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This makes no sense. Bake them.

Baking true skates, and even other top end skates isn't just to accelerate the break in period, but to increase wrap and decrease negative space. I'd argue baking skates these days has hardly or very little to do with "breaking" them in. They probably feel good to you now because you're comparing them to retail skates you've had in the past. You should 100% bake them. But if you do, do it properly with shrink wrap and heat them for the full recommended length of time.

I could proably stick my Gen 1 5.2 to a wall. Or use it as flypaper.

I had it happen to a few sticks, the matted coati g pulled away and the adhesive was left.

It's not the width that gives the performance. Goalie steel used to be 4mm. The increased width caused a feeling of skating on rails. You lost a ton of agility and lateral motion. The increase from 3mm to ~4mm is what causes the flare. That gives you a 6* angle which is what changes everything. You get a 6* better attack angle for turns, strides, and stops and also a 6* less angle with the ice causing better glide. Sharpening Flare is no different than any other steel, with the exception that you can't do FBV. Fire on a Sparx works well, it's the only thing I've ever done on them. Sticking with your kayak analogy, which is going to give you more speed - using a bigger paddle (altering your ROH) or physically altering the design of the boat (Flare)? If that's what you like, then get Flare steel. It's FBV/Fire on steroids.

This... bake them and wrap them. You don't even have to do it with shrink wrap, you can do it with an ace bandage and tape. I just got mine and had them baked and once they're on my feet it's like nothing else I've experienced. I used custom insoles in my older skates and with True's I don't have to use anything other than their standard insoles. My feet feel like they're in a slipper. I had to take mine back to the shop to have them spot heat one spot on my skate to open it up just a bit because it was pinching my foot when I was trying to get them on. Now that we did that, I don't have any issues getting them on/off and we didn't have to re-bake them to fix it. Best fitting skates I've ever worn.

I'm a true believer in flat bottom or the Fire (from sparx). I used to use ROH and when I switched over to FBV I noticed an immediate difference in the ease of skating straight (more glide) compared to ROH. I'm now on 5/8 Fire (which feels less sharp than a traditional 5/8 FBV but I still have great edges. Like mentioned above, you'll want to get a profile on those to truly achieve the best performance out of them, but if you go to FBV or Fire you'll notice just how good the edges are and get some added glide. I've been switching over a bunch of guys in my league from their standard 1/2 ROH to 5/8 Fire and not a single one of them wants to go back. They are all so impressed with how much more glide they're getting while still being able to take tight corners. Most of these guys have been skating for years and years on 1/2 inch and it blows their mind once I get them on the Fire.

For stink, soaking in a bathtub of hot water and oxyclean is the best way to clean all your gear. I do mine every 6 months or so. The water in the tub is GROSS, though if MINE is gross I can’t even imagine how nasty it would be for people who don’t hang their stuff up in front of a box fan after every use! 🤮

Yeah, I wasn’t sure what was going on until I just saw your post. I just checked another A6.0 I forgot I had that I’d cut but never prepped for use and noticed the same sticky feeling. ...nothing that a bit of matte clear coat can’t fix.

Really appreciate all of the input! So...had the Tydans done to 5/8" and skated public session today. Switching between the Blacksteel 1/2" and the Tydans. Honestly, the 5/8 just felt to me like the 1/2 does when I skate them down a bit. That's good actually because I usually don't like how fresh blades feel until an hour or so use is on them. These felt good from the start, but...the main thing is that I couldn't really open up to determine whether my straight ahead speed is any different. Tomorrow night I have practice, so that will be helpful. I'm not sure if anyone around here can do multi's, but that is interesting. I know nothing about flare, so...guess I have some reading to do. Thanks again guys!

Bake them. After baking and wrapping my skates feel like money. They also "open up" a little bit when you break them in so you might find that glove like fit to go away just a touch after maybe 10-20 hours in boot. Bake will fix this.

So all collected and baked. i thought I knew what a tight heel fit was. Until these. Was a 2.5 hour drive home after moulding them. They looked very snug when I took them out of the box at home so thought I’d best try them out before leaving them over night. It’s the first time I’ve heard a suction noise as my heel goes into a skate!

To me it varied between different True sticks. IIRC the True A6.0 SBP felt like it was 10 below the XC9 I was using. I couldn't pass with it because it was too whippy.

Feels like you would be wasting the moldability and fit of the Trues by not baking them. They’ll fit better and feel better if you bake them. When baking skates was first a thing, it helped break-in the skate, where traditionally you had to wear skates for hours and hours to make the more comfortable and form to your feet. You would have people arguing that if you don’t bake them, you’ll extend the life of the skate. But, with modern materials, that’s no longer the true at all. Especially on other forums *cough reddit cough*, you’ll see bad, outdated advice that baking skates will decrease their lifespan, or if you just toughen up and skate hard in them, you’ll break them in in some more desirable fashion. You have nothing but to gain by baking them!

Your experience sounds more like it's the profile and less like it's the actual steel itself. The stock Step profile and contour is very playable. I've skated on LS2, LS3, DLC coated LS3, LS4, LS5, Fusion Edge, Tydan & Step. The Fusion and LS2 were pretty terrible. The real standout has been the LS5. I'd rank it above the Step, Tydan and the coated LS3. The glide on the LS5 is far and away better than the rest. I thought maybe it was just me until a teammate said the exact same thing after switching. Value wise, LS3 is where it's at. I picked up a Blacksteel honing kit on eBay for the LS5. Came with a special Stone and a thick leather towel. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/274050767317

Old Helmet - Nike/Bauer 5500 Med, Bauer Re-akt 75 Med. New Helmet - True Dynamic Pro 9 - White/Medium Fit - I wear a medium in all brands. This helmet is supposed to fit both round and long shaped heads by using different thicknesses of padding in 3 areas, the back of the upper neck, and both temple areas. I have a more long front to back, than round. The stock padding is 5mm in the back, 6mm in the temples. For reference, the back padding options are: 5mm, 10mm, 15mm and the temples are: 2mm, 6mm, 10mm. After trying it on at home and wearing it around I went with the 10mm in the back and 6mm on the side. However, after playing 2 games back to back, I ended up changing to the 10mm on the sides and 15mm on the back. I've played another 4 games in it and the fit has been great. Also, I use a CCM FV1 fishbowl and that fits well on the helmet. The only issue you might run into is if you need to move the J-clips down. If you do, they could overlap the ear loops and cause the clips to push out a little. The last thing I noticed compared to the Bauer is that this helmet breathes much better than my re-akt 75. I didn't really notice it much when wearing it, but now that I'm in the True, my head doesn't feel nearly as warm as it did before. In my previous review, I noted how the Re-akt was much better than my old 5500, but this thing is even better. I think it has a lot to do with it being a true one piece helmet. By that, I mean the foam that sits under the suspension system is actually molded directly to the shell. So there are not gaps between the shell and the initial foam. 10/10 Protection - So this is the first helmet with MIPS technology and when I first got it I wasn't sure how it was going to work. The way this works is that there's a section that's connected to the helmet on the inside that actually rotates (up to 15mm) separately from the helmet to absorb the initial contact. This is supposed to help rotation impact forces from going immediately to the head. I don't know if it's going to save me from a concussion, but MIPS is used in many other sports and motorcycles helmets for that reason. Hopefully I won't have to use it. Other than that, the helmet feels sturdy and being that it's one piece, I'm confident that it will stand up to pretty much anything. NA Weight - This helmet is crazy light. I know the E700's were light, but I never wore one so I can't compare. However, I tried on this helmet, the Warrior Alpha One (and One Pro) and the Re-akt 200 and the True was definitely the lightest of them all. I didn't get a chance to weight it because I had a game when I got it and I need to put my shield on, but it is much lighter than my 75 and just the helmet alone felt lighter than the ones mentioned above. 10/10 Durability - This is where I'll be interested to see how this holds up. Because the internal base layer moves independently it'll be interesting to see if this comes loose over time. I'm confident that the shell of the helmet will hold up just fine. I'm not going to give this a grade for the overall score, but if I did the preliminary score would probably be 10/10 because the shell seems very well done and there aren't any moving parts to adjust like in the Bauers or Warriors. N/A Intangibles - I like that you can swap out the padding. Over time if it gets too mushy, you should be able to buy replacements and make it feel like a brand new helmet again very easily. Also, the fact that the first layer of foam is molded directly to the helmet means that you don't have to worry about gaps in the protection or glue coming off. This is one of those things that you don't think about until it happens. The other thing that is actually really nice for those that use them is that the ear guards only screw in on the front side. They developed them to slide into a groove on the back of the ear, eliminating having to line up the face mask button or screw to keep the ear guard in. So those that use a visor or nothing don't have to undo that screw just to take it out. I know that sounds silly but it's the little things like that in design that are nice to see. 10/10 Conclusion - I was debating between this helmet and the Alpha One after trying on a few different ones and settled on the True. Truth be told, I got this for the same price I would have paid for the Alpha One and after comparing the two in the store I liked how light the helmet was and how I didn't need to worry about the adjustment mechanism moving during games or in my bag. The ventilation is also really great and my shield fits well on it which was a must for me. So far I have about 6 or 7 games in it and it feels like I've been wearing it for a long time. Overall Score: 29/30- 97%

It's certainly difficult to do during a public skate... I do it sometimes. put on shinpads and my ref girdle... no stick... POSSIBLY my helmet... and then go skate HARD. the biggest issue with a public skate is that it's normally all in the same direction. you've got about ~570' of ice to skate if you stick to the boards. say 550' assuming you're 5' off the boards. a mile is 5280'. here's my circuit training regiment for stamina and power: 5 laps at 75% throttle rest for 2 minutes 10 laps at 60% throttle rest for 3 minutes 5 laps at near full throttle rest for 5 minutes When you're doing big laps and not stopping, focus on extending the stride, getting comfortable in your crouch, really focus on your technique and stride. Feel where you may NOT be exerting as much effort. Your whole leg, hip, knees, ankle and foot should be involved in your skating. the first 5 laps should warm up the muscles you're using now The 10 laps at 60% should help you identify the 'cold areas' and work them into your technique the next 5 laps you should be using ALL your areas and be skating at full efficiency. The questions you should be asking yourself are: Am I low enough to power my stride? Can I get lower to get MORE push? Am I comfortable this low (if not, do squats off-ice... build those thighs) Am I able to get my return stride into the push and be stable? Is everything working to enhance my stride? a good stride should result in fatigue across the leg when you're done. Right now I'm burning up my hip a little too much as I relearn the correct power technique I had when I was younger. Also, stretch A LOT I do this before every game: http://www.fitbodyhq.com/fitness/12-great-stretches-for-tight-hip-flexors/ I'll sit in pigeon pose for like 10 minutes on each side before a game and in butterfly for a half hour or more before a game. The end result is less muscle pulls, more flexibility and MOAR POWAH! :D there's a lot of 'feel' for the right skating. your muscles and joints should all be 'warm' when skating. If you're finding that you're not fatiguing the leg throughout and you're burning out one spot, you're compensating for lack of good technique. Your calfs and thighs should burn. your knees, hips and ankles should tingle and grow weary at nearly the same rate. Don't injure yourself though. Step up slowly into proper technique. Don't force it. I hope that helps.

Again, the stick is 4 generations (and years) old and it's been sitting in your +100F degree garage for 4 years and now you're mad because the coating on the stick is sticky from being stored in a place it shouldn't be stored in for a super long amount of time. Then you're assuming that the companies sticks are problematic because of this? I honestly just don't understand where you're coming from. I wouldn't even think that this would be an issue and you even said that you accept responsibility for the damage as it's not an optimal storage location. No it doesn't get over 100F in my basement. That's my point. Just move it to a place that isn't hot af and you should never have a problem.