jimmy

Who knows, I may have said smoke and mirrors but never in the context of radiusing skates, a radius adjustment is not smoke and mirrors. It's a proven concept. How it is applied and who does it is a whole nuther story. As you said, it may be the "in thing" to do as far as parents are concerned to keep up with the Jones's, but I fault the radius tech for not properly explaining it to them when they do decide to get it done.

Actually. most of the parents im my area do know very well how to answer questions. Most of the dads have played hockey themselves, and the coaches give good feedback to the parents who are there six times a week watching their kids and others. I have no problems getting the info I need to know to get a good starting point. Sometimes adjustments and tweaks are needed, but since I don't charge extra for adjustments, it's not a big deal. The end result is the kids are skating better. I don't believe it was me that said max edge was smoke and mirrors. The fact that they say that all other methods and sharpeners are inferior because they don't use his so-called method is a bit pompus, as well as incorrect. But, you'll never see me say radiusing or profiling is not a good thing for everyone. THINK, what if everyone only had one choice of a stick curve (and it was a Thornton) What percentage of players would have perfect powerful shots and stickhandling with that curve, 2% perhaps. The other 98% would still be able to use it but not at optimum performance. A custom radius is nothing more that the same as finding that stick curve that works best for you.

http://www.exn.ca/video/?video=exn20021125-skatesharpen.asx

Contrary to the myth that youth skates do not need to be profiled or radiused, just the opposite is true. I recommend all youths learn to skate with a properly radius and pitched skate. No sense developing bad habits/body stance when you are young, it will haunt you later in life. Youths learn easy, bad habits as well. I can't even count the number of testimonials from parents who noticed drastic improvements after a PROPER radius/pitch was put on their child's skates. I won't even go into proper matching of left/right radius's. The thing is, until you've seen how a kid skates on non-profiled skates, you can't know what the proper profile will be. It would be foolish for parents to be profiling and reprofiling their 7 years olds skates trying to find the right combination. It's better to leave the skates unprofiled until tendencies can be identified. Two things. Most skate pairs the radius is not matched between left and right. So, even if you do not know the skater at all, the blades should be matched. Second, the skater can be properly evaluated through a series of questions, both from the parents and the skater themselves. A good radius technician should be able to "ballpark" a good starting point, and them just have to make minor adjustments after recieving feedback.

Contrary to the myth that youth skates do not need to be profiled or radiused, just the opposite is true. I recommend all youths learn to skate with a properly radius and pitched skate. No sense developing bad habits/body stance when you are young, it will haunt you later in life. Youths learn easy, bad habits as well. I can't even count the number of testimonials from parents who noticed drastic improvements after a PROPER radius/pitch was put on their child's skates. I won't even go into proper matching of left/right radius's.

Yup, 9', balanced pitch is good for your stride. Start with a 5/8 hollow. Try it. If you achived what you want you are golden. If you want more speed, start shallowing is out a 32nd at a time.

Flite also used them. Others too. I actually like the way the tuuk steel mounts sideways like CCM. I hate the Tuuk mounting system.

Crows or Crews are just fine. George Crow was involved with the initial development of the Tuuk and has been in the hockey business for 40 + years. I bought a whole bunch of these holders for $4.88, steel and holder combo. I use them for the cheap bastards who don't want to dish out the $$ for a new Tuuk. The steel is fine, better quality than Bauer IMO, and the holders are solid, will last long time. Go for it if the price is less than $1!

Actually a few less perks. The internet/buying group skates are not as well constructed/features as the retail version.

The fit machines cost around $5000. I didn't think that was worth it, especially since I'm not convinced it does any better at reducing break-in than regular baking/then skating.

I got two dozen of the VAP VI sticks just before xmas. The stickum is not that sticky, has less "grip" than the VAP XX, just a light coat. Three customers came in yesterday who used them over the weekend and initial reports are good. I sell it for $94.99, I think it will be a popular stick next year, grip coat for less than $100, not bad.