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Reverend SC
03-22-2004, 09:30 AM
BURTON AND TECHNINE JOIN FORCES TO PROTECT BINDING CAP STRAP TECHNOLOGY



01/07/04 - Press Release


It was just good old fashioned coincidence that Burton and Technine independently invented a similar, breakthrough cap strap design that revolutionized comfort and control in a binding's toe strap.

The story of Technine pro rider Marc Frank Montoya's "Baltimore steez" toe cap strap begins in Utah. Three winters ago Marc Frank Montoya and his homies were putting their toe straps over the tips of their toes instead of over the top of the foot. He quickly discovered the advantages of this simple idea because it pulled the foot back into the binding and felt more snug. Marc Frank went to Technine's factory and developed the design for the "Baltimore steez toe strap" found on his 2004 signature Technine model. It came out in January 2003 at SIA, and everybody loved it. Marc Frank sums it up by saying "Why is my toe cap strap so bangin' and everybody wants to bite it? Well because sh*t, just look at it and think about how it works. It's so damn good. It pulls your foot back into the binding, holds it down all nice, keep everything all snug, and doesn't slip out of its position. Sh*t, all that!"

Meanwhile, development of Burton's patent-pending Capstrap(tm) began at Mt. Hood. A couple of summers ago, one of Burton's on-snow testing coordinators, Sean McVeigh, noticed that a lot of kids at Hood were folding their toe straps down in order to pull their boots further back into the heelcup of their bindings. In a "eureka" moment, Sean decided to build a toe cap strap out of a hockey helmet chin strap. Despite the strap's rudimentary construction, the testing crew instantly noticed that the chin strap provided excellent and accurate heel hold and enhanced board control without the pressure points that are sometimes associated with standard toe straps. Soon after, Burton's binding development team began work on a production version of a telescoping adjustable Capstrap that they launched in January 2003 at SIA on the 2004 Mission Greed.

When Burton pro riders like Jeremy Jones got their hands on the new Capstraps, they immediately bagged their old toe straps and began rocking the new Capstraps. Now the majority of Burton's team rides the Capstrap because it provides superior heel hold and comfort as well as enhanced board control compared to traditional toe straps. Jeremy Jones, Dave Downing, Keir Dillon, JP Solberg, Natasza Zurek, Victoria Jealouse, Anne Molin Kongsgaard, Colin Langlois and Mikey Rencz are all devoted Capstrap converts.

After many conversations back and forth about which company came up with the idea first, Burton and Technine decided to join forces to protect this valuable new technology. Burton will control the patent, but Technine has exclusive rights to produce its own version of the cap strap. Once the patent is issued, Burton and Technine will be the only companies authorized to produce the breakthrough cap strap design.

Technine's "Baltimore Toe Strap" is featured on its 2004 Marc Frank Montoya pro model binding. Burton's Capstrap is offered on two models for 2004 - the Mission OLS and Mission Greed. Check out your local retailer and get 'em while you can, 'cause they're selling out fast.

Marc Frank Montoya and Burton Snowboards - the pioneers of toe cap strap technology.

elex
03-22-2004, 11:27 AM
Burton is smart that way.If they come up with something they protect & if you come up with it,they buy it.Well except for the Junkyard,that's stolen,legally I guess.

Reverend SC
03-22-2004, 11:45 AM
Burton is smart that way.If they come up with something they protect & if you come up with it,they buy it.Well except for the Junkyard,that's stolen,legally I guess.

Yeah, I know all about capitalism, and I don't have a problem with patenting core materials, construction features, etc, because there's always pros and cons, other ways of doing things with little difference. But these cap straps look like the future of bindings. To me, it'd be like trying to patent the sidecut, or edges. Or snowboards in general. Wait, Jake already tried that. More of the same from him....

Coldcat
03-22-2004, 01:38 PM
* giggle *
Yeah, well... what browser are you on? And on what computer?
Business wise, this is the best way to do it. Do it to them before they do it to you and all that. I am not surprised, not even nagged. Just as long as they don't ask ridiculous prices for them bindings.

Has anyone here ridden these capstraps yet? I am real curious..

And to think that a whole bunch of dutch 'core' riders has been dissing Burton forever on a dutch snowboarding forum I hang out, and worshipping Never Summer and Technine for being so core and keeping it real....I am sorry to see their dreams crushed.

Wanna change the world? Change humans.

elex
03-22-2004, 01:59 PM
Yeah, I know all about capitalism, and I don't have a problem with patenting core materials, construction features, etc, because there's always pros and cons, other ways of doing things with little difference. But these cap straps look like the future of bindings. To me, it'd be like trying to patent the sidecut, or edges. Or snowboards in general. Wait, Jake already tried that. More of the same from him....

If they are that great,I'm sure we'll see knock offs by the other guys or possibly a licensing agreement.I forgot that Burton bought the patent for snowboards.The cat strap is roughly the same thing hard booters been riding for over 2 decades.I would like to try them out, but I'm not in any rush.What's next, a 2 hole pattern? oh wait.

Kevbeau
03-22-2004, 02:31 PM
If they are indeed the "future of snowboarding," someone will figure out how to get around the patent. Haven't tried them yet, but it seems like one of those ideas that is so blatantly obvious, why hasn't somebody done it before.....I'm waiting to have one of those ideas.

Reverend SC
03-22-2004, 03:13 PM
If they are indeed the "future of snowboarding," someone will figure out how to get around the patent. Haven't tried them yet, but it seems like one of those ideas that is so blatantly obvious, why hasn't somebody done it before.....I'm waiting to have one of those ideas.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going home tonight and trying to adjust my toe strap to do the same thing. I mean, that's all the guys who created these things did. I'll report back Monday on how it worked.

REON
03-22-2004, 06:57 PM
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going home tonight and trying to adjust my toe strap to do the same thing. I mean, that's all the guys who created these things did. I'll report back Monday on how it worked.

I did this on my Drake Matrix's in the beginning of the season and it's essentially the same thing. I demo'ed the Mission Greeds and it felt just like my ghetto rigged cap straps. Basically there's no more pressure points, no more numbness in my toes, and it does pull the boot back into the heelcup. Technine sells their baltimore straps for 30 bucks if you wanted to do it that way instead.

Reverend SC
03-29-2004, 08:51 AM
I did this on my Drake Matrix's in the beginning of the season and it's essentially the same thing. I demo'ed the Mission Greeds and it felt just like my ghetto rigged cap straps. Basically there's no more pressure points, no more numbness in my toes, and it does pull the boot back into the heelcup. Technine sells their baltimore straps for 30 bucks if you wanted to do it that way instead.

Well, I tried it, with awesome results. I simply angled my Ride toe straps out over my toes and voila! As advertized, it locked my heel back, no pressure whatsoever, and zero loss in performance. In fact, I did some of the best carving of my life, felt great.

One time, I got to the bottom and my rear foot strap had slipped up, I'm not sure if I did it wrong at the top or if I got deep into a toe side and it bumped the snow and slipped up. Either way, I didn't notice (WTF are toe straps for in the forst place?), and it didn't happen again.

This week I'm going to fine-tune the set-up. I'll adjust the achor points to try to get the rachet moved off to the side, as it is it hits right at the point of the foot. At any rate, I highly recommend trying it, at least for a run or two. Just awesome...