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I have a small crack like feature in one of the Gotama sidewalls.
:confused: Should I do something about this? I am primarily worried about moisture getting into the core. For now I jam the crack with wax but I am looking for a longer term solution. I know this was discussed last year, but new year, new skis, new thread.
FACK! I was kinda disappointed when I saw the wood sidewalls on the new model. My advice: warranty now, or ski the living shit out of them and warranty at the end of the season. Hmmm...guess I'll be getting another new pair next year.
Edit: Are you sure it's a crack and not just a gouge. I had a few gouges in mine last year, and I wasn't sure if they were cracks or not since they were slightly deep. That was until I actually cracked mine and said, "Oh, now THAT's a crack." It had bowed out the edge and topsheet.
If you hadn't jammed it with wax - epoxy. Not much will stick to wax.
As far as I can tell the sidewalls are the same as last years. It seems like a small crack, but I will check it out again. What kid of epoxy?Quote:
Originally Posted by Arty50
I fuckin love these skis, they must never die!
Same thing happened to me in September here in Australia,
Mine was more of a gouge, it is filled with epoxy and I can hardly notice it anymore.
Will be skiing the sh1t out of them for 3 weeks in Japan in January, then will evaluate whether it is a crack or a gouge. ;)
are the new topsheets still made of construction paper?
and i will echo the "best.skis.ever" sentiment along with "i.thought.germans.made.shit.right"
It's the same material. But a few inches in from the tip and tail, the topsheet shrinks in and the metal topsheet protector shows. When I first got my new ones, I was eye level with the front end of the ski and thought, "WTF, it already has a long ass strip torn off!!!!" But then I stepped back and noticed it ran the length of the ski and was on purpose. That was a bit of relief.Quote:
Originally Posted by tuffy109
Oh and the edges on them are monstrous too.
#$#%#$ @#$#@@!!!!!!!!
So yesterday hop's looking at my brand spanking new Gotamas and says the following, "Hey is this a crack?"
Me: "What? No it can't be."
So I look at the sidewall, and you guessed it. There's a nice 3-4" crack. Thankfully, it hasn't expanded like it did on my pair last year. But it will. The worst part. It was only my SECOND day on them. I just don't get it. This was probably the number one reason why people warrantied last year's ski, and they chose to keep the obviously flawed design element.
As for how they ski, they're a dream. That's why I'm extra pissed. Volkl made what it quite possibly the perfect ski (as far as how it skis) and then fucked it up with that damn wood sidewall. Arrggghhh!!!!
Oh well, I guess Volkl likes spancering me through their warranty program.
Yes mine is a crack too. I was going to put some epoxy on it this week, although will that mess up the warranty process?
had this only been a problem with gotama? or the explosivs as well?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pura Vida
The Wizzard and Lightning bolt explosives used to just straight up delam...but no cracked sidewalls......various explanations were given for the delaming, epoxy paroblems, the twintip and the latest is a bad batch of Titanium...not heard of any of the Dark red explosives delaming.....the CMH's and any pree twin timp explosives are still considerd the toughest skis on the mountins here (Banff) - skiing untrcked earky season pow I aquired a total of 2 ft of core shots (Ptex peeled from the metal)...almost everyone else destroyed their skis! - Exploders rule!
At work we have some first gen Gotomas - must try some rock testing ;)
The Gotama is the only ski that has a wood sidewall. So it's not a problem with the Exploders (which almost never explode).
The cracking isn't a big deal unless either the cracked portion falls off or the crack expands outward. On my pair last year, the crack expanded and caused the base and topsheet to bow outward.
As for using epoxy to seal the crack, I would document the crack beforehand. In my case this means taking pics and showing the crack to my local shop. I'm hoping to keep skiing them as long as I can before I have to send them in. But I want to make sure this crack is documented just in case something else happens. We'll see...
thanks for the info... waiting to pop the cherry on an unexpected xmas gift :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Idris
does anyone think that sealing the sidewalls with Thompson weather seal ( for decks, stuff like that) would help this?
No, woul;dn't stand up to the friction. You should seal the crack. Epoxy, or even clear silicon caulk would work. The wood must have already been sealed at the factory.Quote:
Originally Posted by mopete
Get a tube of adhesive sealant at WalMart for $.94.
Must...kill...monkeys...at...Volkl...
So the original crack is now expanding (very bad) and I have a new crack on the other ski. Why oh why are they using those damn wood sidewalls? They suck serious ass. I've only put 4-5 days on these skis.
And now that the first crack is expanding, I'm going to have to send them in soon instead of skiing them for a while before I make my warranty request. This sucks.
I wonder if it is the luck of the wood grain you get. I have the first generation and all is good. Big edge smashing core shot. Hit a stump very hard, drove knee into chest. Traverse mishaps that over flexed the ski. Stupid little park, air-to-flat landings that numb the feet and the skis sound like shattering glass. Skis must have 50+ days. The top sheets are shedding like a drunk whore but that’s it. Sucks that people are getting cracks after few days.
Well, I emailed Volkl about the cracks and included pics. They just ended up reinforcing why I love this company.
I explained that I may be going on a heli trip this year and I was worried about continuing to ski them. Plus I didn't want to be without my fatties for the trip.
Luckily the cracks aren't terrible yet and they recommended that I use epoxy to prevent them from spreading any further. I then asked whether this would void the warranty. Nope. I was told to take them to my local shop to have them inspected and repaired, and also to save the emails for warranty replacement in the future.
I also found out that I'm one of the rare cases this year. The person I talked to mentioned he was inundated this time last year with warranty issues related to cracks. I believe the words used were "more cases than I could handle." However this year they've only seen 3-4 cases so far.
This all wasn't a line of BS either. I've spoken with this person in the past and they are a totally stand up individual. So I have to give serious props to Volkl. They're going to let me patch these babies up and ski them until the season ends, upon which time I can score a new pair.
In the seemingly unlikely event your 04/05 Gotamas do crack like mine, then definitely contact Volkl and/or your local shop. Don't just epoxy them, keep skiing, and send them in later. You'll want to document everything from the get go.
Arty's advise is greater. However, I epoed mine (03/04) myself and no issues warrantying (sp don't care) them through a shop.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arty50
Excellent news! HASKINS called me tonight and he just got back from SIA. 05/06 Gotama has a p-tex sidewall. Fuck yeah!!!
You could oil those sidewalls to reduce the risk of cracking the sidewalls. I used "chinese wood oil" (direct translation) after every trip on the pair I had last year and the sidewalls held up great. I think the oil is meant for use on outdoor furniture (untreated wood).
Cracked sidewalls is probably a greater problem in the relatively dry conditions in The US. Lyngen, where I usually go skiing, is a coastal area with high humidity and pretty heavy/wet snow so after a few days of skiing the sidewalls can take a lot of beating (like old wooden skis).
Bump because this thread made me feel a whole lot better. Today I slid over some buried rocks, more of a turn, but I unweighted as soon as I heard all hell breaking loose under me. Got home from work and started cleaning up the edges when I saw the crack. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! :cussing: I love these skis and that just made me sick. Guess it's off to the shop in the morning to get things rollin'.
To give some info on next year's gotamas, i ski with a girl now and then who's sponser is Volkl. The new Gotamas are pretty much the same, however, the sidewall no longer has exposed wood, it is covered now, she said everything else was pretty musch the same.
Hi guys, how many times did you ski them before the cracks appeared? I skied mine twice and so far I have not found them yet.
One more difference: The '06 Gotama has narrower edges...
WTF did they do that for? Give me Explosive edges.
Narrower edges aren't a big deal since they already had super, extra thick edges this year (04/05). They probably just went back to the 03/04 edge, which I never had a problem with and were totally bomber. I don't know how many core shots I put next to the edges of those skis, and they didn't even bend/compress in the slightest. The 04/05 edges are weird anyway. They seem VERY prone to rust.
As for needing a warranty card, I've never gotten one with any pair of skis. Nor has a shop asked me for a receipt when I took them in for warranty. Granted, I've only warrantied a pair of skis once; but it's not a problem from what I understand. Just save the receipt; that will be fine.
Epoxy will void your warranty. Send in the skis right away or ski them until they die, but don't under any circumstances fix the ski yourself. Ski and snowboard companies are looking for any reason not to warranty your ski, don't give them one.
Some companies ask for a reciept along with a warranty. Save yours and you won't have any trouble.
Bullshit, show the skis to your local shop before you epo them. They're get an RA and tell Volkl you'll send em in at the end of the year. I did this with my Gotamas last year no problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by robokill1981
Foggy's right.
Or you can do what I did, email Volkl with pictures of the damage and get their input. They told me I could epoxy them and send them in for warranty whenever I want. They also told me to save the emails for reference.
They key is to have someone "official" see the damage and then have the skis repaired. In my case, both the local shop where I'll warranty the skis and Volkl have seen the damage. I covered my bases, and thus it's not a problem.
I missed that you were getting an RA first. That does cover your bases. Very cool of Volkl to do something like that. Although after warrantying hundreds of skis and boards over the past few years I would still not want to give a company a reason to void your warranty.
Silly warranty case in point: We cover our rental snowboards in a laminate that is easy to remove, but keeps topsheets from getting scratched. We sent in a board to Burton that had delammed badly but forgot to take the laminate off first. Burton called us as soon as they got the board and told us the laminate voided the warranty and we were SOL...and Burton has one of the best warranty depts. out there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arty50
Not only those.
03/04 gotamas and 04/05 exploders have the same...tendency?
leave them alone for 12 hours by them selves and they look like a carwreck in a
junkyard from 1983.
So those that got the crack and then just kept skiing them, how did they hold up? Any issues from having the crack in the sidewall?
Flyk, if you have a good shop then try to warranty them. Volkl is being really stand up about replacing cracked Gots.
I may do that when I get back but I need them for AK next week. Just wondering if I'll have any problems.
i've been skiing my cracked wall goats for about 15 days, and so far no probs. I just crammed some epoxy in there, and they seem to be fine.
Cracks are no longer propegating anymore, either.
Nah, they should hold together just fine. I'd say you can put several days on them without worrying. I did before I noticed the cracks on my first pair. I epoxied the second pair before I sent them in because I had to hold them together for a couple of months before my AK trip.Quote:
Originally Posted by flykdog
Speaking of which... :the_finge