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Ride Contraband Snowboard Binding Review

Bindings - Binding Reviews

 
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Ride Contraband Snowboard Binding Review

ride_1011_contraband_charcoal_250x250

$199

Discontinued for 2012
Intermediate to Expert All Mountain Freestyle
Ride says you don't need a full toe strap and here is their proof.  You will either love these or hate them.  The one strap adjustment is what K2, Flow and Gnu are all doing with their bindings but none of us at the good ride feel it takes that much longer or the quick strap world is necessary.  Another problem is the toe strap can not be adjusted when the binding is on the board.  So if it is off and it needs adjustment you have to take off your bindings and that sucks when on the hill.    Another thing is the rubber on the toe strap seems like it wont' last a long time.   The Contraband is also quite a pain in the ass to set up.  Look at the video and see how many tools you need and then compare that to the toolless adjustment that Flux offers.  All in all the performance is liked by some and hated by others as well.  Some feel the toe strap is not enough and others don't know the difference. If you are up for trying the contraband binding this is a slightly watered down version of the Ride Nitrate Contraband that has a different foot bed (still canted though), different high back and a less fancy strap.  The performance is still very similar but the edge definitely goes to the Nitrane over the plain old Contraband.  These bindings aren't for everyone but they can do a good job for those who are patient and love to have the fastest set up.

How It Rides

Flex Medium
Response Good
Dampening
Good
Adjustability Good
Weight
Light
Shock Absorption
Average
Comfort
Good
Lateral Movement
Excellent
Board/Boot Integration Good

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The Good Ride Take

A Good Ride Take on Binding Tech

Metal vs Plastic Bindings

This is a Goodride breakdown for all you that are having a tough time choosing your bindings and what to make of the material you are looking at.  Most bindings are Metal, Plastic or some combo of the 2.

Metal Bindings have a lot of great aspects.  Almost all-metal bindings are made from aluminum.  Aluminum is great when it come to weight to stiffness ratio and also pretty durable.  There is one key issue with metal/aluminum bindings; they transfer all the vibrations from the board right into your feet.  This is the same principle that pelage “bass-less” bindings, your feet got totally tired or fatigued.  The newer generations have much better/damp bases so this problem has been minimized and in some cases eliminated.   There are some companies that make great bindings despite the vibration issue with Aluminum.   Some that come to mind are Ride and Rome.

Plastic Bindings also have many great features but let’s address some technical stuff first.  Most plastic bindings are really hardened glass plastic mix.   The high-end stuff tends to have a more carbon, and carbon fiber added for extra stiffness and weight savings.  Plastic bindings really dominate the market right now and most top bindings these days are mostly or all plastic.  They can be really stiff and react well to your commands.   The new bindings finally dialed in the carbon/ fiber integration to the point that the bindings will perform with the stiffness of metal and absorb more chatter.  Most industry leaders have limited or completely eliminated metal from their bindings and we feel that with the materials used right now this is the future.  Some mostly plastic companies that we feel rock are Burton, Flux and Union.

What kind of binding should you buy?  It’s a tough call.  Both Plastic and Metal bindings offer freestyle, freeride and all mountain styles.  At this point we feel that plastic bindings are edging out metal bindings when it comes to the very high end $300+ category.  However it is a tough call in the below $300 category as to which material has the advantage.

The Good Ride Take on Ride Snowboards
They are from the same parent company as K2 and have many similarities in terms of board design and company policy.  Ride’s customer service is better than K2’s and actually has a # to call on their site instead of just an on-line form.  Ride, like K2 seems almost secretive when it comes to having third party entities like us or end users like you review their gear.  So many companies like Burton, Rome, YES, Arbor ect. are really proud of their gear and try to do everything they can to get you to ride them.  Ride seems to do the bare minimum and despite its large size has very few demo products. Their policy seems to be if you want to try it you have to buy it.  Ride chooses mainly to work with variations of flat/rocker snowboards but has recently started to work with hybrid camber.   Their hybrid camber is different than YES and Rossignol and leans more on the flat camber side of things but we still like to see them go in this direction.  We have found that we like some of their shapes but other boards we weren’t fans of .   Like K2 Ride’s rocker shapes always seem to be pretty flat between the feet and it makes for one of the better rocker set up out there.  Ride makes pretty good bindings and many people swear by them.  They have more parts than most bindings but all in all they do a very good job despite the fact that a lot of the binding is metal.  We are big fans of the canted foot bed but can’t say we are a fan of their Contraband strap system.  They make good boots that last for a long time but boots are so personal all we can speak to is their build and longevity.

 

Company Info & Specs

Ride Nitrane Contraband 2011

CONTRABAND BINDINGS
SINGLE RATCHET STEEZE
$199.95

The Contraband snowboard binding combines Ride’s revolutionary V-Strap™ single ratchet technology and lightweight chassis to provide the performance you need with the tweak-ability only Contrabands can offer. Featuring the Wedgie 2.5 footbed, the contraband binding is built for advanced freestyle riders seeking that boost of ollie pop. With added comfort and prime flex, put this bomber binder to the test.

STYLE: All Mountain Freestyle, Park Pipe

SIZES: 7-9, 9-11, 11-13

CONSTRUCTION:
ContraBand™ Chassis System
ComfortFlex Highback
NEW! Balance Core Ankle Strap w/ V-Strap™
UltraLite Quick-Draw Ratchets
Wedgie 2.5 w/ Smooth Ride Landing Pads
Urethane Rollbar™ Basepad
Forged Aluminum Response Disc

BINDINGS FLEX-O-METER:
Flex Rating: 5

BINDINGS TECH SIZE CHART

 

 

Ride Nitrane Contraband 2010

SO FAST, EASY AND LIGHT…IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!

The Contraband combines Ride’s revolutionary V-Strap™ single ratchet technology and lightweight chassis to provide the performance you need with the quickness of a “one-touch” in and out. Now featuring the new Wedgie 2.5 footbed built for advanced freestyle riders seeking that boost of ollie pop. With added comfort and prime flex, put this bomber binder to the test.

MSRP: USD 219.99


STYLE: Mobility

COLORS: Black, Bone White, Rally Blue

SIZES: 7-9, 9-11, 11-13

CONSTRUCTION FEATURES:
ContraBand™ Chassis System
NEW! ComfortFlex Highback
Balance Ankle Strap with V-Strap™
UltraLite Quick-Draw Ratchets
NEW! Wedgie 2.5 Footbed w/ Smooth Ride Landing Pads
NEW! Urethane Rollbar™ Basepad
Forged Aluminum Response Disc


Pictures

Ride Nitrane Contraband 2011



 

 


Ride Nitrane Contraband 2010

 

 





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