Burton Step On EST Genesis Review

Hello and welcome to my Burton Step On EST Genesis review.

In this review I will take a look at the Step On EST Genesis as freestyle snowboard bindings.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Step On EST Genesis a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how they compare with other freestyle bindings.

NOTE: Since I had to test these with Step On boots, the ratings scores aren't as accurate as they would be, as I didn't have my normal control boots to test with (so any comparisons to my control bindings are tainted because of having to ride these with different boots).

So this review is a rougher indication than the other reviews, because some of what I felt could have been influenced by the differences provided by the step on boots I used to test the bindings.

Overall Rating

Bindings: Burton Step On EST Genesis 2025

Price: $399 (USD recommended retail)

Style: Freestyle/All-Mtn Freestyle

Flex Rating: Medium

Flex Feel: Mid-Stiff (6.5/10)

Rating Score: 83.5/100

Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Bindings

Overview of the Step On EST Genesis’ Specs

Check out the tables for the Step On EST Genesis’ specs and available sizes.

Specs

Who are the Step On EST Genesis Most Suited To?

The Step On EST Genesis are best suited to those who want to have the ability have a quick getaway after getting off the chairlift and like the feeling of good responsiveness and love to carve.

And, importantly, those who have a board that uses the channel and plans to keep using a channel board or has other bindings for other boards and has or are willing to invest in Step On boots. 

Best matched to boards in the 4/10 to 7/10 flex range, IMO, but it also depends on the boots that you're pairing these with. I would suggest pairing them with boots in the 5/10 to 7/10 flex range, and not as stiff as the Ion Step Ons that I tested them with. 

Not for beginners, IMO. It might be that they are better suited to beginners with softer Step On boots, but I'd still say to start out with strap bindings vs these. And then you don't also have to learn the Stepping in and out process of these as well as learning how to ride. 

Test/review details for the Step On EST Genesis

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Step On EST Genesis are capable of.

Demo Info

Binding: Burton Step On EST Genesis, M

Date: February 7, 2024

Flex

I rode these with the Burton Ion Step On boots and the overall flex felt around an 8/10 to me. But I had a feeling that most of that was down to the boots. Once I'd tested them with the Ion Step On, with the Ion Step On liner, I changed to my liner, with the hope that it would give me a better feel for the bindings, given how stiff the Ion's were. 

And it made a huge difference, just changing the liner. 

Doing that reduced the overall flex to around a 7/10 flex at most, bordering on 6.5/10 flex. The Ion's shell is stiff too, so I'd still say they were quite stiff even with my liner, so I'd say the flex of the bindings is 6/10 to 6.5/10. Again, hard to get as accurate a reading as I would've liked, given I couldn't perform as controlled a test as I typically would, but safe to say the initial flex feel of 8/10 was highly influenced by the boots. 

Carving

With the Ion liner, the carving ability of my whole setup was through the roof, compared to with my control bindings/boots. I found I could really lean deeper into carves and all the support I needed was there and didn't seem to be a speed limit.

I was glad that I had the High Fidelity under me, rather than my typical mid-flex control board as I imagine this would have made my board feel real twitchy. There would just be too much power coming from the boots/bindings and would over power a mid-flex board, I would imagine. 

This settled down with my liner but was still high on the responsiveness scale.

In my experience with previous EST bindings and Re:Flex Step On bindings, I've found that they tend to have better response than what you'd expect for their flex - and the combination of them was just the same - really strong response and with the support and response, carving was significantly improved vs when I had my boots/bindings on the High Fidelity. 

Again, hard to say for sure how much of this was influenced by the boots, but regardless I would say, even with softer boots, the EST Step On Genesis would provide really good carving performance. 

Slow Speed Response

This was not great with the full Ion setup, but became significantly better with my liner in there. So much so, that it improved my slow speed response up to the level that my control bindings/boots provided. 

Board Feel/Butterability

Again, and this will be a repetitive theme of this review, the board feel was significantly worse when I had the Ion's liner in there.

My hypothesis before the review was that EST Step On bindings would provide better board feel than Re:Flex Step On bindings, based on the fact that regular EST bindings tend to give better board feel, in my experience, vs regular Re:Flex bindings. 

Now, when I first tried Step On bindings (Re:Flex as the '25 was the first time that EST Step On has been offered), I wasn't a fan of the board feel and felt it was significantly less than Burton's regular 2-strap bindings. That has, fortunately improved since Step Ons were released (at least in the Genesis line) but still not as good as their regular 2-strap bindings, IMO. So when I got my hands on Step On EST bindings, I had thought that this would be a good improvement on the Re:Flex Step On's for board feel. 

My first impression was that they were actually quite a bit worse. But once I swapped out for my liner, it made such a difference that the board feel was right up there with my Malavita Re:Flex (control bindings). The liner made that much difference.   

Pop/Ollie Power

Pop/ollies was initially harder to initiate when riding with the Ion liner, but provided good power. With my liner initiation became significantly easier and there was still as much power there. 

Adjustability

Heel Cup: No

Stance Width: Great stance width adjustability with these, because you are using the Channel (EST Bindings can only be mounted to boards with the Channel system) and you've got basically anywhere within that Channel  to set your bindings. 

Highback Lean: Yes - tool-less.

Ankle Strap Position: n/a - no straps

Toe Strap Position: n/a

Ankle and toe strap length:  n/a

Gas pedal/toe ramp extension: Yes. ~2cm of extension available

Highback Rotation: Yes, some. 

Compatible with: The Channel only 

While the EST variety of the Genesis Step On does provide better adjustability than their Re:Flex counterparts - mostly because of the stance width adjustability and the ability to get better boot centering with the vertical movement of the channel on the bindings - they still lack adjustability in some areas, because of the lack of straps. 

While in some ways you could think of the strap adjustability as being limitless, as there are no straps, but you could also argue it’s lacking. You can’t use the straps to help pull your heel back into the boot if you’re boots aren’t giving you quite the heel hold you’re looking for. Yes you get pulled back into the highback, but it doesn't work in the same way. It puts more emphasis on making sure you get good heel hold from your boots. So I’d say from a bindings perspective that’s a negative in terms of adjustability. There's also no way to improve your ankle support, if you find it's not enough for what you want. 

So while binding to board adjustability is decent, binding to boot adjustability is still limited, and of course, as is the case with all Step On bindings, you're limited with your boot choices too - though this is becoming less limited than it used to be, with more brands bringing out Step On boots. 

Shock Absorption

I found the shock absorption to be decent, but not as good as with my control bindings. That's pretty typical of EST bindings, in my experience. 

Entry/Exit

This is one of the main reasons people go for Step-On, so you hope it to be good. 

I rate these very highly, but that comes with a caveat. And that is - don't expect that they'll be easy the first time you use them, unless you're already experienced with Step On bindings. 

They take some practice to get used to. Also my high rating is assuming they get better with even more practice than I've had. I haven't had a lot of time in Step On bindings, so I haven't really dialed in the technique for entry/exit just yet. But I have improved since first getting them, and I'm assured by others it continues to get easier. 

Stepping in and out Improvement

On this particular occasion, I found them easier to get into and out of than I have  in the past. Nothing to so with them being EST, just that I was able to draw on past experience and build on that. I was found them much easier at the end of my testing day with them than at the beginning too, which is why I feel like there is still more improvement I could make. 

Now I would assume this improvement would increase more quickly if these are your day to day bindings, as getting follow up experience that is closer, time-wise, to your previous experience, tends to work better than having a whole year between experiences, in my experience (not sure it's possible to use the word experience more in one sentence than that! 🤣).

In any case, I found getting out was still a little awkward but was getting better. Getting in was getting nice and easy and I was even able to click in on the move this time - all be it not straight off the chairlift, but after skating a bit after getting off the chairlift. 

Comfort

My overall comfort was initially pretty low, with the full Ion setup, but I'm confident that discomfort was coming from the boots - I had some shin bite and some cramping, but that kind of discomfort is typically boot related, not binding related. And with my liners, that discomfort decrease by quite a bit too. 

Ankle Support 

The ankle support wasn't as good as I'm used to but it's also not as bad as I would expect, given there aren't any ankle straps. Once you can get the psychological thought of no straps out of your head, I found the ankle support OK, without being amazing. 

The main issue, is if it doesn't feel enough for you, there's no way to improve it. And also, that ankle support is likely highly reliant on how well your boots hold your ankles into the heel pocket of the boots. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

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

If I was to get the Step On EST Genesis, I wouldn't get them with the Ion Step On boots. I don't think they're a good match and if you want the stiffness of the Ion Step On boots, but still want EST Step On bindings, I would pair them with the Cartel X EST Step Ons. For the Genesis EST Step Ons, I would go with more mid flexing boots or at most mid-stiff. 

I did prefer these to the Re:Flex Step Ons, mostly because of the small improvement in board feel and the better binding to board adjustability. 

And overall I liked them, and like the cleanness of not having straps there, particularly when transporting the board and putting it away etc. And the entry/exit thing is appealing, but none of it is enough for me to want to go Step On or similar over strap bindings. 

But if you like the Step On feeling and have a channel board, these are what I would go with over the Re:Flex models, if you're pairing with a mid to mid-stiff flexing board.