If you were snowboarding in the 90's, you will remember the time when everyone was trying to make step-in snowboard bindings. Switch, K2 Clickers, Burton Step ins, etc.
They were gone almost as fast as they came. They were not great. The systems were clunky and would clog with snow. The boots were super stiff as most of them relied on the boot for your heelside response instead of the highback of a traditional binding. I was teaching snowboarding at snowbird then and all of the rental boards had the K2 Clickers. I had to keep a tool on my at all times to clean out snow and ice that would build up in them and it seems like I was spending more time messing with those bindings than actually teaching people how to ride. They had no adjustability at all compared to a traditional set up where you could adjust your straps, forward lean, canting, etc. It quikcly became the joke of the snowboard industry. People that were riding back then will probably still make fun of you for riding the newer step ins of today.
When Burton released their new system called Step On, I remember laughing to myself thinking, "here we go again." Fast foward a few years later I was seeing more and more people on the Burtons and seeing some other options like these Nidecker Supermatic bindings. I started becoming more and more open to giving them a go. Here's the thing. As you get into your 40's and you have been raising kids for almost 20 years, funny things start to happen. One of those things is the part of your brain that cares what people think dies. So if there are some old heads making fun of me for wanting to ride step-ins, oh well. The other thing is gravity. Gravity starts pulling parts of your body down and while gravity is pulling parts of yourself to the ground, it is seemingly trying to pushback when you are trying to bend over. If you are like me, your stomach is also creating a barrier from reaching your bindings, cutting off air and bloodflow. Strapping into my bindings has become the hardest part of snowboarding.
I started to seriously think about trying step ins about a year ago. Looking at the Burton system I didn't want to be limited to having to use Burtons boots. They haven't fit my foot well in the past and I have other boards that I ride that would still have a traditional binding too. When first saw the Nidecker Supermatics I became seriously intrigued. They looked like a normal binding and you could use any boots you wanted to, so I decided to give them a go.
Setting them up was super straighforward. Nothing really different than your normal strap bindings except you need to adjust a little strap that attaches to the ankle and toe strap. Once dialed and mounted you are ready to ride.
One thing I like about these is the fact that you can still run them like a normal strap set up too. This has already come in handy a few times where I have found out that getting out of these bindings on a slope is a bit tricky. In these situations I have just unstrapped like I would on any other setup. This could also be good in deep powder or on steep slope angles and you aren't able to step in as easy. Getting into them is super easy. As long as it's fairly flat, you can step right in and you can hear them click into place. It takes literally one or two seconds and your done.
Riding the Supermatics feels just like riding any other strap binding. It's a bit heavier than other traditional setups but you only notice that when carrying your board. I would say it's a medium/stiff binding. On a scale of 1-10 I would put these at almost a 7. I only have one day on these so far and most of the riding was pretty mellow as I was out with all my kids and their cousins, but I made a few high speed carves here and there and they seem super responsive! I like to run a good amount of forward lean and these have plenty of adjustment and it's supe easy to dial in. They provide a good bit of damping and they soak up a good bit of chatter. The footbed has a good amount of canting too which I love. Zero cant foot beds make my knees want to die after a few runs. I'm stoked to get out more with these and continue to get to know them a little better.
Who is this binding for? I would say if you are curious to getting into a step in binding this one is the step in for everyone. You can run any boots you want to and you can use them like a traditional strap sytem whenver you want. The Supermatics offer a ton of time savings, take way less effort to strap in. For resort riding, I really think Nidecker has the best step in on the market right now. You can get a pair here at the Nidecker site, or from the fine folks at evo here.
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