I had a chance to grab the latest 2007 Forum Recon Bindings and give them a run. In case you didn’t know, Forum is made by Burton, just an alternate brand that gets love from Jake Welch, Eddie Wall, Jake Blauvelt and the rest of the Recon team.

So the 2007 models are based on the 2006 framework, the padding was redesigned on the Toe Cap, the heel and highback reinforced, and adjustability has been improved.

Jump over for the rest of the review.

On the shelf

The look is pretty solid, with a simple and clean design. Not much for fancy graphics except the stylistic [f] symbol on the heel and lower binding by the toe. They come in black or orange, the heel cup is composite with a nylon baseplate. The buckles are all steel, a nice upgrade from the plastic crap I’m used to seeing on low-end gear. I don’t mean low-end as in terms of Sport Mart specials, these are the low-end of the Forum offerings.

In the shop

These have some fairly acceptable adjustability features, although they come in only 2 sizes: S/M and M/L. If you have a size 11 boot or bigger, these won’t be for you, you will probably need an XL, and they don’t make XL Recons right now. Everything is pretty straightforward. No quick adjustments, everything must be done with a Philips screw driver and can take several minutes to do.

On the slopes

The baseplate is made of Nylon 66, it provides a relaxed ride that can feel very comfortable and smooth on both soft and rough conditions. The ankle strap is comfortable, with foam padding, nothing out of the ordinary, but hugs the inside of your ankle well. Toe caps were not used in the older Recons, they had a standard over the toe strap. Forum decided to introduce the Toe Cap in 2006, and carried on with pretty much the same design in 2007, which wasn’t the best of all things. The toe cap used is very short from the bottom up, and does not fit well with wider or higher boots. It takes only a 3-inch height boot toe to cause problems with the toe cap, causing slippage. There is no rubber or grip inside the cap, if you have small to medium sized boot, they should do just well. Leather may even be the best option to provide the grip you need from the lack of grip inside the cap. For larger, more aggressive riders, you will run into slippage problems.

At the end of the day

The Recon’s are overall a decent set of bindings for the price ($140-$170) you are paying. If you are a small to medium sized rider, with a less aggressive riding style, these would be an ok match for you. Anyone with a larger boot, higher then size 8 would have some slippage problems. Sizes 10 and up they will be pretty much unusable.