jimmy

I don't think you'll find many on it to begin with, finding someone who has been on it a long time will be pretty difficult.

Sorry Chadd, I have to say you are wrong on this one. Instead of a video of someone skating on a ZC, you prefer what, someone talking about it in a post? What is your answer to the orig question of long term use of ZC? I know of no skater who has used the ZC longer than the skater in the video. There is simply no one else in North America who has used it longer. That's why I offered it. I can recall a while back where everyone was so adamant that they wanted to see videos of people skating, but now it's somehow "irrelevant".

Not necessarily. Generally if a new method of sharpening on the street is bad, it would be evident quick. What beter way to see that it performs than to see someone actually skating well on it? There is no "marketing" involved in the video, the young man is simply skating well for his Bauer contest, which has nothing to do with his skate sharpening. I can remember back when FBV first came out, all the naysayers had to say about that. The ZC is no different, it works well for some, others not so well, just like FBV's.

I'm not a video chopping expert so didn't know how to edit out the non-skating scenes, but if you can fast forward to them you will see some awesome skating. The kid certainly has great skills. BTW, he won the Bauer Contest and a nice shiny pair of APX skates.

Based on your statement, then we should never ask questions on forums. After all, isn't everything all personal preference, equipment, sharpening, durability, whatever? The question was if anyone had used it a length of time. The kid in the video has been using it for years. That's why I posted it. He was on FBV, but liked the ZC better. In the vid one can see maneuvers possible with the edges, so I think it could give someone a perspective of what it's like.

This skater has been on the ZC since it came out. Perhaps watching him skate will satisfy your curiousity.

My question is, why do you guys in the UK even sharpen your skates, the ice there I wouldn't even clssify as ice! OMG is it terrible. :-)

All stainless steel can break from the low quality steel to the best quality. Stainless is just not strong like carbon. Some things can accellerate breakage, like blocking shots, loose runners, to tight runners, jumping over boards, and overheating to name a few. It's the price we pay to avoid rusting. If steel has a defect from poor Chinese manufacturing or raw materials, it would break rather quickly after first usage.

Not really, the Fusions are $130 and they are just half aluminum, so a little bit more for titanium is not bad. Titanium is expensive, I recently paid $95 for a titanium firing pin for one of my pistols, and the amount of titanium on it is way less than what would be on a pair of runners.

That makes sense, I didn't see any reference to nanoglide, I thought he was refering to nitinol not being avail.

Umm, nitinol is avail to everyone. The height does offer improvements, the length does not.

Except that it's really not $300, by the time yo get the spinners, vacuum, edge checker, etc, that bumps up the actual cost quite a bit. yes, i agree stupid for a high volume shop not to support goalies. As a goalie myself, I use to always get pissed when we were dissed because we were not in the majority. There is a shop near me that actually charges goalie $2 more for a regular sharpening because the guy doesn't want to vary from his 1/2" house cut player setting.

Law, here's a suggstion. If Dukes is where you want to go, why not purchase a skate holder and "lend" it to Dukes providing it's set up and aligned and ready for your skates. You'll then let them use the holder for other goalies and they sharpen your skates for free in return. Once they have a seperate holder, no reason why they can't sharpen you with FBV, no extra work or time needed at that point. The money you save from having to drive around will pay for the holder in no time.

Wow, you did everything you could to try to get that done. For $20 tip, I'd pick them up at your house and deliver them! Anyway, it does take 2x longer to do most goalie skates as it is, due to the better quality stainless. For FBV with one head, you have to change holder from a 2.9 to a 4.0, calibrate, sharpen, then go back to a 2.9, and calibrate. Not a fast process and way more labor than a regular FBV. This is why I got 2 more holders. In the beginning when I had one machine, I got backed up 12-15 pairs while doing a goalie or a Rocket Runner. I tried to have them leave them and come back but a lot couldn't do that. But, since I'm primarily a custom sharpening and radius shop, I just couldn't function right with 1 machine and 1 holder. I know Dukes is huge, but maybe they don't focus on sharpening, rather equipment.

First, the speed advantage for goalies IS negligable. But, some goalies may still want the FBV, that's their choice. But, I sympathize with the shop owner. It's not just a simple few click adjustment. With a line of people, stopping to do a FBV on a goalie really slows things down. So I can see why they wouldn't want to offer it for the very few goalies who may want to use it. I have 4 FBV heads and two holders set and aligned and ready to go for 3.2mm and 4.0mm blades, so for me it's not a problem. But the small shop who doesn't have the machines and holders, it's not cost effective for them to offer it.

Soft ice doesnt effect FBV as much as a hollow cut. The flat prevents the edges from sinking into the ice as much as hollows do.

Now you should try the "real" FBV. ;-)

Easy to figue out, Step XL steel is for skates that have Ls2.1 power steel. Same extra length. Howver, any skate any model that has LS2 holder can take Step regular or XL steel, totally interchangeable. X60's have regular lenngth LS2 steel so if you want to stay the same just get the regular Steps.

Do your blades have a ot of scratches on the sides? If so, this is what you could be feeling. Just skate on them and le tus know how they feel.

Did you hone them after sharpening?

Even though the steel is the same, most who use Velocity report that it holds edges longer than their regular STEPs. With the polished finish, the edges are stronger, they do not nick as easy as well. I love sharpening the velos, little to no honing required, the edge is just so much cleaner.

Step's big advantage is the taller height, which gives better turning and longer sharpening life. These have to be factored in. Yes the quality of the STEP regular stainless is better than stock steel, and the Velocity is even better than that, so either is a good choice. BlackEdge is really just hitting the market, and from what I've seen, it will be very good for edge retention. I radiused 3 sets yesterday and am very impressed with the quality. As for Nitinol, it is certainly the best, doesn't need the extra height for sharpening life as these will likely last 10 years or more. Plus unbreakable compared to all the others, + lighter, better glide. So from a cost/benefit perspective, Nitinol wins hands down, but it has it's issues. Virtually impossible to grind out a deep nick or lost edge, it can take hours and dressing after every 2 passes. I just re-sharpened a pair for a ex NHLr playing in Europe that were trashed, and it wasn't a nice experience. And I have the correct wheel to sharpen them. I fear if one uses a regular wheel, and they have to do a lot of passes, the chipping problem will be a big issue. If I had to recommend steel, it would be STEP Velocity and BlackEdges as my top choices.

Oh, I thought when you said this, "And that person even said with the steel they had (z-channel) that may be the reason and I agree", you meant that you agreed that it wouldn't work with the Z channel. Third party testing is the way to go (unlike thermoblades internal testing). I hope they don't use live skaters, rather controlled lab testing. Still I have yet to see a blade treatment that doesn't work better than a blade not treated, even plain wax improves glide.

Wow, you scared me for a moment! I've paid $75 for 1/4 oz of a different special stuff, so $25 for a kit is ok.

What, $25 for a treatment! Something doesn't seem right. Not worth more than $2. I've researched all the friction reducers, and experimented with almost all of them. Even the best NASA grade I use doesn't cost or is worth $25.