Tecnica Bodacious Tech sole fail!

**snoboy** · 05-23-2012, 01:14 PM

Mine's actually the R boot, inside fitting.

**XXX-er** · 05-24-2012, 03:25 PM

I posted awhile back that a buddy had problems with the REAR of the boot I got a chance to take a close look (but no picts)and it was small cracks coming off of the widest part of the rear tech fitting, buddy skis pretty hard & takes a lot of air, he has used them all season no problems but now they are being sent in

Ironicaly perhaps, he has never said anything about the toes pre-releasing and likes the boot

**dieseldog** · 06-29-2012, 09:18 AM

Hello,

Update for you all. My name is Bart Tuttle. I am the US product manager for Tecnica Ski Boots. We received several pairs of our TECH soles from people who experienced the "clicking" issue as demonstrated in the video of the OP. All were sent to the R&D lab in Italy for review. It is important to understand that a "TECH" binding is not standardized, so finding the root of this "clicking" as shown in the video was hard to duplicate. We have many thousands of pairs of boots in the market, and to date, the only known instances of this "clicking" are what has been posted in this thread.

The soles that were sent back showed significant wear in the fitting, and we were able to reproduce the "clicking" when the boot was initially put into the binding. But, once the binding was put into lock mode and cycled for a couple of strides, and then put back into ski mode, we could not reproduce the "clicking". So, it is important to make sure the binding fully seats into the sole of the boot before making any downhill descent.

Tech soles are manufactured within all specifications provided by Dynafit. When used properly, they should perform as designed. Based on feedback and review, we did modify our soles (still within Dynafit's tolerances) to be thicker, with slightly deeper holes, and modified radius dimensions. We believe this will eliminate the potential for "clicking".

If any of you have experienced this problem, and would like to have the modified sole, please call our warranty department, 1-800-258-3897 ext. 7280, and we will replace with the updated sole in September when they are available.

Thank you.

**crank54** · 06-29-2012, 10:39 AM

^^^Wow, this is why I love this place. Thanks, Bart!

**pfluffenmeister** · 06-29-2012, 07:45 PM

^^^ outstanding!

Bart and Tecnica, I am impressed with your level of customer service.
I will no longer be selling my pair of Cochise's and am looking forward to one boot to ski them all.

once again, kudos!

**bern43** · 06-30-2012, 09:04 PM

I was going to bump this thread for an update. Great to see Tecnica is on top of this!

**hardkorps** · 08-07-2012, 09:17 AM

Been out of touch for a while awesome to see Tecnica stepping up and getting it done!

**Ski to Be** · 08-07-2012, 06:04 PM

Sweet. I backed off a few lines that I would have normally skied because of this issue. You have to have total confidence in the boot binding connection and the prerelease issues I was having were affecting my skiing. I will report back when I get the new soles in the fall.

**auvgeek** · 08-07-2012, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by Ski to Be

Sweet. I backed off a few lines that I would have normally skied because of this issue. You have to have total confidence in the boot binding connection and the prerelease issues I was having were affecting my skiing. I will report back when I get the new soles in the fall.

Do you still have the old soles? I'm curious whether cycling it in lock mode fixes the issue like Bart/Tecnica says.

**bern43** · 08-07-2012, 09:06 PM

/\/\/\ Me too, the more I think about it, it just seems odd that they'd go to the trouble of thickening the soles if it really was such an isolated and easy to fix issue. Maybe I'm just too much of cynic with this stuff though.

**Ski to Be** · 08-10-2012, 12:31 PM

Yes, I have the soles still on them. I have been skiing them in lock mode and they seem to stay in. Doesn't inspire confidence though.

**auvgeek** · 08-10-2012, 12:37 PM

^^I'm wondering specifically whether they still fail in SKI mode after they're been cycled through lock mode, as per Bart's comment:

Originally Posted by dieseldog

we were able to reproduce the "clicking" when the boot was initially put into the binding. But, once the binding was put into lock mode and cycled for a couple of strides, and then put back into ski mode, we could not reproduce the "clicking".

Not asking you to do it while skiing, just a bench test whenever you have time.

**lynchdogger** · 09-08-2012, 08:29 PM

Any updates here? Has Tecnica addressed this issue to the collective's satisfaction? Has Tecnica made the necessary changes in 12/13 production boots?

**pfluffenmeister** · 09-08-2012, 08:39 PM

i still need to contact Bart and Tecnica to see if the redesigned sole blocks are available.

... and how the redesign addressed the deformation of the toe-fitting issue.

**Ski to Be** · 09-11-2012, 11:41 PM

Me too. Summer has been so nice that surfing , and golf have taken over my priorities. I need to take care of it .

**DoWork** · 09-13-2012, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by bern43

/\/\/\ Me too, the more I think about it, it just seems odd that they'd go to the trouble of thickening the soles if it really was such an isolated and easy to fix issue. Maybe I'm just too much of cynic with this stuff though.

I'd rather have them act on the side of caution than maintain there's nothing wrong and just keep pumping out the old design after known failures a la Quest boot.

Big props to Technica for being open, honest and stepping up with not only a fix but a proacive group of product engineers. I know from experience that getting engineers to fix something they can't quantify as even being broken can be really, really hard haha

**bern43** · 09-19-2012, 09:15 AM

Originally Posted by DoWork

I'd rather have them act on the side of caution than maintain there's nothing wrong and just keep pumping out the old design after known failures a la Quest boot.

Big props to Technica for being open, honest and stepping up with not only a fix but a proacive group of product engineers. I know from experience that getting engineers to fix something they can't quantify as even being broken can be really, really hard haha

Me too, it just seems so rare that a company does that I'm skeptical that the problem was as small as they made it out to be. But either way, props to Tecnica for taking care of it. I'm going to call over there in the next few days to see if I can get a hold of some of the "updated" tech blocks. I'll report back on my success or (hopefully not) lack of success.

Edit: Was motivated and just called Tecnica. The new "modified" blocks are now in. They're sending me out a pair. I'll post some pics when I get them in. Really happy with Tecnica's customer service on this.

**lynchdogger** · 09-20-2012, 04:39 PM

^^^ Nice bern43! Good news.

FTW, for me and my piece of mind I would take these up on the lift and thrash these a few before I would venture into a line of consequence. Hope this resolves issues.

**nobueno** · 10-04-2012, 11:03 AM

Just called tecnica and they're sending me a new set of soles. First person I talked to on the line didn't know what I was talking about but I explained the situation and mentioned Bart's name. She transferred me to him and he called me back w/in 15 min and sent a new pair out. Great customer service. Thanks Bart.

**bern43** · 10-05-2012, 06:26 AM

My replacement blocks came in. I'll try and post some pics later, but the difference between the old tech inserts and the new ones seems to be very minor. You can tell by the machining that the inserts are a little deeper. And the front portion appears to be a tiny bit squared off.

**hardkorps** · 10-05-2012, 08:24 AM

Bern
In my initial assessment of why the inserts were failing and comparing them to my other boots was that they were a little bit shallow. So this sounds like they addressed the problem now we'll just have to wait and see if they work as advertised hope they do!!!

LC · 10-05-2012, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by bern43

My replacement blocks came in. I'll try and post some pics later...

Excellent, I'd be very interested to see a side-by-side photo, or even depth measurements (if measurable). I need to try to warranty my old tech soles once my local shop gears up for winter (very worn heel lugs after about 30 days use, causing vertical play while skiing) and would be keen to identify if I get the new-and-improved units.

Hopefully the metal is more durable in the new versions; that seems to be the real issue, no?