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New season, new Salomon boots and bindings

Saturday, 11. 7. 2009  –  Category: Snowboarding

Last season I picked up a new snowboard - the K2 Believer. I’ve just added to the new set-up with new boots and bindings - Salomon F22 boots and Salomon Relay Thruster bindings.

I realised last season that both boots and bindings were feeling quite soft and not giving me the precise control I was looking for. So it was time to retire my previous set-up, also an all-Salomon foot-kit of SPX44 bindings and Salomon Dialogue boots.

These had served me well for 4 seasons, so was keen to see what Salomon had to offer that would better suit my needs today.

I’d been reading about the Relay bindings system for a couple of years, which has sounded interesting. Here’s the low down from the Salomon Snowboards website

Soft ankle harness = Feels Good. Tensor system = Responsive SmartSole = Feels Good
1) Soft ankle harness.(comfort) Better boot wrap, 3D strap around you whole foot equals better fit and better comfort - allows med/lateral flex, natural foot movement. 2) Smart Sole (suspension) - absense of hard plastic under your heel, full eva plus a polymer structure between you and the board for maximum shock absorption and more direct board feel. 3) Tensor system (response) - transmits highback pressure directly to the front of the binding, lifting the toe edge and getting greater leverage to the board’s heel edge. With the absence of a hard heelcup, heel chatter does not turn into highback bite.

The tensor system in particular sounds like a great innovation.

Looking through this seasons range, the Relay Pro’s looked like the pick of the bunch. They’re pitched as more of a freestyle binding from what I’ve read about them. I’d also spotted the Relay Thruster’s from last season’s range, which offered up a stiffer highback, pitching them a touch more towards freeriding. Speaking to a guy on the Salomon Snowboards stand at the Metro Ski Show confirmed that the Thruster’s were a solid binding that were discontinued due to general trend of consumers favouring freestyle kit.

Independently, I’d had a couple of sessions trying boots on. I knew I wanted something stiffer than the Dialogue’s, and was prepared to put in the hours trying as many boots as possible to find the right combination of fit and feel. Before settling on the F22’s (which were the frontrunner from the start), I tried the following:

• Salomon Synapse - super-comfortable boots, looked great, but too soft
• Burton Ozone - comfortable, reasonable flex/stiffness but didn’t fit too well
• 32 TM Two - comfortable stiff flexing boot, but too much room to move my feet

Ending up with the F22’s - part of the Fusion series which specialises in reducing the overall foot print of the boot. With the smaller foot print, I could also aford to drop a size in the bindings, saving a little weight in the overall set up.

I admit they’re not the prettiest snowboard boots I’ve ever seen, but can’t say I’m too bothered.

Looking forward to giving the new set-up its first run out of the season, 6 weeks time in Cervinia.

Have you bought some new gear this season? Or used any of the above gear? Let me know in the comments below.

Tags: Salomon, Snowboard bindings, Snowboard boots