Ear dragger Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 last weekend I was riding with alex. we stopped on the side of the trail for a rest. he says to me "your'e boot is broken"! holy crap! the heel where the bail sits was split half way around the heel! I rode down carefully, and we had a look at it in the lodge. We decided we could fabricate a plate to keep the split from going further. so with some aluminum and hardware, we got the thing together so i could ride the rest of the weekend. They did fine the whole time, but I ordered new rc10's :(. not cheap to say the least. the split is on my back boot, on the outside. I guess that is where most of the pressure is when carvin[ i was on cateks sorry having trouble down sizing the photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtanner Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Had the same type of thing happen last year. Please post some pics. Also what bindings were you using? Just curious -Gord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Also mind the screws of the tongue with the new boots. Known that they loosen up and you will loose the screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Eric - I wonder if there's any chance that the impact you had with that straightener last week might have had anything to do with the boots failing? You said she clipped you right across the heels so the thought occurred to me. Seems like a pair of boots should last more than two seasons. I sure hope mine do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ear dragger Posted December 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 this should do it http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/photoPicker/albums.jsp past link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 i've cracked the heel of UPS (RSV Mach), rear boot. might be hard to see the crack. i discovered it after my rear boot came out of the binding when i was heading to a run. binding felt loose. went to the car to tighten it and that was when i found the crack. at that point the boots were junk, busted buckles, cracks in the tongue... <a href=" " title="DSC00191 by snurfer64, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/4210352107_30478deeed_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="DSC00191" /></a> and then later it happend to my Deluxe Suzukas. i think i only had 2 seasons on them. http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=223309&postcount=1 i have cateks with standard bales. i always had problems with getting the right bale tension. i'd be out on the run and the bale would feel loose. i'd tighten the bale, then on another day the bales felt too tight. people on the forum convinced me to go to fintecs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Houghton Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Is that toe lift on the back foot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladia Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Well this seams to be common problem. I broke my boot 2 weeks ago. This was second pair of Heads with the same failure. It was front boot in both cases. I am using regular TDs 1 and 2 on front. The boots were at least 5 yers old. I would not recomment to try to fix it. I just take off buckles and all spare parts I can use in the future for repair. For last two years I was ridding with two different Head boots and it work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ear dragger Posted December 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 strange you broke them there. I can understand that on the back foot, outside is a lot of pressure but i guess it's a weak area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 this should do ithttp://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/photoPicker/albums.jsp past link also a bad link go to tinypic.com and upload there then past in the forum link that tiny pic gives you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Is that toe lift on the back foot? sorry, the picture is misleading. picture is a couple years old. i had put my rear boot into the front binding. the rear binding was so loose (no tension) that i put it into the front binding because i wanted to see what heel did when i flipped the bale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotts.Scheinman Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 you might have to buy a new pair unless you can bring it to a ski shop to get repaired Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ear dragger Posted December 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 So now I am getting the RC10s and i don't want this to happen again. would Tnutting the heel prevent the outer plastic shell from splitting? I suppose it makes a sandwich out of all the material when you thru bolt it. Anyone else think so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 So now I am getting the RC10s and i don't want this to happen again. would Tnutting the heel prevent the outer plastic shell from splitting? I suppose it makes a sandwich out of all the material when you thru bolt it. Anyone else think so? i doubt that t-nutting would have any effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 i doubt that t-nutting would have any effect. I agree that t-nutting on its own will probably not do much - but I would imagine that the use of a (f)intec heel along with T-nutting might prevent this sort of thing. I'm no engineer but standard bindings distribute stresses to the boots in a pretty small area of the boot, whereas a stepins have four bolts that are distributing stresses more evenly to a wider area of the boot. So I imagine you would have a lower incidence of cracked boots with (f)intecs - because the way the stress is distributed throughout a wider area of the boot there is less chance of one area getting overstressed and then failing. Just a guess, but it makes sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tufty Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 I agree that t-nutting on its own will probably not do much - but I would imagine that the use of a (f)intec heel along with T-nutting might prevent this sort of thing. I'm no engineer but standard bindings distribute stresses to the boots in a pretty small area of the boot, whereas a stepins have four bolts that are distributing stresses more evenly to a wider area of the boot. So I imagine you would have a lower incidence of cracked boots with (f)intecs - because the way the stress is distributed throughout a wider area of the boot there is less chance of one area getting overstressed and then failing.Just a guess, but it makes sense to me. Another way of looking at it is that the stress is distributed over 4 small-radius holes in the plastic, as opposed to being distributed through the entire rear shell of the boot which has (presumably) been designed to take the stress... From an engineering point of view, it would be interesting to know the answer, but I personally doubt there's much in it in the case of a boot in a properly tightened bale binding vs a boot with a [f]intec heel. What we're seeing here has one common factor - "bombproof" bindings (Catek and Bomber) - and you're seeing the result of the failure point moving from something cheap and replaceable (the bales of a "standard" binding) to something expensive (the boot shells). If you make the boot shells (or boot-binding interface, in the case of [f]intec heels) bombproof, the failure point will move somewhere else, potentially somewhere organic. It's a tradeoff, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpyride Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Maybe should be thinking of a binding with a little more forgiveness. Would think that that would take some of the initial shock off the heel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ear dragger Posted December 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Thats just not a good answer to the problem. The boot just should last longer than 70-90 days of riding! I may have put more miles on them but i don't remember. It is possible that when I got hit two weeks ago, that is where the impact was. she clipped me in the boots. on the other hand, maybe the bindings are set too tight. Don't know, but the bottom line is, if I break another set, the manufacturer is replacing them. they should hold up. this is what they are made for. After drilling into the boots I found that there is quite a bit of material there! It's almost surprising that it broke there. jose, sorry about the shoulder, No reaching for the snow!! ball that body up tighter, like you do in the beginning of you're turns. don't extend until you finish the turn to unload that beast of a virus!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpyride Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Thats just not a good answer to the problem. The boot just should last longer than 70-90 days of riding! I may have put more miles on them but i don't remember. It is possible that when I got hit two weeks ago, that is where the impact was. she clipped me in the boots. on the other hand, maybe the bindings are set too tight. Don't know, but the bottom line is, if I break another set, the manufacturer is replacing them. they should hold up. this is what they are made for. After drilling into the boots I found that there is quite a bit of material there! It's almost surprising that it broke there. jose, sorry about the shoulder, No reaching for the snow!! ball that body up tighter, like you do in the beginning of you're turns. don't extend until you finish the turn to unload that beast of a virus!!! I wasn't looking just at your boots, but there were 3 other replies just on this thread with broken heels. All had stiff bindings. Just an observation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ear dragger Posted December 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 didn't want to sound mean, just think they should handle what i throw at em', I need that direct interface to the board. and my setup delivers:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 ear dragger... can you post photos of your boots? you're link doesn't work. maybe temperature is/was a factor? last season here in minnesota there were days when the temps were below 0F, or with windchills in the negtive double digits. in fact, the day i discovered the cracks in my suzukas, the temp was -4F. i had went inside because my toes were frozen. took the liners out, found the cracks in the heels and went ballistic. i don't know how long they had been there. it wouldn't surprise me if cold temps contributed to my heels cracking. on really cold days i'd have to hammer down on the bale to close it. on warm days (above 10F, guessing) at the start of the run it would take some effort to close the bale with one hand. by the time i reached the bottom, the bale would flop over with no effort like there was no tension. it messed with my head -- what if it released during the run? out in the cold i'd move the toe or heel block one screw position to increase/decrease bale tension. i'd be interested in hearing how often people replaced their boots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 boots do break I have seen deeluxe/raichle head/blax burton and UPZ all have major failures. I have only killed raichle boots myself. I think a a fair portion of riders do it by riding with their bails too tight. there was a guy I met when I was living in CO that had a pair of blax in td1s so tight that you could watch his boot bow when he clipped in. later that year I saw him walking down buddy's run. boot's ledge cracked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ear dragger Posted December 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 the plate is covering the large crack. I suppose the bail could have been too tight. but it could also have been due to use:confused:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpyride Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 the plate is covering the large crack. I suppose the bail could have been too tight. but it could also have been due to use:confused:. That's impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTruth Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 didn't want to sound mean, just think they should handle what i throw at em', I need that direct interface to the board. and my setup delivers:). Might be expecting too much from the equipment with a such solid interface. Flying down a mountain induces huge forces into any equipment. I have broken, by far, more equipment in alpine boarding than any other snowsport. Softboot equipment has a built in shock damping (e.g. slop). Ski bindings, while they look extremely rigid, have mechanical damping designed into the system to avoid sheer forces than may damage either the binding or boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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