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NOW Brigada 2021-2022 Women’s Snowboard Bindings Review

Tested and selected for our top 100 snowboard products of the year: the NOW Brigada

  • Price: £250 / €250 / $250
  • Category: Freestyle
  • Sizes: S, M
  • Flex: 5/10
  • Entry System: Classic

Why we chose the NOW Brigada Snowboard Bindings: Female-specific freestyle binders don’t come much better than this, and the price is right too.

Despite the name, this one is a lover, not a fighter. The NOW Brigada is here to help you squeeze the most out of parks and natural features, and will doubtlessly leave you with a massive grin across your chops. It’s been bestowed with a few nifty upgrades for its third year, without losing what made it great.

“Despite the name, this one is a lover, not a fighter”

MORE INFO:
now-snowboarding.com

Who Is The NOW Brigada For?

A pair of these will suit freestyle fans that favour a well-flexing highback, plenty of dampening and uber-comfy straps. If you’re already au fait with NOW’s proprietary ‘Skate-Tech’ system then that’s a bonus, but it’s by no means essential.

Baseplate

Said system is the only one on the market that allows the baseplate to pivot through a central axis. The entire plate rocks slightly from your heels to your toes, sending energy directly to the edges. It’s subtle, but the difference in boardfeel and response (not to mention foot fatigue, or lack thereof) might be the game-change you’ve been looking for.

The NOW Brigada still uses second-generation Skate-Tech rather than the new third-generation version, but that still makes it more advanced than the Conda or Vetta, NOW’s other female-specific offerings – and is also on a par with the same model in the men’s range, the Brigade.

The mostly-nylon construction of the chassis makes it lightweight yet durable, and the ‘bushings’ (small rubber pads at each corner) walk the middle ground between comfort and response. You can switch them for firmer or softer ones, however, should the mood strike.

“A pair of these will suit freestyle fans that favour a well-flexing highback, plenty of dampening and uber-comfy straps”

Straps and Highbacks

While we’re talking customisation, the ankle straps can be switched round to fine-tune your ride. Just switch the left strap to the right foot and vice versa; the asymmetrical shape of the straps mean that you’ve now dialled back the support, freeing you up for surfier turns. Thanks to a new tool-free system, making the change is now easier than ever.

As for the ankle strap itself, it’s a single chunk of EVA polymer with close to zero stitching or glue to speak of. The resultant design has more longevity than that debunked rumour about Richard Gere and the gerbil, not to mention light and uber-comfy. Meanwhile the toe strap is grippy from day one, but will also mould to your boot over time.

The highback rises slightly higher on the inside of each foot, so as to better sit naturally against your legs while you’re strapped in. That’ll give you a bit of extra support where you need it, but it’s pretty soft overall.

“The highback rises slightly higher on the inside of each foot, so as to better sit naturally against your legs while you’re strapped in”

Roundup

We’ve mentioned the NOW Brigada’s freestyle credentials a lot, and for good reason – but the easy-going specs will suit a wide catchment of riders, and that’s even before you factor in the customisation options.

Even if you currently steer clear of the park, give this one a closer look. We reckon the NOW Brigada could be the ideal platform on which to build a more creative, spontaneous riding style, wherever you choose to make your tracks. Get a pair of these, and that rut you’re stuck in may soon be a distant memory.

Trade Secrets

JF Pelchat – Founder, NOW snowboarding

“The Brigada was designed after the Brigade’s men’s freestyle binding and it is the women’s version, if you pay close attention you will see a heart in the design of the HB, this was intentionally done for spreading Love while rinding.”

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