Jones Snowboards‘ new Mercury FASE bindings attempt to solve snowboarding’s oldest inconvenience — slow strap-in times — without forcing riders into brand-specific boots or sacrificing edge control, and largely succeed.
The Fast Entry System (FASE) has been licensed across several legacy brands, including Rome, Bataleon, and ThirtyTwo, all of which are releasing compatible models for the 2025-26 season. The Mercury FASE retails at $360, available at $288 through select retailers.
The system works through three mechanical changes to a conventional two-strap binding. The toe strap locks into a fixed position once set, eliminating repeated adjustments. The ankle strap — called the FastStrap — extends far longer than standard, remaining a closed loop while opening wide enough to let a boot pass through freely. The highback, branded AutoBack, leans significantly farther rearward than normal when open, and features a plastic lever on its interior base. A rider stepping in depresses that lever, which drives the highback upright into riding position against the calf. Exit requires only releasing the ankle ratchet.
The result is entry and exit speed that the review says is competitive with step-on systems, while accepting boots from any brand — the core limitation step-on bindings impose on riders.
Performance and Trade-Offs
The Mercury FASE shares its architecture with Jones‘ standard Mercury binding: a stiff, freeride-oriented build with foam padding above and below the footplate for vibration damping. The highbacks are stiff and lightly padded at the top, with only two forward-lean settings and no highback rotation adjustment — a limitation for riders accustomed to more configurable systems.
The binding’s most notable omission is Jones‘ proprietary SkateTech, a fulcrum system built into the binding’s sides that redistributes weight toward the edges. According to the review, the tester had become a convert to that system and noticed its absence, though responsiveness remained strong without it.
On steep terrain, stepping into the binding proved occasionally difficult. Boots sometimes jammed rather than seating cleanly, and the footbed showed a tendency to ice up more than conventional bindings — a relevant complaint for cold, variable conditions.
The highback’s range of motion also serves a practical secondary purpose: it folds fully forward for travel and low-clearance chairlifts, preserving the utility of a standard binding in that respect.
Where It Sits in the Market
Snowboard binding design has historically forced a choice between strap systems — slow but universally compatible — and step-on designs, which are fast but lock riders into specific boot ecosystems. FASE positions itself between those options, and the review rates it 8 out of 10, describing it as every bit as responsive as traditional two-strap bindings while delivering meaningful time savings.
For freeride and all-mountain riders unwilling to commit to a step-on boot system but tired of slow entry, the Mercury FASE makes a credible case — provided they can live without SkateTech and accept occasional icing on the footbed.
Photo by Maël BALLAND on Unsplash
This article is a curated summary based on third-party sources. Source: Read the original article
