rightguard

Why did they stop making step in bindings. A long time ago I had a pair of switch step in bindings that I liked a lot, but you don't see them anymore. What happened?

killclimbz

They sucked...

Really what happened is they improved to a point, but could not keep up with strap setups. There were some durability issues too. People that used step in's started going back to straps and the market shrunk. Manufacturers quit pouring research into something that had a dwindling demand and they pretty much died. I am not 100% sure but I think clickers are still made and sold in Japan, maybe New Zealand. The riding performance of them just does not match up to today's bindings though.

About the best binding out there for the quick and easy step in convenience is going to be a Flow setup. In fact their line this year is top notch. The Flow team binding (though most expensive) was probably the top binding I demo'd this year. I was very impressed with it. The K2 ratchet was another fairly quick and easy to use binding. Though not as quick as the Flow.

And yeah, step in's suck...

Zodi

Agreed.

Step ins suck. I had a pair and managed to twist my ankle in them and tear my ligiments (sp?). Depending on the setup, most step-in boots/bindings are dead weight, bulky, not responsive, don't fit correctly.

Some people swear by Flows... try them out and see if you like them.

T.J.

i used to have the burton SIs and i liked them. i used to ride solo (or with skier friends) a lot so i could take a ton of runs without having to stop at the top. i never had and performance or reliability issues. then i started riding with friends so i was sitting at the top waiting anyway so i went back to straps.

like KC said, people stopped riding them. and companys stopped taking their pro riders advice on them so the R&D went down the tubes.

if you still really want to ride them look on ebay, they are still floating around there. in fact i still have step-ins and boots floating around a closet somewhere.

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Passion Over Fashion

rightguard

On the flow bindings, do you still have to adjust the straps every time, or is it really step in and go. It seems like it would be hard to get your foot in there without loosing the straps a little.

I'm trying to find something for my wife, that makes it a little easier to go. Right now I have to strap her in each time. Not like she needs top of the line, since she is still on the bunny slopes.

Zodi

If you pay for shipping, I'll send you mine. They're Burton Moto SI size 8.5. I don't want any money for them, I just want them out of my house. On the bunny slopes they should do... but as she progresses she'll need something different.

Let me know, I'll be glad to send them out to you.

lisevolution

the strap on the flows lifts up as the highback declines so it make entry/exit really easy. Best option of looking for something quick and easy. And no you don't have to adjust the straps every time. They can be a bit of a pain or at least the old ones were in terms of dialing them in perfectly but once you do get it set right you don't have to touch them again.

killclimbz

Flows are pretty easy to adjust now. They have mini ratchets, making it fairly quick to set them if you need to. That should only be once or (to fine tune the first adjustment)twice for the day. Once the they are dialed you leave them alone. Slip on slip off. Pretty freakin' easy to use for sure.

Dcp584

To me it sounds like she needs to learn to strap herself in. If she can't strap herself into regular strap and rachet bindings I think she'll have the same problem with the flows. The only sure fire way are the step ins but you have to find a set and the boots to make them work for her.

st.stark

I think it's mainly because you have to have matching boots, and people don't like being limited like that...