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I don't own TF's or Catalysts but can tell you from trying both on, back-to-back the TF was much more hotdog in a hallway feeling in the toe cap area compared to the Catalyst. I tried on the same size, and one half-size within the other for both as well. Catalyst felt like there was a liner bunched up in the end of the toe-cap, where the TFs didnt have anything.

My view on the tall toe box was they wanted the players to have the option of a roomy cap or repositioning the tongue down inside the cap to make it snug. Since they’ve gone to shallower toe caps in everything after TF, it seems the optional stuffing route didn’t work out the way they were planning.

The Mach skate is fine for me. I'm just looking to see if there isn't something better. If the Trues are designed for people who desire large-ish toe boxes, then yes I will probably send them back. I said as much in a prior post. Bauer and CCM both have sufficiently sized toe boxes that I don't require foam inserts to skate properly in. It sounds like True are bigger than both. In one of his videos, SVH said the skate last was designed from "tens of thousands of scans" and between regular and wide, would fit 85-90% of skaters. Given the thermoformability that everyone speaks of, I guess it was a huge oversight to create what sounds like a very spacious toe box. I will know in a couple days when they are delivered.

That's a good point, but the True skates are designed to be baked, so it's unfair to compare them unbaked to a skate that doesn't change much after baking (like an older Bauer boot where baking only helps with break in). If you are comparing them both after baking, then it's a good comparison.

Nike had some sticks like that. I think Innovative made them...they may have had their own version too. The last few generations of Ribcor sticks do something similar.

At this point, it feels like companies are just rolling some various number of dice, then whatever numbers come up, making it a profile and marketing it as some mix of speed and agility. It’s like making a D&D character, but for skate blades. I’m getting elf/mage/warrior/thief for my next quad profile.