Sportiva and Shops drama?

[LKM_skis]

What's the deal with La Sportiva these days. No one in Tahoe area carries them anymore, I've heard everything from bad warranty support to online sales undercutting shops to the boots not skiing as well as other options (which, fine, but they're not like *not* ski boots).

Reason I'm asking and putting this in tech talk is I've got two pairs of TR2 bindings and want to keep them, love the way they ski but the Spectre and Synchro are the only options off the shelf. I'm trying to cross shop them with some other options that I would have to send to Italy to be modified (looking at Hawx, Maestrale RS) but I can't find anyone that has all boots because everyone has said they no longer carry Sportiva.

So what's going on?!?!

[XavierD]

Tech fittings were non standard (a radical toe wouldn’t fully close on a spectre) and Sportiva wouldn’t acknowledge a. Issue even when sent multiple photos of multiple boots in multiple bindings all not playing nicely.

Zero interest to hold online retailers (backcountry.com) to MAP pricing

No single ‘need to have it’ product offering a shop would really hurt not having on their wall. Pretty easy for most shops to stick around the entire La Sportiva ski boot catalog from other vendors.

[gregL]

. . . bellowed tongue collapsed suddenly under load when skiing hard . . .

[glademaster]

Huh, were there ever any recalls for the tech fittings or the bellows issue? I have a pair of the older yellow and blue Spectre 2.0s.

[Boissal]

Huh, were there ever any recalls for the tech fittings or the bellows issue? I have a pair of the older yellow and blue Spectre 2.0s.

No recalls for either AFAIK. I've cracked 2 tongues in 4 seasons of hard use and they were warrantied each time, the 2nd with the new 3-piece locking tongue from the Synchro which stiffened the boot nicely.
I've absolutely LOVED the Spectre.

[tgapp]

No recalls for either AFAIK. I've cracked 2 tongues in 4 seasons of hard use and they were warrantied each time, the 2nd with the new 3-piece locking tongue from the Synchro which stiffened the boot nicely.
I've absolutely LOVED the Spectre.

This has been my experience as well. I warrantied a few pieces on my Spitfire 2.0's, and La Sportiva was fast, helpful, and great to work with. The Spectres might be my all time favorite touring boot - I do want to try the 3-piece syncro hack that Boissal mentioned, but even without that, I love this boot.

[glademaster]

I like the way they hike and ski quite a bit too. The soles don't seem terribly durable, but oh well/

[Boissal]

I like the way they hike and ski quite a bit too. The soles don't seem terribly durable, but oh well/

I did a fair amount of hiking on dirt/rock and scrambling in my Spectre 2.0 and they're holding up surprisingly well. I have a couple of chunks of sole missing but overall I'm impressed with how well the soft compound is surviving.
Re: non-standard fitting, that's never been an issue for me. I've ran the boots with Speed Turns 1/2, Superlites, Radical ST/FT, never noticed a difference. Maybe I've been lucky but I skied one of the very first Spectre that made it into the US.
The new Skorpius CR looks like a winner, I'd have jumped on it had I decided to go the weight-conscious route...