Burton SI Review
El Mar
is my product review.
First - a little about myself:
I am a 38 year old male freerider. Height 5'10", weight
170lbs. I consider myself to be an advanced rider.
Been riding about 6 years, skiied many years
prior to riding.
Current Setup:
3 year old Nolimitz Octave 161, 3 year old Burton Custom
bindings, 4 year old Airwalk Freeride II boots.
I demo'ed the SI system on my board. Snow conditions were packed
powder (we found some good pow in the trees still), temps were in the
upper 20's F.
In the shop: At first glance the system looks pretty good. The
bindings have a highback, and they attach to the sides of the boot.
Unfortunately, the mating surface on the boot is non-removable
plastic. The fist boots I tried on were in fact broken. The plastic
piece on the inside of the right boot was cracked, and when I applied
a little pressure to see if it was still attached, it fell off. I was
not impressed. I know that Burton has an outstanding replacement
policy, but I would rather not have to send my boots in for repair or
replacement. I would rather see a removable metal mating surface on
the boot. While these boots were the correct length for my feet, they
were very wide in the toe area.
At the slopes: These boots are so stiff that, lacing these boots up
snugly almost caused permenent damage to my fingers. The sole of the
boot is very stiff, and I felt like I was walking in ski boots. The
tread pattern does not afford much traction either. I did like the
heel hold down strap - it was comfortable and easy to cinch down.
On the mountain: Stepping in was a breeze. It was literally as easy
as placing your feet on strap bindings. The attachment was secure,
and the system was designed with a little lateral movement built in.
Getting on the chair was tricky due to the lack of traction, but
dismounting the chair was easy with only one foot attached. I had
very good control sliding down the off-ramp. After the first run, I
had to increase my angles by 3 degrees. The bindings felt ackward at
my "normal" angles (15 & 9). Riding was a challange - the boots are
super stiff, it felt like I couldn't bend my ankles at all. It was
fine on smooth packed pow, but I was uncomfortable in the trees.
Going edge to edge felt harder for some reason - which slowed down my
direction changes in the trees. Bumps and jumps were out of the
question. The lack of ankle movement made it difficult for me to
compensate if I got off balance. When I bent my legs to absorb a
shock, I only succeeded in bending at the knees. That resulted in
sitting on the toilet syndrome. A few times I had difficultly with
attaching my back foot. I noticed a little snow in the bindings, and
cleaning the snow out fixed the problem. Unfortunately, it didn't
take much snow to cause this problem. I was through with the SI
system by lunch time. On the positive side, I never had any pain in
my feet. Strap bindings cause me pain on the top of my feet -
especially my front foot - hence my desire to try strapless bindings.
Bottom line: The plastic mating surface on the boot has got to go.
Boots with more flex and traction are a must.
Respectfully submitted - ElMar
lisa stickley
El Mar wrote in message <36bd129...@netnews.worldnet.att.net>...
El Mar
highback built into the boot kept digging into my calf. I prefer to
have the highback parallel to the edge of the board, not fixed to the
angle of my heel.
Anyways ........ the search continues.
On Sun, 07 Feb 1999 06:33:36 +0000, Jonathan <*jr...@trail.com> wrote:
>great reviewing job!
>thanks for the detail and the qualifications.
>
>it sounds like you need a much softer boot...in clicker that would be
>the Yak.
>
>I don't know which boot in Switch might serve you
>
>don't give up on stepins, try clicker or switch...they have numerous
>advantages, imho
>
>Jonathan
>--
>to email me please remove the * from my address
Brian
editorial comments to your review.
I too was worried about the plastic on the boots but no problem so far and
they keep the boot light.
I agree the boot is wide which works great for me because I have abnormally
wide feet.
A disagree with the stiffness comments. These boots loosen up after about
two days of riding and now feel adequately "broken in". The rear of the
boot grasps the Achilles tendon well and the instep strap really helps keep
the heel down - makes for responsive transitions from heel to toeside turns.
Also the issue of snow clog is strange. yes you have to clear some snow
from the binding from time to time but you have to do that with straps as
well if you want a clean connection between boot and binding. It is not
like clickers where the snow can really jammed and need a tool to scrape it
out.
In summary, I think these are great bindings if you want a strap like feel
with step-in convenience. The boots should be tried first as they are
better for wider feet. After a day or two they feel like most soft boots
and are fine to walk in. Overall Burton is on the right track and if they
add some light metal to the boot-binding interface I think they will have
the best system in the end.
BT
Galen Kirkwood
the season, but I haven't heard too many great things about them.
>Strap bindings cause me pain on the top of my feet -
>especially my front foot - hence my desire to try strapless bindings.
I had this problem too, especially on the lift. So I cut a circular
hole about 1 1/2 inches in the boot bladder right over the bone and
haven't had a problem since. It works like a huge piece of moleskin
>
Neal Champion
I've done 13 days on the SI, using the stiffest boot (drifter), and
would like to echo Brian's comments (below), that the boots do loosen
up after a few days. They're still not the most comfortable boot
I've ever used, but very supportive.
I have a full review (with pictures!) published at the new
snowboarding ezine - www.sssss.com
Champ
"Brian" <a3a0...@bc.sympatico.ca> did tap out :
>>my feet. Strap bindings cause me pain on the top of my feet -
>>especially my front foot - hence my desire to try strapless bindings.
>>
>>Bottom line: The plastic mating surface on the boot has got to go.
>>Boots with more flex and traction are a must.
>>
>>Respectfully submitted - ElMar
>
>
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>M<V5N#0I%34%)3#M04D5&.TE.5$523D54.F)T:&EE<W-E;D!B8RYS>6UP871I
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>
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Kawasaki ZZR1100, Marin Rocky Ridge, Burton Custom 60 & SuperModel 74, Jackson Soloist
...but surely I'm more than a list of consumer durables!
Vanity Publishing at www.nchamp.demon.co.uk BOF#2 (ass.)
El Mar
foot in place. It almost seems like they had a last for normal feet
in the rear, and wide feet in the front. The boots I demo'ed looked
like they had many days riding, and they should have been broken in.
I'm sure that the Burton SI system works fine, if the boots fit, and I
suggest that anyone interested in a step-in type system spend the
money on a demo. I really liked the highback on the bindings. I feel
that this is a big improvment over having the highback built-in to the
boot. However, in my case, I'll keep searching.
ts...@my-dejanews.com
used to ride Airwalk Freerides but they are mush compared to Burton Rulers
which I have been riding for three seasons and have the '99 model now. They
are almost as stiff as my hardboots by design. These are NOT flexy pipe
boots, they are meant to be responsive for fast freeriding. El Mar may not
be used to such a responsive boot which may have seemed a bit jumpy in the
trees. I think the SI binding from what I have seen adds some stiffness, so
the combo he demoed is more of a freeride than a freestyle setup.
"lisa stickley" <li...@stickley9.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
> Good review. Thanks for the info!!!
>
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