• Price: £350 / $430
• Sizes: S/M, L/XL
• Flex: Stiff
• Entry System: Classic
• BUY DIRECT FROM ROME

Why we chose the Rome Cleaver Snowboard Bindings: Because they’re as near to damn perfect a set of bindings we’ve ever seen

Narrowing down which of Stale Sandbech’s pro model snowboards to buy this season will be made all the easier when you know you don’t have to then worry about what binders to pair it with. His all-new Cleaver bindings are the perfect accoutrement to any of his three decks, highlighting their versatility for park, powder and all-mountain riding alike. These things are – much like the man himself – completely insane in terms of just what they’re capable of doing when attached to a snowboard.

Comfort, power and response rarely deliver across the board as well as they do here. Both the highback and baseplate are constructed from a 30/70 carbon and nylon composite. This not only keeps the weight down substantially, but it also fires the Cleavers up with lightning edge to edge response and absorbs a high decent amount of the chatter and vibrations encountered at speed and on hardpack. Fewer vibrations equal less foot fatigue, meaning you can ride harder, for longer.

“These things are – much like the man himself – completely insane in terms of just what they’re capable of doing when attached to a snowboard”

That’s really just the bed sheet to the big, fat, fluffy duvet that’s tucked inside it, though. The D30 SubBase Pads do most of the heavy lifting in taking out the sting of bigger impacts and landings. In its natural state, D30 is soft and supple, so it feels like your regular EVA cushioning. Under impact, however, the compound instantly hardens to dissipate and diffuse energy throughout its surface area.

It’s the power of the Cleavers that really differentiates them from the likes of the Katana bindings, though. As well as the carbon additives, the chassis is built with Rome’s FullWrap Platform. Redesigned and recalibrated for this year, the FullWrap provides the maximum amount of power and energy transfer in a bombproof fully encompassing construction. To only two other models this its found on are the 390 Boss and D.O.D, giving you some idea of the hard-charging, all-mountain freestyle riding they’re designed for.