Hello and welcome to my Salomon Quantum review.
In this review I will take a look at the Quantums as freeride snowboard bindings.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Quantums a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how they compare with other Freeride bindings.
Overall Rating
Bindings: Salomon Quantum Snowboard Bindings
Price: $469 (USD recommended retail)
Style: Freeride
Other Uses: Aggressive All-Mountain
Flex: Stiff (8/10)
Rating Score: 87.4/100
Compared to other Men’s Freeride Bindings
Of the 11 current model men's freeride bindings that we tested:
❄️ The Quantum ranked 4th out of 11
Overview of the Quantum’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Quantum’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freeride |
Price: | $469 - BUYING OPTIONS |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Edge-to-Edge: | Fast |
Weight: | Normal |
Mounts To: | 2 x 4 | 4 x 4 | Channel |
Sizing
SIZE | US BOOT SIZE | EURO BOOT SIZE | UK BOOT SIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
S | 3.5-8 | 34.5-39 | 2.5-7 |
M | 7.5-10.5 | 40-43.5 | 6.5-9.5 |
L | 10.5-13.5 | 43.5-47 | 9.5-12.5 |
Who are the Quantums Most Suited To?
The Quantum's are best for advanced to expert riders who are looking to ride at speed and carve hard and deep. For those that like their bindings stiff and responsive.
Not suitable for beginners at all - way too stiff for that. Also not the best option for the park/freestyle, especially for smaller tricks, buttering, flat-land tricks etc.
The Quantum in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Quantum are capable of.
Demo Info
Binding: Salomon Quantum 2020, M
Date: March 10, 2019
Conditions: Mostly sunny and perfect vis.
Groomers were on the firmer side, but not overly hard - and really well groomed - especially first thing, was smooth going and could really confidently bomb and lean into some deep carves.
Got a little cruddy as the day wore on, but was never too bad.
Off-groomer was tracked, but there'd been recent fresh snow a few days prior and there were still some good patches of untracked fresh snow.
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 550mm (21.7″)
Board tested with: Rossignol One LF 2018, 159
Boots tested with: Vans Aura Pro, Size US10
Baseplate Length: 25.7cm (10.12”)*
*measured on the top side of the footbed - a little bit of angle down to underside of baseplate
Highback Height: 16.5cm (6.5")*
* from bottom of heel cup to top of highback. Highback itself if 18.5cm (7.28") - it extends below the bottom of the heel cup. Heel cup is quite high.
Flex
To me they felt 9/10 when flexing in hand but more like 8/10 on snow. But yeah very little twist in the highback for sure. Baseplate is maybe a little softer than what highback is?
Responsiveness
Really freakin good! You could just feel these things hold onto a carve, no matter how fast you were bombing that carve and you could just get the board way up on edge and hold it there for an eternity!
Not super maneuverable at slower speeds, as expected with bindings this stiff.
Board Feel/Butterability
Not that buttery. Not dead underfoot either but less in terms of board feel vs the Salomon Highlanders, which I also rode that day.
Pop/Ollie Power
Took a little bit to get the board to pop. Had to really load it up. They weren't as good for popping as the Highlanders and a little less than my control bindings too (Burton Malavita)
Let's Break this Text Up with a Video
Adjustability
There's a good number of adjustments you can make. I just didn't necessarily find it that easy to make those adjustments.
Heel Cup: No
Stance Width: Can run disc horizontal or vertical, so good for stance width adjustments when running horizontal.
Highback Lean: Yes, but found the way it was down a little tricky and not tool-less
Ankle Strap Position: No
Toe Strap Position: No
Ankle and toe strap length: Yes and tool-less
Gas pedal/toe ramp extension: Yes
Highback Rotation: Yes, but not independent of highback lean
Compatible with: 2 x 4 | 4 x 4 | channel
Shock Absorption
There's some good padding underfoot. They felt pretty damp and absorbed shock and chatter well. About the same as the Highlanders. Perhaps that flexible heel loop also helps with the shock absorption?
Entry/Exit
Ratchets are nice and smooth to work with and make it nice and easy to get in and out of them.
Comfort
Overall decent comfort with a couple of small things.
Ankle Strap: Really nice ankle strap, that I found conformed to the boot really well and not even a hint of any pressure points
Toe Strap: Good toe strap too - fit on my boots nicely
Canted Footbed: Yes - 2.5 degrees of canting
Padded Footbed: Good padding without being ultra shock absorbing
Highback: I found I get a little bit of calf bite from the highback. Part of that was probably that I had a little more forward lean on that I normally would and part of it was probably how stiff the highback is. But I have ridden highbacks as stiff without calf bite, so that's one complaint I had.
Ankle Support
Really, really good in terms of ankle support. Ankle felt securely locked in place and gave me the confidence to really get deep on carves with these bindings.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | SCORE WEIGHTING | |
|---|---|---|
CARVING | 5.0 | 30/30 |
SLOW SPEED RESPONSE | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
ADJUSTABILITY | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
ANKLE SUPPORT | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
SHOCK ABSORPTION | 4.0 | 8/10 |
COMFORT | 3.5 | 7/10 |
BOARD FEEL | 3.5 | 7/10 |
ENTRY/EXIT | 4.0 | 4/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 87.4/100 |
I found the Quantum's made my board a better carver - so if you like to carve aggressively and bomb hard, then the Quantum are well worth checking out.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you’re interested in learning more about the Quantums or want to research prices and availability check out the links below.
If you want to check out some other freeride bindings or want to see how the Quantums compare to other freeride bindings, check out the next link.
Hello and welcome to my Salomon Quantum review.
Hi,
Thanks for the review. Seems like you felt the heel movement in these was so minimal that it was barely noticeable. Is that right? I’m looking at these bindings atm, but my conecern is the snow where I live is not great. Man made at times, can be a bit of ice and hard snow (Victoria, Australia) Have to really trust your setup and be confident of getting your edges to stick on turns. Stiff bindings and boots help me with that. Some comments elsewhere indicate these are probably more suited to powder, but you rated them in your list. How do you think these would go for my situation?
Hey Shanan, thanks for your message.
Yeah, I found I barely noticed the heel cup, particularly when fully leaning into a carve. They do add a little bit of “give”, so if you’re looking to get that really locked in feeling, then there are probably better options, but I found that that give was pretty subtle in these and the stiffness of the baseplate and highback allowed me to really charge and lean aggressively into carves. Note though that I didn’t have icy conditions when I rode these. Had pretty much perfect groomers for the most part and soft snow off groomer, so can’t say how they’d go in icy conditions specifically.
Hope this helps with your decision
After two seasons of riding, the cable (which holds the heel arch) broke! The warranty was denied. There is no trust in these bindings. The technology where the cable is used is not reliable! Be careful! Choose any other bindings but not Salomon.
Hi Den
Thanks for your input. Sucks that happened and particularly that you were denied warranty.
Wow, just bought my second pair of Quantums. Took me a while to dial the adjustments in. Now I love em. Super responsive and amazingly comfortable. Work great in both powder and hard pack. The Shadow fit flexibility combined with a light yet stiff back make the Quantum a fantastic ride.
just a note, foward lean is ajusted when you loosen the high back bottom bolts and slide the bottom front to rear. it leans in the high back for ajusting the foward lean. 😉
Hi Simon
Thanks for your input. Good to know. I couldn’t figure out how to adjust it when I rode them and figured they couldn’t be adjusted. I did find it strange that they couldn’t be adjusted. Sounds a little tricky but at least they can be adjusted.
Thanks for the tip!
You have me really considering the Quantums. The Shadow Fit seems like a great idea. I was just a little concerned about the highback rotation and forward lean being in the same adjuster. I’ve read it’s a bit of a pain. Do you really need to rotate the highbacks on these bindings? Being that they flex side to side? How much side play do they really have? Seems to be a benefit for sitting back in the powder.
Thanks.
Hi Desmond
I didn’t find that the high back lean/rotation was an issue – but I only rode them for half a day and didn’t adjust them too much – but I was able to get them how I wanted them.
You can feel a little bit of play in them – but I think only if you’re thinking about it. I only noticed it when I was consciously trying to notice it – if that makes sense. It’s very subtle and these bindings are very stiff in general and so there isn’t much room for too much in terms of that play – it certainly didn’t effect toe to heel responsiveness.
And yeah, definitely a bit more ankle support than the Capos/El Hefe/Ultra FC, IMO.
Hope this answers your questions.