funny boa anecdote... i recently tired on a pair of specialized boas in the shop and the boa ratched broke while I tried it in. It spun both ways. obviously I didnt buy the shoes

on the newest shoes, most of the "malfunctions" are really a case of people turning the dial the wrong way. if you turn the dial toward the "-" but it tightens the lace, the dial won't hold. the dial would need to turn to the "+" until all the lace comes out, then keep turning as the lace winds in. then the dial will stay where you leave it.

The dial inners get worn out and fail. As long as you maintain them, they function great! I like them much better than velcro in the mud. The BOA company will actually provide you with replacement dials and they are very easy to fix. Velcro in my opinion always wears out and loses its strength, and ratchet buckles also wear out quickly.

That said, last year at US CX nationals in Bend, my upper BOA on right show failed on the start line. Fortunately there were two of them per foot but the upper one failed and led to my struggling to run up the wooden steps each lap as my heel was pulling out.

The shoes are super-stiff. I love them when pedaling, but during run ups, I feel they are a tad bit stiff. I've adapted to them but I will say that as a strong runner, I have not had as much speed w/ these shoes compared to the previous generation of S-Works mtb shoes (black/silver w/ Boa). I'm sure the mimimal speed I'm losing on the runs is made up in the pedaling sections though.

Excellent fit.

I think the EVO model will be better and more durable w/ a minimal weight increase penalty. Absolute light weight is not as important as durability life greater than 6 months. Unless you are getting an unlimited supply for free.

My wife has some of these and she loves them for MTB, but refused to wear them in a cx race. They are too stiff for her when running.

I use the s-works MTB shoe with Time ATAC carbon pedals for cyclocross. I picked these shoes solely based on my love for the s-works road version. I use the green BG inserts (both shoes ships with red inserts for lower/normal arches). I am new to cyclocross and have used the shoes for 4 races. The stiff carbon soles are excellent for power transfer. I don't have any problems with my heel lifting out of the shoe. No races thus far have been too muddy but i don't think the BOA system would be an issue. At least for me i set my shoe and rarely mess with it during a race. I have thousands of miles on my s-works road shoes without any BOA issues.

That's actually not bad at all in the high end world of shoes... I have always been very impressed with the weight, fit, and comfort of the specialized shoes. They are on par with shimano and many others in terms of pricing but lighter and stiffer (generally).
Check out a high end pair of Sidis for 600$ or some bonts...