Step ins, need recommendation please
 

I was holding my friends board the other day and notice how much lighter his is. Granted he has a traditional strap system and titanium and I have Step ins.

But I'm getting a second board and want to stick with step ins. It's better on my back than hunching over all the time to strap in.

I currently have the K2 step ins from 2009/10.

Anyone have a recommendation for a great step in binding that is light and durable?

Thanks

(Demo'd the gnu and wasn't so happy with them.)

so... Flow? :D

I'd also recommend trying flow. You'll have to bend down for like maybe a second to strap in each time. Step-in bindings suck compared to regular. There's a reason that nobody uses them.

Go Flow :thumbsup:

I see a lot of people using them. I also see a lot of manufacturers making them now that never made them before.

Previously it was just Flow. Then K2 started making them, even Gnu/Lib has gotten into the action.

The only people I really hear down talking step-ins are people who haven't ridden on them. But everyone who rides on them love them.

Granted, I'm not saying they are the highest performance. But in terms of comfort and ease of use, I've found they work great and hear it echo'd all the time from other step-in riders.

And if having a system that takes a notch out of performance but gives me an extra hour or two of pain free riding, I think it's a worthwhile trade off.

Anytime I've demo'd traditional snowboard bindings, I have a much less enjoyable day.

I know Flow's are popular especially cause they were the first to push the system. But when I was outfitting my board in 2010, the salesman really pushed me hard into the K2 instead of the Flow.
I love the K2. I know it's a binding I can re-buy. I'm just exploring other options.

I'm not positive about this, but we may be having terminology issues here. When you say "step ins", I wonder if some people are thinking of those click-in plate bindings. Flows and Cinch are more often described as "rear entry" or preferably "quick entry" since the first phrase just set some comedians off :laugh:

You're really talking about a rear entry binding. Step-ins/clickers are a totally different binding type and an utter failure made by Shimano, K2 and a few others..

Yes, the first thing that popped into my head were those god awful click-in bindings with no highbacks that I had when I was 10 :laugh:.

If anyone still actually uses those, please unscrew them and proceed to throw them in the nearest trash can.

I see what you mean. I thought you were referring to the old click-in bindings that nobody uses. I totally misunderstood that. I know K2 has the Cinch, Gnu has the Fastec, and obviously the flows. They ride a little different than standard bindings but overall are still good. I'd still recommend Flow over any of those other brands if you're set on getting rear entry bindings. They've been at it longer and it seems like they're ironed out more of the problems compared to the other companies.