Rossignol FW19/20 Bindings Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Snowboard Bindings FW19/20

Brand: ROSSIGNOL SNOWBOARDS
Interviewee: ARNAUD REPA / PRODUCT MGMT

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KEY PRODUCT FOCUS: What are the top three most important products of next year’s line, and why? Please tell us about them, and what makes them the highlights.
The three most important products of next year’s line are the XV, Diva and Reply Rail series. The XV and Diva because they are endorsed by iconic freerider Xavier De Le Rue and 2017 FWT winner Marion Haerty. The Reply Rail because it is the only rental binding on the market that offers tool-free stance width adjustment, along with the usual stance angle and boot size adjustments.

Here’s why the XV’s so important to us:

Xavier’s riding it and wanted it this way
It’s got a Nylon® 3D AsymWrap high-back with natural forward lean bringing a fast response to movement and precision ride while leaving room to tweak
It also features an extruded aluminium heel cup that’s 20% lighter than traditional injected polyamides (PA) or CNCied metals and a Nylon® plus a 33% blend of short and long glass fibres baseplate, making it one of the lightest bindings on the market while being one of the most durable
On shock absorption and board feel, the XV offers a Shore 40/60A full-length EVA footbed with gel plugs at the 3-foot receptors and 3° inward canting, providing superior cushion and comfort for extensive riding.

Here’s why the Diva is so important to us:

Marion’s riding it and wanted it this way
It’s got a polyurethane (PU) 3D AsymWrap high-back with natural forward lean bringing a fast response to movement, precision ride and greater tweak-ability than Nylon®.
It also features an extruded aluminium heel cup that’s 20% lighter than traditional injected polyamides (PA) or CNCied metals and a Nylon® plus a 33% blend of short and long glass fibres baseplate, making it one of the lightest bindings on the market while being one of the most durable.
On shock absorption and board feel, the Diva offers a Shore 40/50A full-length EVA footbed with gel plugs at the 3-foot receptors, 2.5° inward canting and 4mm heel lift, providing superior cushion and comfort for extensive riding.

Here’s why the Reply Rail is so important to us:

It’s been developed for rental purposes with a major input from rental stations and we’re seeing a trend at rental operations towards products that have fewer parts to manage, a lower service ratio and are faster to manipulate while allowing all possible adjustments
Hence the Rail system that now makes tool-free stance width adjustment possible on top of the usual stance angle and boot size adjustment, which will save between 30 and 80% on the set-up time depending on requests, meaning an additional 30 to 80% customers for the same amount of time (!)
that, along with metal buckles, Nylon® plus 33% blends of short and long glass fibres baseplates, 3D moulded straps, a colour coding system that matches the ones of our rental boards and boots, and a built-in power handle that allows operators to tight/release the bindings with ease, makes the Reply Rail a highlight.

Please tell us about the dominant colour themes in next year’s binding line?
Acid drops on cosmos with sophisticated purple, red and yellow as a complement of supreme black. Not particularly original, just allowing dealers and end-consumers to adjust them to their boards, boots, gloves or car interior at will.

Prices: Where is your brand going? Higher? Lower?
Although we have been able to offset the majority of the ongoing increases in raw material, labour and freight cost through design-to-value adjustment, operating efficiencies and margin cuts we will be increasing our suggested retail prices by 10 to 20 euros.

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Any new ideas in buckles, straps, highbacks, bases?
We are bringing new 3D moulded tool-free length adjusters on all our mid to high-end bindings that are easier to manipulate and perfectly complement the ladders.

Going for an easy-in, easy-out solution next year? If so, are you licensing or developing it yourself?
Nope, we love what everyone else is doing though.

Anything new in production wise? New factories, new assembly methods?
Nope, we love our current factories and assembly methods.

What are your top marketing stories for next season?
Rounding off our mid to high-end offer while monitoring our quality-to-performance-to-price ratio to minimize the impact of soaring raw material prices and exchange rates fluctuations.