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YIKES! Near-death experience with my 2009 Flow NXT-FRX bindings.

6K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  snowklinger 
#1 · (Edited)
Okay, maybe not actually NEAR death, but sure made me think about what might have been if the sun had been out and I'd really been charging it! We spent last weekend (March 1-3) at Pico in what started out as awesome conditions. Light snow the entire time, keeping things fresh, and temps in the very comfy upper 20s-low 30s. It was cloudy/partly cloudy, but the light was actually pretty good, not too flat.

We woke up Sunday to even more snow, and the crowds weren't too bad. But by mid-morning, conditions were changing and the thick fog/cloud bank moved down the mountain. We made a trip up top and headed down that semi-black, Upper Pike, and rode it all the way down. The visibility wasn't good, but it wasn't impossible. We said screw it, let's just go up the Golden Express Quad and do the lower half, and head to the Outpost where there are some fun black trails.

At the top of Golden Express, it was a total white-out. Could hardly see the tip of my board. I seem to be having some control issues, the board just isn't handling right. I get to the lift at Outpost, which is still a good distance up the mounting, and when I reach back to step out of my binding, the highback just falls backward on it's own. The control cable had totally snapped off! Now I could not only NOT see where I was going, I had to make it down the rest of the way with virtually no front binding. I walked back out because the only other choice was through the glades, which I wasn't going to do in this fog with no front binding. I worked my way down cautiously...and then remembered that Flow had sent me TWO cable systems a few years ago when I had an issue at Tahoe. We left, and I took the new cables to Cutting Edge, who replaced both of them for just $15, and I was back out riding on Wednesday.

I know there is a lot of controversy about Flows, but I love these. They were their stiffest bindings at the time, which I like. I hear the new models are a lot more solid, with better construction -- but also a lot more expensive. I'm not ready to ditch these, although I guess I did get almost five good seasons out them. But damn...that was scary. Maybe I'll check out some of those new models after all. They look pretty sick.
 
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#5 ·
after 3 seasons I was checking out my gear before a trip to Tahoe, and noticed my back foot cable was seriously frayed, just the inner wire left, the braided outer cable was shot. Flow was great and said they'd FedEx a new cable to Tahoe Dave's so it could repaired my first day there. But it didn't show up. Dave's found a cable system from an older pair of Flows in their spare parts and used that. When I got home from Tahoe, there was a package in my mailbox with two new cable systems. The "found" cable from Dave's has worked fine until a couple of weekends ago, when the hinge pin came out. I managed to repair it on the repair table at the base lodge, but it began working it's way out again. So I had my guy here in CT use the two new original equipment bindings Flow sent me and replace them both.

I guess five seasons isn't bad. I generally get about 30+ days in a season, more if we spend our two weeks in Tahoe (not this year).
 
#6 ·
Crazy, I have 70 or so days on my new nx2's and probably 100 on my fives... Have not had any cable issues. Only issue was my highback foam coming off after like 35/40 days. My local shop fixed it and flow sent me an extra set. I'd be sketched out if my cable failed....
 
#8 ·
Remember, I said 30+ days per season for five seasons. And these include a lot of hard days of charging Kirkwood and Stowe. I'd don't do park...I got super stiff bindings (NXT-FRX) and a super-stiff board (NS Titan). It takes some abuse.

I guess the biggest thing is realizing that I've actually gotten a lot of wear out of both of them. No complaints on the board -- it has the usual dings and wear, but still seems to have most of it's original stiff ride. The binding have undergone typical wear -- I've had to replace a couple of ladders and a ratchet, and stupid stuff like the logo labels falling off (who cares?). Otherwise, for my original $325 investment in the Flows (and paying less than $50 for the various "emergency" repairs over the years), I suppose you can say they've served me well.
 
#7 ·
I checked my cable on NXT-FSE (had them for 3 seasons) and although cable damage is small, it is there. It is caused by a small steel part in the highback which is used to adjust the cable tension and highback angle. The damage is bigger on the front binding.

So it is not an isolated issue, its just that you have been riding so much. The bad thing is it may be hard to estimate when the cable should be replaced.
 
#9 ·
The bad thing is it may be hard to estimate when the cable should be replaced.
That's the issue...the first time I had the rear foot cable replace, I was about to spend two weeks at Tahoe, and could see the frayed cable. It freaked me out...maybe it would have lasted, maybe not. Flow paid to replace it, and the repair lasted for another couple of years with no sign of wear on the cable...but the cheaper flip-up release wore out. So I used the parts Flow sent me -- no charge -- to replace the whole works. Now it's like I have a whole new set of bindings (except for the wear on the paint job and logo decals).
 
#10 ·
Shit breaks all the time regardless of how many days. Chick I'm hanging out with blew a brand new pair of the Special Blend Gasket SPT pants apart yesterday in 1 hour. Took the tags off she fell doing a back 1 off a side hit and there's now a 12 inch section blown out. I have had ratchets release on me when I landed jumps. Just have to be prepared for situations like that and not freak out.
 
#11 ·
Aww I was expecting a way better story. Like the time I was riding with my buddy on a nice warm spring day. We were bombing a run that was pretty much shaded with trees and near the bottom it opened up and the snow was bombarded with sunshine. Also that sunny snow was soft and much slower than the shaded stuff. My buddy 's board basically came to a dead stop and his inserts ripped right out of the board and he did what looked like 10 cartwheels bindings still attached to his feet, but not the board. He was knocked the fuck out and I literally thought he was dead. He woke up dazed and confused a minute later and ski patrol hauled him off and he was fine. He thought he was waking up from sleep in his bed and was more than a little shocked once I told him where he was and what just happened.
 
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