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Bindings

Burton Malavita 2015-2016 Snowboard Binding Review

Bad meaning good

UPDATE: Check out our review of the 2018/2019 Burton Malavita here

    The Details:

    The Burton Malavita binding first appeared in 2010, the brainchild of team rider Danny Davis. Five years on and it’s been through some minor changes, but it’s remained a popular choice with freestyle riders – including Danny, who still rocks it in the pipe and pow.

    This year the ankle strap has been made asymmetrical, meaning you can swap the left and right ones round for a different ride. As it stands they’re supportive as hell, but by swapping (and therefore flipping) them you get a looser feel that will suit those days when you’re not charging.

    A layer of rubber sits inside the highback, gripping your boot firmly in a custom fit while also allowing you to ease off the buckles a little without compromising on response. The highbacks themselves are specially shaped to suit each leg, so will be comfortable and effective at all times.

    As always, you can buy the channel-specific version or the ‘Re:Flex’ model that’s compatible with all boards. If you go for the ‘Reaper’ colourway then you get a crazy press-friendly winged highback, reminiscent of the old Cobrashark model – or if you want to go back even further, some of those we saw in the late 1980s!

TESTER’S VERDICT: 
Duthie – Whitelines

“This isn’t a ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ model; the demographic of riders that will appreciate the Burton Malavita is huge. It handles aggressive riding really well, but is plenty of fun at slower speeds too.

It’s not the ideal binding for either extreme – the Malavita is kind of an all-rounder, after all – but you’d have to be pretty pedantic to find fault with its performance.

Even without the padding of older versions, the ankle strap is really comfortable and supportive, and I like the height of the highback.

I can vouch for their durability too; bought a pair in 2011 that are still doing their job!”

“You’d have to be pretty pedantic to find fault with its performance”

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