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AIREAYE

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Posts posted by AIREAYE

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Hi, I’d like to address some questions/comments that have come up regarding the VH hockey skate - hopefully I'm doing this correctly - first time.....:

    Aireaye, you are right on the ball, you can do much great customization with the monocoque process, including customizing the toe box for Hallux (big toe) deformaties. Our current model has the toe box as part of the monocoque boot body. Our production model skate, down the road, will have a plastic toe cap as this allows for more consistent, streamlined mass production.

    Thanks for the insight! Having a custom toe box option on a custom boot would be good value-added feature for those looking to go that route. As someone who could be potentially selling your product to customers, I was wondering if you guys will implement some sort of educational campaign as part of your overall marketing campaign (which I assume you will have to some degree) to teach both consumers and retailers about the uniqueness of your product?

  7. Posted · Report reply

    Sure, but even a niche hockey skate is still likely a bigger market than the other markets they currently have to compete in. They obviously have all the elements in place to know exactly what it's going to cost to produce and sell their product, and they are going to scale up incrementally. Seems like they're just growing and will be able to support themselves if they're a niche player, and yet, if they make an impact, potentially be a target for acquisition by another bigger player.

    Hmm, not knowing much of anything about speed skating, I would tend to agree. They absolutely sound like they know exactly what they're doing and have a plan set up, judging by that release.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    I like the concept of a velcro removable tongue with different options available from the manufacturer.

    Wow, you haven't posted here for a while!

    It seems like even greater customization is available with monocoque. Even the toebox? Everything is integrated together, no longer glued or stitched.

    This a very ambitious thing they're doing and quite admirable. They're slotting this skate right in amongst the other top ends and with a fully custom boot at around the same price if not slightly more expensive. I see this as a very niche product unless they get a greater presense both in NHL rinks and in stores.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    Skated in them tonight and 2 things jumped out immediately at me. First, the split at the back of the skate where the tendon guard would usually come all the way up was not painfully digging into my achilles tendon but it was kind of annoying. Second, the pitch wasn't very prominent at all. The balance point seem to be right behind the balls of my feet. Almost fell backwards a handful of times. The skate took me about a half hour to adjust to them with regards to my pivots and turns but my stride was good once I was a lil more comfortable. Also, took a shot off the outside of my left skate..... it hurt. Fit for my inside ankle bones was good, no problems with overall fit of the boot at all. Just thinking bout the tendon guard though and I am wishing they had different stiffness's for the tendon guard that you could switch if the stiffness didn't suit you. Anywho....... starting to ramble and over think this.

    Got 3 more games over the weekend......more to come.

    The way the guard is designed though, it HAS to be flexible. If it were stiffer, I would imagine that there would be durability issues since the connection is so narrow. But that's some interesting insight; thanks!

  13. Posted · Report reply

    For this industry, one has to push out the marketing and reinforce/grow the brand image. People rely on perception and word-of-mouth recommendations. Aside from the obvious promotional aspect, price definitely plays a role as well. As the Star article mentioned, guerilla marketing is another method to get their product out there.

    Easton understands that they have a very small skate market share and that most people perceive their product to be inferior (The Great Skate Debacles of the Previous Decade, by : everyone I know), but in no way are they new entrants to the market, the product is. So, among other things I'm sure, they needed to sit down and come up with something big to get back in it. Enter the Mako, which, in my opinion, is the most innovative skate launch from the major players thus far. It turns the traditional perception of a hockey skate boot on its head, while capitalizing (or attempting to capitalize, at this point) on proven technologies (heat mouldability, general mobility, composite boot construction etc.). This is big, this is ambitious and Easton knows it.

    So why price at $799? I think that you guys nailed the perception aspect of it, so I'll try to stir up some debate by floating some thoughts out for the experts to read (and hopefully correct if need be). Easton would've had to examine sales data from their competitors, especially, in my opinion from the Reebok 20K, which, if you guys remember, we had another small discussion about its pricing. The 20K was priced similarly, along the lines of Bauer's top products where the 11K was priced lower. I think it would be useful if a comparison between the two prices, change in retail market share and brand image was compiled. Curious to see what the RBZ skate will be priced at. If Easton had put out another ski-boot stiff composite skate instead (think APX, T1), I do not think that they would've priced that at $799 because the market already has more established brands offering similar product at that pricepoint. Having a boot like the Mako there is interesting because it is almost a completely new concept; product differentiation.

    Overall, I would imagine that (so don't quote me obviously) Easton had two distinct options: a low risk/low potential return/low price option and a risky/high price option. Pricing at a bracket below other top-ends might result in slightly more sales when thinking of price vs demand, as well as perhaps growing the brand image positively at a steady rate (don't know how one would measure that). The ambitious pricing has its implications already mentioned by previous posters. As we can see, Easton believes that they can be sucessful with this launch (TGIF); they're going big.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Because there are a LOT of dealers who are under the impression that they can't be reheated, therefore, they only offer it after the sale. That mindset will change with time.

    In addition to the attitude that once baked, they could be considered 'used' by customers, thus a potential sale lost.

    Put my foot into a Mako yesterday without lacing for a few seconds. Same feelings as the rest of you. Major concerns for me was the lack of depth...everywhere, especially the forefoot where getting laces into the eyelets seemed difficult Extremely flexible tendon is nice performance-wise, but a major concern for durability. Time will tell. Very surprised by how soft the boot was, another major concern for me.

  17. Posted · Edited by AIREAYE · Report reply

    Nothing terribly special, but I added tongues from an old pair of Graf 703s to my Flexlite 4.0 Pros. Use these for officiating, and man, I'm in love. Took less than 10 minutes with the speedy stitcher.

    That looks amazing! I was wondering if you could perhaps post a picture of the area where you made the stitches. That Speedy Stitcher is a great tool.

    :ph34r: ............ :wub:

    Looking forward to reading any feedback from you, Krev, especially since you were a Stealth user too iirc.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    I would say wait, unless you want to take the risk of going into a 15". I find that the CLs in 13" have slightly shorter fingers than most other gloves in this size. Does anyone have the U+12 gloves in your size and color? I would look at those if you need gloves immediately.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks JR.

    Skates -

    - Don't know if this is a typo or not, but it seems that this year's iteration of the 20K features an upgrade in the quarters, with Pro Armor V replacing Pro Armor IV on last year's

    - The 17K occupies a pricepoint that bridges the rather large gap between the 18K's $700 (CDN) and 16K's $400 (CDN), makes sense

    Sticks -

    - 12K replaces 3K Resistance which continues to features what appears to be a Crossover blade

    - Did they remove the A.i7 from the lineup? That has always been a tough pricepoint to sell at.

    - With Perron and Hedman 'sharing' the P40 designation, does that mean that we will see sticks with both names? Or will Perron take over for more recent production runs?

    Helmets -

    - 4K is gone; what a shame.

    - 3K now occupies bottom pricepoint, still with Fit clips but a new PE liner

    Gloves - JR, did they remove the 9000 only? Or the entire 4 Roll line?

    Pants - Great feature in the pant line; a contination of the 1" length adjustment zipper into the next pricepoint down, the 16K. The catalogue is confusing in that the features table shows that only the 20K, 18K and 16K have the zipper, while above, it says that the 14K has it as well. Anyone confirm?

    Protective - This is huge. Can't wait to see them.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Helmets - Did CCM scrap the V04? That sold pretty well around here; that leaves Bauer (2100) and Easton (E300) to occupy that bottom helmet pricepoint. The nomenclature could be a little confusing; V10 is now 'VECT' (HTVECT), the V08 remains as HTV08 well as the 06 as HT06.

    Gloves - The CS 400 looks quite promising, featuring 'traditional' top-end protection in multi-density foams + plastic inserts, same as the U+12. Interesting use of a Nash Rima III palm (what IS Rima III? Supposedly the next iteration of the U+12's Rima II?) reinforced with Kevlar for durability. Has anyone used a kevlar reinforcement in palms before?

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Got confirmation that the 20k SE is indeed a white version. The original plan was to have the SpeedBlade on it but the changes were made after the catalogue was finalized.

    To clarify, the 20K and 17K, when released, will not have the new holder? The catalogue says that both feature the new holder. Likewise, the 20K in this catalogue is listed to have the Hyper-Glide polished runner while the 17K is listed to have the Speed blade runner. Will they have these runners upon release?

  24. Posted · Report reply

    They collaborated with Blackstone and universities' studies. For all intents and purposes, they did indeed do their homework.

    As Jeff said (in a way) nobody really paid attention to steel. Most people don't know what their ROH is, let alone their blade radius. Sometimes I feel we live in a bubble here on MSH, but you have to think globally in this situation - I applaud them for bringing the subject to light.

    I think you're reading that wrong...they are talking about shorter turning radius, not shorter blade height.

    Mhmm, a lot of us fall under a unique segment populated with many opinion leaders to which companies rely on to pass along information, such as yourself. Heh I learned that in marketing; great course. Thanks for the insight.

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