Union Flite Pro Bindings Review

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

In this review I will assess the Flite 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 Flite Pros are as a binding for freestyle riding.

Overall Rating

Bindings: Union Flite Pro 2019

Price: $149

Style: Freestyle/Beginner

Flex Rating: Baseplate = 4/10, highback = 4/10

Flex Feel: Medium-Soft (3/10)

Rating Score: 79.5/100

Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Bindings

Out of the 22 Men’s Freestyle bindings that I rated:

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

Demo Info

Bindings: Union Flite 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: 550mm (21.7”)

Board demoed with: Rossignol One 2018, 159cm

Baseplate Length: 24cm (9.5″) – that’s measured on the top of the footbed. 22.5cm on the underside of the baseplate – it angles up to the top of the footbed.

Baseplate with Toe Ramp Extended: 25cm (top) – 1cm of extension available

Highback Height: 19.6cm (7.7″)

Weight: 760 grams (1lbs, 11oz) – per binding, including disc and screws*

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

Butterability/Board Feel

Even though they don’t use the mini-disc, I found the Flite Pros provide pretty good board feel anyway – it helps that they have quite a soft base plate. Still not as good a board feel as Union bindings with the mini-disc but pretty good.

Flex

Union rate the flex as follows:

Baseplate: 4/10

Highback: 4/10

I would say they feel about a 3/10 overall.

Adjustability

You can adjust a lot of things on the Flite Pro including:

• Forward Lean (tool-less)
• Gas Pedal (1cm extension)
• Heel Cup (for easier boot centering)
• Toe Strap Position
• Toe Strap Length
• Ankle Strap Length

The main things missing adjustability-wise were:

• No ankle strap position options
• Ankle and toe strap length adjustments aren’t tool-less

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

The Flite Pros absorb shock really well and have a healthy amount of padding in the foot bed. This is pretty important, IMO, when you’re landing jumps and tricks all day. 

Comfort

The Flite Pros might be a low cost binding but they are far from uncomfortable. That padding that helps with shock absorption of course also helps with comfort but the ankle strap – even though it’s their low end ankle strap is still decently comfortable. 

Responsiveness

They don’t provide a heap of response when getting up speed and aren’t like overly supportive when really railing a carve. But they are nice and maneuverable when riding at slow speeds – helping with slow approaches to features. 

Snowboard Compatibility

The CPs come Union’s universal disc, which is compatible with 2 x 4, 4 x 4 and the channel – so pretty much any board out there, these days. 

Compared to 2018 Model

As far as I can tell, the 2019 model is the same as the 2018 model, just with some new colorways.