Jason

AS3? They missed a number. The picture that was posted of PK Subban's skates looked almost identical to my custom AS1's. Other than the holders and probably a tongue and liner, I doubt there will be much difference. The skates seem to evolve pretty slowly these days.

I can't remember if I read it on this forum or somewhere else, but I remember reading someone's personal experiences with over pronation. I have minor over pronation on my right foot and it has driven me nuts over the years. I have tried various solutions like shims and mounting the holder slightly to the inside of the boot and nothing could ever solve my problems. When I read the other person's write up, they mentioned that the only thing that really helped them was to do exercises to strengthen the foot muscles as well as skating with their skates tied very loose. I started doing that and my problem has dramatically improved. I would suggest working on your feet this way rather than messing with your skates too much. Best of luck.

They are both one piece boots. He basically says that.

I have total custom AS1's and I use the Orthomove insoles. I like them and do think that they are intended to be used with the skates. You could definitely use the insole of your choice, but I would never use the crappy flat black ones that come in the skates. They are garbage.

Is anyone other than Kadri wearing the new Jetspeeds? He was the first to wear the FT1's as far as I remember.

I bought some at Sport Chek a while ago, but I have yet to use it.

Yeah, he fell over tonight on the first Matthews goal for seemingly no reason.

Back on topic... I have posted about this before, but I don't think anyone really chimed in... How are people liking the True holders? Has anyone skated in the True/VH skates with both the new holder and another like a Bauer or CCM? What is the pitch like on the True holder? Does it feel like a Tuuk, pitch wise?

I'm also curious to hear if anyone has tried both Tuuk and the Step/VH holders on the True/VH skates. A comparison would be great.

Very nice, Amiroo. Great choice on the steel. Those look like pro stock seats too. Beautiful!

I'm only going by what he told me. He said it was hard to clamp. I believe he was referring to the holder plastic somehow contacting the clamp or gettting in the way somehow. Kind of like it used to with those carbon fiber easton holders back in the day. I used to sharpen and profile with him at the shop and I am very well educated on things like pitch, radius, hollow, etc. I have also heard good things about Max Performance Sport's Pro Sharp Quad radius. I haven't actually tried it myself. I profile my own steel and I still skate on a standard 12' radius that I pitch forward slightly. In my experience with Step Steel in most holders, the pitch is quite consistent and usually comes so that the amount of steel that protrudes from the holder would be slightly taller (say 1/32") in the back of the working radius than it is in the front. You can measure it outside of the holder and find roughly the same result. This is not the case with some steel. LS4 steel would often come taller in the front with a very bulbous toe shape. What my friend was saying about the Step Steel for the VH holder was that it was taller in the front, thus creating a reverse pitch effect. Of course this can be corrected with some reshaping of the blade and all holders are pitched forward, so yes it does counteract that effect. I just feel like steel should always come neutral or forward pitched slightly because the majority of skaters like it that way. I don't personally know anyone that likes to skate on a reverse pitched blade. It seems a bit strange that the steel would be different in the VH holder than the other Step steel made for other holders. I don't have any pictures. I will talk to my friend again and get a more detailed explanation. By the way, I totally agree with your racecar analogy. That's the approach I take with my own skates.

All I can say was that he said they have a difficult time clamping them in to sharpen and that compared to Bauer or CCM versions of the Step Steel, the Step made for the VH holder is taller in the front of the blade creating a reverse pitch.

Where did you get that information? I know the Step name was on the original holders, but my old boss talked to the owner of Step and he said that he had no input into the design of the holder. Seems weird that they would manufacture something and put there name on it if they had no input into the product. My friend who sharpens at a LHS said that they are very hard to clamp in for sharpening and he said the Step steel that fits in them is always reverse pitched. I feel like they could have done a better job with these holders and steel.

As far as I have always heard, with Bauer customs a C is a C is a C. However, in my experience (I've had quite a few pairs of custom Bauer skates) the widths are not necessarily what they should be. I tried on a retail Supreme skate in a D width and found it to be just as narrow if not narrower than a C/AA custom. This is after being told that the retail supreme D width is actually an E. How is an E width as narrow as a C width? I have a pretty narrow foot, but nothing freakish. I am currently skating in a Bauer Supreme MX3 Custom in a B/AAA width. I went for the narrowest option that they have. I am pretty happy with my skates. I think I finally got the width I needed, but it took me a while to figure that out. That being said, if the X:60's you tried on were slightly wide in both the forefoot and the heel, then the C/AA should work. No guarantees though. I hope you get the fit you are hoping for.

Thanks for the video. For a machine called Sparx there are surprisingly no sparks.

@oldtrainerguy28hopefully they do this soon. I have been ordering Bauer customs for several years now and I've heard that they are not going to be offering the LS2 holders anymore. My current pair has LS2 with Step Blacksteel. I would love to keep using that combo until this issue is resolved. There is no way I would want to skate on a holder with a loose blade.

I've seen a bunch of loose steel with the new edge holders as well. They clearly need to go back to the drawing board. For serious competitive players that are on the ice multiple times per week, the holders don't seem to last beyond 6 months. This and the fact that I couldn't use Step steel were the reasons that I ordered my custom MX3's with LS2 holders.

Thanks Zorlac. I never thought of using the holes in the outsole. My buddy's skates are 8D 1X's. I think they use the same insole for 8.5's as well, so they might be a bit looser in the half sizes. It's definitely not ideal if they are loose and falling out. They should fit fairly snug.

I always take my insoles out after each ice time. I noticed that the Speed Plates in my buddy's 1X's were damn near impossible to get out. How do you guys get them out easily without ruining them or stressing them too much?

Amiroo, Yes the scratches do affect the performance a bit. I wouldn't worry too much about it though. In future, the red or green (fine) DMT stones would be best. I hone edges on a slight angle to do the stone never really touches the side of the blade except where you want it to.

Glad to hear it. Perhaps I have done your skates before.

Sorry for the late reply. Haven't been on here in a while. I work at Ultimate Edge Sports at Canlan Ice Sports North Shore and Burnaby Winter Club.

I currently have Step Blacksteel and I am an experienced sharpener. I would say that all Step steel needs honing. The Blacksteel not much. Velocity definitely does. For Velo and Black I use a fine grit DMT diamond stone on a slight angle followed by a leather strop attached to a wooden block to prevent ruining the finish.

It's funny that my friend just showed me this exact picture tonight. Apparently you texted it to him. We have a mutual acquaintance. The skates look awesome by the way.

I find it surprising that after hearing that Easton's hockey department is struggling that they have an MSRP of $799 for the Mako. If they put it at $699 I would think they would sell many more pairs. They just can't compete with Bauer in skates. They have to sell them cheaper to have a chance IMO. The MLX skates weren't marketed all that well, but they ended up selling them for 50% off within a few months of them being released IIRC. Two of my coworkers paid $400 for their MLX's. They were happy with the skates, but they wouldn't have spent $800 on them. I know that for sure. Plus, the skates broke down completely after just over one year for both and I think one of the guys even had his replaced on warranty partway through. Hopefully the Mako's are more durable. Definitely looks like an interesting skate though. I look forward to seeing them in person and trying them on. I just wish they offered them in a C width. Why did Easton ever get rid of their narrows?