Syndicate hardshell cracking

[david_quail]

Wow. Transitioning to hardshells was hard. A bunch of failed starts even! I was starting to get the hang of it and then ... My first hard fall. The good news ... I came out ... The bad news ... The plate cracked. The guy who sold me them said that a previous customer cracked theirs while testing the release on dry land. I'm wondering if others have had this issue before trying to get a replacement.

[Andre]

Are they plastic or alu ?

[david_quail]

 

The plastic mounding I believe.

[ntx]

@david_quail That part is 3D printed. There is another thread dedicated to this problem.

 

[bkreis]

@david_quail get a reflex!

[Andre]

OK,not the plate but the 3D printed boot contour...

Plastic.

[david_quail]

@Andre yup. Thanks for the clarification.

I'm at the lake for 3 more days before heading back to the city to possibly get a replacement. Considering gorilla gluing the part back in (after making sure the dealer will still take it back) vs.using my old backup ski. The boot sits pretty solidly on the place even without the broken part so thinking this would be safe.

Or is that crazy talk?

[OldboyII]

I have the same problem though my case is lighter - only upper parts of female cup were broken. Had several releases before w/o problems, but this one was severe one at wake crossing.

On video it looked like there was twisted component. I feel satisfied because plastic was broken instead of ankle - this was an answer to my fears.

In ideal situation female part should be made of resilient plastic that gives in during twisted release.

[Deanoski]

Glue it down with epoxy or gorilla glue and ski!!

[aupatking]

The plate cracked, or the 3D printed parts? My ski partner's is just now 4 months old and basically destroyed. It's currently unsafe to use. I'm told they are sending new parts, but I'm not sure about the longevity of those either.

In another thread I asked about the financial feasibility of injection molding these pieces, but that cost is high. I'm hoping a big company like HO having this boot system under their banner, maybe they'll have the money to perfect it. Several pieces are long and run longitudinally, as well as some small thin sections. If they could use a disc golf type of plastic, those things would last forever.

[david_quail]

Upon closer inspection, the whole right side snapped off. Definitely a hard crash, just after the wake crossing, at ball 5. More of a twisting motion than an otf. So happy it broke the plastic and nothing else. i think I would have come out of my old soft shell but kind of hate thinking about it!

 

[MattP]

@savaiusini should be able to point you in the right direction. His usual go to is take it up with your dealer first to get replacement parts.

[savaiusini]

Yes, your first course of action should always be to contact your dealer to initiate a warranty claim. A lot of times they can get you a replacement on the spot and get you back on the water quickly. Then we can send them a replacement or credit their account. If the dealer is unable to assist you (hopefully never the case), we are happy to work with you directly to resolve any issue. Just call our customer service line and ask to speak with me directly.

 

 

[david_quail]

@savaiusini great thank you!

My dealer is fantastic so I am sure they'll do everything they can to get me back on the water pronto.

[gregy]

The 3D printing stuff just doesn't hold up!

[Than_Bogan]

@gregy Be careful with the generalization. 3d printing is a name that covers a massive variety of printing technologies and materials. They appear to have chosen a combination that is not suited to the task, but it does not indict 3d printing in general.

[slow]

Poor rollout for the syndicate boots

[Horton]

@slow it is a kick ass product. I guess there may be some few first year issues it is my boot system of choice.

[lakeaustinskier]

Minimize the stress on the footbed by not taking the physical binding off and clicking the binding into the footbed each time you use it (instead step into the binding with the liner).

Great product. IMO it takes the Reflex idea and refines it.

[gregy]

@Than_Bogan true, I've just been really frustrated with the Reflex heel cup which generally I'm lucky to get a set out off before it cracks. Reflex has been really good about replacing them but like you say combination of brittle material and weak design. The HO /Edge looked like a similar material so I figured it would have similar problems.

[slow]

A product that skis great and releases great but consistantly breaks is still a poor rollout.

[OldboyII]

I do not want even to think what could happen to my ankle if footbed was hard enough not to break in that twisted release. I would prefer to have spare part for replacement after that kind of fall. Anyway there is no way back from hardshell.

 

Thinking about how to make side stoppers of semi-hard rubber material.

Was talking to guy whos job is to make prototype models for car industry. He says that making thousand or more pieses with requested properties with 3D technology is not cheaper than to make mold and produse as much as you want from high density polyethilene or polypropilene.

 

[spicoli]

There's a guy that uses his without the foot bed he just took it off

[OldboyII]

Looks like he uses standard Reflex plate with single horseshoe

[Rich]

I love the boot & liner, My first thinner foot bed cracked within a week, HO replaced it with the ticker version which I cracked with in a month. I filled it up with Bondo, it works great

 

[Rich]

Heres a pic

[Rich]

Bondo

 

[Booze]

@Rich - I did that with my aluminum reflex and it stuck well. Interesting to see your success with a G10 plate. Did you prep the surface before laying down the filler?

[Greg Banish]

I broke my Syndicate plate in a similar way too this weekend. Luckily, it released properly, likely saving a second broken ankle for me, but it destroyed the toe loop and 3D printed plastic in the process. I already emailed my retailer, who has in turn contacted HO about it. I'm hoping that there is some design change in the works that prevents the same thing from happening again in the future rather than just getting a replacement that may break the same way again. Anyhoo, it's still way better than another trip to the ER.

[dchristman]

@Rich Lovely - reminds me of the Adobe car from SNL.

[epnault]

I quit counting how many of my 3d printed bases on my Reflex have broken. They switched to new material (black in color) and I haven't had issues. I get why they do it because it is so expensive to create an injection mold tool.

[303Skier]

@david_quail mine broke too. Called HO and they are going to send me a new base once they get some. I have regionals this weekend!

 

I've seen guys like Will and JT who removed the 3D mold and went straight to the plate like reflex system. The only thing HO would need to do is manufacture a different loop and customer could remove the 3D part and be good. This would also bring down the toe of the boot.

[Deanoski]

I have seen a HO boot on Reflex plate.

[OldboyII]

@Deanoski was it Supershell plate (with double metall toepiece) or regular one - with single?

I need extra plate on second ski but Edge/HO do not sell parts.

 

[jedgell]

I've got a Right Size 12 if anyone is interested. Only used 4 sets, new condition. No problems with it, just not for me.

[Deanoski]

@OldboyII it was a single Reflex horse shoe plate

[OldboyII]

In my case plate did not entirely destroyed, so it was visible how it collapses. The points of stress are parts that stick up. The plate destroying starts there.

They actually are useless because material is too fragile.

In order to reduce stress I modified female part a bit by cutting "peaks" down to the level of heel part of the footbed. Filed & covered exposed porous inside with flowable epoxy.

Looks like all OK. Connection to plate is the same, hold is the same, boot positioning is the same and I'm sure that plate will last much longer & release will be much safer.

 

[mwetskier]

there seems to be some handy types on this forum. that 3d printed part would make a perfect plug for sand casting a replacement part out of aluminum and being flat backed there would be no parting line. so it would be as simple pressing the plastic part up side down into a sand mold tray, striking off the flat surface, pulling out the plastic part, and pouring in molten aluminum. youtube is your friend for learning how to do this.

 

i don't have even a basic ' home foundry ' so i would take an even simpler route of making a rtv silicone mold and then pouring it full of glass filled resin. one silicone mold could make dozens of replacement parts before it would deteriorate enough to need replacement.

 

i know i know, a big waste of time and guys should just wait until the company gets around to improving the quality of the base and then ships them one. but some guys on here are handy and skilled at fabbing stuff they need so they can have it right now, and those are the guys i'm talking to.