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Help with stiff zips!
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
I got a new pair of bullson motorbike boots the other week . They're ace! Anyway, problem being, the zips are incredibly stiff on them, and it might be just me, but they seem to be getting stiffer not more supple, as you'd expect after use. The boot itself is made from a combination of a sheltex membrane on the inside (like goretex) which is attatched to a stiff leather on the outside. There are reinforcing bits of... polymer I think in the heel, toe and ankle. There the toughest velcro ever on the top half of the boot which is a bitch to pull off.
But anyway. The zip, which is under the velcro, takes immense amounts of strength to push up and down! I knew it would be stiff, but it literally pulls your skin off before budging. I dont think its a manufacturing error though because its stiff on both boots (a bit stiffer on the right one). Its so bad that when my foot is in the boot, I cant do the zip up, even with extra help! In the shop I managed to get them on fin though, so its a source of much annoyance.
I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about stiff zips and if theres any way to make them work easier? A bit of talcum powder perhaps? lol. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, let me know, cos its annoying not being able to do them up. I spent £90 on them because my other laced boots took so long to do up!! I thought these would be easy :crying:
But anyway. The zip, which is under the velcro, takes immense amounts of strength to push up and down! I knew it would be stiff, but it literally pulls your skin off before budging. I dont think its a manufacturing error though because its stiff on both boots (a bit stiffer on the right one). Its so bad that when my foot is in the boot, I cant do the zip up, even with extra help! In the shop I managed to get them on fin though, so its a source of much annoyance.
I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about stiff zips and if theres any way to make them work easier? A bit of talcum powder perhaps? lol. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, let me know, cos its annoying not being able to do them up. I spent £90 on them because my other laced boots took so long to do up!! I thought these would be easy :crying:
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Comments
It's worth double-checking that you haven't caught any of the fabric in the zip - once it gets caught in there, it pulls it over the the rest of the zip travel, making it damned hard to move it up and down .
I'm lucky - my boots are velcro and buckles. My textile trousers go over the outside, and are then zipped and with a velcro tab.
What bike you got?
Spray the zip up and down thoroughly, and as the previous poster suggested a drop of oil won't go wasted. After that, spend a minute or so zipping the zip up and down until it moves freely. However, bear in mind that if the zips are stiff, chances are that it is for a reason (In case they come off in a crash?).
See, this is why i didn't get a motorbike like all my mates and got my driving licence instead
click to see - I've got a honda cg 125 lol. I hope to get a bigger bike next year though, a sports tourer. Thinking of a fazer or a bandit, but the bandit is putting me off because of a lack of fairing. And also the fuel economy on it (from what ive read) is almost as bad as a car!
Ignore most peoples comments on fuel usage. Most big bikes will give you 40mpg+ with little effort. I've got a VFR750 and struggle to get below 45mpg with lots of town use.
Magazine riders rank the nads off the bikes, so the economy always looks very poor. Most owners never bother to measure their economy accurately, so take their comments with a pinch of salt .
Not on the rails of inkjet printers ... for that you need something like sewing machine oil
Even a drop of oil from the dipstick on your car will give a more long-term solution than WD40. I'm a huge fan of WD40, but it really isn't any kind of long-term lubricant.
It'll line it with a fine coating of graphite - which is surprisingly good at overcoming friction . Many greases available contain graphite...