Can you trust a company after their ski breaks?

[lepistoir]

I have owned very few skis from new and never broken a ski until now. Luckily, it was a new ski and mounted by a shop (separate businesses tho but don't think that should matter). They are Kastles and I thought they were well built skis but one broke under the toepiece on the 4th run ever on them. So now the question is what happens. I will contact the store I bought them from first and probably they will replace the skis. Then do I mount them or sell them? I know I'm asking for a smattering of anecdotes, but who has decided after a warranty to get a different ski or switch brands? Who wrote it off as an occasional defect that just happens and is the reason for the warranty, and stuck with the same ski/company?

[Benneke10]

I know someone who had a Kastle touring ski also break under the toe piece, I think it was a TX90 or TX98

[XXX-er]

did you like them ? If it was a meh ski it will never worth more than it is in the wrapper ... sell it for a new experiance

[Westcoaster]

I have owned very few skis from new and never broken a ski until now. Luckily, it was a new ski and mounted by a shop (separate businesses tho but don't think that should matter). They are Kastles and I thought they were well built skis but one broke under the toepiece on the 4th run ever on them. So now the question is what happens. I will contact the store I bought them from first and probably they will replace the skis. Then do I mount them or sell them? I know I'm asking for a smattering of anecdotes, but who has decided after a warranty to get a different ski or switch brands? Who wrote it off as an occasional defect that just happens and is the reason for the warranty, and stuck with the same ski/company?

pics

[lepistoir]

TX90s and I love them. I wanted something 85-95 with traditional shape (no huge elf-shoe tip), generous camber and plenty of backbone for under 1600g. They were all that at ~1450g and the first couple runs were great. I think I want maybe even a little stronger and could probably have that in a 1600g ski, but I don't know anybuddy making something like that. So I have a strong leaning to give them another try. Oh yeah, mounted with Alpinist 12 and skied with Vulcans without tongue. If the break happened right under the rear screws of the toepiece, is it possible they didn't drill the holes deep enough or something?

[swissbro]

I know several people who had their Kastle touring skis break in front of the toe or delaminate. Seems to be a fairly common occurrence recently.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[nord]

Sometimes overtightened binding screws pull up too much on an aluminum top sheet and starts a delamination. Was the top sheet dimpled upward?
The Kastle touring skis probably don't have an aluminum top sheet, but there may have been a problem with the binding mount.

After seeing a couple reports of Kastle touring skis delaminating in this thread: It may be the ski delaminating or the top of the core failing.

[XavierD]

I generally like all the skis I brake and replace them with the same exact model. Generally don’t hang on to skis I don’t like long enough to brake them.

[altacoup]

Kastle are the most overpriced ski on the market IMO. Plus they have boring shapes (definitely targeted at people who want a more old school shape and have the money to pay for it). Just cause they cost way more than they should doesn’t make them bomber. Stockli has always had a reputation for being bomber. But I’ve broken 4 pair all warrantied. I would never buy another pair. There’s a market for kastle. I’d warranty them and sell them. Probably can buy another new pair of touring skis and a used pair of skis with bindings for what you sell them for.

[frorider]

FWIW I’ve been avoiding kastle touring skis after hearing about toepiece area delams. Maybe it’s an over reaction on my part but ....

[XXX-er]

trust them for what, to make a ski that doesnt break , to make a ski that doesnt suck ?

I had a new defective DPS wailer 112 which i drove for a season, I liked em but I didnt love them so when i got warranty i sold em in the wrapper I have since bought 2 pair of Lotus 120 which i love

I have a pair of Dynafit Denali that a buddy broke in < 1 run, i wanted to own a super light touring ski so I bought the warranties with skins for cheap and he bought something he trusted more, they seem to be fine

[lepistoir]

Trust them to make a ski that doesn't break, obv. I loved the ski. Reminded me of an updated version of my good old Mt bakers without the metal. But yeah, they might not make the TX90 for 200-pounders. That's the sucky part. Now I'm hesitant to mount the replacements for fear of the same thing happening, maybe with higher consequences. This is a high and far kind of tour setup.

And I was able to ski out on the broken one but it's done (see pics).

[Shorty_J]

Not trying to be a dick, but maybe the 1400g skis are for the smaller dudes and if you are 200 you should add 25% to your target ski weight?

I'm not saying heavier is always stronger but there is definitely a correlation.

Sent from my SM-A505W using Tapatalk

[MegaStoke]

If you do decide to ski the replacements, make sure the mount gets done right. A botched mount can result in this type of failure on UL skis. I’d request epoxy is used to ensure the screw has good hold in the core.

[gregL]

If you do decide to ski the replacements, make sure the mount gets done right. A botched mount can result in this type of failure on UL skis. I’d request epoxy is used to ensure the screw has good hold in the core.

Looks like the screw had enough hold to pull the topsheet off the core . . .

[lepistoir]

I'll request through bolts on the mount. [emoji106]

And I think the ski weight to skier weight thing depends on the design. I have done plenty of hard carving on 1200g Völkl VTA Lite 88s and 1330g Blizzard Zero G 95s. [emoji2371]

I'll probably end up mounting the new ones and hoping it was a blooper.

There was a huge rash of people breaking LaSportiva skis. It can be design and tight tolerances but I definitely expected KASTLE to be on top of it.

[altacoup]

For me lightweight skis mean ski mountaineering routes. It’s about the only time I use my lightest set up, praxis yeti which is probably considered too heavy by many. There’s no way I’d trust a ski that’s known to pull out of top sheet for exposed skiing.

[MegaStoke]

Looks like the screw had enough hold to pull the topsheet off the core . . .

This is the point I was trying to make. Mangle the wood core, and the only thing holding your bindings on is the top sheet. A glob of epoxy can turn holes made of sawdust back into something of at least some substance.

[jackattack]

People keep buying K2’s...

[tuco]

Kastle are the most overpriced ski on the market IMO. Plus they have boring shapes (definitely targeted at people who want a more old school shape and have the money to pay for it). Just cause they cost way more than they should doesn’t make them bomber. Stockli has always had a reputation for being bomber. But I’ve broken 4 pair all warrantied. I would never buy another pair. There’s a market for kastle. I’d warranty them and sell them. Probably can buy another new pair of touring skis and a used pair of skis with bindings for what you sell them for.

Glad I'm not the only one to believe these brands are overrated.

[liv2ski]

If you like the skis and feel comfortable doing so, mount them yourself so you know it was done correctly or at least as well as possible. I agree those screws look like they should have been glued in better so they didn't rip out.

[lepistoir]

After repeating my story to a few shop reps, it sounds like Kastle may have a little problem with the TX line. To their credit, they did honor the warranty. Unfortunately, they were out of the skis so I just got full credit at the same shop. Good enough and maybe better than credit directly with Kastle.