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jsblock11

Skates felt great at store, now too tight at home?

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I know many have posted topics about skates being too tight, but I wanted to post my detailed symptoms and hopefully get some advice on how to proceed. I bought a pair of Graf Supra 703's at Hockey Monkey Irvine (I live in San Diego) yesterday morning after trying on about every skate they had. I'm a beginner and this is my first pair of skates. The 703 Narrow size 9 were the only ones I could get a firm heel lock with, and they baked them and they felt snug, but not painful after I had them on for about ~15 minutes. It felt like the right size based on the salesman's questions and feedback.

Fast forward to the late afternoon and I put them on at home and they felt great in the heels but now painfully tight in the toe box area, squeezing the sides of my forefoot together quite painfully, feeling a bit too short (toes still touching end when knees are flexed), and the top of the toe box a pressure point on the top of my middle toe. After wearing them sitting on my couch for 10 minutes there was a reasonable amount of pain from the pressure and deep red marks on the side of my forefoot on either side - the bone at the base of my big toe as well as the bone and pinky toe both were the same deep red from the pressure. The squeezing and bunching in the forefoot area and toebox made it painful to just stand or walk around with the skates on.

I just can't believe my feet would've expanded so much from morning to afternoon, but the difference was signifcant.

I wasn't aware that skates couldn't be exchanged after they were sharpened, so I think I'm left with either trying to go ahead and break them in and see if I can take the pain to skate more than 5 minutes, drive 1.5 hours to take them back to Hockey Monkey Irvine to see if they can stretch/punch them for me, or go to the small local rink shop that does stretching/punching (San Diego Ice Arena Pro Shop). Any SoCal advice on whether it would be worth it to drive 1.5 hours to Hockey Monkey vs. trying out the local SDIA shop to stretch/punch would be appreciated. Is stretching/punching a difficult task that I should seek a more experienced shop or is it a relatively simple task for any pro shop?

Its a $500 skate so obviously I'm determined to make this work somehow.

Thanks in advance!

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A stretch or punch should help -- and yes, your feet do indeed expand a lot during the day. Never get fitted for skates early in the day.

When you go to get them stretched, wait until the afternoon to check how they feel.

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So a couple things.

First, if they felt right while on your feet after being baked then that is how they will probably feel on your feet after they break in a bit. So don't be TOO discouraged.

Second, HM in Irvine will take skates back (or at the very least exchange) if they are baked/sharpened so long as they're still in sell-able condition. They can just cross-grind the radius off of them. Now, don't EXPECT them to do this but in my experience they have been willing to. Like I said in another thread - expect them to say no so that you can be surprised and happy if they say yes :)

Finally, good luck at SDIA. Great sharpeners (mostly) but they will tell you they can only punch out spots or stretch in length. They will tell you they are unable to stretch in width. I've tried.

Oh, and one last thing... you're a beginner in Carlsbad? You know there is a rink opening up in Carlsbad next month? Any interest in joining a team? :)

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Thanks for the feedback. I called Hockey Monkey again to explain and they did tell me I could exchange the skates if I try the larger ones on and want to go that route vs. stretching/punching. I guess most beginners like me err on the side of a little big because I'm not sure how tight they really need to be, but they really do seem to be squeezing way too tight, even accounting for a little breakin. If the 9.5's feel too big or the D width is too wide, I'll probably just risk it and try to stretch/punch the cap.

Optimus Reim, that is correct I'm in Carlsbad, 35 year old guy just learning to play (played some informal parking lot street hockey as a teen) so I'm hoping to join a beginner league when Icetown Carlsbad opens. I just bought all my gear along with the skates yesterday. I'm absolutely looking for a team, but it needs to be at the beginner level for now at least if that is what you are looking for players for? The Icetown website is up, lookes like the leagues start in mid-November so I've got 2 months to get some skates broken in and I plan on doing the morning Iceplex stick time a couple times a week from now to then as well.

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Optimus Reim, that is correct I'm in Carlsbad, 35 year old guy just learning to play (played some informal parking lot street hockey as a teen) so I'm hoping to join a beginner league when Icetown Carlsbad opens. I just bought all my gear along with the skates yesterday. I'm absolutely looking for a team, but it needs to be at the beginner level for now at least if that is what you are looking for players for? The Icetown website is up, lookes like the leagues start in mid-November so I've got 2 months to get some skates broken in and I plan on doing the morning Iceplex stick time a couple times a week from now to then as well.

Yup, I'd be entering into the lowest division they have. I'm holding off registering for any iceoplex teams for now until the new carlsbad rink opens. I'm in San Marcos.

It's too bad they didn't get the signups done earlier, as I know a LOT of people were considering leaving iceoplex due to the ongoing and never-ending ice issues (last game we played there had to be stopped because we kept going through the ice, and we all had purple stick tape from the red and blue line paint getting all over them). Icetown Carlsbad should have jumped on that opportunity! I may have a goalie too, depending on whether he's signed up for an iceoplex team yet or not. He's in Pendleton and would really prefer the shorter trip.

Mind posting here with your interest so I can keep track? http://modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php/topic/66450-carlsbad-ca-new-team-looking-for-players/

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My last pair of skates hurt my feet a bunch like this, but as they broke in, they loosened up a bit.

Additionally, were you wearing the same socks at home as you did before? Did you lace it up the same, etc?

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My last pair of skates hurt my feet a bunch like this, but as they broke in, they loosened up a bit.

Additionally, were you wearing the same socks at home as you did before? Did you lace it up the same, etc?

I did wear the same socks, tried to lace the same, etc. In the last day I've tried a bunch of combinations: no socks and no footbeds, no socks with footbeds, etc. along with tight lacing, loose, loose on bottom/tight on top, etc. Again last night I couldn't even keep them on for 5 minutes while sitting on the couch, forget about standing up then it was serious pain! My toes didn't seem to pull back at all when i flexed into a hockey stance, I think my entire toe area is just too jammed in both lengthwise and widthwise. Not sure how I could even begin to break these in, can't imagine trying to skate with the bone pressure that is going on.

It is really crazy how different the feel is compared to when they were baked in store.

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How long did you leave them on while baked in the store?

I really can't think of any logical reason how they could fit great in the store after a bake, and now they kill you, especially because you have replicated the same conditions (same socks, lacing pattern, etc). Only possibility I can think of is the material did not keep to the size/shape of your foot. If possible, perhaps a rebake and then maybe a punch/stretch if the issue persists.

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Keep in mind a loose skate will be worse. SO if you have slop in the next size up, don't get them. 703's are leather and the leather will soften and also stretch well. The tocap will not.

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This may be a silly question and slightly off-topic, but does heating and punching the toe cap result in an area of lessened impact protection at the punch point?

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So I think there is a happy ending to the question (hopefully). I went back to the shop today and brought a traced outline of my foot on paper, and compared it to the footbed to show them how crammed my foot was in there. The manager apologized and told me that I was obviously fitted incorrectly and there was no issue with an exchange. I tried on various other size/width combinations BEFORE baking, and ended up moving from the original 9 Narrow to a 10 Narrow. Baked and sharpened them before leaving and I'm wearing them now at home and they seem just about right. Toe barely hitting the cap, snug on the width and the heel is locked in. Maybe they will break in significantly and end up being not as snug but as a beginner, I feel great about the way they fit now and can't wait to hit the ice with them to start the real break-in. I was a little disappointed to learn that I need to wait 24 hours post-bake to skate on them, so one more skate with the rentals at my skating class tonight. Thanks again for the feedback!

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Being sized 1 full size off is a serious mistake. I hate to say it but that's what one gets when going to chains that have rotating minimum wage folks working at their corporate owned locations. I'm glad they were able to finally get it right for you. Once those grafs break in fully you'll be lovin them even more.

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0_o how the crap were you sized 1 size too small? Did they even use a foot measuring tool on you??? That's insane.

And your skates will definitely break in. Depending how stiff they are, that may take a different amount of time. My Vapors took about 5 skates to start breaking in (they are 1 down from the top of the line) and were a near perfect fit after maybe 10-12 skates.

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I'm sorry, but if you were in a full size smaller...you'd know it right off the bat. Your toes would be curled up immediately, which is something you did not describe in your previous posts. It's always advisable to get fitted kinda in the middle of your day - as your feet swell over time, and you do most if not all of your skating at night.

So you made the classic mistake of compensating lack of width by adding length in this case, moving everything that should be in the right place, forward. I'm willing to bet that if you were in the same size in a regular, you'd fit in that. That, and Graf features a very narrow toecap in essentially all sizes.

For those bagging on the store - hell, you always hear of cases of one size too big. I personally know the Store Manager at HM Irvine and he's a smart and experienced professional, with tons of experience in this industry.

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Totally agree with JR here. I dont see how you blame this on the store if you walked out and stated here they felt fine in the store. A salesperson can only go by what a customer tells them.

Again, like JR, I wonder if you need the narrow as it sounds like the length was right since you werent complaining about toes being bent, but being pinched, and had pain on the sides. I bet length was right and just going to a regular width would have helped. If a regular width made too much room in the heel, then its probably not the right boot for your foot shape.

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Woah guys, I never blamed anything on the store, someone else on the thread may have. The salesman who helped me took his time, initially measure me as a 10 and we tried on a bunch of 10's, 9.5's, 9's. I wear a 12 sneaker for reference. He said sometimes people with a 12 sneaker wear anything from a 9 to 11 skate, so wanted to try them all. The HM Irvine staff was very helpful from start to finish. I had heel slip in everything I tried on in other skates, including 9's. This particular skate however, I only tried on the 9. I tried them on fresh baked (the salesman said that the Graf reps advise to try them on after baking only). it is hard for me to believe that they would go from feeling snug in the store while warm, to very painful when I got home. Maybe the baking helped suck my heels back farther, combined with foot expansion during the day? Like I said I'm a beginner and I don't know exactly how these things are supposed to fit, they felt tight all over in the store but I was told that is how they should feel. The pain was so intense at home though from just sitting in them that there is no way I could've broken them in.

The salesman on the second trip had me try on mulitple sizes of the 703's pre-bake (and also did the pencil test and measured the narrow as a better fit for depth). 9 regular width was still too short in terms of toes smashing the ends of the cap (pre-bake). 9.5 narrow and 9.5 wide felt like a maybe, but toes still had a good amount of pressure on the cap. The 10 narrow ended up feeling snug on the sides, and the toe was brushing the cap when standing straight.

I commend the HM Irvine (salesman and the managers that I talked to) for being flexible and recognizing that I'm new to skate buying, and being very accomodating and understanding with a no hassle exchange. They took one look at the tracing of my foot on paper compared to the footbed of the skate, and apoligized, even if I thought the skate felt like it fit while warm they said they should not have let me get those based on my foot measurements that they took.

I bought a full gear kit while up there, and wouldn't hesitate to return for gear and skate purchases in the future. The 9.5 might've worked, but I can tell you with certainty as a beginner that the way these skates feel now makes me excited to get on the ice and practice, and that has got to be worth something as well.

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