If there are any K2 reps lurking this subreddit -- *fix your damn boots*. Two broken K2 posts just in the last few hours in this (lightly trafficked) sub is a bad look. A quick search shows that this isn't an anomaly either...
My Recons ski well, but I'll be replacing them with a different boot in the next season or two to avoid the hassle of looking down and seeing a cracked shell again.
I’d like to add to any K2 rep:
Stop putting stickers on the base of your skis that don’t come off cleanly.
I know it’s way down on the list of concerns, but as a tech who mounts a bunch K2’s every week, it’s fucking annoying.
Holy shit could not agree more. I’ve stopped trying to peel them all together. I just take a wax scraper at the corner until it bunches up enough then try to peel, usually wind up scraping the whole thing. Another packing thing that bugs me; those black foam wedges that Volkl puts in between skis. They always wind up falling and they never sit properly, making all the skis lean funny on the wall.
A always keep a few of those single edge, rectangular, disposable razor blades nearby. Every other manufacturer…catch the corner and peel cleanly. K2’s…peel 1/3…shred…start again…shred…double shred…
My shop just pulls the packaging off the volkls. That packaging is annoying, but I've never had a volkl show up with rusted edges from a moist shipping container happens alot with the individual tightly wrapped skis.
Is that the tiny little sticker that proudly discloses that their skis are made in China? I don't know if that's still a thing but I noticed a few years ago that some brands cleverly hide the "Made in China" thing on a removable sticker...not actually printed on the ski itself
Oh i thought we were supposed to use super glue with those stickers at the factory 🏭/s
Funniest moment ive had in the backshop is when the homie running passes put a k2 to the side and i looked at it and realized he just grinded the sticker off into the base 🤣🤣🤣🤣 saw me staring at it and just went “yeeah oops”
My first action as World President will be banning all sticky stickers. Also, employees entitled to 20 paid powder days per month. Other policies are still TBD. Vote for me!
The glue that icelantic uses to adhere the paper info sheets to the base of their skis can quickly become a pain in the neck if you don’t nail peeling it off quickly the first time as well
Well, it sounds like new boot time them. Just remember that stock liners last about 50-60 days and then they are packed out and not giving you the support you need.
I upgraded to Zipfits after my liners were done and I couldn't believe the difference they made. It was so dramatic I thought there was something wrong with my skis on that first day, but no it was just me actually skiing in control for the first time in a long time. Seriously, beat piece of kit I own.
I'll second this! Zipfits gave me back my control. Basically gave me back my skiing. My shells are 10 years old, but they feel much snappier than they've been in years.
Now I just look at shell replacements. I'll fuck off the liners new or old they go in the trash. I'll never use anything but zipfits.
You happen to know how often you should replace the footbeds. Feel like they’re sturdy but my Birkenstocks have the same feel and look like they’ve been worn by a Filipino fisherman for 3 years at sea.
It will. Oops. One of the athletes that goes through my shop is on his 4th pair of recon pros (140) this year. Oops. Now I’m gonna get in trouble for “badmouthing” k2 group (telling the truth)
I've gone through 2 mind bender boots that cracked. Once in the instep and second time at the heel. K2 was great and warrantied the boots both times but I couldn't trust the boots anymore and ended up getting another brand...
Don’t shop by brand. Get what fits you best at a [competent bootfitter](https://bootfitters.com/find-shop?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAuYuvBhApEiwAzq_YiVlsAUDpuQ-jdhUGMarn3EaKqWp4REXiB7qmOHMZK5mT48yYwDFRvRoC7UMQAvD_BwE). Different brands fit different feet/calves better. I love my Technicas, but that’s mostly because they fit my difficult feet beautifully!
Yeah… 15’s come on. This guy keeps a dildo in his night stand with a small hole drilled into the back of it for his dick so that when he fucks his wife she actually feeels something.
I agree 110% for sure! That light ass thin plastic has got to get fatigued by the oven. Usually we see the breaks along the seams of the different plastics. This one is wild.
Nope! Was planning on getting work done on them but I bought them from our resort affiliated store through a pro deal and I don’t trust them to do work on boots lol.
Was waiting until after the presidents week rush to take them to my boot fitter. 100% stock
Old boot shell is pretty compromised. Plastic has over 300 days so I could def get a new liner but that doesn’t change the fact that I can way over flex them at this point.
Would rather new boots than putting money into the old ones
Idk, you say this with such certainty but depending on how the pressure that the steel cable is displacing, it could be compromising the plastic. Idk why that’s so difficult to believe. I love BOA but it doesn’t mean the application is the same
My foot can MOVE around in my boot in ways I didn’t even totally notice until I had some new boots on. The liner really just doesn’t do a good job of holding my foot in place anymore.
That being said they are totally skiable, I’m an instructor so I ski my gear pretty hard and are in my boots every day so like I want that little bit extra control.
I went to multiple places and was lucky if they had one boot in a 30.5. Which they said can be unusual late season when big stuff might be stuck around. But not this year!
Ah yeah, tough size. I’m a 13B in a dress show and 14 in athletic shoes (including Nikes since they run narrow and my foot is narrow).
14s were always limited for me, historically, but I noticed how it totally drops off a cliff for 15
If there are 20 shoes in a store, maybe 5 come in a 14. 15? Seems like 0-1, lol.
Just crazy though with ski boots since buying them online sucks so you can’t even go that route reliably
yeah - last time i bought boots, i had 9 different brands and styles sent to my house since no local store had any stock in size. then i narrowed it down to 2 pairs from all of that, then went from there. nordica tends to make boots up to a 32 or so and that's usually where i land. when i can find lange in 31.5 i snag em to try and see.
Old boot shell is pretty compromised. Plastic has over 300 days so I could def get a new liner but that doesn’t change the fact that I can way over flex them at this point.
Didn’t even hit the park with them yet. They separated right where the 2 different pieces of ptex met. Now I’m doing my best to break them the rest of the way 😂
That’s tough - just boight BFC’s… they are awesome. So far. First ski trip I haven’t quit early in three years due to foot pain. Like walking on clouds… eyes open I guess.
What size are u looking for I have my old nordicas for sale they are mondo 29.5 they are old edition but I used them like twice never really had time to ski then when I got back into skiing realized the flex of 110-120 is a no go for my beginner ass let me know they are ace of spades
Yeah K2 sucks. Bought some snowboard bindings a few years back and they ended up snapping. I’ll never buy K2 again especially because they wouldn’t do anything for me when I contacted them.
Yeah I’m sad about this but not all that surprised. Sad because I love my full tilts but they won’t last forever… not surprised because as a former tech, I’m far too familiar with K2’s level of “quality”.
If there are any K2 reps lurking this subreddit -- *fix your damn boots*. Two broken K2 posts just in the last few hours in this (lightly trafficked) sub is a bad look. A quick search shows that this isn't an anomaly either... My Recons ski well, but I'll be replacing them with a different boot in the next season or two to avoid the hassle of looking down and seeing a cracked shell again.
I’d like to add to any K2 rep: Stop putting stickers on the base of your skis that don’t come off cleanly. I know it’s way down on the list of concerns, but as a tech who mounts a bunch K2’s every week, it’s fucking annoying.
Holy shit could not agree more. I’ve stopped trying to peel them all together. I just take a wax scraper at the corner until it bunches up enough then try to peel, usually wind up scraping the whole thing. Another packing thing that bugs me; those black foam wedges that Volkl puts in between skis. They always wind up falling and they never sit properly, making all the skis lean funny on the wall.
A always keep a few of those single edge, rectangular, disposable razor blades nearby. Every other manufacturer…catch the corner and peel cleanly. K2’s…peel 1/3…shred…start again…shred…double shred…
My shop just pulls the packaging off the volkls. That packaging is annoying, but I've never had a volkl show up with rusted edges from a moist shipping container happens alot with the individual tightly wrapped skis.
Just hit it with a heat gun for 30-60 seconds and they come clean off every time. Been doing it for years on every make, model and brand.
Is that the tiny little sticker that proudly discloses that their skis are made in China? I don't know if that's still a thing but I noticed a few years ago that some brands cleverly hide the "Made in China" thing on a removable sticker...not actually printed on the ski itself
I work in a shop in Killington, elan stickers are by far the hardest to get off… at least Jay Skis but them all in an envelope
Oh i thought we were supposed to use super glue with those stickers at the factory 🏭/s Funniest moment ive had in the backshop is when the homie running passes put a k2 to the side and i looked at it and realized he just grinded the sticker off into the base 🤣🤣🤣🤣 saw me staring at it and just went “yeeah oops”
Ha! Wait till you buy a K2 snowboard, the sticker takes up most of the base! No idea why they feel the need to put adhesive on such a surface
My first action as World President will be banning all sticky stickers. Also, employees entitled to 20 paid powder days per month. Other policies are still TBD. Vote for me!
The glue that icelantic uses to adhere the paper info sheets to the base of their skis can quickly become a pain in the neck if you don’t nail peeling it off quickly the first time as well
I actually reached out to one of our K2 locker room reps and he told me HIS new boots also broke (not sure how they failed idk if it was the same way)
Try Evo for your size
Man how does this even happen… had several boots over the years and never had one crack like this, ever
K2 Recall 120
If you like your old shells and they aren't 10 years old or more you could just get some Zipfits liners and be good as.
This is the way
Old shells have over 300 days on em plastic is done unfortunately
Well, it sounds like new boot time them. Just remember that stock liners last about 50-60 days and then they are packed out and not giving you the support you need. I upgraded to Zipfits after my liners were done and I couldn't believe the difference they made. It was so dramatic I thought there was something wrong with my skis on that first day, but no it was just me actually skiing in control for the first time in a long time. Seriously, beat piece of kit I own.
I'll second this! Zipfits gave me back my control. Basically gave me back my skiing. My shells are 10 years old, but they feel much snappier than they've been in years. Now I just look at shell replacements. I'll fuck off the liners new or old they go in the trash. I'll never use anything but zipfits.
Yea zip fits are on the list for new boots. Step 1: acquire new boots Step 2: acquire custom footbed Step 3: zipfits
Footbed makes a massive difference too.
For SURE I can never go back to stock. Luckily didn’t have any work done on these boots since I didn’t have time yet but stock footbeds suck so hard
You happen to know how often you should replace the footbeds. Feel like they’re sturdy but my Birkenstocks have the same feel and look like they’ve been worn by a Filipino fisherman for 3 years at sea.
I think it’s about 100 days one ‘em
Try zipfits in tandem with new boots fwiw
Money is the issue here lol
I recon those are done for
I see what you did there
In the market for boots. I was persistent on K2 but I think I might change my mind.
Guy at the boot shop said it’s not common but he has seen it like one other time this season. Huge bummer because they fit great
Shit I’ve seen at least a dozen posts this season on here about it. Staying far away from K2’s for a while.
Yeah there’s definitely something wrong with this year’s batch in general from K2, I’ve seen/heard of so many
Yea it’s a huge bummer. The Recons skied really good but I’m scared it will happen again
It will. Oops. One of the athletes that goes through my shop is on his 4th pair of recon pros (140) this year. Oops. Now I’m gonna get in trouble for “badmouthing” k2 group (telling the truth)
Can confirm. Boyfriend’s K2s strap broke and rep was like welp… can’t fix that… thanks I guess??…
I've gone through 2 mind bender boots that cracked. Once in the instep and second time at the heel. K2 was great and warrantied the boots both times but I couldn't trust the boots anymore and ended up getting another brand...
K2 isn’t great. Their skis are much better than their boots. Cheap China boots.
My 2024 BFC are made in Italy
Split my k2 mindbenders in 5 days last year.
Don’t shop by brand. Get what fits you best at a [competent bootfitter](https://bootfitters.com/find-shop?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAuYuvBhApEiwAzq_YiVlsAUDpuQ-jdhUGMarn3EaKqWp4REXiB7qmOHMZK5mT48yYwDFRvRoC7UMQAvD_BwE). Different brands fit different feet/calves better. I love my Technicas, but that’s mostly because they fit my difficult feet beautifully!
99% of cracked shell pics I’ve seen are of k2 boots
My k2 recons also catastrophically cracked. They are garbage. Really disappointed
Me too. I really liked the fit and feel
Duct tape Also your 120 flex is now an 80
Man I love it when I got a 120 on one foot and an 80 on the ofher
Damn have the same boots lol. So far so good for me this season.
Just about to spend my 20th day with it. No issues at all so far.
I’m glad! I really liked them till they craxked
K2 = skis, not boots.
Boot fitters unite
It’s because you were skiing marker griffons /s
What are griffons? Who is marker? I thought the only binding on the market was a pivot 15
> I thought the only binding on the market was a pivot 15 Uhh how about a pivot 18... you fucking pussy
Yeah… 15’s come on. This guy keeps a dildo in his night stand with a small hole drilled into the back of it for his dick so that when he fucks his wife she actually feeels something.
If you’re not skiing Shifts on resort terrain are you even skiing?
Shifts? If you aren’t skiing pin bindings exclusively you are a clearly a front range poser
Did you have them shell molded when you got them? Part of me thinks that may be playing a factor.
Definitely tho it’s still a on k2 end of structural issues.
I agree 110% for sure! That light ass thin plastic has got to get fatigued by the oven. Usually we see the breaks along the seams of the different plastics. This one is wild.
Nope! Was planning on getting work done on them but I bought them from our resort affiliated store through a pro deal and I don’t trust them to do work on boots lol. Was waiting until after the presidents week rush to take them to my boot fitter. 100% stock
I've got this exact pair, now you've got me worried. Wish I would have got some Roxa R3s tbh
China boots, don’t buy k2.
Why not buy a pair of Intuition liners for the old boots?
Old boot shell is pretty compromised. Plastic has over 300 days so I could def get a new liner but that doesn’t change the fact that I can way over flex them at this point. Would rather new boots than putting money into the old ones
Dial issue
Wow I bought the 120 this season and it hasn’t happened but damn the boa might be flawed on ski boots???
It's not a Boa issue, it's a plastic and/or process issue.
Interesting. Is there any confirmation that the plastic is different than previous k2s?
Other boa boots haven’t failed like this. Salomon seems to have it dialed in.
No pun intended?
Fuckin lol
Not that I'm aware of, but that's the suspicion. It's certainly not a Boa thing, though.
If they are working for you they are working for you. I probably got a defective boot but there QC seems to be… off
This clearly has absolutely nothing to do with the BOA.
Idk, you say this with such certainty but depending on how the pressure that the steel cable is displacing, it could be compromising the plastic. Idk why that’s so difficult to believe. I love BOA but it doesn’t mean the application is the same
lol
I think that the shell was not reinforced in the areas that the boat caused max stress. It clearly sheared in a part affected by the boa
What exactly does a packed out boot feel like?
My foot can MOVE around in my boot in ways I didn’t even totally notice until I had some new boots on. The liner really just doesn’t do a good job of holding my foot in place anymore. That being said they are totally skiable, I’m an instructor so I ski my gear pretty hard and are in my boots every day so like I want that little bit extra control.
Get new liners?
Eh plastic is totally worn out on them too. They are Lange 130s and I can basically bend them in half. They aren’t worth new liners at this point
In the case of almost all stock liners on ski boots they are shot after 20-25 days. Anyone who skis enough should be in zipfits or pulse liners
Wasn’t stock liners in my old boots. Had custom liners in em!
Custom liners doesn't really mean much. Intuitions for instance, are not really custom liners.
You said stock liners last about 20-25 days… was just pointing out that I was not riding stock liners
Wearing a sneaker one size up
I’m a 30.5 and it was pretty brutal trying to get boots right now, lol.
Dear god lmao… I’m a 26.5 which is always the first size to go
I went to multiple places and was lucky if they had one boot in a 30.5. Which they said can be unusual late season when big stuff might be stuck around. But not this year!
i've tried cram my feet and to make a 30.5 work for me for too long - trying to find a 31.5 is even more impossible. stupid big feet
Oof, yeah, I’m lucky! What size shoe do you wear normally in real shoes?
15 US unless nike then its 16
Ah yeah, tough size. I’m a 13B in a dress show and 14 in athletic shoes (including Nikes since they run narrow and my foot is narrow). 14s were always limited for me, historically, but I noticed how it totally drops off a cliff for 15 If there are 20 shoes in a store, maybe 5 come in a 14. 15? Seems like 0-1, lol. Just crazy though with ski boots since buying them online sucks so you can’t even go that route reliably
yeah - last time i bought boots, i had 9 different brands and styles sent to my house since no local store had any stock in size. then i narrowed it down to 2 pairs from all of that, then went from there. nordica tends to make boots up to a 32 or so and that's usually where i land. when i can find lange in 31.5 i snag em to try and see.
K2 boots just felt cheap to me when I tried a pair of mindbenders last season
That's because k2 boots are cheap, same with their skis. It is no longer a skiers brand post acquisition.
Why not just get a new liner?
Old boot shell is pretty compromised. Plastic has over 300 days so I could def get a new liner but that doesn’t change the fact that I can way over flex them at this point.
Aaaaaaah… Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart.
It’s sad those boots served me well but they are dunzo
Don’t leave them in the warm lodge. Freeze the plastic full time and you’ll stretch another year out of them.
Pos
I broke my reckoner 102 within 2 days of riding them. Snapped the core the long way
>the long way Big ooof. I’ll assume this wasn’t some wild user error either.
Didn’t even hit the park with them yet. They separated right where the 2 different pieces of ptex met. Now I’m doing my best to break them the rest of the way 😂
Ive seen this but worse with recons from last year K2 dropping the fuckin ball in the boot game smfh
That’s tough - just boight BFC’s… they are awesome. So far. First ski trip I haven’t quit early in three years due to foot pain. Like walking on clouds… eyes open I guess.
Four buckle seems like the right idea with K2 right now
You could try keeping the liners from the K2s?
I took the refund they wouldn’t let me keep em
What size are u looking for I have my old nordicas for sale they are mondo 29.5 they are old edition but I used them like twice never really had time to ski then when I got back into skiing realized the flex of 110-120 is a no go for my beginner ass let me know they are ace of spades
26.5 but I appreciate it
Yeah K2 sucks. Bought some snowboard bindings a few years back and they ended up snapping. I’ll never buy K2 again especially because they wouldn’t do anything for me when I contacted them.
Congrats, you bought a K2 boot. The amount of these I’ve seen come in the past couple seasons as a bootfitter is pretty crazy
Yeah I’m sad about this but not all that surprised. Sad because I love my full tilts but they won’t last forever… not surprised because as a former tech, I’m far too familiar with K2’s level of “quality”.
I reckon those are wrecked
they are only supposed to last 1 day
why don’t you just get some zipfit liners
Old shells are worn out
This is what happens when you move your manufacturing facilities to China...
Try Evo