Last year we reviewed the Specialized BG S-WORKS Road Shoe and generally had great things to say. A few weeks ago, I was tightening the BOA lacing system on my left foot and the plastic lace that slips around the BOA ratchet nob---completely snapped. Crap! As you can imagine, the shoe was rendered useless until I could find the time to see what BOA could do for me.
Fast forward a few months later, I finally found time to dig into the problem. My first thought was to go to the Specialized web site and see what they provided. A natural thought…after all, I had spent over $300 with them. A preliminary search found an answer to my problem in the form of a little $15 spare part kit. The kit fit the bill and the price seemed somewhat reasonable.
And just before, I went to purchase the kit, I decided I would check out the BOA site to see what they had.
Yes, of course BOA had something to help me out. And as I quickly found out, $10 less expensive than the Specialized option (included each company's lowest shipping fee). A few days later, I received the parts in the mail and am ready to install.
Stay tuned, for a post on my installation experience. The video looks a little complicated...
UPDATE:
After receiving my BOA replacement kit, I went to work replacing my lace and dial.
For the most part the included instructions were a nice reference point, but I found this video on specialized.com and used it as my primary step-by-step guide.
While the video makes the process seem simple as demonstrated by the young Specialized wrench, it took me about twice the time it took as referenced in the video. Why? The holes that route the cable through the dial mechanism are extremely small (as they should be) and don't allow for smashed cable ends. I have an old pair of wire snips that mangled the end of the cable and it took me 10 min to file down the ends of the cables to fit appropriately.
Once I was able to route the cable through the system, the process was quick and as described in the video.
Overall, the process was cheap, quick and painless. My recommendation is to buy a few extra kits to keep on hand for future cable snaps.
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