CigarScott

With all of the high quality skates on the retail market, I'm not sure why anyone who can comfortably fit in a retail boot wouldn't just save the money, time, & trouble and go that route. If you have foot problems, ankle problems, size issues, etc. then I fully understand a regular beer leaguer (or really low beer leaguer, in my case) going custom.

I'm not complaining about True or their customer service; they go way above and beyond than any hockey equipment manufacturer that I've ever dealt with. I came to their defense regarding this. I ordered my first pair in July, got them remade in September, sent them back for adjustments in October and they're paying to ship them back next month for them to move one of my holders medially. I doubt anyone else would do that after all these months.

I agree that the shop should be doing this for the customer but sometimes this is not practical. I, along with a lot of people, who live in hockey deserts have to travel far to get fitted for True (or other companies) custom skates. The closet fitter to me is about a seven hour drive and I ended up getting mine fitted at a shop that is about a 10 hour drive from me. A lot of people plan on getting fitted when on work trips or vacations to hockey areas so I, along with a lot of people can't just drive down the street to where they got fitted to show the issues to shop and have them work on their behalf. In my case, I would just email them info and pics and they just forward them up to Winnipeg since they can't add any additional info as they can't see me with the skates on in person. For myself, it's a lot easier for me just to email Rob than email the shop or True's customer service, who do give short, sometimes unhelpful responses.

Looks like he does according to his site: New Linings (includes new eyelets) $135.00/pair

Another random thought that has been bouncing around in my head: We all know that stick manufacturers dress sticks for one reason or another. I've always wondered if skate manufacturers did the same thing for marketing purposes or players wanted a discontinued model or some kind of franken-skate. I was working the penalty box at my local college game tonight and being the nerd that I am, talk gear with the players when in there, if they're in a good mood. I noticed one player was wearing Nexus 1N skates but they were really narrow and started chatting about them. He said that he picked them up from a St. Louis Blues pro stock sale and said that they were Vapors dressed as Nexus 1N. Has anyone ever heard of this or was he given some bad info?

All of my protective is either Jofa or Reebok or CCM derivatives. My shins are Reebok 20K which are about the only shins that I found that my knees fit comfortable in them. My Jofa/Reebok shoulders are one of the two types of XXL shoulder pads that I've found and they're built like a tank. My Jofa ASD7000 elbows look ancient but are built like a tank, as well. I also have a pair of CCM Tacks 7092 and other than some improved materials, look and feel like the Jofa and Jofa/Reebok elbow pads that everyone covets.

I agree, you can only improve some things so much. I'm rocking Tackla Air 9000 pants which look like at 20-30 year old design I can't see myself using anything else.

I buy and sell on there all the time and only list my stuff for sale on there besides Facebook. I just wish they had an Android app...

I've heard the same thing from the guy that owns my regional LHS regarding Bauer being in bad shape and planning on shaving down their offerings even more. If this is true that Bauer cut down their R&D departments, that could be a boon if CCM cherry picks them or if Warrior ever decides to get into the skate biz.

It's why I take the Bauer & CCM scans with a grain of salt. They seem to latch on to some aspect of your foot and recommend a line because of a particular characteristic. I also got some wonky results with my right foot on the Bauer scanner which scared me away from pursuing their custom options. For a stock skate, it recommended that I needed a 11EE Vapor, which I'm assuming is due to my flat feet, even though I had to have my 12EE Nexus stretched to be widened as well as had lacebite pads installed due to how much volume that my feet and lower legs take up. I believe them to be a good guide and a way to figure out a starting point to get fitted for retail skates but I wouldn't buy anything that it recommended without trying them on first.

I'm in a different situation than most. Outside of 15" gloves, Tackla pants, and XL CCM elbow pads, everything I use has to be pro stock or custom. Nobody currently makes retail sticks, skates, shins (I can use Bauer S190 if I'm desperate), shoulder pads, or helmets so I'm constantly on the lookout for gear that I know will fit me as well as learning about stuff that may fit me that I had no idea existed. I have countless alerts set up on Sideline Swap and Ebay for these very reasons. I keep backup sets of everything, except skates because of me knowing that a lot of this stuff is hard to find and I can't walk into a LHS or go on one of the online retailer sites and get replacements for a lot of what I use, and me working in IT for a living, I'm big on redundancy. But I try to not be a gear whore and I don't need 20 different gloves, sticks, or helmets.

I could be wrong but it looks like the 965 is listed on their website only for custom orders (custom team/league pucks, bulk orders, etc.) and Slovak ones are the ones sold to the general public. It wouldn't hurt to call or email them to see how you can get your hands on some of the Canadian-made pucks.

That went bye bye last July. I was able to get one of the last boot-only orders that they did. The people that I know that have their holder and steel do seem to love it once they get used to the height.

You should be fine. Non-gear nerds who don't have problems aren't spending their time on sites like this chatting about their ice skates...

Trues are now shipping with the wider, unwaxed laces. I tried them and really liked them. I got some longer Elite Pro-X7 laces and love them. Much more comfortable and easier to lace up than wax laces.