Union Contact Pro Binding Review

Hello and welcome to my Union Contact Pro Binding review – part of my Freestyle bindings review series.

In this review I will assess the Contact Pros for all of the freestyle relevant factors of the bindings to see how they perform as freestyle bindings.

As is custom at SnowboardingProfiles.com the bindings will receive a rating out of 100. This is not an exact science but will give some idea of how good the Contact Pros are as a binding for freestyle riding.

Overall Rating

Bindings: Union Contact Pros

Price: $229

Style: Freestyle

Flex Rating: Baseplate = 3.5/10, highback = 4.5/10 (roughly based on Union’s flex slider graphs)

Flex Feel: Medium-Soft (4/10)

Rating Score: 92.6/100

Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Bindings

Out of the 20 Men’s Freestyle bindings that I rated:

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

Demo Info

Bindings: Union Contact Pro 2019, Medium

Date: March 22, 2018

Conditions: Puking snow! A lot of fresh powder and everything just filling in all day. Being a weekday, nothing was getting too tracked out anyway, but even if it did it would have just filled in again. Visibility was of course not ideal, but far from whiteout as well (mid-level vis). It was cold (had to be for the snow) but not super freezing. Just nicely cold – and superbly powdery!

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance Width: 555mm (21.9”)

Board demoed with: Rossignol One 2018, 159cm

Baseplate Length: 24cm (9.5″) – that’s measured on the top of the footbed. 23.5cm on the underside of the baseplate – it angles up just a little to the top of the footbed.

Baseplate with Toe Ramp Extended: no extension

Highback Height: 20cm (7.9″)

Weight: 800 grams (per binding, including disc and screws [720g without]) (1lbs, 12oz)*

*Lighter than most of the bindings I weighed (average of a small sample was 864g)

Butterability/Board Feel

The Union Contact Pros (CPs) have great board feel and a big reason for this is that they have very minimal board contact because of the mini-disc they use. This allows the board to flex more naturally with the bindings.

Flex

The CPs have a medium-soft flex – I would say a 4/10. This is an awesome flex to have in the park and for riding freestyle on the rest of the mountain too.

This gives you enough movement and tweakability and are forgiving enough for tricks but also not so soft that you can’t ride freetstyle outside the park and so you have that little bit more support for landing bigger jumps.

The mini-disc in the binding also allows for minimal hard contact with the board to give you extra feel for the flex of the snowboard you are riding – this helps the binding to adapt to the flex of the board better. So if you’re riding a softer board, then the flexiness of that board will be felt with the Contact Pros and if you’re riding a stiffer board you will feel that extra stiffness – that makes these bindings very versatile.

Union rate the flex as follows:

Baseplate: 4/10

Highback: 5/10

Adjustability

The CPs have plenty of options for adjustability. There is 3 way adjustability in the ankle strap and two way in the toe strap. You can of course adjust the forward lean too. And these adjustments are all tool-less.

But my favorite adjustment with Union bindings is being able to adjust the heel-cup, which makes it easier to center your boots over your board (i.e. even heel and toe overhang).

You can now also rotate the highbacks independently of the heel loop adjustment. 

There is no gas pedal/toe ramp adjustment and there is only one height position for the ankle strap.  But otherwise they are very adjustable.

Let’s Break up this Text with a video!

Check out the video below for a visual look at these bindings and some more info.

Shock Absorption

Hugely important for freestyle bindings (IMO), is how well they absorb shock. Lap after lap in the park you are landing jumps, tricks, hitting jibs etc so you want your bindings (as well as your boots) to absorb the shock as much as possible.

The CPs have a very generous amount of EVA padding on the base and this leads to some awesome shock absorbing – perfect for the freestyle rider.

And all of this padding does nothing to the weight of these bindings which are super-light at just 715grams (1.57 pounds) – so the rest of the binding is incredibly light and allows for heaps of EVA padding for great shock absorption.

NOTE: I weighed the 2019 model (Medium size) at 800 grams, including disc and screws – 720 grams without disc and screws. So my best guess is that Union weighs them without disc and screws and my weighing isn’t going to be as accurate as theirs.

Comfort

All that EVA padding also adds to the comfort of these bindings.

But in addition to that the ankle strap and toe strap are nice and comfortable too. I didn’t notice any pressure points and they conformed well to my boots. The ankle strap isn’t as nice as others in the Union line, but they’re pretty good. They provide quite a loose/surfy feel, so if that’s what you’re looking for then these are spot on.

Responsiveness

The CPs have pretty decent responsiveness for softer flexing bindings.

They’re not going to be, and aren’t designed to be, super-responsive and won’t give you the response that a good stiffer binding will but they do a pretty good job which is a nice bonus.

Snowboard Compatibility

The CPs come with a mini-disc, which is compatible with 4 x 2 binding mounting systems and Burton’s channel system. It’s not compatible with 4 x 4 mounting but that’s less common these days.

Compared to Past Season’s Models

2021 Model

The 2021 model has a new “Forma Elite” ankle strap, replacing the “Forma” ankle strap on the 2020 model. Lesser of an upgrade than the Forma versus the Classic Lite, but still a subtle upgrade there. 

2020 Model

The 2020 model have a new ankle strap. Now has the “Forma” instead of the “Classic Lite” it had on the 2019 model. This is a nice little upgrade. Otherwise pretty much the same as the 2019 model.

2019 Model

The 2019 Contact Pros have a couple of small changes from the 2018 model.

• No more vaporlite bushings (now thermoformed EVA bushings)
• Aluminum ratchets – replacing the Magnesium ratchets that were on the 2018 model (magnesium is lighter)

These things are likely part of the reason the price has reduced on these bindings. But honestly didn’t make a massive difference to the ride. Not that I noticed anyway.

2018 Model

As far as I can tell the 2018 model is the same as the 2017 model, with the exception of some slight changes to the colorways.

2017 Model (compared with 2016 model)

The 2017 model is virtually the same as the 2016 model, except for some minor tweaks – but there’s no complaints here because the 2016s were so good. The 2016s had the following improvements from the 2015 model and these have been kept for the 2017 model:

• Ultra grip toe strap: For better forming around the toe of your boot
• New Vapor Light shock absorption tech: Extra shock absorption without adding extra weight. The 2016 model are still just 720 grams (715g for the 2017 model) but with extra shock absorption – best of both worlds!

Hello and welcome to my Union Contact Pro Binding review – part of my Freestyle bindings review series.

In this review I will assess the Contact Pros for all of the freestyle relevant factors of the bindings to see how they perform as freestyle bindings.

As is custom at snowboardingprofiles.com the bindings will receive a rating out of 100. This is not an exact science but will give some idea of how good the Contact Pros are as a binding for freestyle riding.

Overall Rating

Bindings: Union Contact Pros
Price: $259 RRP
Smart rating score: 92.6/100
Flex: Medium-Soft

Right, let’s get into the details!

Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Bindings

Out of all the Men’s Freestyle bindings that I rated:

• I looked at 20 different Men’s Freestyle bindings
• The average score was 75.1/100
• The highest score was 94.7/100
• The lowest score was 45.8/100
• The average price was $205
• The Contact Pros ranked 2nd out of 20!

Available Sizes

The Contact Pros are available in the following sizes.

Note that prior to 2017 Union used to size by the sizes S/M, M/L and L/XL but for the 2016-17 season and since, they are sizing using S, M & L. If you are looking at 2016 or earlier models the sizing will be labelled differently.

• S/M is now S
• M/L is now M; and
• L/XL is now L

Who are the Contact Pro’s Most Suited to?

The contact pros are great for anyone who likes to ride freestyle in the park and over the whole mountain. They are great for anything freestyle but also are definitely suitable for riding the whole mountain and have decent response for a freestyle binding.

They are particularly great for anyone looking for great board feel (the mini-disc the contact pros use really helps with this) but still want plenty of shock absorption.

The Contact Pros in more detail

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

Demo Info

Bindings: Union Contact Pro 2017, Medium

Date: February 27, 2016, March 28th, 2016 & March 30th, 2016.

Conditions: I had the privilege of demoing the Contact Pros over 3 different days, on different mountains, in a variety of different conditions and with 3 different styles of snowboard.

Bindings angles: +18/-6 & +18/+3

Butterability/Board Feel

The Union Contact Pros (CPs) have a medium-soft flex and that helps them butter well for presses, butters, jibs and for tweaking grabs.

They provide great board feel too and a big reason for this is that they have very minimal board contact because of the mini-disc they use. This allows the board to flex more naturally with the bindings.

Flex

The CPs have a medium-soft flex as mentioned above. This is an awesome flex to have in the park and for riding freestyle on the rest of the mountain too.

This gives you enough movement and tweakability and are forgiving enough for tricks but also not so soft that you can’t ride freetstyle outside the park and so you have that little bit more support for landing bigger jumps.

The mini-disc in the binding also allows for minimal hard contact with the board to give you extra feel for the flex of the snowboard you are riding – this helps the binding to adapt to the flex of the board better. So if you’re riding a softer board, then the flexiness of that board will be felt with the Contact Pros and if you’re riding a stiffer board you will feel that extra stiffness – that makes these bindings very versatile.

Adjustability

The CPs have heaps of options for adjustability. There is 3 way adjustability in the ankle strap and two way in the toe strap. You can of course adjust the forward lean too.

The best part is that you can adjust the straps and the forward lean of the highback without the need for tools – so you can get that perfect fit on the fly.

So long as you get these suckers in the right size you should be able to get a great fit.

Let’s Break up this Text with a video!

Check out the video below for a visual look at these bindings and to learn more about them and the tech involved.

Shock Absorption

Hugely important for freestyle bindings (IMO), is how well they absorb shock. Lap after lap in the park you are landing jumps, tricks, hitting jibs etc so you want your bindings (as well as your boots) to absorb the shock as much as possible.

The CPs have a very generous amount of EVA padding on the base and this leads to some awesome shock absorbing – perfect for the freestyle rider. They also introduced something last year called vapor light which allows them to add even more cushioning without adding to the weight.

And all of this padding does nothing to the weight of these bindings which are super-light at just 715grams (1.57 pounds) – so the rest of the binding is incredibly light and allows for heaps of EVA padding for great shock absorption.

Comfort

All that EVA padding also adds to the comfort of these bindings.

More than that though is the natural canting created in the footbed which helps to align your ankles, knees and hips in a more comfortable, more natural way.

Comfort = more enjoyable and longer riding and the CPs have comfort in spades.

Responsiveness

The CPs have pretty decent responsiveness for softer flexing bindings.

They’re not going to be, and aren’t designed to be, super-responsive and won’t give you the response that a good freeride binding will but they do a pretty good job which is a really nice bonus.

Snowboard Compatibility

The CPs come with a mini-disc, which is compatible with 4 x 2 binding mounting systems and Burton’s channel system. It’s not compatible with 4 x 4 mounting but that’s less common these days.

Compared to Past Season’s Models

2018 Model

As far as I can tell the 2018 model is the same as the 2017 model, with the exception of some slight changes to the colorways.

2017 Model (compared with 2016 model)

The 2017 model is virtually the same as the 2016 model, except for some minor tweaks – but there’s no complaints here because the 2016s were so good. The 2016s had the following improvements from the 2015 model and these have been kept for the 2017 model:

• Ultra grip toe strap: For better forming around the toe of your boot
• New Vapor Light shock absorption tech: Extra shock absorption without adding extra weight. The 2016 model are still just 720 grams (715g for the 2017 model) but with extra shock absorption – best of both worlds!

Final Score

Alright let’s take a look at how the Contact Pros rated in the table below.

No surprise that the CPs scored so highly given their qualities. And no surprise that they were the #2 bindings in my list of the top 5 freestyle bindings!