Older Groove Bindings

[SkaFreak]

I have some groove bindings that I got straight from groove not long before they went out of the skiboard buisness and I was wondering if anyone else had any problems with the groove bindings, or any bindings for that matter, scraping the front of their boots pretty badly. If you have had this problem what was your solution? I have these on my old canon heritages (84cm back when they had 8 hole bindings, had to get them redrilled) and I want to be able to ride some on them this year, or get new boards to put em on but don't want to screw up my new boots. Only solution I could think of right now would be to glue a small piece of sheet metal onto the toes of my boots.

[zenderfall]

I used to have those bindings. They're called the Groove X-1's, and I don't think they're as great as most 4-hole metal bindings should be.

The first thing is that the aluminum base metal on mine bent after many many days of riding. The plate seems to be either a little thin, or just not enough "good grade" aluminum. I found this out after taking them off and placing them on a flat table. The center touched the table but the ends kinda "floated" a bit.

I remember they were straight when I got them from the factory.

The second thing I noticed is that even when fully locked in, the front and rear of the boot can rise away from the bindings considerably which doesn't inspire confidence in the quality of the bindings. Try this at home and you'll see.

It's sad when 8-Hole bindings don't do this but a 4-hole binding does.

And lastly, is the same problem you have-the toe clip scratches away heavily at the boot.

I ended up getting using Canon TD-1's as somehow I like the lightweight polymer and the plastic toe clips. Not too worried about them breaking, there's a lot of reinforcement on the base, and the plastic's handgun quality. Doesn't scratch away at the boot. I don't know how Vissere (Snowjam) bindings will fair up, as this will be my first season in them.

Not to mention plastic doesn't bend and the boots don't rise away either.

[SkaFreak]

I never had any problems with the groove bindings other than the scraping. They always locked in thight and held my boots in place quite well. I was just asking because I need a pair of bindings for my groove taxis that I'm getting, and don't really have the $$ to buy new ones. I have Canon TD-1's on my M7's though, and yeah I like them too.

[PureVenom]

Hey Zen.....You will love those snowjam bindings. They are built pretty solid man. I got some of those for my girlfriends daughter and put them on a pair of line five-o's. I would almost put them up agianst my line FF pro's. She follows me through the back country and over most jumps and there has never been any problem with them at all. The toe piece is very smooth as well and will not harm your boots. Plus they have springy bails so they are VERY easy to get in and out of. Out of 10 I would give them at least an 8 maybe 9.

[Greco]

the snowjams will be $99.00 when the updated site is unveiled. very soon. like a day or two.

g

[SkaFreak]

I doubt I'll be able to spring for that, but I'll see what I can do. If I can't do that I'll probably just switch my canons from boards to boards depending on what I want to ride that day.

[SkaFreak]

Also, how adjustable are the snowjams? They look like the have pretty much the exact same adjustment system as the grooves do, which are actually very adjustable.

[PureVenom]

They have very fine adjustment just like the FF pro's. So every boot style will get the perfect fit. They are really good bindings....much better than I expected. I was really impressed right out of the box but even more so at how they performed.

[zenderfall]

Originally posted by SkaFreak
They look like the have pretty much the exact same adjustment system as the grooves do, which are actually very adjustable.

Unlike the Groove X-1's, the Vissere (Snowjam Extreme II) bindings can be moved forward/backward on the Skiboard itself. The X-1's and the TD-1's don't, whereas, they have 4-hole mounts and that's it.

I know newer, quality bindings like Bombers, Thias, Vissere's all have this ability. I just haven't experimented with it.

But from the look of it I can almost center the stance of my Snowjam 90's or I can pull the back for an even more "longer front, shorter back" skiboard.

[SkaFreak]

In case anyone else had this same problem I finally found a solution. I just took a dremel with a head to sand metal down with a fine grain and just slowly rounded it out. Once I had gotten rid of the sharp part at the top of the toe clamp, I took a finer polishing head to smooth it all out. They now lock onto the boots just fine and no longer scrape away at the front of the boots.