Leif

I was using a 5/8” grind on hard winter ice with my Bauer skates. With my TF9s I had to go down to to a 1” grind as the bite was insane. I’m getting more glide for a given grip, hence skating should be less tiring. However, I’m now able to put in more power. It took me several hours to get used to the forward pitch.

They do a lot of infomercials. They might even have been paid to take a camera crew over to Switzerland. Do these old skates still hold water? Or have they been overtaken by modern designs? I know a very good skater and player who swears by his Graf hockey skates.

The issue is that I cannot get Shift runners in the UK, and Max Shift runners do not fit my holders. Fortunately I was able to get some Shift runners from Finland, just in case I need to replace my current ones.

I had my Tuuks replaced after a few years on my Bauers, they had been loose for a long while. I have no idea if True are any worse, but clearly they thought fit to improve them.

Max Shift runners have an extra sticky up bit which means they don’t fit Shift holders. Shift runners do however fit Max Shift holders. Our local shop retrofits Max Shift runners, by modifying the holder or the runners. I just bought the correct runners while still available. I sharpen my blades weekly, but only one pass on my Sparx, runners last years as the Sparx takes off so little steel compared to hand sharpening.

I will be happy if mine last two years as the performance and comfort are phenomenal. It is always possible your kid does something specific that damages them, but that obviously is still not acceptable. I had to pick up spare Shift runners from Finland as they are no longer made. A local shop also said they can retrofit the new Max Shift runners.

Thanks. That’s not good. Banging the heel to force the foot back is quite normal, I find it helps the heel lock. I put a lot of stress on my boots with outside edge stops and powerpulls when practicing.

How long did it take for the cracks to appear? I seem to recall he’s about 15. Is this all scrimmage, or a mix of games and training? Do you have any idea what caused the cracks e.g. a slapper to the skate shell? Do you have experience with this yourself? Or is this from online posts? Do you know what sort of failure rate there is? I spoke to a semi pro hockey player who said he went through two pairs of Bauer boots a year. Tommy H. on Hockey Tutorial, a semi pro player, says boots (Bauer, CCM) generally last him 6 months. I’m not trying to make excuses for True, rather I’d like to get a feel for how prevalent the issues are, and when they appear. I know about 4 people including myself with TF9s. I skate at lesst 3 times a week, including two casual hockey games. I’m a good skater, but not powerful and a fairly lean build. My Bauer customs seemed to have retained their integrity after 5 years, despite severe cosmetic wear.

Yes, the pro fit is much more custom. You are right about the trickle effect, and seeing that most other people on the rink wear Bauer with some CCM too. I would never have bought True were it not for a deep discount (half price) and 30 day no quibble money back warranty. I thought they would be rubbish. Now I would happily pay full price. There do seem to be plenty of reports of issues with True. However, I know many users, and only one issue which was the tendon guard needing a new bolt. A UK semi-pro hockey player on the Hockey Tutorial YouTube channel tests lots of skates. He was very impressed with the durability of his True customs, much better than his Bauer Hyperlites and some others too. I know so many people who have Bauers and CCMs and complain about painful feet. And I know several people with Bauer Hyperlites who hate the tongue. Of course my samples are tiny, but there is a tendency to only hear from unhappy users. It takes time to penetrate a market, and in the UK Bauer is the big name, the biggest hockey shop is now Bauer only. They dropped True and CCM. I cynically think that most of these ‘features’ that Bauer push out are gimmicks but they appeal to the youngsters, or at least convince them that they are getting the mutts.

Do these have the same forward pitch as the equivalent ice skates? I assume the boots are almost identical.

Thanks. I think you have hit the nail on the head: “some boots just work for some people more than others”. I pronate, and I have a suspicion that the Bauer customs don’t provide me with adequate support. In addition I have duck feet with very narrow lower legs. Bauer skate fits all seem to assume a similar shape, with three volumes and a couple of widths. Hence stock Bauers are painful for me. I suspect the customs are the same shape as stock boots, just fitted to each foot in 1/4 size increments, and a few more widths. And I suspect to get mine to fit, they sized the width to my forefoot and then they filled the large ankle area with a lot of foam. Plus a bit of pressure moulding. My lower legs do look tiny in the huge boot opening. I am guessing about the reasons of course, but it’s like going from a Trabant to a Porsche 911. I do feel somewhat angry with Bauer, they market customs as made to fit the players feet, which is not really the case. I think True SVH are the only truly custom skate on the market. I assume CCM are as per Bauer.

I’m surprised no-one has had similar experiences. I’m now sure the left Bauer skate is defective, as drills on my left foot are now so much easier in the Trues. It might have a misaligned holder, perhaps a 2 mm offset at one end and -2 mm at the other end, but it is hard to tell. I guess it could also be misaligned internally, perhaps a slight twist of the last when doing the pressure heat moulding. I know this isn’t just a Bauer problem, there’s plenty of reports here of problems with True customs too. Maybe because customs are hand made, they are more subject to quality control issues.

When doing skating practice in quiet public sessions, I always wear body armour. Xion is some of the best on the market, albeit not cheap, and they are based in Holland so not ideal for North Americans. Their armour is essentially a lightweight piece of clothing, such as a shirt, with pockets containing D3O padding. You can remove the ones you don’t need, I remove the side pads from the shorts, I only need the coccyx pad. I find they do not get anywhere near as sweaty as other products I have tried (Demon shorts). It works incredibly well. On one occasion I fell on my unpadded coccyx, and I could not walk, or do anything with my legs for most of the next day, and it took a week to recover fully. After buying padded shorts, I just get up and carry on after a fall. D3O pads can be bought on eBay, and sewn into a shirt easily enough. The Xion website will give you ideas on the sort of thing you could make. There are other products with a similar property. However, ordinary foam pads are not as effective i.e. you need more thickness. I believe CCM use D3O in some of their protective equipment. Xion say not to wash it, but it seems to survive a cold wash with non bio detergent.

Over 5 years ago I dropped £820 on some nice new Bauer 2S Pro skates, which was a lot of money for me. Over several years, I took one on one lessons to rework my skating, get correct posture etc. I play at least twice a week, and practice skating at least once a week and the skates are now rather tatty. Recently I saw some True TF9 skates at about half price with a 30 day money back warranty. So I bought a pair. After all, I couldn’t lose. Seven skates later, including 3 hockey sessions, and I can’t believe how much better they are. My skating, especially edge drills, has improved massively. I was struggling before with power pulls (one foot slalom). Now I can do them really well, on either leg, with deep edges, it feels so easy. Forwards cross rolls are much better, I can get much deeper edges i.e. lean more. I sometimes had an issue with the left foot sliding during forwards CW crossovers. That’s all gone. I can feel the edges far more, I’ve gone from 5/8” hollow to 1”, and I feel more stable. I had an occasional tendency in the Bauers to fall backwards. No more. I’m still getting used to them, but I tried backwards scissors skate today, no problem, much better. I also tried backwards crossrolls but the rink was a bit too busy to feel comfortable i.e. safety. Foward flex is good, lateral support is much better. Does anyone know why I should see so much improvement going from Bauer customs to stock Trues? I’ve not read any similar reports, and I really did not expect it. Is there some simple explanation for why my Bauer customs might not have worked as well as expected for me? Could there be a manufacturing issue, or a fit issue? I had new holders fitted a few years back, and I trust the tech, he would have mentioned any obvious issues with the original holders. Bauer customs are used by many excellent skaters, so they should be very good. I do think my left skate had an issue of some sort, which I blamed on myself, and worked to correct. The True one piece boot could explain better ice feel and grip. The blades have more forward pitch, and two primary curves, not just one. That could explain stability. But the level of improvement suggests something fundamentally wrong with the Bauer skates. I know Bauer customs aren’t really customs, each foot is fitted with a stock skate, with 1/4 size increments, and the boot squeezed under heat and pressure to a last. So maybe the boot just didn’t suit my duck feet (very narrow lower leg, foot widest at the toes i.e. flipper shaped). The Bauer were basically size 7, the True 6.5, so a bigger holder and blade on the Bauer.

Same here, but medium instep.

True have an app that allows you to scan your feet with your phone or tablet. It will then recommend skates. Maybe Bauer and CCM have similar. Some shops offer virtual fittings, by video link I assume. I have no idea how well that works. Some brands offer a 30 or more days warranty, not happy, get a full refund. You could order two sizes, keep the one that fits, return it if doesn’t work out on the ice.

True are carving a new path: Genuinely custom skates built round a last. Not just a stock skate heat and pressure formed to a last. One piece boots. CCM do this too. Incredibly thermoformable shells. I don’t know about CCM, but the Bauers I’ve tried have very little give when baked. Bauer hurt my feet, even customs. Blades with a more complex profile. I believe Bauer are doing this too. I moved from Bauer 2S Pro custom, to stock True TF9, and the difference is dramatic in terms of skating. It makes me wonder if Bauer customs just don’t suit my feet (flipper shaped, very narrow lower leg bones). The one good point is that my Bauers were bullet proof, they look a mess but they are still solid, albeit with replacement holders. I read a lot of reports of True TF9/TF7 breaking, whether they are any worse than Bauer, or CCM, I know not. Of course companies have to bring out new ranges every few years irrespective of whether or not they have genuinely developed worthwhile improvements. So much of this stuff is surely marketing, new graphics, new shapes, new gimmicks. You have to get the kids to buy the new skates that will turn them into Connor McDavid, even though their current skates are fine.

One foot slalom. Apparently powerpull is the correct term.

You must be right about the energy transfer from the one piece boot. I had some new 108” laces lying around, and they are perfect. 96” are the usual for my Bauers. I always skip the penultimate eyelets. I also replaced the stock inserts with my old Bauer speedplates. I’m a bit wary of drawing conclusions after only 5 skates with the True TF9s, including two hockey scrimmages, but these skates are phenomenal. I ended up going to a 1” hollow, and they still have incredible bite, it feels like I am skating on rails. My edgework has improved markedly. For example, my forwards powerpulls are much better controlled. Bear in mind I was in Bauer 2S Pro customs, which are supposed to be high end boots, moulded to the feet. I always had an issue with my left foot during both CW crossovers, and left foot powerpulls. That’s all gone, so it makes me wonder if there was a fault with the left skate. I also lost my ability to do a left foot hockey stop after moving to the Trues, I only got it back in the fifth session after lots of practice, and that is consistent with a significant change to the left skate. The right was fine. All of my edge work drills feel much more controlled, and cleaner, I can feel the edges far more, the difference is night and day. I think the TF9s provide much better ankle support than my Bauers, which is part of the reason for the improved performance. These don’t need much tightening of the laces, unlike my Bauers. They are as comfortable as the Bauers, a bit tight at the forefoot when standing upright, very comfortable on ice. Downsides? Getting them on is a pain, getting them off less so. I’ve just rebaked them with a 2 mm thick rubber shim placed between the top three eyelets and the tongue on the outside only, as that’s where it’s tight. I previously used a heat gun to flare the top two eyelets on the outside, but the rubbing was lower down. I’d say getting them on is the only downside, it was painful straight after the shop bake. The amount these skates mould on baking is incredible. I have Bauer X2.9 Vapor inlines that hurt my feet. Those and the Bauer customs hardly move when baked. Oh and that rubber bumper at the end of the toecap can be removed with tweezers or thin pliers if needed. Fortunately I don’t notice it in practice. 6 Feb 2024: Rebaked with a 4mm thick 2” by 1” rubber shim on each skate, perfect.

I did a first skate on these, and holy carp my standard winter 5/8” grind felt like a 3/8”. Today I went down to my summer 3/4” grind and there is still incredible grip. I will try a 1” grind as I like more slide for hockey. The shop sells them with a 1/2” grind which is ridiculous. I friend has True customs, he went from 5/8” in Bauers to 1” in Trues. It’s taking me a while to adapt from Bauer 2S Pro custom to the TF9, today felt much better. My forward power pulls were much improved, these skates have such incredible grip, I feel like I am on rails. Forward crossrolls too are much improved. It took me a while to get back my right foot outside edge hockey stop. I still can’t do the left foot outside edge hockey stop in these, probably the insane grip as I feel scared trying. Does anyone know why these have so much grip? What do people do with the incredibly long laces? The length is absurb, but essential for getting the skates off. It’s not easy to get them off, I will rebake at home, with stretchy film, and make sure I flare the top 2 or 3 eyelets properly. Oddly I don’t need to tie these up tight, just light tension, quite unlike Bauers. Comfort wise these are far superior to mid range Bauers.

I’ve just noticed that there is a rubber step at the end of the toecap, maybe 5 mm high and 3 mm deep. My toes rest on it, which feels uncomfortable. How odd. Why on earth would they do that? I haven’t skated yet, so it’s possible my toes will pull back when in a hockey stance. Getting them on and off is hard, I twist my foot as recommended here, and pulling the neck apart at the top eyelets helps.

As far as I know Bauer and CCM don’t do such big reductions on clear out, hence my surprise. Gimmicky features do seem to be a feature of hockey kit.

Yes, TF9. Will edit post.

Thank you for the various replies. I went in today, tried a TF9 size 7R, and it was a nice fit, but too big allowing for baking. They don’t have stock for size 6 unfortunately, so that is not an option. I tried the 6.5W and 6.5R again, and based on comments here, opted for the 6.5R which had a better heel lock, and felt shorter albeit rather tight either side of my forefoot. He did a 2 minute bake, and that made a big difference, so I went for a full bake, and yes the width does accommodate. After baking they feel snug, lengthwise my right foot is nearly touching the toe cap. Getting them on is not easy, I had to turn my foot outwards as recommended here, and then gently work it in. He said to lace the top two eyelets after putting the skates on. Honestly I cannot do that, even though he slightly flared the tops. I will leave the top eyelet laced, the second not laced (as per my other skates), as I can get them on like that. Apparently I shouldn’t use them for at least 24 hours, preferably 48. They came with a 1/2” grind, so I changed down to a 3/4”. These are selling quite well, I know at least 3 people who bought a pair from this shop. It seems odd to sell top end non custom skates at about half price. Presumably they were not selling well, or they want to get True known in the marketplace to increase brand awareness.

Thanks, that sounds positive, I can’t really justify customs.