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Ok, had a chance to test all the Ellipse 0, 1, and 2 yesterday vs Quad 0, 1, and 2. Here is a quick summary. Ill write up a full review later this week. This was all done with blind testing. I had a friend take all of the steel sets and mark them as A, B, C, D, E, and F so it would not be possible for me to determine which profile I was using. All steel was sharpened to 3/4". First of all, a big thank you to @kkskate for profiling the Ellipse profiles for me. You did a fantastic job! I always give credit where credit is due. If anyone needs a profile definately reach out to him. Great service, prices and excellent work! I typically skate on a Quad 2 and have always felt the Quad 0 and 1 are too aggressive for me in the toe area. I also prefer glide, stability, and top-end speed more than agility. So please keep that in mind when reading my feedback. I used each set of steel for 20 minutes in a pick-up games with friends and some of their kids who are back home for winter break. Some of the kids attend prep school and the adults have all played high-level hockey, ACHA, D3, D1, AHL, Major Juniors, and such. While we like to have fun all of us still play earnestly without attempting to hurt each other. With all that being said. On to the review and rankings: Ellipse 0 = Considering I dislike the Quad 0 I was shocked that this was actually my second favorite profile of the bunch. It feels like they didn't go as aggressive on the toe as the Quad 0, went a little longer in the middle, and then shorter the heel a bit. Overall this was a very good feeling profile. I ranked this as my second favorite. Ellipse 1 = Considering I also was never a huge fan of the Quad 1 I was surprised that this was my most favorite profile. Everything on it felt effortless. Plenty of agility, glide, bite, and stability. This felt similar to a Quad 2 but with a slightly smaller heel. Almost like a blend of a Quad 0.5, Quad 1, and Quad 2. This was by far my favorite profile of the bunch. Ellipse 2 = I would have assumed since I like the Quad 2 so much that I would have liked this profile this as well. I did not. It felt long and cumbersome. Kind of like a Quad 2 in the front and a Zuperior in the middle and heel. I really didn't like this profile at all. This profile ranked last out of the six. Quad 0 = Still not a fan. Feels too small and aggressive for me and my skating style. It's better than a standard 10' but I think I just don't move my feet fast enough for this profile to match my skating style. I ranked this fouth. Quad 1= Still not a fan. Everything on paper says this should be a profile that I would like but I have never been a fan. I dislike the toe and middle but the heel feels ok. I ranked this fifth. Quad 2 = Still my favorite Quad of the bunch. Not nearly as good as the Ellipse 0 and Ellipse 1 but If I had to go with a Quad this would be my choice. Good speed, stability, and glide. You do sacrifice some agility but I will take top-end speed over agility any day. This ranked third. Summary: 1: Ellipse 1 2: Ellipse 0 3: Quad 2 4: Quad 0 5: Quad 1 6: Ellipse 2

The answer is yes, it should, and nevertheless, it isn't. Basically I think this is everyone's complaint, that the number of the size is irrelevant, it's the length of the skate matched with the holder. It's one of the reasons why, as good of a deal as the TF skates are, that deal is pretty much dead when you have to swap holders and pay an extra 1-200 bucks and then try to sell the shift holders which nobody really wants

You may be right about the amount of blade available for contact with strides, but given your impression about stability, it could still be a factor. Greater stability on the support foot could result in greater stride length even if there isn't any more steel practically available for the push. You get the same effect, just for a different reason. Unfortunately my son is very attuned to such things and will pick up on it immediately I am sure. My daughter on the other hand could skate equally well on a pair of butter knives or top end skates without knowing the difference. My point is, whatever the underlying reason, I am certain it will be noticeable (I know I would notice it). I am of the same mind as your recommendation, but I just hate swapping holders. It invariably leads to rivet issues. Oh well, I should have known it wouldn't be simple to just swap over. Thanks,

Good point. The big CCM! splash on the heel of the AS3 is no doubt infamous. That’s just on the lateral side of the boot; medial has a more moderate logo hit: The lines line up between stock AS3 Pro and the SE AS3 Pro the Swede is wearing.

They are AS3 Pros. The RIbcor 100k doesn't look anything like that.

Sounds right. I do two before every skate, need it or not. However as a goalie I often have dings I need to - at least mostly - fix so I end up doing 5-6 passes far more often than most people should ever need to, so that obviously skews my numbers. It is what it is, and I still get plenty of life out of a ring all things considered. Zero complaints. As one of the first kickstarters I can easily say this is by far the best crowdfunding projects I’ve ever backed (and I back a lot of them) and definitely one of the best investments I’ve ever made in a product in general.

That sounds about right. IMO, many people do too many passes when most times they only need 1-2 passes to freshen up the edges since the hollow is still intact. You typically only need 3-5 passes if you have some trauma to the blade. I also have seen a lot of people was passes as ell when the hollow and edges were cut just fine after two passes but they were not diligent with honing the steel after the sharpening.

Rielly is wearing them: True Project X

Oh yeah that's nice, I see how the 12s have like a funnel shaped cuff. I have long arms so I didn't have much issue with the pros, but I liked the tight flex cuff idea.

WHat didn't work out for your buddy and the true skates? I just got my true customs done and they are all around great for me. I've had a dozen or so skates on them so far and have zero issues.

I get all this. What I don't get is if the length of a tf9 6.5d skate is supposedly the same as a 7d Bauer, shouldn't both be using the same holder length, regardless of the number size printed on the skate.

I am going to ignore all of the Fit1/2/3 stuff from Bauer and just focus on standard D and EE fits for simplicity skate. When you go down a half size from a 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 size skate you usually end up with a smaller holder. This gets even more complicated when you add width it's the equation. Example: Bauer 6.5D = 254 Bauer 6.5EE = 263 Bauer 7D = 263 Bauer 7.5D = 263 Bauer 7.5EE = 272 Bauer 8.0D = 272 Bauer 8.0EE = 272 Now imagine you wear a Bauer 7.5EE and therefore skate on a 272 holder and now need a size 7 or smaller TRUE skate. You would be going from 272 to 263 or a 254. Let's take this a step further. Imagine you are going from a 7.5EE Bauer to a 6.5 TRUE skate, you would be going from a 272 to a 254. Does this make things a little more clear? Perhaps clear as mud in some ways. Let's please not get CCM and Mako sizing added to this as well since that in itself is a whole other can of worms. With all of this being said I really wish that manufacturers would all standardize skate length and holder sizing, but that is likely not going to happen in my lifetime.

OK, so, been a while since I contributed. Just gave my son some TF9s for Chrstmas since he was on his last (our last ) pair of Makos and even steel was becoming impossible to find. A couple notes to start 1) He was 6.5 in Mako and commenting that he felt they were getting small. He got 6.5 TF9s as a present. After baking, he is confident the 6.5 TF9s are too large. I think it has been a consistent theme in this thread that the TF series should size down (so, 1/2 size or more smaller than other skates you are coming from). 2) Holder (and therefore runner) length. I was not aware of this issue until last night when planning how to assess any problem areas that might come up. Since his Makos are near the end, he needs to move to his new skates ASAP while things are kind of slow over Christmas. Now I see that if he sticks with stock setup, he will be on a shorter holder and therefore less steel.... ugghhhh. Why did they do this? For agility? Just curious, I would assume there must be a reason. A 254 on a 6.5 is just too short even if we put an 11ft radius on it. I'm not sure what the holder will be on the 6, but I assume not shorter? I really don't want to swap holders as that creates rivet issues, but jeez, also don't want less steel on the ice. I'm positive he will notice and not be happy. 3) On the positive side, the finish seems much more polished than what I've seen with the customs. 4) After baking, he commented they felt as nice as his Makos, just too long. So, that's encouraging. Anyway, if anybody has any idea why they went with shorter holders/runners, I'd like to know. Thanks,

You should always try and have the holder mounted as far back as possible. This is a pretty good explanation why: http://bladesbytodd.com/2015/08/09/mounts/

Bingo. FWIW, I have been trying to explain this situation to TRUE but they still insist that their skate sizing is correct as is the matching of holder size to skate size. Sigh.