Last month I finally switched from 15 years of Animal bindings to the 2016 HO vMax bindings. I went to my somewhat local proshop not expecting vMax to be at the top of the list, but they were. Tried on vMax, Radar Vapor and Connelly Sync bindings and chose the vMax.
Obviously different than a 5 year old worn out set of Animals, I did not know what to expect on my first set but they felt good right away; out of the buoy and cross course control was greatly improved, which was my goal for new bindings, and I could feel the potential. Skied them for 3 more weeks (maybe 10 sets?) and they were great. Overall comfort, feel, control was excellent. I was surprised how easily I adapted to them and was skiing season PB's (in practice!). Could not have been more satisfied with my purchase.
Then... I stuffed the tip and the mounting bracket broke:
I knew this was a problem when these boots were first released but according to posts by @savaiusini they made a change to a stonger plate to correct this. Since I purchased the boots 4 weeks ago I thought I had the 'new and improved' stronger plate. Apparenlty not?
@savaiusini, before I move on and try other binding options how would I know if I have the latest and greatest, and if I do is this just a design flaw? I've had people say 'yeah you can modify them with a large washer so the tension is better distributed'... but I really don't want to have to 'modify' a brand new $500 pair of bindings.