Pre-season maintenance for Fintec heels?

[jburk]

Put about 20 days in last year on new fintec heels (purchased around mid-feb), then put them away for the offseason.  Been stored at room temperature since, no damp basements or 120 degree attics.

I'd remove the liners to let the shells dry out completely when I wasn't riding consecutive days, and also for about 4 days at season's end. 

I intend to give the cables a visual inspection for wear (purchased a set of spare cables when I bought the heels), but do you think it's overkill to pull the heels from the boots and open them up for inspection/re-lube?  The effort to fully retract the pins seems unchanged from when they were first installed on the boots, so I don't think there's any binding in the mechanism. 

Better safe than sorry, or should I leave well enough alone?

[Corey]

I haven't treated mine nicely so far.  Walked in slush, mud, salty/muddy puddles, etc.   The internals are mostly plastic, though the stainless pins could rust if left in contact with salty water.  When I replaced the cables after about 3 years they looked surprisingly good inside.  

I did manage to crack a few chunks out of the white sleeves that the moving pins ride in, so now they have a bit more play than I'd like.  That's a good reason to do some pre-season maintenance!  

[jburk]

Thanks for the reply.  Didn't realize the internals were mostly plastic. 

Looks like I'll just do the external checks now, and crack them open at the end of the 17/18 season. 

[Pat Donnelly]

You may want to check your heel screws for corrosion; try backing them to check and apply something (Loc-Tite, Teflon tape) on the threads before tightening.  Re-check screw/bolt tightness after your first day out too.   Walking through slush/saline solutions can create issues with the heel the fasteners.  I changed my screws out to M5 x 20mm stainless steel bolts after having to drill a couple of rusted screws/t-bolts out when I upgraded from standard to step-in heels.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-socket-head-screws/=19ghi6c

[lowrider]

Bomber butter or silicone grease never hurts to open them up before you encounter a problem. Especially putting lube on the heel screws when reinstalling.

[queequeg]

Worth cracking them open to check on the status of the cables (replace if frayed) and lubing them up otherwise, they're pretty much maintenance free.

[jburk]

1 hour ago, queequeg said:

otherwise, they're pretty much maintenance free.

Yup, it would seem so...  

I swapped out the button head S/S phillips screws for S/S bolts with a 4mm head last week; I despise phillips screws and replace them with hex heads every chance I get.  While I had them off I opened each heel; cables were good, and they didn't need re-lubing.

[queequeg]

3 hours ago, jburk said:

Yup, it would seem so...  

I swapped out the button head S/S phillips screws for S/S bolts with a 4mm head last week; I despise phillips screws and replace them with hex heads every chance I get.  While I had them off I opened each heel; cables were good, and they didn't need re-lubing.

I always have a spare set of cables and plastic inner bits with me whenever I take a trip ... having had a pair break on one once on a trip. Its not likely to ever happen but if does you are very much up a creek.