Binding Review: 08-09 Drake Muse

Location: Keystone, Colorado

Snow Conditions: Cold with hardpacked groomers and some choppy terrain.

Setup: I rode the Drake Muse bindings on the Drake Player snowboard with my Vans Omni Focus boots.

Time to set up the binding: It was very cold, so it did take a while to set up the bindings with it freezing out.

Fit: My foot fit fine with no gaps in space, the straps were adjusted to my boot but I didn’t feel that the bindings fit my boots as well as they would have if I had Northwave boots. I should have adjusted the toe strap to fit my boot better.

First Impression: This is my first time riding Drake bindings, haven’t heard much about them…lets see how well they perform for the more higher end women’s binding.

Appearance: Lets see honest…I hate gold. I have only liked one binding in a gold color and that was the ride sigma movement…because it gave you non-blingy, elegant gold. The Muse binding is the opposite of that, giving a bling, pure gold that just screams 80 year old in Florida with red lipstick wearing spandex…yes, that’s a good picture to paint. The highlight is it’s not much gold on the binding but enough in the noticeable spots.

Comfort: I didn’t think my boots fit that great with the binding so in terms of comfort, it wasn’t amazing. On heelside turns I could feel the highback dig into my boot but it was also a stiffer highback. I think overall with my boot combo it just didn’t work. I want to try the bindings with a Northwave boot which is what they are matched to as compatible. I did like the padding that the binding offers when riding, definitely dampens it up so you can’t feel the chatter on the snowboard.

Functionality: You have quick adjustments on the straps to adjust them or center them to your boot when riding which is a plus. I wasn’t a fan of the ratchets.

Flex: I was expecting more as a higher end women’s binding, quick response while offering a stiffer highback. To me, the binding fell as a medium flex binding.

Response: I would say definitely as a entry level to intermediate progressive binding, this will give you good response without being too touchy on the response and too slow to move.

Toe Strap: I didn’t like it, I had to adjust it on the mountain and didn’t trust that it would stay put when riding. I really cranked it down just in case. You can rock it as a cap strap or regular but both ways I rocked it, didn’t feel 100% fit to my boot.

Overall Impression: The muse has been upgraded with softer padded straps and a new toe strap. I felt that if I had Northwave boots, it would have fit just a bit better to give a better evaluation on the binding overall. I wasn’t impressed with the bindings but I didn’t feel they were a huge let-down either.

On-snow photo

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Drake Muse Description

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