# BOA woes (Geez)



## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

From Boa Service & Support:


The BOA Fit System dials and laces are guaranteed for the lifetime of the product on which they are integrated. So yes, we can help.
The BOA Guarantee covers dials and laces. To redeem a warranty head to our warranty claim tool, and we'll send you a repair kit free of charge. If you have damages related to sewn or heat welded parts, we recommend reaching out to the footwear manufacturer for their warranty policy.
Apply as needed.

EDIT - Check out this video. Can't tell much from your 2D pics but I bet yours is easily removable, too.


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

I have some 32 Binary Boas. I regularly bump the side dial on my R boot when getting on & off the lift. By bump, I mean that I hit it hard enough that the Boa unlocks & has to be re-tightened. 

Have yet to break a dial. ?‍♂

Are Boa lacing systems supplied to boot makers for integration in their boots? 

Or do they license the tech and then each build their own Boa systems?

Cuz not sure why some Boas seem to be so fragile, unless it's the individual boot mnfrs using differing materials.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Afaik Boa supplies the boot makers the kits.

In my experience some early dials (pre-H3? not sure) were a bit fragile. I had a helluva incident with a seized boa dial while hiking the backcountry in Hokkaido in 2009-ish.

For a good while I stayed well clear of any Boas until Ion boas came out, and not one incident so far.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

Boas break. Not all the time or even regularly but they break. They'll repair them free of charge. Take them to a shop or contact the company you ordered them from.


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## 16gkid (Dec 5, 2012)

Boa has a lifetime warranty and you can order any and all parts through here for free except for shipping- Spare Parts. I usually buy new boa cables evertime I buy a new boa boot and keep the spare parts in the bag in case something happens on a trip


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

You know I've never seen my laces explode like my boas have. Buying spare boa parts with new boots is an excellent idea.


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## 16gkid (Dec 5, 2012)

I will say though, ive been using boas for about 7 years now, between 5 different boots and the only issue I ever had was the cable coiled up weird causing a bind up, all i had to do was take off the boa wheel and play with the cable, easy peasy fix


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

I had to replace a boa cable on my very first setup because on the lift I would hold my board up with my back foot, and I placed the board a little too high on the toe a couple of times. Cut a few strands of the cable, and it was all downhill from there. And not in a good way.


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

I liked to ride boots till they died when I was younger and broke. Boa death was the nail in the coffin for several pairs of boots. Granted, all these boots were beat up and abused pretty bad. I've broken spines and tongues too. Once I broke a dial off when walking around. I think boas have been getting better and more durable since their early days. I recently went back to laces more for comfort than for durability concerns. There's still boa on the tongues of my Ride Fuse.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

Literally ANY resort you're at has the ability and will fix your boas on the spot for you. Only way you can have legitimate concerns would really be if you ride a lot of backcountry and don't carry a repair kit with you. And again failure rates are EXTREMELY low. If you've ever cut a steel cable with your board just think about how easily that would have sliced through a shoe lace. Yes shoe laces break and cut too.


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

lab49232 said:


> If you've ever cut a steel cable with your board just think about how easily that would have sliced through a shoe lace. Yes shoe laces break and cut too.


It's pretty straightforward to tie a broken lace back together. 

I wouldn't shy away from boa for durability issues though. They're plenty durable enough for resort use.


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## TooNice (Feb 7, 2014)

lab49232 said:


> Boas break. Not all the time or even regularly but they break. They'll repair them free of charge. Take them to a shop or contact the company you ordered them from.





lab49232 said:


> Literally ANY resort you're at has the ability and will fix your boas on the spot for you. Only way you can have legitimate concerns would really be if you ride a lot of backcountry and don't carry a repair kit with you. And again failure rates are EXTREMELY low. If you've ever cut a steel cable with your board just think about how easily that would have sliced through a shoe lace. Yes shoe laces break and cut too.


Not over here. Many resorts in Japan are pretty bare in infrastructure.

At any rate, waiting for the repair kit now. I -really- hope that the part that is broken is just the external dial. The facf that they do send free repair kits is nice. I hope that it arrives in a timely manner (seems like it's coming from HK so it will likely take a few days especially given recent events - relieved that it's at least not being sent from all the way in the States).

This is the second time something like this happens. Last time it was the side dial on a pair of Flow boots (about a week old). Absolutely no idea what I bumped into for that to happen, I was really surprised. Boot specialist shop couldn't fix it because the part that was broken integrated to the boots. Contacted the company I bought it from and they very politely me asked me to sod off, contacted Nidecker Japan as written on the warranty card, and they didn't even bother to reply (definitely makes me think thrice about buying anything under the Nidecker group in Japan at least - which is a pity since I do want to get another Jones board). 

If it turns out that it isn't just the external piece (I haven't tried removing it since there is no point) I'll get to find out if K2 warranty is worth anything. I do note that I've gone through a couple of K2 boots without issues, so I am reasonably comfortable that it's not a question of quality control. Because I just remembered that the Flow boots that broke, I had actually tried it in store before and the dial came off _while_ I was tightning it. I was really worried that I did something wrong to break it, but the rather shocked reassured me that I didn't mishandle the goods.But I still ended up buying a different pair of the same boots thinking it was a one off as they were one of relatively few boots that fit me well.


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## TooNice (Feb 7, 2014)

Okay, I am going to take 5 minutes to let out some steam. 

I got repair kit, and I really appreciate that they actually used international priority to get this over. Took five working days to get for to arrive from Hong Kong to Japan, originally meant to arrive a day earlier, but I imagine that with all the things going on, businesses and courriers can't get things done as quickly as usual.

As I starting removing the broken dial, I thought I would take a minute to appreciate the engineering that goes into those things. I mean, it's so simple to use, but that is still thank to all the stuff underneath it.

Then I got to the part where I got to put the wire back into the new dial. And OMG THIS IS THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING I HAD TO DO IN RECENT MEMORY. Those. Bloody. Wire. Have. So. Much. Memory. Getting the wire into the last hole is doing my head in. It's 1000s of times more frustrating than trying to make unruly hair tidy. 1000s of time more frustrating than battling the cheapest cheating video game boss. I am quite good at keeping my language in check, but here letting out F bombs out loud because one of the stupid wire just won't get into the bloody hole.

We have a tab that really gets in the way, a wire that have a mind of it's own, and trying to get that wire into the hole is AAAAARGH.

(Actually managed to get one side done within a reasonable time, but the other side I've been at it for way too long. I mean I am sure that it is just me being too clumsy to deal with it. Or maybe I should've just replaced the lace instead of just the broken dial. But then again, those boots barely had 5 hours in them so I am sure the laces are fine. But the memory on those laces!)

/End rant.


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## TooNice (Feb 7, 2014)

And it's finally done. Good lord. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am very happy that everything is good as new, I don't need to replace brand new boots. And given that boot shops do not take forever to replace laces, I know that it's my lack of experience (but hopefully I won't have to do this so often that I would end up with lots of experience lol) rather than the system. Nevertheless, this was not fun (I wonder if tiny needle nose would make it easier to guide the lace into the final hole).


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

TooNice said:


> And it's finally done. Good lord. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am very happy that everything is good as new, I don't need to replace brand new boots. And given that boot shops do not take forever to replace laces, I know that it's my lack of experience (but hopefully I won't have to do this so often that I would end up with lots of experience lol) rather than the system. Nevertheless, this was not fun (I wonder if tiny needle nose would make it easier to guide the lace into the final hole).


Congrats! But yes the wire can be annoying to get in place without pliers or screwdrivers or things to direct the cable. It gets far easier if you ever have to do it again. Its amazing how once you start to get a little frustrated with things like that how much more difficult it makes it and thus how much angrier you get at it. But then you finally get it done and it's almost hilarious how mad you were 5 seconds ago at it.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

It's only a problem if you leave teeth marks on the boot.


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