Arcterix acrux cracking issue

so have a pair of arcterix accrux mountaineering boots.  It’s well known to those who have them that the red plastic piece in the front will crack and fail after a few days of use.

The thing is I really like the boots and wondering if I continue to use them, will they fail in a way that will be dangerous while leading ice or will the boot fail catastrophically or will it mostly be a cosmetic issue?

hoping to make them last by only using them when I need them for where they work best and using other boots for craiging.

I like them best for multi day objectives for things like easy technical routes in the cascades but don’t want them to blow up half way up liberty ridge or something.

Disclaimer: I don’t own these boots, nor do I have a Phd in boot construction.

Looking at pics, it looks like the red bit of plastic is sandwiched in between two layers of rubber rands. I would expect damage on the red bit to be only cosmetic. I’m wondering why it’s even there. Is this some ski related thing that I am missing?

Whether or not you would trust a half busted boot on a committing objective is a question only you can answer.

Then again, Steve House finished the North Face of North Twin on half a boot, a crampon and some tape. What’s the worst that could happen? 

I used mine until both red bits had cracked and crumbled entirely away. (Disclaimer: I help test and prototype arc teryx footwear a little bit) I noticed no performance degradation from that.