Viadana hardware? Experience?

[Suijin]

So at the boat show I came across a booth of an Italian deck hardware manufacturer, Viadana, which apparently is just a few months in to having a US distributor. Their prices were eyepoppingly low. $10 for the snap shackle and $25 for the composite pulley.

Any European folks with experience with them? Bought a few pieces for non-critical applications to test them out.

[Suijin]

No one has any experience with this brand? That’s a bit alarming lol

[SVTatia]

Interesting you ask as I once had the same need... They are cheaper but don't feel and don't look cheap - apparently they have been around since 1961.

I have a couple of small blocks for my topping lift which I got from Sailcare (one of the US dealers). They look like a good product but I only used mine for a couple of seasons - so far so good.

[Suijin]

Yeah they don’t feel cheap at all. A snap shackle for $10 is just nuts. We’ll see how it and the blocks hold up.

[AuChante]

Going to revive an old thread cause I wanted to ask the exact same question. Ive found some positive mention around the web but nothing super solid. I got 3 of the 57mm composite blocks for the main to try out. They have an incredible price at $30 and I guess feel as nice as the harkens or others. Really they’re all so light I don’t think any of them feel solid. The two things I don’t really like are the rivets are hollow, and the shackle doesn’t seem too ruggedly fastened. It’s attached at a seam in the two halves and there’s not much plastic there. Will have to take a look at others next time I’m at WM.

And they definitely save on packaging. I ordered from their site and they were just bubble wrapped in the shipping box.

[Franziska]

I used to spend many summers dinghy sailing on Lake Como in Italy.
They are a well known brand in Italy and are around for many years.

I even visited their manufacturing site above the town of Bellano once. Looked like a decent medium sized machine shop. Well organized, just the kind of industry you find a lot in the industrial belt north of Milan.

Only had good experience with their parts, even though that is now 15 years ago...

[AuChante]

My guess is they're just as good as anyone else. Delrin, nylon, and acetal are not at all exotic materials. Basically all plastic sheaves (industrial and such) are one of these, so there's not a ton that can go wrong. As long as they don't start falling apart and use decent enough materials.

Looks like France, Germany, and Holland have the most dealers according to the Italian (.it) site. Maybe googling in Italian or another language would yield more results.

This is a fairly recent thread I found with some good things to say. I've found absolutely nothing bad which probably means they're perfectly fine.

https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/th...rdware.211830/