jski, I'm having the same problem, if it's not the c-clips, it's the buckles. I've lost 6 of them so far. I've also lost 7 screws. I now use loctite on them even though moto nation recommended not using it. Even with all those other problems, the biggest one by far is the fact that I twist my knees in these boots all the time. This never happened in my alpinestars(3 pairs), gaerne, or oneil boots. There's no doubt that the ankle protection of these boots is superior to the boots i mentioned above, but because of it the ankle doesn't absorb any side to side motion. It sends it right to your knees. I've used these boots , flex force, for 7 hare scrambles now , and I've twisted my knees during every race. I stopped using the sidi's, because I needed parts , and used my gaerne sg-1's for the last race of the year, and guess what no twisted knees. I'm not sure what i'm gonna do.