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Rome 390 Boss Paint Finish Sucks?

16K views 82 replies 37 participants last post by  Nefarious 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

I know this is superficial but I just got a pair of Rome 390 boss bindings in the white/blue color scheme and after 4 hours of easy shredding, they are all chipped up....wtf!? Has anyone had this issue?

I know this is bound to happen down the road, but this chipped up after 4 hours or easy riding?
 
#5 ·
No one is crying. They are amazing bindings and I would not use any other ...I was just curious as I read in another post that Rome was pulling some of their bindings from shops because of this issue of paint peeling and chippin off.

I am sorry my post brought back bad memories for you and your feelings got hurt.
 
#9 ·
Mine has some minor chips and hell, I got a little tear in the right ankle strap's cushion. I can care less. They have an excellent warranty if I need to use it. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the heck out of my chipped, slightly torn, awesome pair of bindings.

Rome 390 Boss = super sick

Try putting your pants over the bindings. That might help with the paint chips a little :p
 
#12 ·
Just an observation, but I find the 390 bosses to be highly glossy. I'm no paint expert, but it is my experience that anything that has a high gloss finish chips easily. Cars are the perfect example. There is a gaming computer company, Falcon, that uses this high gloss car paint finish on their towers. They are notorious for being super sexy, but highly prone to scratching and chipping.

I think this is the case with the bosses. They look super sexy with all that gloss, but paint durability took a hit. This was probably just an oversight on their part.
 
#13 ·
it's the chemical reaction between the type of material that's the bindings are made out of to the paint...so i'm going to say that the painter had missed and skipped a step when painting it. for example. i used to paint front bumpers for import cars and they are slammed most of the time, which will get chips from rock easily. so before you paint you'd add a step which is an adhesive promoter paint/spray. it would be 10x stronger against chipping. it works for bumpers, it def. works for binders. someone missed a step!
 
#14 ·
A Rome rep actually messaged me. They have AWESOME customer service. They said they have had some some issues regarding the paint and are treating it as a warranty issue. It does not seem like a huge wide spread ordeal, but just a heads up.
 
#23 ·
sorry dont have pics of the highbacks...but do have a pic from a friends phone of the base of the bindings. This is the pic I sent to Rome just to confirm if there was an issue, and they kind of assumed they would be sending me highbacks.



Again....I am honestly not trying to make a big deal out of this. I only brought it up because I heard Rome was pulling some bindings from stores due to paint issues. Obviously if they think it warrants them pulling products, I could at least ask about it.

I did not ask Rome to send out new parts, they offered. I only emailed to confirm what I was asking. I honestly will prob. tell them to keep the highbacks as most of the chips are on the actual base. I was only wondering if this is an issue or if it was really just normal wear. My older Ride bindings held up very well in terms on paint, etc. after many days of abuse.
 
#25 ·
Few things here...

The car analogy was a very poor one. Of course you would return a car that had a bad paint job. A car is easily one of the biggest life investments. They cost thousands (unless you pick up a beater in which case paint won't be an issue anyway) of dollars. We are talking about a $230 pair of bindings here.

That brings us to the next issue... In the grand spectrum of bindings of this caliber, $230 is very reasonable.

Plus you guys already know how good Rome treats their customers. So if your bindings actually fail mechanically, you know they will hook you up.
 
#48 ·
The car analogy was a very poor one. Of course you would return a car that had a bad paint job. A car is easily one of the biggest life investments. They cost thousands (unless you pick up a beater in which case paint won't be an issue anyway) of dollars. We are talking about a $230 pair of bindings here.

That brings us to the next issue... In the grand spectrum of bindings of this caliber, $230 is very reasonable.
the car analogy is fine. you're missing the point...it's about principle, and not money. the fact that some people paid over $200 just adds insult to injury.

everyone has certain expectations in anything they buy. no matter what the item is or how much they paid. with that being said, rome has trouble keeping a simple thing like paint issue free. everyone knows these bindings get banged up and abused, so it should be something rome would take into consideration.
 
#26 ·
This sucks... quality fade hits Rome again. While I don't think that paint chipping is a big deal, it does indicate that there are quality issues at the Chinese factory that makes these. This started last year with the United recall.
 
#32 ·
Rome started painting over their plastics in 08/09.

Prior to that, they molded with actual colored plastics (it was also a higher quality, less brittle plastic). Any prints/graphics were dyed into the plastic. Their bindings, back then, were constructed as a unit to last a lifetime (baring ladders)...which, I guess, they've decided is now not that important.

Their bindings are still basically the same great design...but I was hoping their plastics was just a QC issue and would be resolved by now.
 
#33 ·
Well, this is what happen when you trust your painters in China. If you don't have a QM in Shenzen, you are bound to get fucked sooner or later...

And whine or not, for the price these bindings sell at, chipping paint is unacceptable. My Targas do not have this issue.
 
#34 · (Edited)
I don't get it... why has this discussion degraded into talking about Chinese manufacturing standards? All from chipped paint? Really? Now we are talking about the quality of the plastic, yet no one here has a broken 390 Boss?

I wish everything could be produced in America, but that is no longer feasible. Do you realize how expensive stuff would be if that were the case? China has been producing a shit ton of products for American companies for a loooooong time. I think it's time we all accept that fact. It's either that or you fish out companies that manufacture here and pay the price premium.

Furthermore, Rome seems more than happy to replace your product for the "OMG MY PAINT CHIPPED" defect. Maybe since they save so much money by having China make these bindings, they are able to provide all the nit picking snowboarders with an awesome no questions asked warranty claim.

Sorry, about my rant. It's annoying when discussions degrade into this type of conversation stemming from something as minute as paint chipping.

Every company makes mistakes, China manufacturing or not. At least Rome's problems are as small as paint chipping :rolleyes:

It's this type of mentality that give companies unwarranted bad reputations.
 
#35 · (Edited)
So Leo, when you buy a brand new car, and the paint chips at the bumpers after getting home 2 hours later, you would be just fine with it?

I mean after all, the point of a car is to get you from a to b, who cares about some chipped paint?


Also, it seems that you are misunderstanding the posts and reading what you wish. The gist of the criticism on my behalf is not the manufacturing in China per se, its the philosophy of Chinese quality control. Miss it once once as a company, and your second batch is flawed in some way.

Rome also has issues with their toe straps.
 
#36 · (Edited)
I already addressed your car analogy. It's a fallacy.

Car = Multi thousands $$$

Bindings = Couple hundred $

Furthermore, cars have to go through vigorous testing and quality inspections. Don't be fooled though, plenty of parts come from Chinese factories or other countries. Even precious American cars. Ford focus being the perfect example. It's a redressed Mazda 3.

So yes, having spent thousands and thousands on my car, I would be pissed if the paint just chipped off on its own or if the bumper fell off. Then again, warranty takes care of that so as long as the thing drives the way it should, and they give me a rental while they re-paint, I'm good (actually happened to my Mitsubishi by the way, one of the outside aesthetic panels came loose).

It seems you are the one reading what you wish out of my post. My question remains, why are we talking about Chinese quality control? Because a mis-step in the paint department means the plastic sucks? So by your logic, one failure means more failures down the line? It can't be just that one failure?

Even further, what's your experience with Chinese quality control anyway? I've had tons of shitty American made products, yet everyone and their mom seems to want American made stuff. I've also had good American made stuff though. It's the same with Chinese made products. The real problem here is people's subjectivity. They view China as being this horrible way to produce products because of all the negative media attention foreign manufacturing gets. Also, to knock American made products makes you an anti-patriot so it's a sort of taboo.

People overlook the fact that imports actually stimulate our economy increasing our standard of living. Americans are so quick to blame the Big 3 automobile company failures to outsourcing/off-shoring, but no one wants to point out all the flaws and poor decisions they made that led up to their failure.

So no, I'm not reading what I want to read. I know exactly what you are trying to get at. And that is what I'm attacking.

So they had toe strap issues... then they join the ranks of Ride, Flow, Burton, and Union. What else you got? Maybe the "ROME SDS" lettering was crooked on a particular model so that means something else must be wrong with it structurally?

EDIT: Just thought of a way better analogy for you...

I remember when I bought my iPhone 3GS when it came out. I was soo stoked. Cost more than the Bosses by the way... I paid, got it set up, put it in my pocket and went on my merry way. Got home and found tons of scratches on the back of the phone. OH NO! MY BRAND NEW $299 IPHONE HAS SCRATCHES ALREADY! Damn, shouldn't have worn jeans I guess. But then I forgot all about it after I started to play with the phone. The made in China thing never crossed my mind since the thing worked great other than being super sensitive to scratching.
 
#37 ·
Quality fade in Chinese manufacturing is well documented, and very difficult to get a handle on once it starts. In what other country will manufacturers put melamine in infant formula to save a buck? Chinese manufacturers have shown time after time that profit trumps safety, and they will cut corners if they can get away with it. In North America and Europe, there's recourse against this. With Chinese manufacturers there is not.

This is just a paint issue, but last year it was the United bindings blowing up.
 
#38 ·
This is a much more substantial post. Thanks.

The car analogy was just bad...

Still, with Rome itself... wouldn't this showcase a standard of quality trending upwards? Going from "blowing up" to paint chipping is a good thing I would say. Going from "blowing up" to... well, I guess in the binding world that is as bad as it gets :laugh:

Maybe going from that to melting would be worse? haha.

In all honesty, so far the paint chip is a very, very small issue. As long as nothing blows up this year, I see that as a positive trend towards quality going up rather than down.
 
#40 ·
I know Mazda is Japanese. I was talking about foreign manufacturing as a whole with the main emphasis being that the beloved American Ford company partners with Japanese Mazda.

The car analogy still fails. Not because on price alone. Bindings simply do not go through the type of testing that cars do. Much more thought goes into the design of a car and many more hands play a role in producing said car. It is also much more widely produced than a binding. It plays one of the biggest roles in our lives and our safety depends on this thing that we use everyday. So yes, while bindings go through testing of their own and costs a pretty penny relatively speaking, it is nowhere near the level of a car in every aspect. I expect a binding to fail long before my car does.

I don't know what to make of your top 10% American made comment. If there is proof for that, it would be a great read. Experience tells me the Japanese have a better version of it lol. Unless you are talking military. But I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of their scientists are German and Japanese.

Every defect you listed from Rome has happened to every company. Where Rome stands above the crowd is customer service. One of the best out there.

As for Burton, they test the ish out of their products. The reason you hear more about their defects and crappy products is because of the sheer volume of products they produce. The ratio of defects could very well be lower than many brands. They also have a much wider product range. Look at their board selection. There's a board for every type of rider at every single level. Half are bound to be crappy to experienced riders. You have to realize that they have so much money to dump on R&D. I don't know the specifics, but something tells me they have the biggest and best R&D facility.

On that note, I know for fact that Ride and K2 have excellent facilities as well. They rock :D:thumbsup:

As for my phone, nope... nothing else in the pocket. Read any review and you'll find that this isn't an isolated incident. Just the price you pay for having something that is nice and glossy I guess.

I'll keep rocking these:

Rome 390 Boss Snowboard Bindings 2011

Like that plug? :laugh:

And no arguments about their release ratchets. I wrote a review about the problems I encountered. Still, best traditional strap bindings I've owned for the style it's targeted to. I hear that Union has crappy and ancient designed toe ratchets, but everyone and their momma still rocks those. But nobody rocks Drakes... odd.
 
#41 ·
Having owned 2 pairs of Rome bindings, 2 from the 06/07 season, and one from the 09/10 season, I can say that the overall quality is substantially less on the newer ones. I think this is an industry wide trend however, not just Rome, and not just in snowboarding. Skiers are experiencing the same thing.

At some point companies may start looking at producing domestically again when the rate of defects exceeds what they expected. Make no mistake, a percentage of defects are acceptable in manufacturing, and when you're manufacturing costs are lower, the defect rate can be higher. This does mean the overall quality of the product drops (higher defect rate = lower overall quality). At some point a manufacturer might say that it's costing them too much to replace their defective products, and look to produce a higher quality product at a higher cost but with a lower profit margin, but this will be offset by lower returns and the ability to charge the defects back to the factory. Most Chinese contracts do not allow charge backs for defective products. In fact, most manufacturers in the third world operate this way. The company that comissioned the product is usually left holding the losses for defects. That's a secondary secondary why they can manufature cheaper in these countries, especially China. However, it's not a long term strategy, because poor quality can do irreprable harm to a companies potential for future income.

Going back to the car analogy, how many people will not even consider a Hyundai because of how crappy they were 20 years ago?
 
#42 ·
Going back to the car analogy, how many people will not even consider a Hyundai because of how crappy they were 20 years ago?
That is very true. Even after their 10 year warranty came out. However, I do see Hyundai getting a lot more praise now. Ever since they took over Kia, you can tell they have been working hardcore to improve that brand's image as well.

The Big 3 seem to be headed in the right direction now as well they should be. Let's hope this trend continues positively.
 
#43 · (Edited)
pretty sure rome bindings have always been made in china...even the bomb proof pre-2008 models. The current plastic is obviously good enough for most people...I prefer not to find myself not only sol on the mtn, but then having the hassle of returning broken parts.

So, the only other issue is they've gone with sparkly glitz over the more solid matte finish of yesteryear. Sad, that's what it must take to stay competitive in this industry right now. I agree, worrying about a little paint chipping is ridiculous...it's like complaining your board got a scratch. When the highback cracks, tell us.
 
#46 ·
Yes, even the old ones were made in China. Hence my comment about quality fade. Factory starts to cut corners slowly to increase margins, and Rome doesn't notice until stuff starts coming back. Sucks for them, sucks for the customer.

Here's a good article from Forbes:

Dealing With China's 'Quality Fade' - Forbes.com
 
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