Boots have cracked ?

My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack where the instep meets
the ankle. They are a pair of Lange Mad Max boots that I bought in the fall
of 1999. I only use them for about a week or two each year.

My question is whether I have abused the boots. When I walk around I
unbuckle the boots for the sake of comfort. Could walking around in
unbucked boots stress them too much and cause a crack ? I thought boots
were tough enough to withstand a beating.

Any help would be appreciated ?

John


--
John Bradley "I'm a realist. I always see the possibilities for
the worst event. At the same time, I'm maybe
so much of a realist that I'm quite optimistic.
What a paradox." --- Egil Olsen

John Bradley wrote:

My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack where the instep meets
the ankle. They are a pair of Lange Mad Max boots that I bought in the fall
of 1999. I only use them for about a week or two each year.

My question is whether I have abused the boots. When I walk around I
unbuckle the boots for the sake of comfort. Could walking around in
unbucked boots stress them too much and cause a crack ? I thought boots
were tough enough to withstand a beating.

Any help would be appreciated ?

My boots are way older than that and get at most 6 days of use sob per
year. I don't see how they could possibly be worn enough to actually
break. What do the people who sold them to you say?

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== =========
"You should be glad that bridge fell down -- I was planning
to build thirteen more to the same design."
-- Attributed to I.K. Brunel, addressing the
Directors of the Great Western Railway

The Real Bev wrote:
John Bradley wrote:

My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack


What do the people who sold them to you say?

And Lange. What does Lange say? Lange does not want to get a Nordica
reputation.

By the way - I saw another case of Exploding Nordica a couple of weeks
ago, out in the bowl at Alpine. Stopped to check on a guy who looked to
be in difficulty, and lo - his boot had split vertically along both
sides of the ankle - front from back. I'd only seen the classic "sole
breaking off" before, but sure enough Nordica of the 15-20 year old
variety. Really quite fun to see it again - guy got a free snow-mobile
ride out of the deal.

Now my Raichles - they never had plastic failures in about 1500 days
skiing - buckles, bales, sole wear, liner wear, but no plastics failures.

lal_truckee wrote:

The Real Bev wrote:
John Bradley wrote:

My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack


What do the people who sold them to you say?

And Lange. What does Lange say? Lange does not want to get a Nordica
reputation.

By the way - I saw another case of Exploding Nordica a couple of weeks
ago, out in the bowl at Alpine. Stopped to check on a guy who looked to
be in difficulty, and lo - his boot had split vertically along both
sides of the ankle - front from back.

That's what happened to mine, and both boots split at the same time.
Like some sort of time bomb. First hint was when I was going back to
the car at the end of the day and it was suddenly very easy to walk in
them.

I'd only seen the classic "sole
breaking off" before, but sure enough Nordica of the 15-20 year old
variety. Really quite fun to see it again - guy got a free snow-mobile
ride out of the deal.

Husband doesn't wear 'formal' shoes too much, and at a friend's wedding
the sole suddenly separated from the upper of one of his shoes.
Fortunately I carry a big purse and he was wearing black socks.

Now my Raichles - they never had plastic failures in about 1500 days
skiing - buckles, bales, sole wear, liner wear, but no plastics failures.

Mine are still in fine shape too, even if they are rear-entry. Less
than a hundred of my days, god knows how much use the previous owner
gave them.

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== ========
There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness.'

The Real Bev writes:

John Bradley wrote:

My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack where the instep meets
the ankle. They are a pair of Lange Mad Max boots that I bought in the fall
of 1999. I only use them for about a week or two each year.

My question is whether I have abused the boots. When I walk around I
unbuckle the boots for the sake of comfort. Could walking around in
unbucked boots stress them too much and cause a crack ? I thought boots
were tough enough to withstand a beating.

Any help would be appreciated ?

My boots are way older than that and get at most 6 days of use sob per
year. I don't see how they could possibly be worn enough to actually
break. What do the people who sold them to you say?


I haven't contacted the seller or Lange yet. I value the comments that
I might get on this group more than those of the ski shop or Lange. I
was hoping that somebody could tell me, if I abused the boots too much.

I just got back from Banff. I noticed the problem after the last day of
skiing. So I have no idea how long they have been cracked. I plan to use
them again in Davos next month, while keeping an eye open to see if the
crack gets worse. This is disappointing, because I was feeling good about
how well the boots fit. I'm hoping that I don't have to dispose of the
boots.

I was going to write to Lange after I return from Davos. I don't expect
much. Is it possible that they would return a rebate on my next pair of
boots ?

--
John Bradley "I'm a realist. I always see the possibilities for
the worst event. At the same time, I'm maybe
so much of a realist that I'm quite optimistic.
What a paradox." --- Egil Olsen

"lal_truckee" wrote in message
...
The Real Bev wrote:
John Bradley wrote:

My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack


What do the people who sold them to you say?

And Lange. What does Lange say? Lange does not want to get a Nordica
reputation.

By the way - I saw another case of Exploding Nordica a couple of weeks
ago, out in the bowl at Alpine. Stopped to check on a guy who looked to
be in difficulty, and lo - his boot had split vertically along both
sides of the ankle - front from back. I'd only seen the classic "sole
breaking off" before, but sure enough Nordica of the 15-20 year old
variety. Really quite fun to see it again - guy got a free snow-mobile
ride out of the deal.

Now my Raichles - they never had plastic failures in about 1500 days
skiing - buckles, bales, sole wear, liner wear, but no plastics failures.

I had one pair of Nordicas split where they flex after about 6-700 days.
Yesterday I wore my old Nordica Grand Prix to ski. I got some Rossignol Course
boots a few years ago but never got the extensive work done on them that I had
always done in the past. Even in the 10 days a year, they were a pain in the
(admittedly misshapen) feet. I think I'm going to stick with the Nordicas.
Anybody interested in a pair of Rossignol 4 buckle boots? They're good stiff
boots. I just don't need that amount of performance anymore.

pigo

On 12/15/03 9:09 PM, in article , "John
Bradley" wrote:


My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack where the instep meets
the ankle. They are a pair of Lange Mad Max boots that I bought in the fall
of 1999. I only use them for about a week or two each year.

My question is whether I have abused the boots. When I walk around I
unbuckle the boots for the sake of comfort. Could walking around in
unbucked boots stress them too much and cause a crack ? I thought boots
were tough enough to withstand a beating.

Any help would be appreciated ?

John


Sometimes when boots are molded, they have flaws in the plastic much in the
same way that cast metals have. I have seen this problem in a variety of
boots including high-end Tecnicas. What happened to you is not normal.

I'm not an expert on ski boots or repair/replacement policies. (But that
never stops me from commenting.) Walking with your boots unbuckled
shouldn't have caused the cracks. Almost everyone does the same thing to
some degree. If it is something you caused, I would look more to how the
boots were stored (you didn't store them in a hot attic over the summer??),
or dried (you didn't set them by the fire every night?) etc.

Write to Lange and see what they say. These are old enough I doubt they
will replace them with a new pair. A rebate/discount might be a good
suggestion for you to make. I would take back to the shop you bought them
from if at all possible. Most manufacturers want the retailer to be the
primary customer interface.

"John Bradley" wrote in message
...
The Real Bev writes:

John Bradley wrote:

My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack where the instep
meets
the ankle. They are a pair of Lange Mad Max boots that I bought in the
fall
of 1999. I only use them for about a week or two each year.

My question is whether I have abused the boots. When I walk around I
unbuckle the boots for the sake of comfort. Could walking around in
unbucked boots stress them too much and cause a crack ? I thought
boots
were tough enough to withstand a beating.

Any help would be appreciated ?

My boots are way older than that and get at most 6 days of use sob per
year. I don't see how they could possibly be worn enough to actually
break. What do the people who sold them to you say?


I haven't contacted the seller or Lange yet. I value the comments that
I might get on this group more than those of the ski shop or Lange. I
was hoping that somebody could tell me, if I abused the boots too much.

I just got back from Banff. I noticed the problem after the last day of
skiing. So I have no idea how long they have been cracked. I plan to use
them again in Davos next month, while keeping an eye open to see if the
crack gets worse. This is disappointing, because I was feeling good about
how well the boots fit. I'm hoping that I don't have to dispose of the
boots.

I was going to write to Lange after I return from Davos. I don't expect
much. Is it possible that they would return a rebate on my next pair of
boots ?

--
John Bradley "I'm a realist. I always see the possibilities
for
the worst event. At the same time, I'm maybe
so much of a realist that I'm quite
optimistic.
What a paradox." --- Egil Olsen

"jvwalker51" wrote in message
...
On 12/15/03 9:09 PM, in article , "John
Bradley" wrote:


My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack where the instep
meets
the ankle. They are a pair of Lange Mad Max boots snip


Sometimes when boots are molded, they have flaws in the plastic much in
the
same way that cast metals have. I have seen this problem in a variety of
boots including high-end Tecnicas. What happened to you is not normal.

I agree, especially if you see lots of swirl marks in the plastic in that
area. Boots are tough and if the boots look in good shape the dealer should
go to bat for you. I wouldn't probably want to keep skiing on it though.
If it fractures severly you could find youself in a sudden loss of control.
Good reason for Lange and the dealer to want those boots off your feet.
Also good news for Lange that you noticed it befor it became dangerous.

F. Plant

Yep, had a pair of Tecnica TNT Racing split a few years ago.
There was about 50-100 days of skiing on them.
I bought a new pair, not thinking about contacting Tecnica.
I've worked my Lange L10's hard for three seasons now,
about 60-70 days. They are still fine.
--
Charlie Crabb

"jvwalker51" wrote in message
...
On 12/15/03 9:09 PM, in article , "John
Bradley" wrote:


My first pair of boots have formed a half inch crack where the instep
meets
the ankle. They are a pair of Lange Mad Max boots that I bought in the
fall
of 1999. I only use them for about a week or two each year.

My question is whether I have abused the boots. When I walk around I
unbuckle the boots for the sake of comfort. Could walking around in
unbucked boots stress them too much and cause a crack ? I thought boots
were tough enough to withstand a beating.

Any help would be appreciated ?

John


Sometimes when boots are molded, they have flaws in the plastic much in
the
same way that cast metals have. I have seen this problem in a variety of
boots including high-end Tecnicas. What happened to you is not normal.