Union Juliet Bindings Review

Overview of the Juliet’s Specs

Check out the tables for the Juliet’s specs and available sizes.

Specs

Who are the Juliet Most Suited To?

The Juliet are great for anyone looking for all-mountain/freeride bindings in that medium flex range, but don't want to pay what you'd normally have to for that flex level. Someone looking for an intermediate to advanced binding but for the price of an average beginner binding. 

The Juliet are best matched to boards in the 4/10 to 6/10 range. 

The Juliet in More Detail

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Juliet are capable of.

Demo Info

Bindings: Union Juliet 2022, Medium

Date: February 24, 2021

Conditions: Sunny! As in not a single cloud in the sky! So, naturally, perfect visibility. 

-4°C (25°F) with and without  wind - no wind. Felt warmer than that though - because of the sun. 

24 hours snow: 2cm (1")

7 day snow: 45cm (18")

On Groomer: Hard but not icy.

Off Groomer: Crunchy and with some icy patches. 

Weight: 800 grams (1lbs, 12oz)

Tester: Jade

Rider Height:  5'7" (170cm)

Rider Weight: 145lbs (66kg)

Rider Boot Size: Women's US6.5 Thirty Two Exit

Test Bindings Used: Burton Lexa, Medium 

Test Board: Ride OMG

Bindings angles: +15/-12

Stance Width: 510mm (20”)

Baseplate Length: 23cm (9”) – that’s measured on the top of the footbed. 22.5cm (8.9") on the underside of the baseplate – it angles up to the top of the footbed.

Highback Height: 19.7cm (7.8”)* 

*from bottom of baseplate to top of highback is 25.7cm (10.1")

Responsiveness

The Juliet strike a good balance between being able to dig into and lay down a good carve, but also being feeling good at assisting the board in creating good maneuverability at slower speeds. 

In terms of carves, it's one of the best, if not the best, for the price. 

Board Feel/Butterability

As is typically the case with Union bindings with the universal disc, the board feel isn't awesome, but it's also not awful. 

Pop/Ollie Power

Jade found the Juliet had less pop in comparison to her control bindings (Burton Lexa). She wasn't able to get as much air in her jumps or ollies and had to put more effort in in order to get off the ground.

Adjustability

Heel Cup: Yes and this makes heel/toe boot centering easy, which allows you to run the disc horizontally, to give you more stance width options.   

Stance Width: Really good - you can run the disc horizontally (which you can pretty much always do, because the heel cup adjustment takes care of your boot centering). 

Highback Lean: Yes (tool-less)

Ankle Strap Position: No

Toe Strap Position: Yes

Ankle and toe strap length: Yes tool-less 

Gas pedal/toe ramp extension: No

Highback Rotation: Yes, 3 different slots

Compatible with: 2 x 4 | 4 x4 | The Channel (so basically everything). 

Shock Absorption

They're not super shock absorbent, but they're not ultra chattery either. Jade found that they didn't absorb shock quite as well as her control bindings (Burton Lexa). 

Entry/Exit

The ratchets are fairly smooth. Not as smooth as the smoothest on the market, but not bad, especially for the price point. 

Comfort

Overall nicely comfortable. 

Ankle Strap: No pressure points or anything like that and conformed well to Jade's boot

Toe Strap: Ditto ankle strap. 

Canted Footbed: Yes

Highback: There's a good bit of padding on the highback, which is nice, but most importantly Jade got no calf bite. 

Ankle Support

Jade felt that there was slightly less ankle support than with her control bindings, but only very subtly less.

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.

The Juliet aren't bindings that are going to wow you, but they are solid all-round bindings without any major weaknesses. They're run of the mill - but they come in at a good price, making them great value for someone looking for an average binding for a less than average price.