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I recently have been considering implementing a fitting fee which would then be applied to the cost of purchasing a pair of skates. Too many people come in to get fit and then go online and buy used skates or pro stock return from other sources. I normally wouldn't complain about our stores doing a fitting or even baking skates for a customer but since we are down 300% in sales this year I can't keep offering services like that for free. Gone are the days where I could replace rivets or eyelets for customers free of charge. 😞

I agree that it's a good comparison. Also, in case you didn't realize, that YouTuber "Hockey Reviews" is @Hills on this forum.

In case y'all haven't seen. Seems like a solid comparison of the products from YouTuber "Hockey Reviews": https://youtu.be/pSvs62cyyPw

Pretty much echoing what althoma said, but Mission sounds release new line start if next year. If you're set on roller boots, I'd wait for the new release and at least then you might score some FZs for discount. Otherwise look into True TF boots or other ice boots that you like. Personally, I try to support the roller brands as much as I can because I want to see them do well and stick around, but at this point it's just Alkali and Tour, and Alkali is Tron now, and Tour boots are hit or miss and will never be the stiffest, so I end up with ice boots usually.

Had the opportunity to try on the TF9 today. Skate did not have to be baked for me to get my foot into it. They are quite wide in the forefoot. If stores aren't baking these when people try them on, I don't think they are going to sell well. The unbaked fit is somewhere between meh and awful. I played dumb with the person helping me because I wanted to see what he would tell me. Needless to say, I was less than impressed. The guy was extremely helpful, but not well versed on the True skates. People that visit sites like MSH know that these skates need to be baked to get an accurate impression of the fit, but the general consumer will just think they don't fit well and move on to something else. As far as the actual skates, I was very impressed with both the TF9 and TF7. Fit and finish was top notch. The TF9 can definitely compete with the top models from Bauer and CCM. I think True has put out a great product. Let's just hope that they sell well.

It's been a while since I've done one of these - lots has changed in the past few years, and so I'm glad to have the opportunity to review product again. I'll be comparing this to the last CCM skate I reviewed, which was the Super Tacks. That IT can be found here - I didn't skate the AS1; truth be told, there wasn't a massive difference between them and the original Super Tacks. Aesthetically, the AS3 looks to be extremely well-made; I can't find a flaw like loose stitches, crooked jeweling or anything of the sort. There is quite a lot of shininess to the boot and the graphics are a bit intense, but I guess that's the This is the first Tacks skate with the quick-release XS holder. The stock steel is still the XS steel but it is slightly taller than the previous version. CCM also reduced the eyerow overlay to the top two eyelets only, and has a runner going up the edge of the quarter. For reference, the Super Tacks had a full eyerow overlay, and the AS1 had the 3-5 eyelets with an eyerow overlay. AND THEY GOT RID OF THE CCM-STAMPED EYELETS. It's probably the stiffest skate I've put on. Lacing them up out of the box, however, they felt extremely comfortable for my foot shape. A pleasant surprise in the forefoot as it is much more plush than the Super Tacks as there's added foam there. New liner in this skate, and CCM extended the abrasion-resistant panels further back towards the heel (for extended protection against shin guard abrasion.) The other big feature in this skate is the ability to remove tongues. The stock tongue is your standard CCM felt in terms of thickness. The tongue attaches to the top of the toe box but now has a flap on top. To remove the tongue, you have to pry that flap up, as shown: Once pried there will be two prongs. Push those down and the tongue is no longer attached to the boot. Aftermarket tongues are available in a thin molded tongue, the same stock tongue with a D3O metatarsal pad and a 10mm heavy felt tongue with a D3O metatarsal pad. I didn't feel the tongue attachment when I had the skates on. This was a definitely well thought out feature. Had to bake these from home as my local rink is not open yet. Skates responded well to the bake as I got some good definition inside the skate. I'm looking forward to skating in these. Thanks to @CCMHockey for the opportunity. If you have any questions, please ask them in this thread.

I feel like this is something that should be put on True. Once a skate is baked X number of times (to be determined by True), the item should be sent back just like any warranty return. I don't know the logistics of it, but it could be worked out. I recall this was a problem with the Mako as well. Retailers not willing to bake them during a fitting. I personally couldn't even get Makos on my feet without baking so they would have lost a sale there for sure.

Not sure why baking the skate is such a big deal? I think the opposite is true. Baking the skate will give the best fit and the best chance of selling the skate, whereas not baking it will pretty much guarantee you won't sell it. I'd like to believe it's purely economics, but I was explicitly told otherwise. I've heard from multiple owners that they would like to carry them and think they would sell, but don't want to hurt their Bauer relationship. I heard from one manger that their Bauer rep "strongly encouraged them" not to stock True retail. That's a direct quote. I think the True skates are a good product with an excellent value proposition and Bauer is definitely threatened and they're doing what they can to keep their business. Not saying they're doing anything wrong, it's business. But I've definitely seen this story more than once with Bauer. And it has more to do with keeping their bloated margins than anything else. They own the retail market and want to keep it. Some might call it playing cheap, others can call it using your leverage. Everyone is entitled to their view. Mine is that Bauer cares more about money than hockey. Not a crime, but not something I care to support. I haven't gotten a pair of True retails to try on yet, but I am getting a check tomorrow... if the finish and fit are good, I'm willing to gamble on the durability of the initial release, although typically I'd wait for the first batch to go and the kinks to be resolved, but I'm interested enough.

I spoke with a few car restoration stores in the area and they recommended this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S1Q7NQD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Tested it and it works fantastic. I'll post some pics later tonight.

Did you feel the tongue system digging into your foot at all? I had that issue when trying them on.

Cool, had no idea. I've watched some of his stuff and have found it good quality. He just gained me as a subscriber.

https://www.tournoipee-wee.qc.ca/en/publication/news/annulation_du_tournoi_2021.html

Yeah, these Trues have their work cut out for them to break into the market. It would be a bummer if they don't sell well because stores don't push a bake as an integral part of the fitting. Ultimately it's on True to get that information out to the public and to the stores that are carrying it. It's definitely a must.

PHL stock came later than other stores. They carry both models but didn't order a tonne of sizes per store.

Documented in the CCM Catalog. I am not sure what calculation or specifications they are using.

Simply reduced costs. Zero benefit.

There should be new Mission skates coming out in the next 6 months (The FZ was launched Feb 2019; so I am guessing Feb 2021 for the new line). I would check out the long True TF9/TF7 thread here. Those just came out and have a rebate deal until September 4. Also, please let us know how the R1 compares to the Sprung once you've used it a few times.

Part of the problem is the Mako came out when Easton was going through a pretty steep decline in popularity. If Bauer re-released the Mako II with an Edge holder, new graphics, and called it the UltraBoomADVSonicLite with a superdynaflex tendon guard it would probably fly off the shelves at levels the Mako never came close to.

Depends on how many people are crying for it. The magnification of the internet doesn't necessarily mean there is a sufficient business case to move forward.