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Found this nearly brand new original Easton Ultra Lite shaft today at PIAS...$15

This is why I put the cage back on. It wasn't even an issue of dealing with the pain. . .I can't afford the medical bills. After seeing two friends go through it I decided it wasn't worth it.

I skated on the Z-channel in a clinic last night. As a point of reference, I used to be on 9/16" to 5/8" on a traditional hollow, moved to 90/75 FBV, now favor 100/50 FBV. I chose the ZC3 setting as the closest equivalent to what I like. I found that the Z channel felt looser on straight glides and didn't grip as much on light pushes, turns, and stops. However, once the blade was tilted more and more pressure was applied, the skates started to bite a lot more. I think, but am not sure, that the reason for this is related to the center channel. It won't really engage until the skate blade is a bit into the ice. The transition from glide to grip was smoother than my FBV, which in turn was smoother than standard ROH. The one thing that I will have to say is that during clinic drills on backwards crossovers, I was able to generate the same strong ripping noises for both my inside and outside edges, whereas before my outside edges (inside skate) were always weaker strokes from a noise standpoint. Whether I was actually better is still a matter of debate. When this sharpening wear out, I will try the next grippier setting to see if all this was because I chose the wrong initial setting.