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givethepigeye

Really, just Rob will do
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Nov 13, 2015
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Charleston, SC
@Yarecki - they are usually low on tubes this time of the year.

Also, there is a vast improvement in the level of information that is available now compared to a couple of years ago. Give the Blister podcast a listen, you will appreciate where they have come from from a business standpoint.
 

mikes781

Out on the slopes
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Interestingly enough they talked about how they are trying to evolve in their recent gear30 podcast, Until a year or so ago there really wasn’t a website and if you wanted to order you called them up, placed and order over the phone and sent them a check. The founder/developer Sven recently turned it over to I believe his grandson but it’s still just a 2 or 3 person operation that relieves heavily on word of mouth. Will be interesting to see if they changes is the coming years especially now that they are starting to work with Fisher. Great product overall and I’m fine with dealing with a mom and pop operation even if it comes with a few challenges.
 

AchtungSki

Putting on skis
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Feb 27, 2019
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48
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Midwest
I love my ZipFits so far, what an amazing product. What pisses me off though, is what a shoestring operation this “company” is…
- Always out of the cork tubes… Seriously, if you’re selling your product based on how customizable it is, you better stock the cork. Without that your product does not perform to specifications. Again - customization is one of the selling points, without the cork one can’t customize the liners
- How difficult is it to keep the product description and pictures on your website up to date??? I just bought the Corsa, the product you get is different from the picture on the website. If it wasn’t from this forum, I wouldn’t know what I’m getting. Again - how difficult is it to update the SINGLE picture you have on your website of an item you’re selling for $500???
- The “Resources” tab of the website is laughable… For example, go to “Adding Omfit Cork” section (and forget for a second they’re always out of stock of said Omfit). There’s not a single picture / diagram of where the cork chambers are, what each of them does, how best to add cork, etc. What a joke… How long would it take to include a few pictures with actual instructions? Or at least a link to the YouTube video?

It’s like they actually don’t want people to buy the product, and want to make it really confusing…

End rant. I guess it’s only for really hard-core skiers like ourselves who frequent this forum.

I think that's overly harsh. You aren't buying from Helly Hansen or North Face. Zipfit is basically two guys in Colorado working with a group of skilled craftsmen in Italy creating a niche, hand-made, high performance product. Like pigeye says it's the end of the season and people who bought them to start the season by now realize they need more cork. The website could use a little updating I agree, the corsa just got changed this season though. The chamber diagram is a good idea too. It's a tiny company experiencing some mild growing pains is all. Another thing to mention is that if you reach out to Chris or Jeff via the zipfit email they are exceedingly helpful and are actual, nice people. Jeff emailed back and forth with me for weeks trying to diagnose a fit issue that ultimately turns out wasn't the zipfit's fault, but he helped me work through it regardless. I'll take that tradeoff 10/10 times compared to dealing with giant corporate entities who are quick and flashy to get you to buy but then strip every bit of quality out of the product in the name of short term profits and won't give you the time of day if something goes wrong.
 

BMC

Out on the slopes
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Joined
Mar 20, 2017
Posts
778
Yeah you definitely feel Zipfit are on a real journey. I get the impression that while Sven is arguably the greatest modern innovator in ski gear, almost certainly so for ski boots, he was terrible at developing a coherent product line, and marketing it. Product names came and went. Sometimes the same product name would offer vastly different levels of Omfit over the years. The old product videos looked like they were lifted from 1987. The new managers appear to be taking the obvious steps of having more consistency in product naming and specs, a navigable website. Etc. credit to them.

I’m also mindful the last 12 months have seen an enormous increase in awareness of Zipfit. Blister in particular has been featuring Zipfit increasingly. The Fischer partnership is boosting profile. I wouldn’t be surprised if demand doubled over what it was say 18 months ago. It would surely be a huge % increase. Most small businesses would struggle when faced with unexpected increases in demand.
 

dfdny444

Booting up
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Joined
Dec 30, 2017
Posts
108
I love my ZipFits so far, what an amazing product. What pisses me off though, is what a shoestring operation this “company” is…
- Always out of the cork tubes… Seriously, if you’re selling your product based on how customizable it is, you better stock the cork. Without that your product does not perform to specifications. Again - customization is one of the selling points, without the cork one can’t customize the liners
- How difficult is it to keep the product description and pictures on your website up to date??? I just bought the Corsa, the product you get is different from the picture on the website. If it wasn’t from this forum, I wouldn’t know what I’m getting. Again - how difficult is it to update the SINGLE picture you have on your website of an item you’re selling for $500???
- The “Resources” tab of the website is laughable… For example, go to “Adding Omfit Cork” section (and forget for a second they’re always out of stock of said Omfit). There’s not a single picture / diagram of where the cork chambers are, what each of them does, how best to add cork, etc. What a joke… How long would it take to include a few pictures with actual instructions? Or at least a link to the YouTube video?

It’s like they actually don’t want people to buy the product, and want to make it really confusing…

End rant. I guess it’s only for really hard-core skiers like ourselves who frequent this forum.
Jeff Colt has done 3 podcasts about the history and progression of Zipfit in the last 3 months. I highly suggest you listen to at least one of them and rethink your post. The fact that two guys were able to get Zipfit where it is presently as quick as they did is actually pretty impressive.

About your gripes, multiple people have said in the last two days that they were told omfit, should be back in stock this week. If you don't like the corsa you received they will accept your return even after you've skied it. There are YouTube videos posted on how to add omfit in the product pages for omfit.
 

givethepigeye

Really, just Rob will do
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Nov 13, 2015
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Charleston, SC
^all the above said, let's hope the growth isn't too rapid and they can keep delivering what everyone has grown to love. And sudden growth doesn't take away the deliverable....cough....cough.....Ikon...cough.....cough. I guess the good news is they last forever, so if you are "in" you are good. although, I still would love that all leather (inside and out) LV Gara of yesterday.
 

EricG

Lost somewhere!
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Joined
Sep 16, 2018
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VT
Humm. Sounds like what we hear in VT every weekend from our ‘friendly’ tri-state visitors. Why don’t you people have enough staff? (response to reduced hours at popular restaurant); Why are things moving so slow, I have places to be! (waiting in line at coffee shop); You expect me to pay how much? Or let’s just park our Mercedes/BMW/RangeRover SUV with roof box in the handicap spot so someone can run in and grab takeout at local places, or while spouse wait for family when they shop.

Sven is old school, the kids are slowly changing things. Production has increased substantially, and in many cases these products are still best provided by a bootfitter vs consumer direct. If demand/production changes too quickly we will end up with liners made somewhere else with much lower quality control.

I‘m salty.
 

Yarecki

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Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Posts
78
Location
NJ
I think that's overly harsh. You aren't buying from Helly Hansen or North Face. Zipfit is basically two guys in Colorado working with a group of skilled craftsmen in Italy creating a niche, hand-made, high performance product. Like pigeye says it's the end of the season and people who bought them to start the season by now realize they need more cork. The website could use a little updating I agree, the corsa just got changed this season though. The chamber diagram is a good idea too. It's a tiny company experiencing some mild growing pains is all. Another thing to mention is that if you reach out to Chris or Jeff via the zipfit email they are exceedingly helpful and are actual, nice people. Jeff emailed back and forth with me for weeks trying to diagnose a fit issue that ultimately turns out wasn't the zipfit's fault, but he helped me work through it regardless. I'll take that tradeoff 10/10 times compared to dealing with giant corporate entities who are quick and flashy to get you to buy but then strip every bit of quality out of the product in the name of short term profits and won't give you the time of day if something goes wrong.

To reply to all the above and others, my post was supposed to be tongue in cheek. I understand they’re a small operation. I do love the product, and am a big proponent. My ski friends (a lot of them coaches) are tired of me waxing about my ZipFits all the time…

Didn’t mean to be harsh, just some constructive feedback, must have had too much wine with dinner before I posted… Some things would be easy to fix though, with no additional investment in resources, like having an up-to-date picture of the product on the website.
 

Doublegreen

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Mar 14, 2023
Posts
139
Location
Minnesota
With the way the world is today and the way their shop operates, I was happy and a little surprised they even had the one I wanted in stock, especially considering they’re made in Italy. And I got the liner 3 days after ordering. They have some issues, they’ll figure it out.

On a positive note, when I was having issues and questions right when I got my liners 3 weeks ago, I called them one morning and the phone rang once and it clicked, the line went dead. I called back, thinking I got disconnected. Same thing happened. I didn’t consider the different time zones. I didn’t leave a message or my number or anything, an hour later I got a call back from Jeff. Thats good customer service in my eyes.
 

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
3,330
Location
SF Bay Area
I just hope that adding OMfit to the tongue solves my problems otherwise I’m not sure what the next step is.
Do you have a booster strap installed yet? That has fixed for me a lot of the weak tongue (compared to stock). It also takes up volume in the upper cuff area too when installed and used properly inside the plastic.
You will likely want the "expert" model.
 
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givethepigeye

Really, just Rob will do
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Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
1,704
Location
Charleston, SC
OMfit in stock at Bartletts (UK) but I can’t add it to my cart. Anyone try it?
Previously plowed field unfortunately - about a month ago

Hi Rob,

This product is not currently in stock, I apologize!

I am not sure how the web page is showing this without showing that it is out of stock.

Kind Regards,

Tess - The Ski Bartlett Team
 

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