Hello and welcome to my Union Flite Pro bindings review.
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
Price: $169
Style: Freestyle/Beginner
Flex Rating: Baseplate = 4/10 | Highback = 5/10 | Straps = 5/10
Flex Feel: Medium-Soft (3.5/10)
Rating Score: 78.9/100
Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Bindings
Out of the 17 Men’s Freestyle bindings that I rated:
Overview of the Flite Pro’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Flite Pro’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freestyle |
Price: | $169 |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Weight: | Super Light |
Mounts To: | 2 x 4 | 4 x 4 | Channel |
Sizing
SIZE | US BOOT SIZE | EURO BOOT SIZE | UK BOOT SIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
S | 6-7.5 | 38-40.5 | 5-6.5 |
M | 8-10 | 41-43 | 7-9 |
L | 10.5+ | 43.5+ | 9.5+ |
Who are the Flite Pro Most Suited To?
The Flite Pro is best suited to beginners who are on a budget or someone who is on a budget and likes to ride playful freestyle and doesn't need to bomb - or maybe to put on a board that they only ride casually on.
Great for beginners and low speed.
Best matched to boards of 4/10 flex or less.
The Flite Pro in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Flite Pro are capable of.
Demo Info
Binding: Union Flite Pro 2022, M
Date: February 24, 2021
Conditions: Sunny! As in not a single cloud. Perfect visibility.
-4°C (25°F) and -4°C (25°F) with wind chill (as in no wind!). Felt warmer than that because of the sun.
Snow was pretty good for the most part. On groomer some harder spots but mostly medium. Off groomer medium with some crunchy spots.
24 hour snow: 2cm (0.75")
7 day snow: 45cm (18")
On groomer: Hard but not icy.
Off groomer: Crunchy with some icy patches
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 555mm (22″)
Board demoed with: Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker
Boots demoed with: Adidas Tactical ADV 9.5
Baseplate Length: 24.5cm (9.7”)*
*measured on the top side of the footbed - 24cm (9.5") at base of baseplate.
Highback Height: 19.7cm (7.8”)*
* from bottom of heel cup to top of highback
Height from top of footbed to top of highback: 25.8cm (10.2")
Weight: 680g (1lb 8oz)
* for one binding, including screws and disc. The average weight of a small sample size of around 45 bindings (2019, 2020, 2021 & 2022 models) I weighed, was 890 grams. The lightest was 680 grams and the heaviest was 1,160grams. The Flite Pro are the lightest bindings I've ever weighed! And they feel that way - so freakin light!
They made carrying my board feel noticeably lighter, noticeably lighter on the lift and noticeably lighter when riding.
Mounting and Setup
No issues with mounting. Could sink the screws all good without having to first sink a screws without a washer, which was an issue with Union bindings in the past - so all good there.
The highback is tool-less but to adjust the strap lengths you need a screwdriver, which is a bit of a pain, if you're looking to make adjustments on the fly. But for this price point, can't complain.
Flex
Union rate the highback and straps 5/10 and the baseplate 4/10. Staps feel stiffer on the outsides, but soften up towards the middle. And overall I think 5/10 for the straps is about right. But overall flex feel when riding to me was 3.5/10.
Responsiveness
When it comes to high speed, deep carves, the Flite Pro is pretty lacking to be fair. Not as good control and can't lean as deep when really carving. But not too much of a surprise with bindings of this flex and price.
They were really good when riding slow though. One of the reason's that make these such good bindings for beginners.
Board Feel/Butterability
It's decent on these bindings. Not as good as the Contact Pros, which I also rode that day, and also not as good as my control bindings. But given they have a big disc, they actually were better than I though they'd be. I guess that softer baseplate really helps them to flex with the board.
Pop/Ollie Power
Super easy to access the pop from your board through these bindings, but overall less power/pop that you can extract versus any of the other bindings I rode that day (Malalvita - my control bindings - Contact Pro and Falcor).
Adjustability
Heel Cup: Yes - which is great for getting your heel and toe overhang centered
Stance Width: The Flite pros have Union's Universal Disc, which you can setup horizontally or vertically. With the heel cup adjustment there's no need to set it up vertically, so setting it up horizontally gives you plenty of stance width adjustability.
Highback Lean: Yes and tool-less
Ankle Strap Position: No
Toe Strap Position: Yes
Ankle and toe strap length: Yes but neither are tool-less - you need a screwdriver.
Gas pedal/toe ramp extension: no
Highback Rotation: Yes, but quite minimal in terms of how much you can rotate it - there are 2 slots for highback rotation.
Compatible with: 2 x 4 | 4 x 4 | The Channel
Let's Break this text up with a video
Shock Absorption
There's not a lot of padding on the footbed - you can almost feel the plastic through it when pressing into it. So you'd think they wouldn't be great for shock absorption. But they're actually not too bad. Not to the same extent as my Malavitas or the Contact Pros or Falcors, but still decent enough.
Entry/Exit
Straps are actually pretty smooth for the price point. As good as the Contact Pros. But still a step behind the Falcors and my Malavitas.
Comfort
Overall quite comfortable. Not as comfortable as my Malvitas or the Contact Pros, but still comfortable - and really good for the price point.
Ankle Strap: Conformed pretty well. Did feel slight pressure on the top of my foot, but very subtle.
Toe Strap: Just fine.
Canted Footbed: No
Padded Footbed: Pretty limited padding
Highback: No padding at all on the highback, but didn't get even the slightest hint of calf bite and that's the main thing.
Ankle Support
Ankle support isn't bad but also isn't amazing. The ankle strap sits a little lower on your ankle than the average ankle strap. I had no issues with it though.
Changes for 2022 Model
It might be easier to list the things that didn't change on the Flite Pro - it go a full overhaul.
- New Baseplate (Stage 8 Duraflex)
- New Highback (Stage 12 Flite Pro Duraflex): The highback makes it look a bit like a mini Falcor, but don't be fooled, this is almost at the opposite end of the spectrum to the Falcor!
- New Toe Strap (TS 4.0)
- New Tool-less Flad (forward lean adjuster)
- New "snap fit" disk cover
- New bushings
- New Heelcup
About the only thing that stayed the same was the ankle strap and the ratchets!
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | Contribution to Final Score | |
|---|---|---|
BOARD FEEL | 4.0 | 24/30 |
SHOCK ABSORPTION | 4.0 | 20/25 |
RESPONSE | 2.5 | 7.5/15 |
ADJUSTABILITY | 4.0 | 12/15 |
COMFORT | 4.0 | 8/10 |
ENTRY/EXIT | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 78.9/100 |
They're certainly the most plasticy feeling and looking binding in Union's line, but for the price point the quality is decent enough and the value for money is there for sure.
For those on a budget, with a soft flexing board or a beginner (who should be on a soft flexing board), they a great option.
Super easy to turn quick at slow speeds. Not so much on a trench digging high speed carve though.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you are interested in the Flite Pros, check out the links below for more info, user reviews, current prices and availability.
If you want to check out some other freestyle options or see how the Flite Pros compared to other men’s freestyle bindings check out the link below.
Hello and welcome to my Union Flite Pro bindings review. – part of my Freestyle bindings review series.
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Flite Pros are capable of.
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