Tondog

Below is the message I got from Bauer about my custom stick order: Dear Valued Customer Thank you for purchasing a MYBAUER custom stick. We are unfortunately experiencing unforeseen delays. The imposed government shutdown in China has affected much of the world, and consequently, parts of our Supply Chain. This situation is unfortunate and out of our control. We have been advised that the shutdown will be prolonged until at least February 17th. This situation is fluid and we are doing everything possible to mitigate disruption to the supply of custom sticks. We appreciate that this is an important part of the season. Please know that the BAUER team is taking all the steps it can to minimize impact to players. We will continue to provide you with updates as new information becomes available. Our regular delivery expectation on custom sticks is 35 days from the date your order is placed however, at this point, the information available to us is that your expected delivery date will be delayed by an estimated 5 weeks. We apologize for this inconvenience and encourage you to reach out to our Customer Support group, should you have any questions or concerns regarding your order. We can be reached at 1-833-897-9942 or by emailing dtc@bauer.com. We appreciate your understanding and we will continue to update you with any changes concerning your delivery time frame. Bauer Hockey

Serendipity for me! I went with CCM's for the first time in 30 years and LOVE the new holder.

The problem with ALL of the helmets with this type foam is that the foam eventually hardens and becomes useless as protection. My old CCM's from the 80's are rock hard inside.

Yep. Got those in both my pairs and immediately chucked them into the bin both times. I went with the Superfeet carbons.

They're probably just the regular new CCM footbeds with the arch insert thingys?

Before you grind off all of your steel trying to find the sweet spot, look at your boot. I have just recently had the experience of switching to an entirely new brand (CCM from Bauer) and had things like the top lace holes moved out 1/4" in addition to getting a larger volume boot. The point is, I have a LOT more ability to bend and get my knee over the toes on the skate a LOT more than I was used to with my last Bauers. I feel like I have gain my toe AND heel back from getting that ankle flex back in which made my agility a lot better. The Bauer you changed to is an entirely different fit animal from what you had in those 3000's from the 90's and you have gone from a really pliable skate to a literally casted foot. If you don't add those abilities to move your foot like you used to, you're going to be catching both toe and heel, especially while crossing over. Total pain the ass but I'd do some experimenting with the boot flex, and how your foot is now restricted by the new boot first.

I'd like to know who that is in case I am wasting my money on something?

I'm not sure the scan wasn't good but they built the front ends too narrow and so I was getting significant pinch across the balls of the feet.

I've been waiting on CCM to give the go ahead to get re-scanned for my FT2's since July. Now the excuse is that the factory is shut down for a month in September or something and no one would be available to process a new pair anyway.

Loved that stick!

Yeah I removed those too. What I'm really wondering is what they told you regarding your options for either a re-scan, or a new pair of boots? Did they even address that as an option?

What options are they offering you?

Have they replied to you at all about any re-working as of yet?

My thought was to at least have the clear scanning platform against something solid so that you could push down a little more with the fronts of your feet at least, but then that gets in the way of the person doing the scan being able to get the front and bottoms of the foot. I think the bottom part is all pretty irrelevant anyway since they don't do anything different than the regular boot bottom that way.

I don't recall if that was an option or not since it wasn't anything I needed.

Well I have them and I would have to say that the process is a very good one with a few lessons we learned along the way. I drove only a couple of hours to a store that had the 3D scanner so that I could get what I feel like would be almost a cast for a hockey boot. It pretty much works as advertised and the boots come out of the box looking just like an old pair of combat boots I had been to Afghanistan in when you look down at the shape. No question about these being molds of your foot! I did the FT2's with the clarino liner, pro thick tongue, and oversized toe caps. Fit and finish is the finest I've seen on a hockey skate and everything lines up perfectly. First impression when slipping them on was them feeling a little too snug across the ball of my foot area. I believe this could be eliminated by carefully manipulating the scanning process by pressing your feet down a little more than you might think to mimic standing with the weight on your feet more. I did the scan bare footed and I might recommend doing it with a thin sock on if you don't want to fret about them being snug from the outset. The combination of a sock, and pressing down a little more during the scan with the front foot area will give you a fit that will not require baking the skate at all right out of the box. As mine were, the baking spread it out a little to be comfortable. One of the slight details that you will not be able to deviate very far from will be the insoles. The cheap black ones that come with just to cover the rivets fits well and I used it to trim the CCM Orthomoves that come with the skate. ANY extra material there will result in creating a wierd feeling in your boot until it is trimmed almost perfectly. As soon as I did that, it fell right in and the feel was back to the way it should be. One thing I wasn't really used to was being able to over tighten the skate to the point that it cramped my foot. I loosened and re-tied them for a perfect feel again. The boot itself is incredible and I would highly recommend the process if you have weird feet like I do.

...which is exactly what I was saying. Bauer does NOT do this, and CCM does. That's how I ended up doing CCM's this time around.

I was wanting a heat mold off of my foot last and the "Fit Expert" on the phone said that they do not do it that way, and that they were indeed aware of CCM's molding over a last. It sounded like they had a little control over it, but not all in terms of making a 3D mold of your digits they scanned and then using that as a boot mold. Given that my last customs from them were the MX3's, and they actually used the punches to widen the area around the ball in my foot, I presume they just don't do fully heat molded boots.

Just did a fit and ordered the custom FT2's today. I've always been a Bauer skater but had some serious reservations about whether or not Bauer was really doing the heat mold off of a last of your foot dimensions after talking with the fit people on the phone. Now that custom dimensions are being used, there won't be such thing as a "Bauer vs. CCM" foot like used to be so cut and dry. I looked over the new Vapor's coming out in June/July, and they looked like they had a nice skate coming there, but my last Bauer customs were definitely NOT made from my foot dimensions, and they did more of a "close enough" fit based on old school measuring tape methods that must not have translated very well. Both pairs ended up with considerable more negative space over time that I could only attribute to inner skate lining components breaking down. I should have them in about a month I guess.

Use away!

Alright folks. I've skated with them 5 times since I posted last and it is very correct that what you might take as "too snug" while just testing them out at home becomes just right on the ice. It did in my case for sure. I used all three of the pads that were provided for my Bauer MX3's and they now feel just right. I use the thinnest sock that Bauer makes just because I hate the skank factor that goes along with skating barefoot. My 8 year old daughter is a figure skater and she's convinced that you cannot skate with socks on. How smelly could any 8 year old's skates get right?! Imagine a swamp full of corpses straight from the Walking Dead set and you'll be close. Whatever. Performance claims would not be fair coming from me because I'm a 44 year old who has played for 30 years on and off. My best days are long since gone in terms of skating but it is definitely a more comfortable feel inside the boot and I think I feel a little less foot fatigue after an hour of chasing 20 somethings around the puck. For as little as they cost, these are a no brainer to try out. I have custom Bauers now which could not fit my feet any better but there is nothing to do up in the toe cap area beyond adding these. Once that is done, that is is good as it is ever going to get for your feet beyond staying home and watching hockey in front of the fire while sipping cognac. Do your feet a favor, go through your wife's coat pockets hanging in the closet because there is ALWAYS at least $30 bones in cash stuffed in those coats she hasn't worn in years.

I have them in but am a little wary about just how "snug" that they should be to be optimal. I have 10.5 EEE Bauers (customs) and have all three of the available shims in. Just sitting in them, the feet can get a little numb in the toe area, but the ball (behind the big toe) is snug and doesn't have any vertical room. I should think this is the objective? I can still wiggle my toes just fine. Just right?

Nu Finish car wax would work exactly the same way. The language that they used in the video discribed car wax.

I think JR announced his last custom work on here just a month or so ago?

I'd really like to understand how much "glide" is gained with the FBV cut under normal game conditions? I've used both and can't say that I can exactly glide end to end with one push off, nor can I say that I feel any less gassed from all that gliding during a game. Maybe I'll try different sharpenings on either feet and see which one drags more?