bntran02

Just wondering how accurate they are for reviews. I am in the market for some bindings and came across The Ride Maestros and Capos.

According to Ride:
Capos are for the Freerider
Maestros are for the freestyler

According to thegoodride.com
Capos are for the All-mountain
Maestros are for the Freerider

Ride has more insider knowledge of how their equipment should work but also has a marketing interest. Yet thegoodride is the opposite 3rd party reviewer.

BurtonAvenger

I wouldn't hold them in any high regard they use unquantifiable number scales.

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Angry Snowboarder Because someone has to call it how they see it!

david_z

Maestros are NOT freeride bindings they've got similar/same Stealth highback to the old Delta MVMT line which is now on the Rodeo (freestyle) and that is nowhere near firm enough for freeriding.

The Capo is all-mountain freestyle a/k/a "all-mountain", should be versatile enough for almost anything.

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604al

If you can't get first-hand experience with gear, I wouldn't rely solely on one or two sites to make my decision. Use this forum, BurtonAvenger's site, goodride, and google to decide what to narrow it down to.

I would say goodride is great with gear they have first hand experience with (seems like mostly burton), as in they have a "good ride take" section that's completed. Otherwise they seem to simply draw conclusions from manufacturer info. It's still a good reference site for sure.

jdang307

Reviews have crazy variance.

For example, checking out the Rome Factory Rocker, I read BA's site and it says it's barely above jib flex, I go read Agnarchy and David and Leo put it at a 6/10 and say it's goin to take some effort to press.

And then you or I might hop on it and then find it completely different than both of them. So what does that mean? Buy the damn thing and try it yourself. Factory Rocker is a little over $200 so now is the season to buy and try.

I thought their Coda review was on point. But every rider and their own frame of reference is different.

I say ignore everyone except shay and board insiders.

david_z

that's one of the inherent problems in trying to quantify things with numbers... my 1-10 scale might be different than yours or BA's etc. a 6 IMO is really not all that stiff especially if you like a jib flex around 4 or 5, compared to noodle flex, 3 or lower.

Ultimately you gotta do your research, if you can't get on the hill to demo, read all the reviews from all the sources you can find, and take in to consideration the reviewers' riding styles, weight, skill, conditions, etc., and form your own best guess as to how each board is going to stack up.

In all honesty a 10pt scale probably has too much implied variation to be useful to most people. Can you imagine riding a board that is a "10" stiffness? Or for that matter, a "1"? IMO a 5pt scale would be more useful and still provide enough meaningful variation as opposed to the 10pt scale. But that's the market research nerd in me speaking... Or you could go like Bataleon and use a backwards scale!

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BurtonAvenger

If this is a serious statement I hope you load a gun up and put it in your ass while pulling the trigger till it goes click.

Here's all you need to know about reviews.

Board size, riders weight, conditions, stance width, and what the board is intended for. The more information the better. I know Dave and Leo have a good 40lbs on me if I'm riding a 155 and they're riding it of course it's going to flex different.

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Angry Snowboarder Because someone has to call it how they see it!

david_z

ahhh be easy on Leo I think he's only got like 20 lbs on you. me, now that's another story I might have 50 on you if I ate a big breafkast.

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chub11

Frankyis4

The site is a good base, but like everything you have to verify. Since I have the Maestro I can say that they perform more like a free ride than a freestyle but that's because they are a lot stiffer than most freestyle bindings. They are most responsive than my Cartels which I wasn't expecting. So maybe since they felt like it performed like it was a free ride binding they were going to put it under there. I think in that review they said Ride bindings are stiff enough to bend any board.