Before I got them I tried to look for some reviews on them, not many around just a few videos showing how they work is all so I hope this sheds a little light on what they are like in practise. It was between these and the Apo bindings which are pretty hard to find in the UK, not many places sell them so it was these, the brotherhoods or gnu mutant which looks scary. I was not too fussed about an asymmetric high back so saved some cash for beer money and got the cores.
I waited until I could ride these a bit before doing this review. Had them for 6 months now for a week abroad and maybe 15 indoor sessions.
Setup is easy enough and adjustment when you are on the slope or whatever is pretty easy but the little clasps and ratchets are not the most stable, all plastic tending to free up or drop click or two. They are nice and light, good base to them and the fastec is a nice touch, it doesn't always release when you push down on it but it is a good system to use when you are getting in and out.
The foam footbed is a bit of a pain because it is porous so it grabs snow which builds up and goes solid fast so as much as it would save you time being rear entry you do often still need to lean down and scrape some ice off, I feel rubber would be better for this. The plastic high back is very playful, it is certainly a binding for people who want to jump about boxes and junk but still handled well on and off piste. The disc is one of the universal jobbies, made entirely of metal which does often cause problems with how the washers sit, they are tight enough one time but then they loosen up enough to slide back and forth- luckily this never happend anywhere but indoors. This was probably down to my own fault of not wanting to overtighten the screws and mess up the board, but they were still pretty tight when I did them in the first place doing opposite screws tightening little by little until they are all snug.
On a steep powdery hill, you look like a tool on your knees facing the mountain as you kick your foot in, everyone else can comfortably sit down and buckle in but for these rear entry binding's it's just not possible. When you get in, the toe snugly pushes your foot back and the heel strap doesn't pinch even if you wear it quite tight. More than once however the strap shifted and was across my foot rather than around my toe, which is not ideal but pushing it down again doesn't take long it's just hassle- maybe it was just my boots being squishy.
About a month ago one of the toe strap buckles broke,
it ripped the plastic pretty good just from popping off an indoor kicker, maybe I landed funny or maybe it was too tight or too loose, I dunno. I e-mailed SP and was told to send a picture of the break so they could send me a new part, which arrived a little under 4 weeks later which is a long time to ride just a heel strap on your back foot but whatever, it came from Slovakia with €1.90 worth of stamps on it. They gave me a left and right one which is pretty cool to have a spare.
Pros - Comfy, lightweight, quick.
Cons - Not ideal off piste, plastic doesn't seem too sturdy, discs are not foolproof enough.
Would I recommend SP core bindings? No. They are good enough but I am sure there is something better out there, maybe rear entry just isn't for me.
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I have ridden them for well over 60 days.
I mainly rode them in the park or off piste.
Setup is easy enough and adjustment when you are on the slope or whatever is pretty easy but the little clasps and ratchets are not the most stable, all plastic tending to free up or drop click or two.
Personally i didnt experience this once, where as previous years with other bindings (Rome 390, flow m9, etc...) i have had straps regularly breaking or coming loose.
The foam footbed is a bit of a pain because it is porous so it grabs snow which builds up and goes solid fast so as much as it would save you time being rear entry you do often still need to lean down and scrape some ice off, I feel rubber would be better for this.
Again i didnt find this happen to me very often, well nowhere near as bad as most other bindings
The disc is one of the universal jobbies, made entirely of metal which does often cause problems with how the washers sit, they are tight enough one time but then they loosen up enough to slide back and forth- luckily this never happend anywhere but indoors. This was probably down to my own fault of not wanting to overtighten the screws and mess up the board, but they were still pretty tight when I did them in the first place doing opposite screws tightening little by little until they are all snug.
I would guess this was just down to you not doing them up tight enough, i didnt have any bolts one the whole binding come loose the whole season
On a steep powdery hill, you look like a tool on your knees facing the mountain as you kick your foot in, everyone else can comfortably sit down and buckle in but for these rear entry binding's it's just not possible.
This is the same with all rear entry bindings, and if anything these are better than most as the main strap pops open to give more room.
More than once however the strap shifted and was across my foot rather than around my toe, which is not ideal but pushing it down again doesn't take long it's just hassle- maybe it was just my boots being squishy.
This did also happen with me, but i did find it was only when it wasnt positioned correctly when putting your foot in...
Overall for a rear entry binding i did find it very good.
Pros: Lightweight, flexibly high back, Quick to get in and out of, take abuse without breaking.
Cons: the top strap that release when the highback is pushed down starts to become worn over time and you have to wiggle your boot for it to click free.
Would i buy them again? Probably not only due to the fact im wanting some ratchet bindings.
Would i recommend them to someone else? Yes, if someone is after a rear entry binding then these are a very good option, as they give the support of a ratchet binding but the speed of a rear entry binding.
Would have liked to read what you have to say before buying them, but like I said there is not much in the way of user reviews as far as I could find, would agree fully about the worn heelstrap statement too.
The toe straps just seem super flimsy, it's the plastic that doglegs so pressure gets put on it in a seemingly akward way, hinged at the bottom but gets pushed forward.
My other gripe was the base plates slipping last holiday and at the start of this season, never had a problem with that at all last week. A proper phillips No.3 screwdriver helps a lot it seems.
Before these I had some Ride bindings and then Salomon Relay Pros.
I purchased these for mainly Snowdome use but though I'd give them a go on the mountain.
I must say I'm impressed and will probably stick with them. I rode them on and off piste for the week.
No problems with the heal strap you can get it nice and tight. the toe strap did slip slightly on occasion but I find that will all toe cap type straps (and it did't bother me enough for me to try and get the fit tighter)
After a couple of days I found that I preferred to face the mountain, board up on the toe edge, put my right hand down on the slope (I ride goofy), kick my boot into the binding and use my left to secure the binding. It was the quickest way, the board doesn't slide about and it gets your boot right to the front of the binding. I could get my boot in and get going in less than 5 seconds no matter what type of slope I was on.
On the down side the ratchets do look a little flimsy and so I wouldn't be tempted to fiddle with them all the time but I've had no problems.
I hope that helps anyone considering these.
However,just a quick note to those who mentioned the Flexy highbacks, the SP cores are focused mostly on Freestyle (the Gnu ones are named Park) , so i would expect them to be flexy, Maybe the brotherhoods would have been a better choice if you wanted less flex? just a thought.
I'm sorry to report I've suffered many of the same problems. On day 2 of usage, the teeth in the ladder rack started slipping, causing my foot to be loose, and ultimately the quick release to sping open. For the rest of the usage it kept happening.
So much so view lost faith in these bindings. Sure the faster in out is great, but not good enough to keep the straps tight with the ratchets or the teeth heigh on the ladder rack.
I'm hoping I can get this resolved or kiss goodbye to 234quid.
Lets hope the good guys over at Absolute Snow can get this resolved by SP.
In my opinion, the teeth need to be deeper and the ratchets more sturdy like the SLAB series for these bindings to really work... If not I'll Be going back to "traditional" ratchets.
P.
Yes the toe cap slips a bit, but it not a big deal the ladder rack screws are a bit crap as you can easily mash the Philips head. I use mine mainly for indoor and to be fair they have been great.
The less you mess with them the better they are I have found, would I buy them again I would say yes as I like the idea of not sitting on my ar5e tightening ratchets,
you don't get the ratchet getting caught under the sole of your boot when stepping in. I have on a couple of rare occasions found that when you try to get release my back foot the arch strap has stuck. but like I said vary rare. Would I recommend them to a friend again yes, I have had a couple of lads come up to meat cas and ask what make they are, and how easy they look to get in and out of. Cheers Darren