Hopefully this won't get too much hate -- for those who have ridden them, what are people's take on Clew bindings? I got a cracking deal on them (~USD$200) so ordered a set. Been doing a lot of indoor snowboarding of late, so thought they'd be handy for the short length of the indoor runs, but keen to hear from anyone who's used them!
(sorry, posted this as a microblog first time when I didn't really mean to!)
Good
They are significantly better than the Nidecker Muon-X Snowboard Bindings that I took off my board, I much prefer the strap system, the releasing of the buckles is actually far easier than the Nideckers, overall they felt higher quality to be honest.
Pretty easy to release and step in to, I was even able to clip in while exiting a chair lift.
Board is crazy light when you release both high backs from them -- the indoor place I was in has magic carpets for a lot of the runs, so this was a win.
The heel stirrup doesn't feel weird at all to walk on - in the snow.
Not needing specialised boots is also a win, I have weird hobbit feet and I'm pretty happy with my current boots
Bad
It's hard to tell if you are fully clicked in to both points (there's two stages to the click in) I didn't really feel it when I was riding and had no issues getting in securely, but I was never sure if I was all the way in. I suspect though that once they break in this will be less of an issue, but we will see.
Reduction in board feedback vs the Nidecker's, wasn't a big issue as the Clews feel very responsive, but I just felt there was something missing.
When walking with the highbacks on it's pretty easy to kick your buckles and accidentally loosen them off.
I bought the white ones, already they are not super white haha
Closing thoughts
They're allright, step in bindings on short runs are an absolute win, I don't think they are worth their RRP, but as I only paid $200 for them and even without the step-in they are an upgrade over my entry level bindings without costing much more, I'm pretty happy with them.
I'll keep an eye on them and their future products, equally I'll look at other step in options - a lot of the riding I'll do in a year is indoor (hard to have snow in South East Asia!) apart from a few trips to Japan, China or maybe Italy/Switzerland a year so for me some kind of step in system is the way forward be it the Clew's or another system.
Any quick entry binding is going to be a major advance over traditional bindings on a short hill. I moved to quick entry because my local was a short hill (100-200 ft vertical) and it made a huge difference.
Well I have a cheaper pair of Nidecker bindings at the moment and not entirely happy with them (ride great but frequently very hard to unbuckle)
The Clew’s were roughly the same price so when they arrive I’ll see how the stack up, will keep the Nidecker’s in reserve either way, no reason I can’t switch back to them when the runs are longer (aiming for Xinjiang over Christmas)
Don’t fancy the Burton’s as I’m super happy with my current boots (I have short but fat hobbit feet so even with wide boots finding ones that fit well is a mission)
In summary kind of hoping that for USD$200 they’ll do what I want!
I've only held them, but not ridden in them; but talking to other people, and looking at them and how they're supposed to work, I think they're overengineered and clunky. Step in bindings are a good idea for short slopes, and well, can't fault you for wanting to save money. Hell, you might even like them.
Personally, I'd rather stick to regular bindings, or if I'm going step in, I'd go with Burton or Nidecker. Flow, too, if you like the feel of those. I just think the Clews are an unnecessary implementation of the concept.
Edit: Also, they're doing the Dope approach of getting Instagram "influencers" to use them, and I just dislike that for snowboarding gear. I was talking to Malcolm Moore a couple of months ago, and he said they approached him to partner with him, but it was kinda all about the branding, and not about the riding.
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