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Hi ryanmonty, Thanks for your notes/questions on our Warranty Policy. We just had a team meeting here at Sparx Hockey to review your concerns. Our policy had stated "Warranty is only valid in the country to which the Product was shipped at time of purchase." We have revised the policy to state "Warranty is only valid in the United States and Canada". We now honor our Warranty for Canadian customers regardless of the original shipping address of the sharpener purchase. You may have been living in the USA at the time of purchase and decided to move to Canada... the way things are going these days we need all the friends we can get in Canada ;) https://www.sparxhockey.com/pages/warranties Background - The limitation in the previous Warranty policy was a protection for us in cases where customers were located in regions where we currently don't have a service bureau (we will be expanding internationally very soon). Despite our current North American shipping restriction, Sparx sharpeners have already made their way to many countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia/NZ. For these locations it would be impractical to cover return shipping, which is included in our policy, on a warranty claim. I hope this clears things up and helps you with your decision. As always, thanks for your interest in Sparx Hockey products. Happy Holidays! Cheers, Russ CEO, Sparx Hockey

Thanks for the feedback. Before I go on here, I am NOT a manual skate sharpener operator which is why I am always curious about the truth behind "manual can do better." I can definitely understand the draw toward manual for someone who wants to learn the true intricacies of sharpening and the craft it becomes with practice. Learning the "feel" you're describing is probably an enjoyable and rewarding process as the craft is learned over time with different steels and sharpening obstacles that come along. That said, the appeal toward the Sparx is that it really does an excellent job and eradicates all of this manual feedback and craftsmanship. That probably sounds like nails on a chalkboard to someone who has fallen in love with the craft of manual skate sharpening, but the truth is that some people have fallen in love with the game of hockey and their focus is on that. They want a consistent feel from their skates throughout the year and the sad truth is that many many shops and sharpening services do not offer this (at their own fault) and the Sparx makes attaining it as easy as pie for anyone willing to put up the money. Sparx offers a great range of hollows. The wheels are diamond abrasive coated steel. They do not last forever, but they also do not change shape during their life cycle. The one great thing about the Sparx that manual sharpening doesn't offer is that the Sparx does not alter the profile throughout the skate blade's life. On the same tune, it cannot give you a custom profile either, which is where manual sharpening would shine in comparison. But once your custom profile is set, it would be there unchanged for the life of the blade. This is a major appeal that isn't often discussed. Have you had a chance to get your hands on a Sparx? If not, I would highly suggest you check one out if at all possible. Not to sway you from manual sharpening, but just to get a real-world feel for what it actually offers.

Sure : when you manually sharpen a skate ,the operator can feel the blade on the wheel. The sensation of what you are going over, like the difference between running your hand over skin that's perfect or skin that has been weathered . This gives you the message to the brain how to react to that . You can feel a blad that has a slight valley in one section. You can feel how different areas of the blade are cutting. That metal looks the same ,but there are slight variants in the make up you can compensate for; and it' just intuitive to do. Then there the hollow with a manual machine you can put any hollow from 5/16 to 13/16" . Then there are the wheels, you have an abundance of grit,hardness, the make up of the wheel meaning ceramic % . The speed going over the wheel you have complet control over. With experience then you can modify a blade as you would like .The other is the surface of the wheel .You can have the same wheel surface until the wheel is to small in diameter. The auto sharpener essentially looses abrasiveness as it does multiple sharpening ,the 20th skate is being done with a different wheel surface then the 1st pair . The manual machine you redress the wheel and as far as it' compound it's fresh . These things make a huge difference. And most of the mechanics of doing the job are going to be intuitive from feeling the skate go over the wheel.

I'm not overthinking anything. I just want to make sure that I don't compromise the structure of my $1000 skates.

Still have yet to sell one at our store. Not to mention, it looks and feels hideous.

No I wasn’t talking to you.

Two months later, we got 'er done! http://flatheadbeacon.com/2017/12/04/community-hub-ice/

That dude is really good at reading marketing material.

I’m very impressed with how well these turned out. They fit amazingly well. It’s like my heel pops into the skate and is just locked in. Tomorrow is my first skate with them and I’m sure I’ll have more to say about them after.

I ordered mine exactly 4 weeks ago and got them today. I'm very happy. I'll post pictures and more info tomorrow.

I didn't know these skates included infants? I'll let myself out...

Got my skates in the other day. Took about 4 weeks. Got scanned etc at Cyclone Tylor Sports in Vancouver. The pair of skates I've had for the better part of 8 years is the Bauer one100 which I haven't had much issues with. I've had some minor pressure points when walking on them but nothing really while skating. My right foot is slightly smaller than my left so that was always noticeable for me in those skates, but nothing major. Unlike some or the people who own the VH, I didn't necessarily have to have these skates as most off the rack brands would have sufficed, however, the price point to me was reasonable considering they are the same price as any top end skate out there. Lately, I've only been hitting the ice once a week or so. I Got them baked and swapped the laces for some waxed ones. Haven't had a chance to hit the ice with them, as I am getting the steel profiled to a Quad Zero with a 9/16 hollow which is my current setup on my ls4/tuuk setup. I will be interested to see how different, not only the boot is but the holder/steel setup will be. I went with the stock black, standard tongue, but chose to get the tongue embroidered. Have to say they feel great just trying them on around the house after heat molding. The weight is definitely heavier than my one100s. This is probably attributed to the added rubber/plastic of the True vs VH probably Regarding the finish of the product, definitely an upgrade from the VHs I've seen but still the odd glue residue here and there. I also noticed part of the rubber that wraps under the sole had separated. Not sure of this was due to the heat from baking or just wasn't properly pressed down during manufacturing. I was able to push the piece down and noticed there was glue that was still tacky and it stuck back on and has not lifted since. I will keep an eye on this and worst case I'll just re glue it myself. I will update once I have skated on them since I will be going to a stick and puck session on Wednesday. If I don't like the step holders, I am going to get black tuuk holders and swap the laces for yellow ones 😀

I always try to drink at least one beer in the locker room while getting dressed. Sometimes 2, if the game before is going long.