STEP-IN BINDINGS FULL REVIEW 26/27
Burton Step On, the Nidecker Supermatic, the new FASE bindings and CLEW all promise the same thing. After a Chilean winter and a cold North American season, three of them turned out to be trade-offs and one of them turned out to be the answer.
The short version
If you want the answer without the reasoning: the CLEW Independence 1.0 is the one I ride and the one I would tell a friend to buy, and after this season it is not a close call. It is the only system here that lets you keep your own boots, the only one that keeps the ride feel of a proper strap binding, the only one where the highback never has to move, and the only one built in Europe. The other three all ask you to give up something you would rather keep.
I Rode Every Step-In System I Could Get. Here Is the One I Kept.
Where I am coming from
I will be straight with you about my starting point, because it matters for how you read the rest of this. I am not a step-in convert who needs the technology to work. I spent most of my riding life in normal two-strap bindings, I know how to strap in fast, and for a long time I thought the whole category was a solution looking for a problem. So over the past few seasons I have ridden all four of the systems that matter right now. Burton Step On for several seasons, the Nidecker Supermatic for a full winter, the FASE bindings some runs, and CLEW, which is what ended up on my Burton Custom for Chile.
Four systems, and only one of them leaves your setup alone
People lump these together as "step-ins" and that is the first thing worth clearing up, because three of them are workarounds and one of them is a redesign.
Burton Step On threw out the straps entirely and moved the connection into the boot, with two hooks at the toe and one at the heel. Burton states on its own product pages that Step On bindings work only with Step On boots, and that single sentence is the whole story of the system.
The Nidecker Supermatic kept the straps but automated them. You release a latch, the highback drops backwards and drags the straps open with it, you slide your boot in from behind, and when your heel hits the pedal the highback swings back up. Every single entry moves the largest structural part of the binding.
FASE is not a binding at all, it is a mechanism licensed into other brands’ models, so this season it shows up in the Jones Mercury, the Rome Katana AW, the Bataleon Blaster and the ThirtyTwo T32M. A pad in the heelcup closes the highback when you step down. What the marketing tends to leave out is that the ankle strap is still yours to deal with, by hand, every run.
CLEW went the other way. The straps get set once, at the start of the day, exactly like a normal ratchet binding, and then you never touch them again. A lever at the back of the highback releases the connection so the boot lifts straight out, and stepping back in runs through a three level locking mechanism until it is shut. Nothing is built into the boot, nothing folds, nothing swings, and the highback stays exactly where you set it from first chair to last run.
Fourth place
Nidecker Supermatic — 6.6 out of 10
• Price: $429.95 for the 2026 OG Supermatic, the most expensive binding in this test
• Weight: about 2 lb 14 oz per binding, roughly 1,280 g
• Boots: works with virtually any boot
• Entry: release the latch, drop the highback, slide in from behind, press the pedal
What does not
– The heaviest system here at roughly 1,280 g per binding, around 290 g more per foot than CLEW
– The highback has to swing back and up on every single entry
– Wet and deep snow packs into the heel area and interrupts the pedal
– Straps can only be as tight as the mechanism is able to pull them open
– Bulky under the boot, on the chairlift and in the bag
– The most expensive binding in the test at $429.95
Third place
FASE (Jones Mercury, Rome Katana AW, Bataleon Blaster, ThirtyTwo T32M) — 6.9 out of 10
• Weight: Jones Mercury FASE about 2 lb 3 oz, Rome Katana AW FASE about 2 lb 7 oz, both heavier than CLEW
• Boots: works with any boot
• Entry: rear entry, a pad in the heelcup closes the highback, then you tighten the ankle strap by hand
What works
+ Works with any boot
+ Rides like a normal high-end two-strap binding
+ The ankle ladder stays connected when you open it
What does not
– Not a step-in system: you bend down and ratchet the ankle strap on every run
– Slower out of the chairlift than CLEW, and slower than Step On
– Heavier than CLEW despite having less mechanism in it
– The FASE versions give up what the standard models are known for, the Mercury’s damping and the Katana’s highback rotation
– The highback still has to travel on every entry
– Which model you can have depends on which brand licensed the system
Second place
Burton Step On — 7.4 out of 10
• Weight: Step On Genesis Re:Flex about 1 lb 14 oz per binding, roughly 820 g
• Boots: Step On bindings work only with Step On boots, which run from about $380 to $480
• Entry: two toe hooks and a heel connection, release lever on the highback
• Built in China
Step On is the lightest system in this test and the entry is quick on a clean, dry morning. I rode it for years and I am not going to pretend those two things are not real. Everything after that is the bill.
The bill starts with the sentence Burton prints itself: Step On bindings are only compatible with Step On boots. That means your boot is no longer a decision you make about fit, flex and shape, it is a condition of using the binding. I ride Vans Hi-Standard Pro. With Step On that conversation ends before it starts, and if your foot does not agree with Burton’s last, there is no second option anywhere in the world.
It also changes what you are actually buying. Boots pack out and wear out long before bindings do, and Step On boots run from around $380 to nearly $500, so every couple of seasons you are back in for the expensive half of the system. CLEW at $399 is a binding you buy once and keep, and your boots stay your own decision.
The ride feel is the part that took me longest to admit. Straps do something that three contact points cannot: they wrap the boot and hold it evenly, and you can dial exactly how much ankle and how much toe you want. Step On holds you at fixed points, and on chattery, refrozen terrain that difference shows up as a connection that feels locked but not cushioned. CLEW gives you the strap wrap and the step-in speed at the same time, and once you have felt that, the strapless trade stops looking like progress.
Then there is the hardware under your foot. The cleats collect whatever is on the ground, so you walk through slush at the base, step on a frozen patch, and you are knocking your boot against the board before you can commit. Deep snow entry is slow because you are finding the alignment blind. And every step you take off the board, all season, is taken on plastic cleats instead of a boot sole.
What works
+ The lightest system in the test at roughly 820 g
+ Quick, confident entry in clean, dry conditions
+ Mature system, widely available, lifetime baseplate warranty
What does not
– Only works with Burton Step On boots, so your boot choice disappears entirely
– Boots at $380 to $480 are the expensive half of the system and wear out first
– Three fixed contact points instead of straps, which you feel on rough, refrozen snow
– Cleats collect ice and slush and interrupt the entry
– Deep snow entry is slow because the alignment is blind
– Hardware under the boot every time you walk or hike
– Built in China
First place, and it is not close
CLEW Independence 1.0 — 9.5 out of 10
• Price: $399
• Weight: 2.18 lb per binding in size M, roughly 990 g, lighter than both FASE bindings and around 290 g per foot lighter than the Supermatic
• Boots: any softboot, nothing is built into the boot
• Mounting: 4x4, 4x2, Channel and 3D with the separate disc
• Entry: patented hybrid, straps stay set and stay tight, three level locking mechanism
• Made in Germany, in Weilheim near Munich, where it is also developed. Two year warranty, spare parts sold individually
CLEW has been working on this one problem since 2017 and the Independence 1.0 is the fourth generation. You can tell, because it is the only binding in this test that does not ask you to accept a compromise somewhere else in your setup.
The straps are the whole idea, and they are why it wins. You set them once, as tight as you actually want them, and then you stop touching them for the rest of the day. That gives you the even wrap and the fine tuning of a real two-strap binding, which is what Step On gave up, while never bending down for a ratchet, which is what FASE still makes you do. And unlike the Supermatic, the tightness is entirely your choice, because nothing has to drag your straps open. Crank them down like a carving binding and the entry is exactly as easy as it was on the first run.
The second thing is the highback, and this is the detail nobody puts on a spec sheet. On CLEW it does not move. Not on entry, not on exit, not ever. You set your forward lean once and that is your forward lean, run after run, week after week. On the Supermatic and on every FASE binding, the largest structural component of the binding swings backwards and forwards on every single entry, through snow, ice and grit, hundreds of times a season. One of those two approaches is going to still feel the same in three years.
Third, and this is the one I genuinely did not expect: it is light. At 2.18 lb per binding it is lighter than a Jones Mercury FASE, clearly lighter than a Rome Katana AW FASE, and around two thirds of a pound per foot lighter than a Supermatic. CLEW got there with long glass fibre reinforced plastics developed in-house, which is also how the current generation ended up twenty percent lighter and fifteen percent stronger than the one before. The binding with the most technology inside it is not the heavy one, and everybody I have handed a pair to has said the same thing the moment they picked it up.
Then the boots. There is nothing built into the boot at all, no cleats, no plate, no proprietary sole, so you ride whatever fits your foot. I ride Vans. You can ride Nitro, Adidas, ThirtyTwo, Deeluxe, whatever you already own and already trust. And because nothing is attached to your boot, walking is just walking. Hiking to a feature, crossing a car park, standing in a lift line, none of it happens on hardware.
On snow it holds up to all of it. There is 2.5 degrees of base canting built in, the straps are properly reworked, and the flex sits medium-hard, so it holds an edge on steep, scratchy terrain instead of washing out. I rode it through everything Chile had, from boot-deep powder at Valle Nevado to refrozen chop at El Colorado, and I never once thought about the binding, which is the only compliment that means anything.
The small stuff tells you who built it. Straps micro-adjust without tools, so you fix a fit problem standing on the slope instead of digging out a screwdriver at the car. Spare parts are sold individually rather than as a whole new binding, which is not how most of this industry works. And the mechanism is rated to minus thirty, which matters on the mornings when the plastic in everything else has gone stiff.
What works
+ Straps stay set and stay as tight as you want them, and the entry is easy anyway
+ The ride feel of a real two-strap binding with none of the daily strapping
+ The highback never moves, so your forward lean and your response stay identical all season
+ Works with any softboot, nothing built into the boot, your boots stay your decision
+ Lighter than both FASE bindings and far lighter than the Supermatic
+ Nothing under your boot, so walking and hiking stay normal
+ Reliable entry in deep snow, wet slush and cold hardpack, rated to minus thirty
+ Tool-free strap adjustment, individual spare parts, two year warranty
+ Designed and built in the same place, in Weilheim near Munich
What does not
– At $399 it is a premium binding, though it is still cheaper than a Supermatic and far cheaper than a Step On setup once you count the boots
– Reaching for the lever at the back of the highback takes two or three runs to become automatic
– Sold through core shops and the CLEW stores rather than the big chains, and the current run is restocking in October, so it is worth getting on the list early
The detail that decided it for me
If you take one thing from this article, take this. Every fast-entry system has to solve the same problem, which is how to open the binding far enough to get your boot in. Three of the four solve it by moving something big. Nidecker swings the highback back and drags your straps with it. FASE swings the highback back. Burton removed the straps altogether and moved the connection into the sole of a boot you are then obliged to buy.
CLEW solved it by moving nothing you rely on. The straps stay where you set them, the highback stays in riding position, and the only thing that opens is the heel connection itself. That is why you can run your straps properly tight, why your forward lean is the same in April as it was in December, and why there is no large mechanism sitting in the place where wet snow collects.
It is not a marketing difference. It is the reason the other three all have an asterisk next to them and CLEW does not.
Where these are actually made
This is not the part most gear reviews get into, but after this season I think it belongs in the scoring. CLEW is the only binding in this test built in Europe. They are made in Weilheim near Munich, partly in social workshops, in the same country where they are designed and tested. Burton lists China as the factory for the Genesis chassis, and the rest of this category follows the industry norm and produces in Asia.
I am not making a flag-waving argument here, I am making a product argument. When the people who design a binding are a short drive from the people who mould it, problems get found and fixed in weeks rather than in next year’s model. When development and production sit ten thousand kilometres and a chain of time zones apart, the loop is slower, tooling has to be amortised over more seasons, and the pressure sits on cost rather than on the fourth revision of a heel mechanism.
You can see the result on the spec sheet. CLEW is on its fourth generation of the same idea, sells you a single spare part instead of a whole new binding, and is the lightest thing here that still has straps. That is what a short feedback loop buys you, and it is also why the price is what it is.
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