Broken Hyperlite Eyelet

[darkdays 8]

The other day in a game I took a shot off the inside of my skate and the eyelet broke off. I emailed Bauer and they said they don't carry any replacement parts for their skates. Any ideas on how to put a fix on these? (FYI they are out of warranty)

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by darkdays
Added pic

[caveman27 208]

https://megashockeyshop.com/products/skate-eyelet-repair

[strosedefence34 175]

1 hour ago, caveman27 said:

https://megashockeyshop.com/products/skate-eyelet-repair

 

[mojo122 535]

2 hours ago, darkdays said:

The other day in a game I took a shot off the inside of my skate and the eyelet broke off. I emailed Bauer and they said they don't carry any replacement parts for their skates. Any ideas on how to put a fix on these? (FYI they are out of warranty)

How old are they?  Those look like the original laces and still look fairly new?  If I dropped a grand on skates and that happened within a short time frame and it wasn't covered, then I'd be looking at a different manufacturer for my new skate.

[caveman27 208]

Interesting that the endeavor to create a lighter skate through non-traditional materials results in new problems. 

I wonder what NHL equipment managers do if a plastic-like eyelet breaks for a player's skate. I'm guessing they have back-up skates in one of those equipment crates.

[Buzz_LightBeer 969]

By now I would guess a good chunk of EQM are ordering them with traditional eyelets unless the player specifically wants injected

[Sniper9 529]

1 hour ago, mojo122 said:

How old are they?  Those look like the original laces and still look fairly new?  If I dropped a grand on skates and that happened within a short time frame and it wasn't covered, then I'd be looking at a different manufacturer for my new skate.

He took a shot off them. Regardless whether they are a day old or five years old, they would've broke. Even if it was within warranty Bauer probably could easily say too bad since breakage due to shot blocking isn't really a manufacturing defect.  Would they have covered it if it was withing warranty, probably. But after warranty no way they will knowing Bauer's history.  Plastics will always potentially break from impact. 

Shitty deal for OP though. 

Edited April 18, 2022 by Sniper9

[mojo122 535]

1 hour ago, Sniper9 said:

He took a shot off them. Regardless whether they are a day old or five years old, they would've broke. Even if it was within warranty Bauer probably could easily say too bad since breakage due to shot blocking isn't really a manufacturing defect. 

Shitty deal for OP though. 

We actually can't say for a fact that it's not from a manufacturing defect.  My point is that one should expect better durability from a top of the line skate.  That skate hasn't even been on the market a full year yet.  

[start_today 770]

Boy, it’s almost like they “improved” a product that creates breakages that aren’t easily fixable so you have to just buy a new product when that part breaks before the skate breaks down. Shocked.

I imagine if enough people complain, they’ll address it, like how they addressed the issue with steel gradually loosening in Edge holders. That’s not a problem anymore, right? 

[boo10 323]

Injected eyelets are garbage.  Bauer uses typical marketing bs to claim performance improvements, but the reality is it almost certainly makes the skate cheaper to manufacture so when they charge a premium for this "feature" it's even more profitable. 

[Sniper9 529]

3 hours ago, mojo122 said:

We actually can't say for a fact that it's not from a manufacturing defect.  My point is that one should expect better durability from a top of the line skate.  That skate hasn't even been on the market a full year yet.  

You can argue it's a manufacturing defect but imo the injected eyelet system is a giant defect in itself... 

[Vet88 674]

5 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

He took a shot off them. Regardless whether they are a day old or five years old, they would've broke. Even if it was within warranty Bauer probably could easily say too bad since breakage due to shot blocking isn't really a manufacturing defect.  Would they have covered it if it was withing warranty, probably. But after warranty no way they will knowing Bauer's history.  Plastics will always potentially break from impact. 

Shitty deal for OP though. 

This raises an interesting point. In many countries there are now laws that protect consumers, in mine a manufacture has to make a product that is fit for purpose, durable (and yes, the cost of the product is part of this equation - the more it costs the longer it is expected to last) and that they must carry spare parts for the expected life of the product in the market. A manufacturer's warranty is no longer worth the piece of paper it is written on, what counts is a "reasonable expected life span" of the product. Puck strikes are part of the game and if it had happened here within a 2 to 3 year period of owning the skates I'd suspect that someone would be dragging Bauer's ass (or their agent, the shop) in front of the tribunal on at least 2 breaches of our law (and I can think of another 2 beyond durability and spare parts). 

disclaimer - I'm a litigious pita bush lawyer that has spent many many hours helping people out with cases against manufacturers / agents and their supposed warranties, marketing bs and disclosures.

[Beerleaguebumhockey 16]

I drove my car over a curb and the alignment is out. Why isn’t this warranty. 
 

come on guys use is not a defect. Anything with use will and can break. The eyelet system is excellent 

[boo10 323]

46 minutes ago, Beerleaguebumhockey said:

I drove my car over a curb and the alignment is out. Why isn’t this warranty. 
 

come on guys use is not a defect. Anything with use will and can break. The eyelet system is excellent 

That's an apples and oranges comparison.  A more accurate analogy would be, "I just paid $75k for a car and after four months I hit a pothole and the back axle fell off.  The manufacturer doesn't stock replacement axles, so I have to improvise a repair or buy a new car".

And no, the eyelet system is not excellent.  Any perceived performance benefit is a placebo.  The fragility of the system makes it unsuitable for it's intended use.

[stick9 888]

7 hours ago, boo10 said:

That's an apples and oranges comparison.  A more accurate analogy would be, "I just paid $75k for a car and after four months I hit a pothole and the back axle fell off.  The manufacturer doesn't stock replacement axles, so I have to improvise a repair or buy a new car".

And no, the eyelet system is not excellent.  Any perceived performance benefit is a placebo.  The fragility of the system makes it unsuitable for it's intended use.

Unusable, please... For every complaint about breaking there are dozens of skates that are just fine.

Oh and BTW. Every company in every market is looking to make products less costly to improve profits. 

[Miller55 333]

I don't like the injected eyelets from a performance standpoint, but I never had an issue with durability on any of my MX3, 1S or 2S Pro. And I definitely block a lot of shots. 

[flip12 712]

20 hours ago, darkdays said:

The other day in a game I took a shot off the inside of my skate and the eyelet broke off. I emailed Bauer and they said they don't carry any replacement parts for their skates. Any ideas on how to put a fix on these? (FYI they are out of warranty)

It's strange they "don't carry any replacement parts." This is a molded piece of plastic. They have them lying in assembly. They can't spare one?

I imagine it's a PITA to remove and install a new one, maybe approaching the price of a nice set of aftermarket steel just for the service, but that's a different situation than "we can't spare a molded piece of plastic in a standard size." At least for the chain of peninsula eyelets, it would make sense to have a modular replacement possibility.

18 hours ago, Buzz_LightBeer said:

By now I would guess a good chunk of EQM are ordering them with traditional eyelets unless the player specifically wants injected

I see a lot of Hyperlites with injected eyelets at the NHL and NCAA level. They seem popular, or maybe the frequency of skate replacement makes the odd break a marginal cost.

[gosinger 122]

I think the problem with "no replacement part" is actually a "no customer-replaceable unit (CRU, intended for end-users to install)" or "no field-replaceable unit (FRU, intended for qualified service techs to install)". If this was offered as a part, each LHS would also have to know how to install them, what tools to use, etc. So I fully understand that they don't offer it as a replacement part, and that a "good" LHS / pro-shop would simply create their own part from plastic and sew it in-place with varying degrees of workmanship.

[Beerleaguebumhockey 16]

I do find the lack of understanding of businesses cutting costs and improving profits odd, every company in the world has the same goal. Make money. Sometimes that affects the consumer whether we like it or not. As well, these skate lines last two years, this is not a car that has a 15 year life span and parts for insurance claims and accidents. What a weird comparison to a basically disposable piece of equipment. 

[ggmunsen 14]

I don't know if this will help, but I remembered this video from a few years ago from the NJ equipment staff. It offers more of a DIY approach: 

 

[flip12 712]

41 minutes ago, Beerleaguebumhockey said:

I do find the lack of understanding of businesses cutting costs and improving profits odd, every company in the world has the same goal. Make money. Sometimes that affects the consumer whether we like it or not. As well, these skate lines last two years, this is not a car that has a 15 year life span and parts for insurance claims and accidents. What a weird comparison to a basically disposable piece of equipment. 

Cars might last 15+ years, but don’t many manufacturers update their lines more frequently than that?

Today’s skates can last longer than two years, even if a new skate in the same line comes out in that span. Planned obsolescence isn’t that tightly coupled to product release cycles (yet? I imagine Bauer having a leasing/subscription plan hidden in some garment or other).

56 minutes ago, gosinger said:

I think the problem with "no replacement part" is actually a "no customer-replaceable unit (CRU, intended for end-users to install)" or "no field-replaceable unit (FRU, intended for qualified service techs to install)". If this was offered as a part, each LHS would also have to know how to install them, what tools to use, etc. So I fully understand that they don't offer it as a replacement part, and that a "good" LHS / pro-shop would simply create their own part from plastic and sew it in-place with varying degrees of workmanship.

That is an interesting thought. I wonder if it would be possible to 3D print a decent replacement.

[Sniper9 529]

Replacing parts on skates other than steel and holders has never really been an option. Once certain parts broke you are hooped or had to find someone that might be able to fix it. Ie tendon guards, traditional eyelets etc. Do we give shoe manufacturers shit for not having replacement parts? 

 

[flip12 712]

1 hour ago, Sniper9 said:

Replacing parts on skates other than steel and holders has never really been an option. Once certain parts broke you are hooped or had to find someone that might be able to fix it. Ie tendon guards, traditional eyelets etc. Do we give shoe manufacturers shit for not having replacement parts? 

 

Traditional eyelets, MLX tongues and tendon guards, Mako tendon guards, CCM tongues, and Micron liners are counterexamples. Injected plastic facing is literally one part. How it gets replaced seems complicated, to be sure, but it's not out of the question in my mind. We don't give shoe manufacturers that because shoes do have replacement parts.

[VegasHockey 1280]

I tend to stay away from injected eyelets. When players request the Hyperlite skates I recommend they order custom and get standard eyelets unless they are entirely sold on the injected eyelets. 

[mojo122 535]

12 hours ago, PBH said:

I tend to stay away from injected eyelets. When players request the Hyperlite skates I recommend they order custom and get standard eyelets unless they are entirely sold on the injected eyelets. 

Aside from the injected on the 2015 1X skate (which was a manufacturing defect yet I never saw it being a widespread issue) the injected facing has been durable.  The few broken ones that I came across where all the result of too big a skate resulting in over cranking to get them tight.  Had them on MX3, 1S, and 2S Pro and was a fan.  Missing them on my Ultrasonics.  My concern is with the design of the HyperLite facing, specifically the cut outs at the top potentially being a weak spot over time.  

Pretty sure Bauer had a slew of skaters using them as prototypes long before they came to market last year.  Whether or not they encountered any issues at all we will never know. I have a few who have gotten them had issues with the tongue.