Hello and welcome to my Bent Metal Transfer snowboard bindings review.
This review is for the 2017 model and hasn’t been updated for 2018
In this review I will take a look at the Transfers as freestyle snowboard bindings.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Transfers a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how they compares with other freestyle bindings.
Overall Rating
Bindings: Bent Metal Transfer
Price: $289 (USD)
Style: Freestyle
Other Uses: Beginner, All-Mountain
Flex: Medium-Soft (4/10)
Rating Score: 75.3/100
Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Bindings
Out of the 17 Men’s Freestyle bindings that I rated:
- The average price was $204 (USD)
- The average score was 75.8/100
- The highest score was 94.7/100
- The lowest score was 50.0/100
- The Transfer ranked 10th out of 17
Sizing
Check out the table below for the available sizes for the Transfer.
| Size | Fits Men’s US Boot Sizes | Euro Boot Sizes | UK Boot Sizes |
| Small | 5.0 – 8.0 | 36.5 – 40.5 | 4.0 – 7.0 |
| Medium | 8.0 – 11.0 | 40.5 – 44.5 | 7.0 – 10.0 |
| Large | 11.0 – 14.0 | 44.5 – 48.5 | 10.0 – 13.0 |
Who are the Transfer’s Most Suited to?
The Transfers would be great for anyone looking for a no-nonsense, solidly built binding that is great for riding the park but has enough response to take it to the rest of the mountain too.
These bindings would be suitable for beginners and intermediate riders but also for more advanced riders that like that bit of extra flex in the high-back.
The Transfers in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Transfers are capable of.
Demo Info
Bindings: Bent Metal Transfer 2017, Size M
Date: February 27th, 2016
Conditions: Choppy and slushy on the groomers (Saturday Afternoon/Evening). Some sparse pockets of powder off. Rain came later in the afternoon but fine prior to that. Visibility great all day even with the rain.
Bindings angles: +15/-9, +18/-6, +18/-3
I rode the transfers with a few different Lib Tech and GNU boards so I got a chance to get a feel for them on different boards.
Flex
The high back feels pretty soft and flexy and it’s great for getting a bit of tweak but the response was more like you’d expect from a stiffer flexing binding. The high back itself felt like it was a 3/10 (with 1 being the softest and 10 being the stiffest) but it responded more like it was 4 or even 5 out of 10.
Great to have if you really like to have that soft tweaky high back feel but still want some decent response.
Bent Metal rate them as a 6/10 for flex but they felt softer than that to me. Maybe a 5/10 baseplate flex and 3/10 high-back flex. That’s why I’ve given it a 4/10 flex overall.
Butterability
Really easy to butter in these bindings. They’ve got good board feel and the bindings flex well with the board.
Adjustability
These are pretty simple bindings but you can still adjust all the main areas you need.
The high back lean adjustment is really fast to adjust. There are 4 different settings so it’s not super micro adjustablebut quick and easy.
I liked that the footbed comes right out. It makes them easy to mount to your board – which is good when you demo lots of gear like me or if you are experimenting with binding angles. If you just use them on one board with one set of binding angles and never take them on and off, then this isn’t a biggie but I really liked that feature.
Shock Absorption
Shock absorption wasn’t bad but for the Transfers score better as a freestyle binding I think that more padding in the footbed is needed. Now, Bent Metal markets this as an all-terrain binding but for me it was more suited for freestyle that you could take elsewhere.
But even as an all-terrain binding, it’d be awesome to see a bit more padding in the 2018 models.
Entry/Exit
The ratchets felt solid and easy/quick to ratchet up and to release.
Let’s Break up this text with a Video
Comfort
These bindings were pretty comfortable. I didn’t notice any pressure points and they felt pretty good overall.
I think they would be more comfortable again with a bit more padding in the footbed and if there was a bit of canting in the footbed.
Also the toe strap could have been ever so slightly softer.
Responsiveness
Like I mentioned in the section on flex, these bindings have actually got some really decent response. Despite feeling like they have a 4/10 flex overall, they respond like they have a 5/10 or the 6/10 flex that Bent Metal label them as – so in that way I’d say they’re flex rating is more accurate.
The bonus of this, particularly when rating for freestyle riding, is that you get the tweakability of a softer flexing binding but the response of stiffer flexing bindings, which is pretty cool!
Boot Support
The Transfers had pretty good boot support – the boots felt snug in there. Not the most locked-down feeling I’ve had in a pair of bindings, but definitely not loose feeling either – a happy medium.
Changes from the 2016 Model
These are new for 2017 so no changes to report… well they have changed from not existing to existing!
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
| Shock Absorption: | 3.0 | 15/25 |
| Butterability: | 4.0 | 16/20 |
| Flex: | 5.0 | 15/15 |
| Adjustability: | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Comfort: | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Responsiveness: | 3.0 | 6/10 |
| Entry/Exit: | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 75.3/100 |
Bent Metal were around years ago but their first time around was a bit of flop. I didn’t try any of the original Bent Metal bindings but from what I’ve heard they weren’t great and that their resurgence is a much much better start.
They’re not amazing, yet. But, given it’s their first season, I think they will improve a lot and may well end up being really great bindings.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you’re interested in learning more about the transfers or want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
- Bent Metal Transfer at blue-tomato (UK/Europe)
If you want to check out some other freestyle bindings or see how the Transfers compare to other freestyle bindings, check out the next link.
>>My Top 5 Men’s Freestyle Bindings
Hello again Nate,
Bought the Bent Metal transfer in medium to go with ION size 10. So far I really like this setup BUT thw bindings eats the external side heel of my boots (the foam like material). As we have the same size and you also went with the medium, did you experience something similar? Can I fix it or I just have to get ridden of my bindings, as I don’t want to definitely ruin my (new) boots?
Thanks in advance 🙂
David
Hi David
Thanks for your message.
I rode the Transfer with Vans Aura size 10. Same size, but different boots, so it’s hard to compare completely. I didn’t notice any rubbing on my boots but like I say different boots – and I don’t own them, so I haven’t spent a significant amount of time on them. I rode them on a few different boards, but only with the one pair of boots. I can’t definitely see why you wouldn’t want to ruin your Ions! I can’t think of any way that you could stop this from happening unfortunately. A different set of bindings might be the only way to go to preserve your boots.
Hope this helps (even if it’s not the answer you wanted to hear!)