Vet88

Unfortunately not. 1: 72mm wont fit in the space, they will rub against each other and the boot. 2: Even if you could fit them, this is a hi lo setup designed for the wheels you have. Adding 4mm to the front 2 will cause the 3rd wheel to lose contact with the ground. If you made the front 2 72mm, you would have to make the back 2 80mm (and run into the same problem for space as the front). If you want to go larger wheels you need to change the frame.

Here we go again, I'm not holding my breath but I really do hope Keith makes it this time however the R1 has stepped up the competition.

I'm in the same boat, had my hips done 2011, bilat Birminghams. I run the 9k and have yet to find something good enough to take me away from it even though it is heavier than recent models. For added hip protection I wear nfl padded shorts underneath, there is a large range off Amazon, you can literally pick how much extra protection you need eg like these which I do admit may be way over the top for what you want but when combined with a good girdle / pant offer nearly bullet proof hip protection https://www.amazon.com/Tortoise-Pads-Impact-Protection-Density/dp/B07F5T389W/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=nfl+padded+shorts&qid=1586863954&sr=8-1

As I found when I started my journey without laces, skating backwards was a totally different kettle of fish than skating forward. Sure, I could glide backwards, do crossovers and turns and stops without any issues but as soon as I really drove hard onto the inside edge to generate power, my foot (due to my pronation) would collapse on me. This was still going on a long time after I had pretty much mastered my forward skating without laces. Even today I still get caught out occasionally, on my last skate 2 weeks ago I was at a stick and puck doing 1 on 1 D work against some ex pros, every now and then when I drove hard off the inside edge it would partially collapse on me. Backward skating power moves are the ones that expose any weakness in your foot mechanics the most. As you can skate without laces / untied I'd suggest that, once rinks are open again, go for a skate this way. If you find your foot collapsing on you doing whatever move it is that causes the pain then this is a good guide as to where you need to do extra work to correct it.

Top of the ankle bone or the edge of the boot? Skating backwards shifts your weight forward in the skate and requires a lot more effort from the mid foot and ankle muscles to support you in the correct position. So you could be pronating slightly into the inside edge (top of the boot pain on the outside of the leg) or the heel is lifting more than you think it is and the ankle bone is hitting the top of the pocket (top of the ankle bone pain and can be on either side of the foot). For the former the first fix is to heat the top and roll it out, for the latter try a punch at the top of the pocket. Neither option address the root of the problem but they do provide a simple fix which is often all most players want.

I have the same setup, if the Step steel is straight before you put it in, it should remain straight.

Got a file? File the top of the hosel on the blade down so that it will slide into the shaft easier. Apply lots of heat to the shaft and just enough to heat the glue on the blade. If it still doesn't slide in you need to file down the hosel on the blade, not hard to do, just time consuming. You can file down the inside of the shaft but this weakens it to the point it may fail (depending on how much you file away), advantage of filing the shaft is you can then easily replace the blade.

If you have some tools at home it is relatively easy. 2 x C clamps, stones from the garden and some blocks of wood to form a frame. Here is a thread on it (as well as your own spot puncher), scan down to my post with pics so you can see what you need and it working: This is easy to set up, make sure you lace the first eyelets so the top of the boot keeps its shape. Measure up the width of the boot before you start and as you use the clamps so you can control the amount of the stretch. I don't use heat, just time. The downside is getting right into the toe cap area (if that is where you need to get to), the shape of the c clamps make this an issue. This is why boot stretchers use curved arms. A while ago I made another simple tool to get right into the toe cap area, you need a strap hinge, 2 round head bolts and a small length of hollow pipe (to fit over the bolts) cut to the required length (different sized boots require different lengths) and a ratchet spanner or ring spanner. pic here https://imgur.com/a/4APhUS9 You will also need something to pack the back of the strap hinge against the heel of the boot, this is to stop the device sliding back down the boot as you begin to open it up. I also packed the sides of the strap hinge to help keep it in place. Pretty self explanatory, cut the tube to length, slide the tube over the two bolts, fit into the boot and start winding away. I filed out the strap hinge for the bolt that has the nut on it so the bolt sat in the clamp and would not turn. This works really well, almost too well as I could see the toe cap starting to separate away from the boot. I subsequently made a clamp for the bottom of the toe cap to stop this from happening. Only downside with this is the further you get into the toe cap, the harder it is to wind the nut, you need patience, feel and time. If you just want to widen the forefoot area this would work really well. Edit - I left a washer out that sits between the nut and the tube.

Either push or tow a team mate and ask them to dig in.

Yes, that is one of the big changes you have to make, opening the feet and hips so that you can leverage the skate blade ie drive power into the ice and not have the skate blade move. Accelerating from a stop or slow speed is the other area where you have to turn the feet to the side, try pushing a goal across the rink (especially trying to explode of the mark) with laces untied, you will see what I mean 🙂

Where do your feet hurt?

I agree with the above, it sounds like the last they used to make your skates was not narrow enough in the heel. You are not the first to have this problem, there are others who have had issues with a narrow heel fit. Based on what you have said, you need to get rescanned then the boots remade with the fitter taking manual measurements of your heel AND noting the heel width eg same as Bauer A. Pressing the boot inwards at the base of the heel is not the answer, any pressure on it and it will eventually want to move to its original shape over time and this is accelerated if you have any bio mechanical issues such as pronation.

Primarily it's muscle memory that causes the heel lift. When you put skates on and skate, your body is trying to do the same thing as when you walk, push down with the forefoot and lift the heel is part of your normal stride. A simple test is leave your laces untied and really loose, now go for a skate and one of the first things you will notice is how the heel lifts in the pocket as you get to the end of your stride. So what holds the heel in place? It isn't the bottom 3 or 4 eyelets (the forefoot ones) or the top ones (around the leg), it's the eyelets that cover the front curve of the foot between the foot and the leg that lock your heel into the heel pocket and this is why you get lace bite if the boot does not have enough volume, the pressure of the lace downwards on the foot and the pressure of the foot lifting in the skate and coming up against the lace. The padding in the heel will help to a degree but the force of the lift is significant enough that no padding can ever hold the heel in place. It's possible that if you squeezed your foot into a size smaller boot (aka Paul Coffey) that the pressure lengthwise and the padding would be enough to lock the heel in place but do you really want to be in pain and limping for days after every skate? You can learn how to skate differently (aka no heel lift) if you can put the time in. Start dropping eyelets until you can eventually skate with laces untied, then train this way and you will find your skate mechanics change for a whole host of reasons, and for the better. Or buy skates that fit your foot - narrow heels and ankles means you are looking for Jetpeeds (2017 line) or Vapours or Rbk 50ks or Rbk 70ks or customs. If they are too narrow elsewhere get them stretched and or punched. If the volume is not sufficient use eyelet extenders or Rbk lacelocks. If you train laces untied you will learn that heel lock isn't that important, it's your stride mechanics that count. fwiw, I train with no laces and play games with only the bottom 3 (forefoot) eyelets laced up. Once you have learnt the lateral stability needed, the biggest change in your stride is when you accelerate or get on your toes, a lifetime of muscle training (eg walking and running) means you want to lift the heel and relearning how to accelerate and stride off the toes with no heel lift takes practice and time.

Did the eyelet extenders work for your lacebite?

The 50k and 70k had one of the narrowest heels in the retail market, when the 80k line came out they had widened the heel for a more general fit.

Yep, those shaped heel pockets are killers. What you also want to watch out for is, when you gently run your finger over the top of the bump, if there is any tingling or other odd sensations. This is an indication a nerve is damaged and or dying. It's most likely NOT bursitis which is what most docs and physios will think it is. An ultrasound may not show it but an MRI should or exploratory surgery where they cut a small slit and pull the skin back to have a look. I blew my achillies and got the bump removed at the same time but personally I wouldn't recommend it because of the cutting they have to do on the achillies to get to the bone (assuming your bump is located around the achillies region) and how much this can affect you when you return to skating. I think you are much better off getting the boot punched and protecting the bump long term and keeping the integrity of the foot, once the boot is punched then the pressure on the bump has gone and it shouldn't get any bigger. If you have nerve issues over the bump consider getting just the nerve removed.

Its the Bauer bump on your heel. Most likely a nerve is running across the top of the bump, every time you stride the heel is wanting to lift in the pocket, the top of the bump gets pressed against the heel pocket and the nerve gets squashed / stressed. I have the same, had one heel revised with surgery and the surgeon found a nerve that had died due to the pressure on it, said it was the colour of a piece of white string. I can't even put my AS1's on, after 2 minutes my heels hurt even just sitting in them. I punched out the heels in my Jetspeeds but have now gone back to a skate with very little heel pocket ie the back is straight up and down, one100's. If there is no pocket then there is nothing for the bump to hit (plus I skate lace free so my heel is not locked in). Whatever you decide to do, get the heel punched. It will save you a lot of grief further on down the road. If you get customs you should have a pocket for the bump but also ask to get the area above the bump pushed out so it can't hit the pocket. You can get the Jetspeeds punched but I never tried it with the AS1's, it should work ok.

2017 Jetspeed or Rbk 50k or Rbk 70k is where I would suggest you look. Note that the 2017 Jetspeed line is sized differently, if you are a 5.5 Bauer today you would be after a 4.5 Jetspeed or maybe a 4.0 Jetspeed depending on where your toes were in the 5.5 Bauer. But finding them still for sale outside of eBay / Sideline swap etc will be hard (I saw some from Latvia, lol). HockeyMonkey have Jetpseed 300 on clearance which is the next model down but a lot of features from the top model. And if you ever decide to go for customs make sure you go in with your eyes wide open and forearmed with as much knowledge as you can gather on how the process works and support everything with manual measurements. I know of a number of players who have tried to get narrow ankle / wider forefoot junior skates (True / Bauer / CCM) and have not had great results. One thing in your favour is that you fit junior so you can get a hell of skate for a reasonable price compared to senior sized pricing.

The greatsave extenders should work well for that spot. You have a lot of localised inflammation around the tendon, lace bite affects everyone in different ways. For example I had no swelling and very little redness on the skin but all I had to do was look at a pair of skates and the pain started.

use imgur, post the pic there then copy the link and paste it here. The 3 / 4 / 5 eyelet is where the curve is in the boot, I don't know how well a greatsaves extender will work in that area, it should be ok. I prefer singles or flexible doubles when fitting extenders in the curve so they will flex to the shape of the boot and foot. Here is an example of singles fitted that another member made: Another option is Reebok lacelocks, you can still find them in some shops.

Out of interest, what was recommended for you?

Not so. If the skates fit ok everywhere else and he can tolerate the length, lace extenders are a viable option so he can use them. Be it a 1X or any other brand, this applies to any skate which is why they are such a good option.

If you are laced up and the toes are touching firmly in a new boot then it depends. How firmly? Do you like your toes touching or very close to the toe cap? If the answer is firm and no then I don't think the length is right. When the heel and ankle lining compresses with use you will get another 1mm - 2mm in length. That may just take your toes off the toe cap, it might not. What you think is firm and what I think is firm could be 2 very different things.

Try this, remove your laces from the skate. Now put the skate on, the length might feel to short (toes brushing toe cap firmly) because there are no laces to pull your heel back into the heel pocket. You are not checking for length with this, you are seeing if you can wear them comfortably for width. If your feet still hurt after 5 - 10 minutes of wearing the skate with the laces out then they are definitely too narrow for you. A stretch might be able to fix it, it depends on where the narrowness is - if it is tight all over then you are better off going up 1/2 a size to see if that fixes it or try a Nexus in that size.

The length will improve, it's all the padding in the heel area and once it compresses a little and your heel settles into the pocket your toes will move back from the toe box. It sounds as if 7.5 is the right length. As to the rest of your foot, try this, put the skates on, don't tie them up. Do they hurt 15 minutes later? If not then it's a width issue, they are still to narrow for you when tied up. Not all is lost, you can do a couple of things. Wait till the shop opens then ask them to stretch the boot for width. Or bake them again, either at home or at the shop but this time pad the sides of your foot with something like 3mm neoprene rubber strips or gel pad strips. this will force the boot a little wider at bake time, then you remove the strips and the fit will be looser in those areas.