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Vet88
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Everything posted by Vet88
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Length wise, I have found you need to go up 1/2 a size in alkali ie an 8.5 in a vapour is a 9 in an Alkali. But it all depends on how you like your fit and how the vapour boot fits you. What is "too small" - length, width, volume?
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If you want to keep the steps then you need to take the 2 blades (Makos and steps) to a sharpener who can reprofile the steps to the mako shape. It doesn't have to be exact but the general profile of the mako blade needs to be followed. The mid point will most likely be a little different and the overall height will be lower (because of the amount of steel that may be ground off the steps) but at least they will be close enough to the mako steels that you will not notice much difference. Or stay with them and keep practicing. If you still don't like them after 20 hours of decent rink time then get them changed or swapped out.
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It all depends on you. Some players can adjust quickly to different profiles and setups, others can't. In general I have found that the better the skater you are, the less you worry about the setup and the more tolerance you have for changes. You can get the step blade reprofiled to the original mako blade but, looking at the 2 blades you have, you are going to lose a chunk of steel from the step blade in getting this done. At this point you have nothing to lose. Try a shallower hollow, give it a few weeks of practice and if you still don't like it then either swap back to the originals and sell the steps or get the steps reprofiled.
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The shop should take very little off with the 1st sharpening, in theory the edges should be clean, unnicked and relatively true so all they need to do is to grind the hollow deep enough for the edge to set. I agree with MTHockeydad, the difference is very noticeable. The black steel is much flatter thru various sections of the blade, ergo more blade on ice and hence the chatter in the stop and a different feel in turns. I can't comment on the size. I always get them sent unsharpened, this way I can be sure they are new / unused and my own sharpener gets first dibs at them.
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I would think it's 2 possible reasons, the edge is sharper / deeper than you had on the stock blades or the profile is different. You can check the latter by comparing them side by side, if you are getting chatter in stopping on a blade swap and the edge is similar it's normally because a different profile is putting more heel (ergo more steel) on the ice as you stop. and yes, I agree about the snow, mine always seem to be covered in ice but I'll happily take that over the stock steel that came with my grafs.
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Sharpening: Blade Hollow and the Relationship to Body Weight
Vet88 replied to Gretsch's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
For what it is worth, I was talking to a guy from Maximum Edge and he said very few NHL players are on anything less than 1/2". Most are on 3/4" to 1", that kind of validates the theory that heavier skilled skaters are on a shallow hollow. And most are on a combo radius.- 47 replies
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somewhere earlier in the thread I believe Justin says he has converted a pair to ice. I know I have read somewhere of an ice conversion.
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I still have my old CA9's and put them side by side with the MAX. I admit it is hard to measure the internal heel area without actual design drawings but from the an outside perspective, the heel area of the CA9 is much narrower than the MAX. Measuring the back of the heel with calipers 1 1/2" up from the sole of the boot, CA9's measure 63mm, MAX's measure 72mm across the heel. Even just putting the 2 boots side by side, looking at the back and from the bottom of the skates, the MAX is visibly thicker through the heel area, especially the area between the ankle bone and the sole. Whilst the sole may have remained the same, the MAX flares outward a lot more from the sole than the CA9 and this creates the extra space in the heel area. I'm considering baking the skates again, put the skates on and lie on the floor and have someone stand on the heel area on the inside of the boot to compress the area under the ankle bone against my foot. I don't know if this will work and if it does move inwards, how long the boot would stay in this position? If you have any other suggestions I'd be keen to give it a go.
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I found quite a difference between the CA9 and the Max and Max+ skates for heel size. I have narrow heels and In CA9's the lock was ok, in the Max and Max+ the heel pocket is now noticeably wider.
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You will get around 1mm of space as the heel settles back into the pocket.
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If your toes are touching the toe cap when new, after 4 or 5 skates your heel will settle back into the pocket and your toes should move back by about 1mm. I don't know if that will give you enough clearance, I doubt it based on the Bauer size you skate in. In my experience Alkali run smaller than other skates and you generally need to buy a 1/2 size up, Bauer 8 equals Alkali 8.5.
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My feet are 25.5cm long and I fit Alakali 6.5 perfectly,. Ergo 26cm long feet will fit Alkali 7.5 for length but you may get into a 7 depending on how you like your fit and how you have measured your foot for length..
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At 27cm I'd say you were a perfect fit for 8.5 but you may not like your toes just short of feathering the toe cap. If you like a little more room then you would look at a 9. If you were to try an 8.5 in a lhs I'd say your toes would press lightly against the toe cap, after a bake and you have skated in them 4 or 5 times the heel padding will settle and your toes will move off the toe cap by about 1mm.
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It depends on how you like your length fit and how you measure your foot length. This is why for a length test, you do it with laces undone and tongue out so any restrictions from the width do not interfere with working out your ideal length. You can get a snug fit feeling with laces done up even though the boot might be slightly longer than what might be considered a perfect length. I'm not saying this is the case for WickedAussie but I have come across this many times before. At 26.5cm you would be a borderline 8. Length fit is a personal choice and my fit is for one that is as close to toes brushing the toe cap as possible with the laces done up. To me, this is the perfect fit for length. As to measuring your foot, piece of paper on the floor placed against a wall, heel against the wall on the paper, mark the end of longest toe (straight down) then measure from papers edge to the mark. Releap doesn't give a foot length which would help.
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I would say you need an 8. I fit a 7 in the old inline mission range and a 6 in an ice skate (except graf or vapour ranges which is a 6.5). I fit a 6.5 in a ca9 and rpd max. Length is perfect, my toes are just off the toe cap by around 1mm. Foot length is 25.5cm's. Generally 1cm up is 1 size up so a 27cm foot could fit a size 8 but it depends on how you like the fit and how you have measured your foot length, you may be better off in 8.5.
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Saw the max+ this weekend on an Alkali sponsored player, really nice looking boot. Is the heel pocket the same size (width wise) between the max and the max+?
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After about a month of skating, the heel compressed about 2mm's which backed my toes off the toe box by that amount. Perfect fit. The heel didn't start slipping on me until after about 15 months of use and I ended up using the c-clamp and heat plus some 2mm ezyfit booties to fix it. However another issue arose with the chassis so I retired them (after 18 months of hard use) and moved to RPD max :)
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The toe issue does get better as the heel lining compresses with use. The CA9 doesn't have a lot of volume, I lived with lace bite in them the entire time I had them. Inside out lacing helps but as they get more worn in it gets worse until you implement something permanent like a lace bite gel pad or similar, different tongue or a forsberg pad (this is simple and easy to make and the ultimate stop to lace bite). The heel lock was another weakness (imho) in this skate, try spot heating the rear quarter and use a c-clamp to clamp underneath the ankle bones. This will give you more grip around the lower ankle area and it helped stop my heel from slipping.
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Really nice... Please post some pics, I'm really interested in this.
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You can build your own half donuts. Use closed cell neoprene foam, cut it into a C shape that fits around the bottom of your ankle bone, I always taped them to the inside of my ankle. Try one layer first, if that does not do the trick then try 2 layers. When I used multiple layers the next layer up was always slightly smaller in shape than the layer below so it does not create uneven pressure points on the ankle. Downside is you have to tape your foot up every game and over time it will change the shape of the inside of the boot where it presses against the boot liner. You could also try 2mm thick ezifit booties. And last but not least, you could shape the boot more to your foot shape. Use a heat gun to soften up the rear quarter then use c-clamps to narrow the boot in the area under the ankles. You want the boot to move around 1/4' inwards each side. Any bad pressure points you can spot heat the area and then push it out with either your foot or use your thumb. Note, I used a 76mm wheel lodged into the pockets where my ankles would be to hold the top of the boot in it's current shape, the idea here is to get the bottom of the boot to grip your ankle better and stop your ankle from shifting.
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Nice. Did you make the extensions yourself or purchase them? Are they riveted in place using copper or brass rivets?
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I'd say that if you are doubling up in socks the skates are too big for you, either in length or width or both.
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There are plenty of posts on sizing for length - laces and tongue pulled right out, foot in, toes feathering the toe cap, if you can slide a pencil down the back of your heel the boots are too big by at least 1/2 a size. Ideal gap is 1mm - 2mm.
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Also depends if you are measuring a D or a EE as they can be different lengths even though they are the same size ie 8EE is longer than a 8D. For one reason or another I consider an Alkali to be a D when measuring for length as they don't have a range of widths. So a 9EE in Bauer would be close to a 10 Alkali.
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If you can fit a screw driver down the back of your heel I'd be buying the same size, 11.5. And if you change back to Bauer / Mission etc I'd be looking at getting 11's. As for what model, you do pay for what you get and a lot depends on your skating style. I could point you to a guy who weighs 220 and can play in anything (he used Mission soldiers for many years) because he has great balance and positioning over the skates. Then again I can point you to another guy in the same team who weighs 190 and destroys skates in a few months (CA9's, T10's, RX60's to name a few) because he puts a lot of pressure on the inside of his skates due to his skating style. All I can say is buy what you can afford, if it is online a lot of places will accept a return and replacement as long as they are not used or baked (there may be a restocking fee).
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