Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

I found a pair of TRace with a hole in the bellows. I wonder if it can be repaired. I am thinking of using the sort of plastic rods that are used for soldering a leak in plastic kayaks... Or maybe the west system G/flex epoxy... it sticks to plastic and stays a little flexible... Any thoughts?

I chopped the bellow on one of my Syner-G boots with the edge of my ski and opened up a sizeable hole. I tried many repairs and all failed except for SuGru (https://sugru.com/). It dries into a flexible solid with great adhesion with the bellow material. My repair with SuGru has lasted for several seasons and is still holding. It is handy to have some around as I've repaired sidewalls, bases, and topsheets with it too.

Neat stuff! I'll certainly give it a try... In your R&D approach, did you try G/Flex?

No, I did not try G/Flex but it looks like it might work. Flexible is good but it really needs to bond well with the bellow because when the bellow is flexed and the patch gets crushed in the folds of the bellow, it tends to get pushed out of the hole. I applied a blob of epoxy on the inside of the bellow, then added some more epoxy to the hole and then a final blob on the outside of the bellow which I believe helps hold the patch in place during flexing of the bellow. Good luck!

Rodbelan wrote:Neat stuff! I'll certainly give it a try... In your R&D approach, did you try G/Flex?

I've used G/Flex to repair Royalex boat hulls and delaminated skis. Great stuff but doubt it would be flexible enough to repair a tele bellow. Sugru seems really cool!

It's good to fix things, but I don't think you would notice a small whole. I get snow in my boots from the gap between the lower boot and the cuff. I don't know how it gets in there but my liners are wet on the outside by my ankles, but I don't notice it while skiing.