticed when i popped NOW bindings on was that I needed to use less force to engage edges so I get far less thigh burn towards end of a day on the hill.


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## LightninSVT (Dec 31, 2010)

I just picked up the JJ Drives and have ridden them 3 times on the east coast. They replaced my K2 Formulas on a K2 Slayblade 162W. I feel like they are more responsive but I am noticing they are not as comfortable. Maybe the ankle strap needs some adjusting but the hard foam pad causes pain on the top of my foot, where the formulas & Autos I've ridden do not cause this. I'm not strapping them down super tight either...not sure whats going on here? I feel like the drive straps are just not as comfy as the leather straps on previous bindings I've ridden.

Jon


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## Chordslinger (Mar 18, 2014)

If your pressure points are across the top of your foot, try flipping the straps left to right. Moves the pressure band of the strap up higher on the boot. Made a big difference to my setup.


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## Alonzo (Dec 30, 2015)

LightninSVT said:


> I just picked up the JJ Drives and have ridden them 3 times on the east coast. They replaced my K2 Formulas on a K2 Slayblade 162W. I feel like they are more responsive but I am noticing they are not as comfortable. Maybe the ankle strap needs some adjusting but the hard foam pad causes pain on the top of my foot, where the formulas & Autos I've ridden do not cause this. I'm not strapping them down super tight either...not sure whats going on here? I feel like the drive straps are just not as comfy as the leather straps on previous bindings I've ridden.
> 
> Jon


The ankle straps straight up suck. Swap them out for a more comfortable set, though, and you'll have one sweet binding. 

I swapped out my ankle straps for Burton Hammock straps and replaced the shitty toe buckles (I broke two through normal use) with much tougher Union buckles and ladders. Now they're perfect.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

Chordslinger said:


> If your pressure points are across the top of your foot, try flipping the straps left to right. Moves the pressure band of the strap up higher on the boot. Made a big difference to my setup.


Yup. Arrow pointing up is much more comfortable.


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## shitty shredder (Feb 6, 2016)

NOW Bindings are not very adjustable compared to Formulas. Formula is probably the most adjustable binding I've seen (though I haven't ridden a ton of bindings).


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## JTCarver (Dec 27, 2015)

F1EA said:


> Yup. Arrow pointing up is much more comfortable.


Agreed. Big difference in comfort and support.


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## Mig Fullbag (Apr 15, 2014)

LightninSVT said:


> I just picked up the JJ Drives and have ridden them 3 times on the east coast. They replaced my K2 Formulas on a K2 Slayblade 162W. I feel like they are more responsive but I am noticing they are not as comfortable. Maybe the ankle strap needs some adjusting but the hard foam pad causes pain on the top of my foot, where the formulas & Autos I've ridden do not cause this. I'm not strapping them down super tight either...not sure whats going on here? I feel like the drive straps are just not as comfy as the leather straps on previous bindings I've ridden.
> 
> Jon


Had the same problem on my left foot (lead foot) until I played with strap length a little more and found the sweet spot. They have been super comfy since then.


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