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Or maybe they have been tied too tight while baking and changed the fit of the arch. Could simple rebaking change this? One insole of my TF7 had a thickening at the edge in the arch area, filing it flat was the solution for me.

My Sparx is just over 5 years old. It shipped Jul 2016. My two boys were in minor hockey at the time and they now play Jr A and NCAA. I play beer league a couple times a week. I've never had a single problem with the Sparx in that time. I routinely do 2 passes every couple of games/practices to keep our edges always 'like new'. I very rarely do more than 2. I've sharpened everything from Step Steel to stock steel and the Sparx handled them all equally well. When coming home from Jr A seasons my boys' steel was usually destroyed from a profile perspective because of their team equipment managers sharpening on BladeMaster machines. The toe and heels were significantly rounded off from the manual machines. Sharpening on the Sparx (which I have done for my own skates exclusively) has never affected the profile on my steel, so my blades last a lot longer than theirs do. But then again they are on the ice practically ever day vs. twice a week for me. I don't have any experience with the ProSharp unit so I can't offer any comparison head to head. Yes, it would be great if Sparx wheels were cheaper but honestly at the current prices and the way I use my machine, it's simply incredible value to me and our family and has been since the first day it arrived. Russ owns the company so yes take his words with a grain of salt as everyone has their own biases, but Russ is an engineer not a business or marketing guy. Everything I have read or watched (lots of great Sparx history on youtube) from Russ was logical, fair, balanced and very much what you would expect from an engineer with a background in industrial design. I was in on the Kickstarter like many others here, and for that first year or so when timelines kept slipping I'm sure we all wondered whether Sparx was ever going to deliver on their promise of a revolutionary home skate sharpening machine... well 5 years later after their first launch I can say from my own experiences with the product that they exceeded my expectations, and pretty much nailed it right from the first revision of the machine. For a small company like Sparx, that's pretty impressive when you consider what went into getting the first units out the door.

Anyone with Haglund's Deformity (Bauer Bumps) use Trues? Either custom or stock? If custom, did they shape the carbon heel piece to accommodate your bumps? If stock, were you able to form the boot or carbon heel section around your bump? I've found in most skates I have to get an area of the heel punched out a bit for my bumps to sit in and so I get more contact area between my heel and the back of the boot to minimize heel slippage. A few years back I tried Makos but found the carbon heel wasn't moldable and I couldn't get my heel to sit tightly in the boot.

This worked for me in the past but if all fails, the initial scan could be inaccurate. Also, if your stance was off it will definitely affect your scan. When I had my first pair made my right boot had no arch which made that boot feel sloppy. This is bc my right foot pronates in a lunge position due to my knee buckling in. Second pair I got made I consciously aligned my knees over my toes during the scan which prevented over pronation which led to a boot that had the proper arch. Personally, I prefer Bauer speedplates as they conform exact to the bottom of your feet and arch.

As it is on the side I would take a guess the boot is too narrow across your arch. I'd put lipstick on your foot where it is sore and then put your foot into the boot and stand up. The lipstick will transfer to the boot at the spot where it is pushing into your foot. Now go back to PHL and tell them you want it punched / flattened / pushed out where the lipstick mark is. Unless the boot remolded where it is pushing into your foot when it was last baked with the superfeet in it then you will still have the problem.

Where on the arch? Under the foot or on the side? If it's on the side you can punch it. If it's under the arch then it's either pressure and or you foot is moving in the boot and sliding ove a pressure point. What you could try is getting an old footbed and cut the arch out of it, now fit that to the skate and see if it makes a difference. If it does it proves the arch is pushing into your foot and needs to be reshaped. If you don't have an old footbed you could use gel pads cut to shape or even layers of hard cardboard, all you are trying to do is elevate your foot in relation to the arch in the boot. The next thing I would get you to try is to cut 2' off an old lace and then use this to lace the bottom 4 eyelets only. Do them up like this (your forefoot is locked in place so the boot should not fall off) and then go for some slow easy laps around the rink. If your feet don't hurt it proves the boot is reshaping your foot as you lace fully up..

Personally, I would not punch the arch of the True boot. It's a one piece and you could risk cracking them at the arch. Plus, if the arch is that off that your feet are killing you, a spot punch isn't going to really do much. Punches are really meant for small hotspots. Does the arch pain feel like someone is stretching the arch to the point where it feels like its a strained/pulled tendon (pain over the length of the arch)? Or does it feel like someone is jabbing you in the arch (pain in a very specific point of the arch)? If it's the latter, that's solvable. If the former, I think you'll have a hard time getting these to work with you as they are currently constructed. True should allow you to make a one time rebuild (after you LHS has exhausted all fit solutions), so you could go down that avenue as well.

Just a suggestion before you give up: -take the super feet out (they could just exacerbate the problem). Take the red insoles out and just use the blues. Wear super thin socks and have them rebake the skates. Have them bake them good (I mean the boot should be soft, not just warm) and then have them put on your feet and laced up about 90%. Tie them like you would when skating, so if you keep the bottom laces loose, top laces tight/loose, etc. and tie to top outlet. Do not Saran Wrap this time and do not have them mold it by hand either. Just sit there and let your feet do the work. Then after baking, don't skate on them for 48 hours. Finally, change out the laces with waxed laces. PHL should do the re-bake for no charge, and the most this would cost you is a new pair of waxed laces. It's very possible, from what you're describing, that they are wrapped too much around your foot and causing a bit too much friction/not enough give in spots. Switching to waxed is so your wrap stays in place, when you "loosen up" the current wrap.

Signed up! Cant wait to see you guys

Lots of different profiles out there. I think it took the advent of quick removable blade to bring the new profiles to the masses. All I know is the days of the single profile are numbered. Best quote I could find on the topic from poster PBH, if people like this are giving new players advice I think profiles have a bright future: "I'll throw my hat in the ring here as someone who does a ton of profiles and also tests them. Owning a full-service hockey shop gives me the ability to have access to try all different combinations of skates, steel, and profiles. Yes, I am lucky, but this also comes with negatives as well considering I change configurations so often I sometimes physically hurt myself s and it most certainly does take its toll on my skating as well by changing equipment so often. Such is life..... BTW, when I say I hurt myself testing, I am dead serious. I hurt my back not too long ago, slipped a disc. I was testing an unreleased pair of skates with a very aggressive Quad 0 profile that was applied, it still had the full pitch in it and my back just couldn't handle the strain exerted with being so far forward. My back and core were constantly engaged fighting against the extremely stiff skate and the pitch of the profile and something had to give... Something did. My back. Anyway. Quad 0.5 is a great overall profile and as mentioned, what I typically like to start players on if they are coming from steel that has not been profiled previously. It's also very good for new adult players, as the pitch is something they are not yet accustomed to and can throw off their skating. For the young kids, I prefer to put them on a single longer profile until they develop advanced edge control. This allows them to focus on skating and not worrying about balance as much. Quad 2 would be my second go-to. The Quad 0/1 removes a very large amount of steel and also add quite a bit of pitch. Once you blend the toe properly many people feel too far forward and they get short choppy strides due to balance issues and such. There are so many factors I think we can all agree that its truly impossible to say what is the best method and what to use for each player without seeing. Not to mention that some skates have a built-in forward pitch, like TRUE, and many other skates are very neutral. For example, skating on a Quad 0 using the "Pro Sharp recommendation) on my TRUE skates makes me feel unbalanced. When I do Quad 0/1 I tend to remove most of the pitch from the profile to preserve steel and also lessen the forward pitch. I can always add more pitch later but I cannot add steel back once it's been removed. "

I agree 100%

I am aware of the studies and have followed everything everyone here who has experience has posted. I just don't think they are using data to develop the profiles otherwise they would be able to prescribe them better or present evidence as to why one was better period or in a certain context or for a particular skater. I haven't found a cohesive explanation. Think about mom and little Joey who buy new skates and get upsold a profile, they are going to go with whatever is suggested without a clue of what they are buying.

Tron... the Harbor Freight of hockey equipment.

I honestly didn't notice any difference in the optical clarity when moving from Oakley to Bauer.