Light but poor build quality - BC.com return policy - awesome

By Steve Ranked #223 - Snowboard Bindings January 17, 2011

I've ridden flows for at least 6 years and thought I'd upgrade my NXT's to the latest model when I got my new ride. The first thing I noticed when setting them up was that the gold piece that attached to the base plate where the size adjustment is and where the cable load goes through was very thin plastic and seemed quite flimsy but obviosuly still able to do its job.

The binding on the whole was lighter than my previous NXT binding which is a really good thing. They seemed like a good buy. They rode well. However after my 3rd or 4th day riding them I noticed a hole forming in the heel of my right Salomon Malamutes. On closer inspection of the binding I noticed a flaw where the carbon high back meets the metal heel piece. The metal piece has a very shallow recess for the carbon high pack to nest into. It is so shallow compared to the thickness of the carbon high back that the carbon protrudes. This in itself wasn't the flaw as it appeared to have been designed that way. However the carbon had a lip that angled in towards the boot that makes a sharp point contact with the boot (right around the achilles area).

I returned the bindings to the Salt Lake store front with the intent of replacing them with the exact same binding. However I inspected the replacement bindings before leaving the store and found exactly the same flaw on those. Note in both cases the flaw only appeared on the right binding.

The guy in the store suggested that the hole in the boots happened because I didn;t set up the bindings correctly. I disagree because it was clearly a flaw and I've been using flows for many years and know how to set them up. It's such a shame because it felt like a great binding. Not sure what I'll do for a replacement.

I returned the bindings for a full refund. Great service from Backcountry.com. I just wish they were able to do something about the hole in my newish snowboard boots!

View Details: Flow NXT FRX Snowboard Binding

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