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The argument here continues to be its not enough weight. But I haven't scored in three games since switching to the regular steel. There is the proof right there, goal streak over 😉 clearly the carbon made me score more.

We're talking about layers only molecules thick. So yes, hard ice is faster than softer ice, or worse ice that's wet on top. But for moving on ice, the melted water layer creates a hydroplane effect that the blades move over. A little more water and you go faster, too much and then surface tension kicks in and you stick. Here's an article explaining it. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/2/13/16973886/why-is-ice-slippery

They sharpen decently well, but not as good as the Pulse Ti or LS5. I don't think you can sharpen them on a ProSharp due to the clamp. Havent tried Sparx. Only used my SSM units.

You are not making that big of a change. But you will feel the difference. I would ask one question first.. is there anything you already really like with the 9’? If so you will probably give up a bit of that. And maybe a 9/10 or 9.5/10.5 is more what you are after. Or if you are looking for less fatigue and better glide with the same agility all you want perhaps a Max Edge 981 is what you want. ( 9’ -50mm flat- 10’ ) . Several people still like this profile because of the blade Contact with the ice in the Center.

Update: went to my local shop and he widened around the ankle and re moulded them with super feet insoles. I went to thicker socks and things are great. No more pain. No more numbness no more pushing still undecided on the forward pitch. Not sure if I like it but I didn’t notice it today. Sometimes it just feels off but I’m going to give it another month or so and more full games and not stick and puck.

For shins without removable/washable inserts, I fill a tub with warm water, pour in some powdered oxyclean, mix it around, and let it soak. Dirty pads will turn the water brown. After sitting for an hour or two, drain the water, rinse the pads, and repeat until the water doesn’t turn brown and the pads are clean

Thanks, in part, to all the great content in this thread (all 77 pages!) I went all in on the Sparx. While I was waiting for it to arrive, I build some gauges to help keep track of each steel's hours between sharpening. Sounds like perhaps I should just be touching them up between each skate, but I'm worried about blowing thru runners too fast. As I'm sure is obvious by the image, my skates are old and I'm sure there's a finite amount of Step Mako steel out there. Either way, thanks to both this thread and the Mako one for keeping my wheel game top-notch. I'd prolly be stuck in my so-so fitting pro return skates with high school kid sharpened edges without MSH.

I don't think hockey players respond differently than any other consumer base. To use your PC building example, I know plenty of folks that fall for "this new Nvidia card can run Duke Nukem at 4 gazillion FPS". So they spend $2k on a video card to play DOTA or something similar. Some people will spend thousands on designer clothes thinking it will make them more attractive, when in reality they're often made in the same factory in Bangladesh that made the Walmart knockoff.