If "you" feel differently, that's great too. Doesn't change the fact that they came to market with issues, it just points to the fact that you are willing to live with that, which says more about you than Tethrd. Facts are facts.
I thought the Skeletor features and price point were attractive, and so made the purchase, partly because they had already shipped 1000 pre-ordered sets, so figured flaws were unlikely. Ha! So much for that thinking. I expected that if there were serious design flaws, they would be fixed and customers make whole, no questions asked. That was the case with the short button bolts. That was/is not the case with the lower standoffs that are prone to bending.
I wasn't willing to live with that. I made that wheel squeak till they gave in and replaced my lower standoffs. Now I am happy with the sticks...all known design flaws are fixed on mine. I won't be worried that a design flaw is gonna send me into the tree or even injured. As a newbie saddle hunter, that is important to me.
If you have the original standoffs, you might want to do what I did. Bitch at them till they send you replacements.....without having to wait till they bend/break. Incidentally, "brake" is what you do happens you use a Safeguard rappelling down and want to slow down, or you're in your vehicle and need to come to a stop. "Break", is what happens when something goes wrong with a product. For the record, I have not heard of any of the standoffs breaking.....bending, yes, breaking no. LOL
However, I am not pleased with the customer service, since I had to push them to make the standoffs right for me. That is not "hating" on Tethrd....I understand perfectly why they may not want to automatically replace all the badly designed standoffs. It all comes down to $'s....and the loss they would take by not biting the bullet and "making it right". But though I may understand the logic behind the decision, I disagree with the decision....the cost in good will and potential long term customers could very easily exceed that of shipping out redesigned parts to all customers. I am very unlikely to buy Tethrd after this....at least not for many, many months after they introduce a new product, and they iron out the design flaws. and even then, still not likely to buy more from them given the plethora of alternatives available.
Facts are facts. Opinions are opinions. Fan bois will be fan bois. I could have been one.....didn't/won't happen. But then, I'm old enough to revel in being a curmudgeon that isn't overly tolerant of such things any more. YMMV.
