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Delivery date first -- Ordered mine and received in 3 weeks and 6 days. Sizing I only got the boot, so it did not come with the heel cup. Also opted for the classic tongue (all black) with no options. Scan and questionnaire was great, the lovely lady had a pair and got a lot of detailed information. Baking Once they arrived I ended up going to Skater's Performance in Newmarket (A+++) and mounted Tuuk Edges with regular Step Steel. Profiled 9' ft with 1/2 inch. Fitted and baked following Hillsy and True's video instructions, no issues. Randy at Skater's Performance did a number of True skates before and knew a lot. There was another pair of Trues in that the user was looking to remove the Step holder for an LS and his boots were looking pretty good despite all the scuffs on the holder. I did end up going to 96" laces because the stock True ones were way too long. Went with cotton laces for the first time in decades based on user experiences in this thread. I think I had a 270 before and these ones are 262. The build was a little messy, there was extra glue spots and drips. There is some hardened thread sticking up. Did not look as polished as the one in the store or summerjam. No complaints as long as it doesn't fall apart. Putting them on The first skate was at a shinny where no one showed up except myself and a goalie. It took a lot longer to put on the boot because the tongue kept on pressuring a bone/nerve on my right foot. I had to adjust the tongue a bit. May take out the red footbed for tonight's game to test. The foot goes in easily if you slide it in sideways. The last 3 eyelets take some work to get the laces through. I barely had to tie the skates because it's so snug. Initial impressions I'm 5'9" and wear APX2 13" junior shins so there was almost no overlap between the tongues and the shins. A little concerning so I will have to move the tongues up or play with my 14" shinguards. The skate required 0 break in, fit like a slipper on ice. It was more snug than my Supremes (190 and 180s). No heel lock issues. No noticable differences on the 4 edges for the entire skate. Stops, crossovers, pivots and mohawks all felt good. I found the skate very reactive, so if there was a human error in a technique the response was instantly felt -- a little wobble, minor toe pick for example. I'll probably go to 5/8" cut next. I had to get used to skating backwards/backward crossovers, similar to what another user observed a few pages ago. Also had to get used to kick passing the puck. These do not feel like new skates, they feel like they are broken in already. After the skate no pain. The right foot was a little sore, especially in the area where the bone/nerve got pinched by the tongue. First conclusion I'm happy with the purchase. I don't think it will make me faster or better but the heel lock issue is gone. They do take a while to put on so be advised no more arriving at games when the Zamboni has only 5 laps left.

Just ordered my dust cover, and two grinding rings I got for free from people using my referral code :) I chose my standard 1/2" radius and also got a 3/8" radius to give that a shot. I've been meaning to try something with a bit more bite for stronger pushes. Funny side note - they never considered that somebody might have more than one referral code at a time, so I had to have them add the second ring to the order manually! LOL

The Home is a Skatepal too . I think they are on sale for like $1500. May seem more than the Sparx which is $900 but Sparkx case is another $400, Skatepal comes with case and a wheel that will do 500 pairs of skates vs 40 for Sparx. To do 500 pairs on the Sparx, the wheels needed to do that would cost additional $500. So, the price difference isn't really what it seems.

I've had it since May 2016. When I got it, I ordered 3 extra grinding rings, 2 different sizes (1/2" and 5/8" FIRE) and an extra in the main one I use (5/8"). The 1/2" I got for my son, the 5/8" for myself, and the FIRE to give it a try. Initially I was sharpening at my usual intervals, roughly every week or 5-6 hours of ice time. I've alternated between just doing a couple passes every couple of hours of ice, to waiting a week and doing a normal sharpening (4 passes). As to the number of rings I've used, I'm on the second round of rings in each size (1/2" and 5/8"). I don't use the FIRE often, I have a second set of blades that I sharpen with that, but just don't use them often. And I may switch my son to 5/8", we tried his last sharpening in that and he liked it. No issues at all. Easy to use, and we've liked the sharpenings we've gotten with it. Based on the manual, I've probably got to change the air filter soon, but haven't had the warning light turn on yet. I will probably order one with my next ring order just to make sure I have it.

I've had a Sparx since the Kickstarter as well, it's been good for me. I sharpen my skates and my son's skates. I coach his squirt team, but I haven't mentioned that we have a sharpener to anyone. This last weekend, my son's team played before the varsity team played (they were hosting a tournament), so we hung out to watch them. One of the other teams in the tournament happened to have a Sparx in the locker room hallway, so I asked them how they liked it. They said it was great, they can get a quick touch-up on everyone's skates before games or between periods as needed. They would endorse it highly. Just thought I'd mention it, I hadn't seen a team use one before. Pretty cool that they can bring it with and sharpen skates like that on the road. My son has his first travel tournament this year (first year of squirts), so we'll be bringing the Sparx along.

These definitely belong in here...

Yay for tearing the MCL in my other knee last night. That's both knees in just over 3 months.