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Nidecker Kaon-W 2021-2022 Women’s Snowboard Bindings Review

Tested and selected for our top 100 snowboard products of the year: the Nidecker Kaon-W

  • Price: £185 / €200 / £200
  • Sizes: S,M, L
  • Flex: 7-8/10
  • Entry System: Classic

Why we chose the Nidecker Kaon-W Snowboard Bindings: They’re loaded with features and offer possibly the most bang for buck of any women’s binding on the market.

The latest Kaon-W is a case of quiet evolution. An upgraded shape promises an even more seamless fit with your boots, but aside from that it’s the same lightweight all-terrain binding. To be fair, there wasn’t a whole lot else to improve on. With bomb proof construction and premium straps, Nidecker have absolutely nailed this one.

“They’re loaded with features and offer possibly the most bang for buck of any women’s binding on the market”

MORE INFO:
nidecker.com

Who Is The Nidecker Kaon-W For?

Anyone that prioritises comfort and reliability, with a dash of cutting-edge strap tech. If you’re in the market for new bindings, that’s basically everyone.

Baseplate

Like the men’s Kaon-X and Kaon-Plus, the Kaon-W features a one-piece chassis fashioned from glass-filled nylon. It’s super strong and light, with just enough built-in flex to let you express your own style through your riding.

Energy is transferred rapidly through this baseplate and into the edges thanks to Nidecker’s trademark ‘off-axis powerbeams’. It’s also designed with cushioned, rockered (read: curved) corners that let your board flex more naturally when you’re loading ollies or buttering around.

The baseplate design also features full-length canted footbeds to help absorb those bumps and vibrations. ‘Canted’ means they’re slightly angled (in this case, at 2.5-degrees) so that the outside of the footbed is a touch higher than the inside; it compensates for a wide stance, helping align your leg more comfortably, alleviating the pressure that tends to form in your joints.

“Anyone that prioritises comfort and reliability, with a dash of cutting-edge strap tech”

Straps and Highbacks

The asymmetric highback is shaped for a perfect match with any boot from the Nidecker range, though we found them to work perfectly well with third party footwear. It’s made from nylon (aka plastic) and features a classic forward-lean block that’s easy to adjust without any tools. The big wedge-shaped hole in the back shaves some useful weight and makes it a little more flexy; it’s worth pointing out here that the overall flex on these bindings is pretty friendly – edge-to-edge response is as quick as anyone really needs, but when the time comes to get your tweak on you’re not going to feel as stiff as a robot. ‘All mountain freestyle’ is the name of the game.

Both the toe and heel straps feature the popular new ‘Aux Tech’. It’s a clever piece of industrial design that various brands have started using in their bindings, and consists of a plastic mesh in which each cell hinges independently. The result is that as you crank down the strap, it expands perfectly around your boot, hugging every contour without stretching or deforming the material. It’s comfortable, light and tough – basically the holy grail of straps.

As you’d expect from a high-end binding, the Kaon-W comes with premium aluminium ratchets that deliver smooth entry and exit, time after time.

“The baseplate design also features full-length canted footbeds to help absorb those bumps and vibrations”

Roundup

A lot of riders don’t think too much about their bindings, and if you’re lucky enough to have a pair of Kaon-W’s on your feet, that’s just fine – because someone at Nidecker has done the thinking for you. From the chassis to the highback and straps, they’re a supremely ergonomic model that’s built to last. And with a flex that’s right in the sweet spot for riding everything from powder bowls to park jumps, and a sweet new ‘white fade’ colourway alongside classic black, we’d say they are a solid choice for your next set-up.

Trade Secrets

Lucien Vink – Industrial Designer & Product Manager, Nidecker

“Doing a 2-color marble effect in the EVA footbeds actually isn’t as easy as it would seem, especially to get it fairly consistent looking. But the unique variations also add to the character we wanted to achieve for the Kaon-W White color-way.”

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