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I have owned a Sparx for almost two full hockey seasons and love the machine for its convenience and consistency of sharpening. I have had no issues with the machine itself but I have had to return 3 discs due to various issues. Would highly recommend the Sprax edge checker, I wore a grove in the Blademaster one quickly as I did not know about the tape trick. As an entry level skate sharpener myself, the biggest issue I have had to deal with thus far was not related to the sharpener but the blade itself. Thought I would I try out some of the Tydan Steel (supposed to be similar to the Step Steel), ordered them with a 10ft radius and not sharpened. The blades (2 sets) arrived and I sharpened them up, took about 18 passes to get a good 1/2 inch fire edge on them. I sharpen with my toe to the right and always edge check with he toe facing me. I got the edges perfectly level in the centre of the blade, and sent my son out to play. He could not make his tight turns, only had one edge (on both sets), this baffled me... Brought them home and tried again, same issue. I was baffled as I never have had an issue with LS 4 Steel ever. Upon further edge checking, I turned the blade around and checked it from the heel and it was out of level by 6 thou. I proceeded to contact both Sparx and Tydan to see what was going on.. Of course Tydan had never heard of that before and that was the end of discussion, couldn't return as they were skated on. Sparx was helpful in stating that they have seen this before with various steel in that the edges aren't always 90degrees to the running edge of the blade therefore the edge checker does not sit properly on the blade giving a false reading. I sharpened the blades again edge checking with the heel facing me and it was night and day difference, everything is ok now.. I sharpen skates for a few friends and they all have converted to the fire ring, they seem to like it as it offers a good combination of glide and grip. When the weather turned real cold and the ice got super hard I had to put my son to a 3/8 fire sharpen as the bite on the 1/2 inch fire was not quit what he liked. I have referred 8 people to purchase a Sparx and all have been happy with the purchase to-date. Bottom line is I don't think you can go wrong with this sharpener for home use, I can't speak for a commercial situation.

I do not need a Grain Belt Nordeast it is just the finest. The True skates sound fantastic but not sure they let old fat guys that peaked in 73 buy them. I am the Al Bundy of hockey. 5 goals one game State bantom tourney down hill since then.

Canada Germany game. 2nd most used skate in the game. Bauer then True then CCM.

I guess that makes sense. I’ll happily enjoy both wearing my True skates and driving my Tesla

Thread sounds a lot like Tesla threads I've read. The owners of Teslas worship their cars, even with it's faults, because it's got a fantastic engine/tech and it's got a lot of panache. They'll defend it to the death even if there are good counter arguments against buying one. Whereas people who don't own them, nitpick the hell out of the faults and cost, saying they're overrated, without acknowledging the innovation and what Tesla is getting right. Human nature, albeit somewhat misguided, playing out on both sides. Personally, I think Teslas have ridiculously amazing engines and cutting edge tech, but there is room for a lot of improvement in QC and tolerances. Similar to this thread, Trues are not for everyone, but for some they're a real step up in improvement, fit, and innovation (and that's not "kool-aid"). Do they have room for improvement? Sure. Full disclosure, I own them, and so far they've been great. Are they perfect? No. Could I make a retail skate work for me? Yes. But did I reach the point where I saw the value in them vs purchasing a similar cost skate which I would have to mod anyway? Absolutely.

A bit on the pricey side but worth every penny?

Judging from the direction this thread is going, it seems as if True has become the Tesla of skates...lol.

These are hitting the ice for the first time tomorrow. CCM Ultra Tacks with blacked out yellow accents on the quarters (I hate flashy skates), 4mm shim in the heel, ProSharp QuadZero profile and 5/8 ROH EDIT: 1 1/8 ROH https://drive.google.com/open?id=1S4fmJDLaV6uCBYv_h5HetpQ2CCbVuM8x

Finally got the hockey room in the basement complete...

Here are the pics. The entire lining is not separating from the boot, its is more so the outer layer of material of the liner that wore away. I did not use a shoe horn when getting them baked, but I had looked at the liner and inspected the rest of the skate, and everything looked ok. Keep in mind that this was the first time I whore this particular pair of skates, as I had them remade after my last issue with the carbon fiber, which they did not fully fix anyway. It looks better but there is still an issue with it. You would think that after having the skates sent back and remade they would have paid particular attention to the concern I had in the first place. I have pretty much gotten over that issue as it is only cosmetic and I would probably be fighting a losing battle but this new problem definitely concerns me, as I don't want it to get any worse.