Gear Geek: Bindings & the Channel

Dear Gear Geek,

I'm thinking about buying new Burton Feelgood, but I'd like to use my old bindings on it. Will it work the Channel mounting system?

sincerely,

Wants to Feelgood

2011 Burton Feelgood

This question is hard to answer without knowing exactly what bindings you are using. So I'll cover a few options.

But first let me do a little background on The Channel for those unfamiliar with the system. Burton debuted this system in 2006 with a limited late release Jeremy Jones Pro Model. It went mainstream in 2007 with several boards in their lineup, including the women's Stria, utilizing ICS.

ICS stands for Infinite Channel System. Recently Burton has started marketing this as The Channel rather than ICS.

Traditional mounting systems involve individual mounting holes, but ICS uses a channel that runs down the center of the board. Each binding is mounted to the board using 2 screws - allowing precise stance adjusments. Burton released a new binding system called EST that takes advantage of  ICS to allow "infinite" mounting options.

Burton has also changed their Channel system up a little for 2011 to use M6 mounting hardware, which is the industry standard. 2011 boards will come with the adapters needed, and EST bindings will work with any ICS board. So it shouldn't be a big concern.

Let's get back to your question.

Burton Adapter Discs

If you are using any Burton bindings you should be fine. Of course, according to Burton the best bindings to use are Burton EST Bindings, but you should be able to get adapter mounting disks that work with any Burton bindings.Your board may come with the adapter disks, but if not I would ask the shop that you bought the board from to provide them.

The answer is tricker if you are not using Burton bindings. Some binding companies are offering Channel adaptor disks including Drake, Flow, Union, and Forum. Before you run out and buy a Feelgood, I would recommend contacting your binding manufacturer to make sure the disks are available and will actually work with your bindings.

You may also be able to get the Burton adapter disks to work with your bindings, but this is not something I recommend due to safety concerns.

One last thought on this - up until this season Burton has made Feelgoods in both ICS and 3D mounting systems. So if you aren't totally set on picking up the 2011 Feelgood you could try to hunt down a 2010 board that should be compatible with most bindings.

I also noticed that Burton has a little tool on their website to guide you to the right hardware for your board/binding combination. I didn't think it was that useful for non-Burton bindings but you may want to check it out.

good riding,

The Gear Geek

Have a question for the Gear Geek? Email her at geargeek@powderroom.net.