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Here's the thing, and why I'm asking. For whatever reason, those One.x numbered skates, including the top tier NXG, have a narrowing where the toe box meets the quarter. For me, that manifests itself as tightness slightly behind where the pinky toe meets my foot, or what you're describing as the forefoot. That would seem to align with what you're describing. The slight difference in sizing between the 7 MX3 and 6.5 One.8 may be the cause for the issues, as could the difference in materials of the quarter. But in the newer model since the 1S, the toe box has a different shape and that narrowing is gone. So you may want to try a skate in the newer lines that would be the Sxx0 numbering system. Another thing to consider would be a EE width Vapor series if you can fit in the lower volume. That is a tapered boot and will just increase in width from ankle to toe rather than the Supreme which is straighter. It may give you a better fit in that area, and would be more narrow than a EE Supreme skate, so you wouldn't get the loseness up front. I get that you don't want to go into a shop and get hassled. I don't either. I'm in your same boat because I need new skates and would rather spend the money getting a used pair of the top tier skates cheaper than a mid tier skate at full price. So to go into a store to get fit and try things on with no intention of buying seems a little douchey. Nonetheless, I did just that this weekend and without doing it, I would have bought the completely wrong size of skate. Apparently Supreme sizing changed with the 1S line and I no longer fit in the 8 that I used to. If I hadn't gone in and put an 8 on, I wouldn't have known until I bought one and got it which would have just complicated things. I went in and told the guys the situation. I was up front about what I was going to do and didn't take any more of their time or effort than necessary. All I asked was for them to get me the skate and leave it, I didn't need any help after that. And they didn't pressure me to buy anything or hover over me because they knew the deal. Yeah it sucks for the store, but they weren't busy and get paid by the hour anyway, so what difference does it make to them? I just got off a chat with a Bauer fit rep, and he suggested that anyone do the exact same thing.

Don't buy used unless you know it's going to fit your foot really well. Since you can't try them on, it's totally a blind buy, and skate fit does change over time, as you're kind of finding out. Say you normally only spend... $200 on skates that are "new to you". You've just blown that budget and now you still don't have skates you like. Do you skate a lot? I play 2-3x a week in a fairly aggressively men's league and my last skates lasted me 5 seasons before I started to tthink about replacement. If I was cheap (I'm not) I could have easily gotten 1-2 more years out of them. That's 6-7 years for a pair of skates, and even more if you play less that I do. Pretend you bite the bullet and buy a mid range skate for $500. You can't afford to spend $71-83 per YEAR on one of the only things connecting you to the ice while you play?? Hockey skates is one of those things that I will swear up and down that spending the extra buck is worth it. Do you need top of the line Tacks or Jetspeed? No, definitely not. But is trying to cheap your way into an 8 year old skate for $40 over and over again worth the time and hassle just to save a few $$? Nope, not in my opinion. If money is a problem, then save up for a few months and go get fit at a store. You have a pretty normal size foot so I don't see why a big store like Pure or Hockey Monk won't have your size in all the major models. If you love hockey and you love playing, it will be worth it.

The Bauer machine is going to tell you which current skates are the best fit for your feet. That actually might be a good starting point. If you can narrow it down, any shop worth its salt will order a pair or two for you to try.

I'm a home user and when I bought the machine they were selling X-Grind rings. I didn't get it with my initial purchase, but when I went back to buy one a couple months later, I couldn't. Even though I wouldn't use it that often, I shouldn't be punished for the stupidity of others. Maybe I'm just more detailed, but I don't go more that 4 or 5 sharpenings without vacuuming out the tray, top of the air filter and the machine in general. So now because some dummies didn't clean there stuff properly I'm not allow to use something that was originally available. Is it a "necessity"? No. However, it was one of the selling points of why I purchased one in the first place. I didn't want to have to go to my LHS to have them cross grind new steel when I buy it. That's why I bought my own sharpener. 🤦‍♂️

I’d suggest you get fitted by somebody who knows what they’re doing, but I’m not touching this one otherwise.

.....at your location in your market. I've actually been very surprised how many kids I see with the AS2 series sticks and my LHS guys were saying high kick is selling better than low kick lately. But that's just them in their location in their market too.

BTW for those talking about the cross grind rings, they did sent out an addendum to the manual and also printed new manuals for future shipments. They also sent out free filters to existing customers. I have no problem with the lack of a cross grind ring. For the once every couple years I might find the desire to cross grind, I can hit up the LHS. Just like I cant profile, I also cant cross grind. Really not a big deal.

It could also be the new skates are super stiff and arent allowing you to get proper forward flexion. Have you tried dropping the top eyelet?

Russ, the creator of the Sparx, is a member of the modsquad community here. The conspiracy theory you propose above seems like a bit of a stretch knowing how Sparx has approached their customers so far I would say? The X-Grind ring was not part of the initial launch of the product nor do I recall it being part of any contractual breach to the original Kickstarter participants. The X-Grind ring debuted on/around Nov. 13th 2016 (My Sparx shipped in July 2016) and the warning about the swarf issue and the need to change the air filter was emailed out to owners on Jan 29th 2017.

Seeing that's all the chipped areas are where the rivets were, are you sure the damage wasn't from when you remover them from your skates? I mean, those areas would be hard to even notice with the rivets in and mounted on your skates.... The rest of the holders seem to be in good condition.