Alfa Skaget Xplore boot disintegrate

[Krummholz]

I think this is an Explore v1.0 problem. Give something to some youngsters and they’ll break it. Go back and revise the design, v1.5 or v2.0. Wait for it to break again. Go back and revise again. How long was the 3 pin in use before Voile or Rotte turned the “Rat Trap” wire bail in to the Mountaineer? And next was heel cables. And so on.

[aclyon]

The soles on all XP boots are manufactured by Rottefella. Do you think they are doing something during the boot construction process (that other manufacturers aren't) to compromise the soles?

i'm not sure, i don't have a pair of alfa boots in front of me to compare them to my rossis. and yeah, it is strange considering all the boots share the same soles.

none of the shops around here have even ever heard of xplore, including one store that has a pretty good selection of fischer, madshus, and rossi nordic bc skis. would be so nice to go somewhere and actually see all the boots, try them on, really examine how the soles are implemented differently on each.

[CwmRaider]

My Frees look ok. Been driving with them and walking short distances on gravel. But I'll definitely be more careful now.
I have a suspicion that the pin cylinder is held by more than just the tip, perhaps it has protrusions. Just like the NNN-BC is not simply a straight bar but is bent backwards inside the sole.
Anyone care to perform some post-mortem forensics on their Xplore soles?
Or does somebody have access to an X-ray machine?

[wabene]

A couple of solutions come to mind. One would be galoshes or rubber over boots. When you have to hike over rough ground put them on. Simple and they don't weigh much in your pack.

Another is Shoe Goo. Back in my tennis playing days the tennis shop turned me on to it for those that dragged their toe while serving. Once the toe started wearing, you could build it back up repeatedly. It greatly prolonged the life of expensive, especially for me at the time, tennis shoes.

[Jurassien]

The pull-over spikes depicted afford some protection to the NNN BC bar. There are several such spikes designs on the market, perhaps even some where the rubber continues up the sides in front – in which case some metal or plastic discs could be fixed to the inner sides to prevent the pins from poking through the rubber. Even if there aren’t, it’s not hard to imagine a DIY modification which would protect the protruding pins, while the existing rubber would prevent wear of the material directly below the cylinder.

Apart from that, this would be a low-weight, low-bulk solution and the depicted spikes are also very good at fulfilling their intended purpose – which is to prevent the wearer from landing on his arse on an icy surface. The rubber can (does!) wear through fairly quickly, but the product is a lot cheaper to replace than an expensive pair of boots.

Maybe some manufacturer has already thought of this. If not, and they read this, I wouldn’t object to them sending me a royalty for giving them the idea!!!

I’m not dismissive of the Xplore system per se, but my concern would be the system letting me down in a situation where a failure would be most unwelcome – and ways to prevent such a failure occurring in the first place.

That damned tinfoil hat keeps falling off.

[telerat]

I will be watching wear on my Alfa Skaget, and limit hiking to one pair of boots until I see how it develops. So far it seems manageable. The possibility for hiking with a nice rubber sole was part of the temptation of Xplore.

I have also used the boots with Snowline Chainsen Pro light pull over crampons with success, while hiking in snow covered icy conditions without them resulted in me falling on my rear.

[lilcliffy]

So-
I have put my Skaget boots through an intensive touring season-
and have had an unusually extended spring skiing season- due to early spring weather and spring snow-
therefore, have used the Skaget for some significant hiking.

(Hiking ins ski boots is something that I try to avoid- but, it becomes unavoidable in my spring skiing, due to open watercourses.)

I am definitely seeing what I would call an unreasonable amount of wear on the outsole of my Skaget boots from hiking-
I will take some photos at the end of my season.

My current thought is that the outsole material is too soft/not durable enough.

(other than this issue, I am thrilled with the Skaget boot)

[randoskier]

So-
I have put my Skaget boots through an intensive touring season-
and have had an unusually extended spring skiing season- due to early spring weather and spring snow-
therefore, have used the Skaget for some significant hiking.

(Hiking ins ski boots is something that I try to avoid- but, it becomes unavoidable in my spring skiing, due to open watercourses.)

I am definitely seeing what I would call an unreasonable amount of wear on the outsole of my Skaget boots from hiking-
I will take some photos at the end of my season.

My current thought is that the outsole material is too soft/not durable enough.

(other than this issue, I am thrilled with the Skaget boot)

My wife just finished her second season with the Skagit boot. No issues to report after the initial one- when she first got them she had the well-documented pin retraction problem that Alfa and Rottafella fixed immediately (and corrected their process). Nothing after that. For hiking on roads we have super-light hiking boots from Decathlon, the French sports chain- we need the boots or trainers anyway since most of our skiing is in Scandinavia and we fly there. I will probably get Xplore bindings when I get new skis- I was going for the Fischer OTX 78 but I am baffled why the EZ skin attachment was removed and wondering if it will be back next year.

[randoskier]

If you stand in the main railway station of any major city here on a Saturday morning during the ski-touring season (ca. mid-February to mid-May) you’ll see scores of people milling about carrying rucksacks, touring skis and…..wearing touring boots. They’ll have had the boots on when they left home, on the walk to their local railway station, around the main station, on the train and then when they change platforms/trains/buses. When they reach their destination they’ll wear the touring boots from the railway station/bus stop along gritted roads to the point where they put the skis on. Similarly, when they come off the mountain the skis go on the rucksack and they’ll walk along roads to the nearest railway station and then all the way home, in the reverse order of the above.

Of course I’m referring to alpine touring equipment, but if you were to stand in Oslo Central Station or Bus Terminal early on any morning in the two-week run-up to Easter, you would see a similar picture – but the equipment would be Nordic, not alpine. On tour (with rucksack) few people want to carry the extra weight/bulk of street shoes, they mostly just have light slippers to wear in the cabins, so they wear their touring shoes. When they get off the train they might want to go to the village shops to get last-minute stuff, which would often involve walking along heavily gritted roads/footpaths (sidewalks). Although in the Norwegian mountains between December and May you won’t have to walk far to find snow, you still can’t reckon on just stepping out of the train/bus and putting skis on.

Yes but those are OSLOIDS! Just sayin' : )