After 1 season of use (50+ days, inbounds and outbounds), the top hinge of the tongue on both boots broke. This is not surprising as they kind of stand out of the boot.
I got replacement parts (and allen screws) from Scarpa in a couple of days through a shop, but when I tried to unscrew the (what looks like allen screws), I found out that they are actually riveted !!
Am I seeing things wrongly or did scarpa try to make us feel like it is an easy-fix boot when it’s not ?

Apart from that I love the boots !

Guillaume

My comments are based on my wife’s boots and the 3 friends who had the same problem, and discussions with the MEC ski techs and warranty department. All the boots in question were from the first 2 years of production (2 Maestrales, 1 Gea, 1 Blink). All had the same problem where either the pin or the hole in the release bar wore so that it would no longer hold when the boot was flexed (so resulting in a free flexing cuff). This was a gradual process that over a season became worse and eventually resulted in full failure.

One hypothesis floated by a ski tech who had seen the problem numerous times was that canting the boot could result in the pin not inserting consistently. If not fully engaged, the pin could pop out resulting in gradual wear. Eventually – the components would wear so much that the lock wouldn’t hold at all.

Therefore, the problem (and required design fix) may be associated with the canting and not only the cuff lock. A cant/lock issue could also mean that some people may not have a problem and others would.

Anyway – no solid conclusions here. Just an observation of a frustrating failure based on a number of cases as well as industry confirmation of many warranties for the same problem. MEC response was, as always, superb.