Is it just me?
 

Is it just me or is the quality of bindings going down. I feel like the old style bindings lasted forever. I am going on my 5th pair of bindings in the past 3 seasons. Heck I gave a pair of old hyperlite bindings to a friend 4 years ago and they are still going strong. There is no telling how many people have learned how to wakeboard in those things. On the other hand the comfort of the new ones is hands down better. So I guess its a trade off. Comfort for reliability. Not to mention the cost going through the roof on the new ones. I just feel like the old saying "you get what you pay for" does not apply to wakeboard bindings.

It would make sense in my mind. The softer materials, while nice on your feet, would tend to rip easier.

HOWEVER, I've been riding my 08 LF's and while they don't look as pretty as they did when I got 'em, I don't doubt they'll [functionally] last at least another 2 or 3 years or so. Maybe I'm just easier on my stuff than other people? Dunno.

Cheap labor, cheap materials = poor quality. All this stuff being made overseas in sweat shop style factories in the "effort to be priced effectively to the consumer" has gotten us in the shape where we are in manufacturing in the USA, the sewer. I am with JDubs on this one. Bindings are not holding up as well and it's a shame that these companies come out with "new" stuff every year ,but I wish they would simply improve quality of product componets and materials that would hold up better so we get our money's worth from our purchase. I would be willing to pay more for quality made stuff from here in the USA. We gotta get back to support of our own in this country before we become a Chinese territory. I am not a protectionist, just common sense to me. I have been going out of my way for years to purchase stuff made in USA or countries with decent trade agreements with th USA and usually the quality is just better.

durability i think has also been sacrificed for the sake of making boots more and more light weight too.

I'm on my 3rd season in my Ronix Cells, and while they look the worst for wear, my riding is still progressing and they should last the rest of this season at least!

It's also a way to keep business coming and growing. bindings used to be easier to fix, now you pretty much have to buy new ones

More like increase their profit margins.

Considering what the profit margins are in the wake industry, they gotta do what they can to stay afloat. Wakeboarding is not some multi-billion dollar industry and no one is getting rich off us.

That is the case for most things made these days. If you can't raise the price, then you lower the cost to make it by using cheaper materials.

Its cheaper materials, and poor construction. Most companies are going overseas for manufacturing and it shows. I have the same problem with my Murray boots from Hype last year. I have had to go to performance so many times that Ive been told, now that I'm on my 5th pair, that I need to take it up with Hyperlite customer service and that I cant trade out for new anymore.

Gator bindings..best hands down

^ Love "hyperliterider" repping Gator product LOL

IMHO its a combination of consumer demand, smart marketing, and the typical "good ole U.S of A planned obsolescence". To break it down a bit more:

People like the ideal that materials are getting more exotic, binders look cooler, and they are super duper light with the newest gadgets...and no painful breakin procedures.

Smart marketing is the continual evolution of bindings and the constant selling of the "latest and greatest that will take your riding to new levels".

Finally, planned obsolescence. If you keep running through bindings, you gotta keep buying them.

Just switched from 04 transits to 09 companys. Ill let you know if i break them soon

My LF bindings have all lasted me 3+ seasons of LOTS of riding. No complaints here. Also, regarding prices going up, I disagree. IIRC back when the HL parks was hot stuff the boots were around 400 (maybe 2003?). Thats still what bindings cost. Most of LFs are below 400. If anything, inflation adjusted, the prices have gone down.

Bought a pair of 2010 Ronix One boots two weeks ago and a piece of them tore within the first couple sets. Bought a '09 Marek and it snapped in one season. It's absurd IMO. $1000 worth of new technology, design, etc should NOT break that quick. I have multiple 2000-2004 board/bindings that have have taken a beating behind the boat and at the cable park yet still remain intact. Increase in tech/price seems to equal decrease in quality, sadly.

The MSRP on the HL HIghbacks in 03 or 04 (have a pair) was like 350.00. Good binding for their time, but if I put an 09 or 10 binding next to them and asked someone that didn't know anything about wakeboarding, they would hands down say the newer binding would be much more expensive, yet I paid less for the 09 Cells I have at the present time.

Just like making wakeboards lighter...

Boy was that soon. Went out yesterday just after posting that and broke 2 of the laces. No biggie though, on the company bindings the laces are glued together so a simple knot fixed that. Still, on the transits, it was a good 4 or 5 years before there was any issue with the laces. But they held much worse. Took more hard crashes than i cared to count and the companys have held me in perfectly! Conclusion? I like the newer ones better.

i have noticed same thing . i have had 3 different pair of bindings fail in the past 2 years. i have 4 different boards that i ride , so i would say its not the useage. i had both L F and CWB fail . i wouldn't count a lace breaking as a failure.it seems the newer the binding the quicker they fail.

I gotta say.... The new bindings are hands down more comfortable. We were just talking about this a couple weeks back. We used to limit our sets because our feet were killing us. Not anymore. You could ride all day in the newer stuff.

Incidently, I've had good luck with my CWB bindings. I know there are others who haven't, but I'm yet to really break a binding. I've worn a few pairs out, but have never gotten less than a full season out of my bindings.

It is not so that the bindings are made with cheap materials and designed not to last. There are of course low end bindings, but I think you are talking about the high-end bindings. If so, here is a thought. I back this up with the knowledge of what a guy like Jimmy Redmon does to design a binding. He is a great friend and I have watched him for almost two decades and nothing he will ever make will be designed to fail.

The actual truth in this matter is found in a comparison to tires. If you buy a standard tire at any store, it will last a long time; infact they even give you a warranty for wear. But if you have a sportscar, you may want a pirelli tire. The performance is much higher and noticable immediately, but you wont get near the life out of a high-end street tire. There is no warranty on performance products like racing tires.

The same holds true for bindings. If you want the superior performance and the best...it will launch you to new heights, but it won't last like a combo ski binding.

Hope that helps. push away from the dock to find yourself.

Todd Weatherill
the floating guru
http://thirdcoastyachtsales.blogspot.com/
www.toddweatherill.com

You don't have to worry about the stitching on your performance tires coming un-done, and if they did, I bet they would get replaced. As LF seems to do I will add

We were having this very conversation on the boat the other day. Companies don't build bindings for guys like us. I'd say 75-80% buyers dont use them but 5 times all year. They KNOW Pros break stuff all the time. The KNOW core riders will break stuff. Copmanies still make better margins by warrantying our stuff over building (and by extension charging) superb quality gear that will rarely/never fail.

What i woudlnt give to have my 03' Temets or 02' Belmonts back!

What amazes me is how the marketing departments of these leading brands try to sell us on how great the new gear is, and yet year after year design flaws are perpetuated, new "features" don't work as advertised, sizes change year to year, new materials fail out of the gate, etc etc etc. Thank God for warrenties!

just depends on the ones you get