Shimano S-phyres. Had them a year, first ones I have that use boas. All four loose after an hour. Every ride.
1 Like
Yea my BOA doesn’t stretch but the shoe material softens up after riding and sometimes needs a bit of adjustment. HIGHLY unlikely for all 4 dials to get loose at the same time
11 Likes
5 year old Specialized shoes and getting a free lifetime replacement for one of the boa dials.
6 Likes
I fall into this category. I have a velcro strap over my toes and one BOA strap on top with my Giro shoes. My pre-ride ritual always entails me walking around rather forcefully (maybe even a down dog cuz I’m crazy) to get my feet to settle my shoes. I then dial my BOAs accordingly. Then boom, I’m set for the day. 1-6 hours no problems.
Like others, it could be either the laces settling or the uppers stretching. I find I can tighten them before and then over the course of 3 hours I might add 4-6 clicks to keep them tight. I really don’t think it’s the dials loosening unless they are totally broken which I doubt happened to all 4
My Boas (S2) seem to last about 1.5 years before they wear out. Taking them apart and cleaning them helps a tiny bit. I have also swapped my top ones for the lower ones since the top ones wear out faster.
Fortunately, all Boas have a lifetime warranty directly through Boa:
https://www.boafit.com/en-us/support/warranty
FWIW, I kind of hate Boas. Velcro is a better system. After owning Boa road shoes I made sure to buy mountain bike shoes with old school velcro and a ratchet. Sure Boa shoes can look sleek and pro but that’s all they got going for them.
1 Like
I have Boas on my work boots, Boas on my road shoes (3 years?), and Boas on my XC shoes (3 years?). All work fine.
1 Like
With you with the velcro love! So much easier, and it doesn’t break. I extremely rarely feel the need to tighten my shoes once I’ve been riding a bit, so most of the advantages of boas are lost on me anyway.
For me the benefit of boa is LOOSENING, because a lot of times I’ll start on a cool morning and ride through a hot afternoon, feet swell, super easy to back off a click or two
9 Likes
TFW you crank the boas down a few notches at the start of the drop ride 
1 Like
Wow, Velcro over boas? Completely opposite experience here. I love my boas. I had Velcro on a number of road and MTB shoes from Sidi, Specialized, and Mavic, and it wears out fairly quickly, and if it gets muddy it doesn’t like to stay closed.
I’ve now got Boas on Specialized, Lake and Fizik, and won’t go back. I like the fact that i can easily adjust them on the bike. I almost never get shoe tightness just right pre-ride (Velcro or Boa), and an easy click or two on the boas after my feet get settled means I don’t have to. I can usually adjust without having to remove shoe covers, too. And once they’re right, they stay that way as long as I care to pedal.
If yours are loosening that much, I suspect there’s something wrong.
14 Likes
I love my BOAs. Have them now for about 2.5 years, no problems so far. Don’t really like velcro. Used to have the plastic straps that ‘click’, sorry don’t know the name. Those work equally well tbh.
1 Like
If it really is the boas loosening, you should get replacements, which are free. I replaced one after a cable broke, and noticed the clicking was more positive as all the internal ratcheting mechanism is replaced too.
Also, there is no way I would choose velcro over boas (at least the boas that allow ratcheting loosening.)
My Louis Garneau are maybe 5+ years old; I use them for TT’s with Look based Favero Be Pro pedals and touch wood I’ve never had a problem with their Boa’s loosening. The rubber grip round the outside of the dial has finally come away but I continue to use them 
I am not thrilled with BOA’s but think it is more the design with the shoe. Garneau -Course Air Lite II Cycling Shoes. Very narrow heal for me…so often hard to fit. The BOAs dont slip but the tightening of the BOA leads to an irritation on the top of my foot. I need to have the shoe looser then I really would like for the shoe not to result in a sore on the top of my foot.
Something wrong with the boas, that’s not normal. Exchange them.
1 Like
no. think something may be wrong or minor settling that does happen too if you don’t get the heel all the way in. I had someone show me a better way to generally put on any riding shoe, but boas especially. sit down, push heel all the way into the heel cup, tighten front most boa, and then work back towards heel.
I wear the soles off my mtb/gravel shoes long before the boas fail. Never had them on road shoes.
1 Like
Boa’s customer service is amazing. I had a pair of Adidas trail running shoes where the Boa dial broke after 12 months. They shipped internationally two sets of dials for free and they arrived in a couple of days. First and only time I’ve had a Boa system break but the repair is easy and they stand by their guarantee.
1 Like
BOA’s have been rock solid for me on maybe 10 pair of shoes now.
The ratchet internals are plastic and do wear out, however. Perhaps that’s what’s going on OR if you bought the shoes used it’s possible the previous owner replaced the ratchets wrong/reversed which would cause what the op is experiencing.