Why is it so damn hard to get replacement buckles?

[skibumsmith]

Every year I break at least one buckle and every year I go through the same damn process. I go to my local shop and they say, "Let's see if we have something in the back." They sort through their parts bin until they find something they can jerry-rig onto my boot. When this doesn't work, the arduous process of contacting the manufacturer begins, typically waiting 3 to 4 weeks before new buckles arrive. Broken buckles are a fairly common occurrence, especially if you work at the mountain, yet there remains to be a good system in place for getting replacements. If I break something on my bike, no matter how small the part is, the shop can order that part and it will show up in a matter of days. Can any shop techs out there enlighten me as to why replacement buckles aren't readily available?
Cheers.

[nickel]

If you're breaking buckles so often why don't you just order extras before they break? I mean it's not that hard to do...

Having said that, at a ski resort they can usually be found somewhere in town.

[adrenalated]

Every year I break at least one buckle and every year I go through the same damn process. I go to my local shop and they say, "Let's see if we have something in the back." They sort through their parts bin until they find something they can jerry-rig onto my boot. When this doesn't work, the arduous process of contacting the manufacturer begins, typically waiting 3 to 4 weeks before new buckles arrive. Broken buckles are a fairly common occurrence, especially if you work at the mountain, yet there remains to be a good system in place for getting replacements. If I break something on my bike, no matter how small the part is, the shop can order that part and it will show up in a matter of days. Can any shop techs out there enlighten me as to why replacement buckles aren't readily available?
Cheers.

When I worked in a shop we say maybe half a dozen broken buckles per year and 5 of those 6 would be some random old-ass boot that had been out of production for years. Yeah, it's common for people that work in ski boots to break things but relative to the number of boots out there it's really pretty rare.

[skibumsmith]

This is my second pair of Krypton Pros and it definitely wasn't as much of an issue with my Langes or Technicas.

[dgillis73]

Dalbello (now MDV corpo-conglomerate) can be a pain in the ass to get parts from if you aren't ordering through a shop. I know when I wanted to get a DIN window to replace the one I broke on a pair of Griffons it was an ordeal. Although if you call them, and can get a customer service person that listens to you, they will hook it up. Just give them a call, be polite, and shmooze a handful of buckles to keep on hand out of them, problem solved

[skibumsmith]

Dalbello (now MDV corpo-conglomerate) can be a pain in the ass to get parts from if you aren't ordering through a shop. I know when I wanted to get a DIN window to replace the one I broke on a pair of Griffons it was an ordeal. Although if you call them, and can get a customer service person that listens to you, they will hook it up. Just give them a call, be polite, and shmooze a handful of buckles to keep on hand out of them, problem solved

Gave em a call earlier today and left a message. Will try again next week if I don't hear back.

[XXX-er]

my buddy would break buckles on his scarpas cuz he walked around with the buckles flopping loose off the ladders when he would drive his truck in ski boots

I would point this out but some folks you can't tell anything

[HHTELE]

I have also wondered about this. I don't break them often, but have had to improvise a few.
Apparently easy if you ride Full Tilts.

While on this topic- any good sources for one of those top buckles that doubles as a power strap?

[XXX-er]

Are you ^^ talking about that powerstrap/buckle that came Technica boots from a few years ago, I looked into ordering those from the local dealer and they were not expensive but I don't see them any more, their boots just have a Boosterstrap like power strap

I have never broken a buckle but in any case I'm pretty sure they want you to buy new boots

i have a duplicate pair of Dalbellos with intuition liners that someone in the swap forum gave me