cougarscaptain87

I enjoyed doing my first review last night and have some time tonight so I'm going to cover my current skates, 2017 CCM Super Tacks with the stock speed blade 4.0 holder and speed blade black steel. I have them in size 9EE, I'm 28 years old 6'2" and 190 lbs. I play D league right now, and coach 3-4 days a week, I have been using these skates for the last 10 months. I've had a wide array of issues finding skates that fit, my favorite skates of all time were the original Reebok 9K PUMP I had those in size 9E and they fit me perfect, in my opinion. My most recent skate before the Super Tacks was Nexus 8000 in size 8.5D but that skate did not fit me well, it was too short in length, the heel was too wide, and the depth didn't match the shape of my foot at all. I'd describe my foot as a wider than average forefoot, average heel, deeper than average heel to top of foot depth, with average to below average forefoot and toe volume. I have had custom skates made, Nike Bauer Supreme One95 way back in the day and they were 9EA and 9.25EA with the next size quarter package to increase volume and depth, those skates fit great but honestly did not take over as my favorite skates from my old trusty 9ks. Fit --- 9/10 --- I'd describe the fit of the EE width version of the boot as a mid to wide forefoot, standard heel, and slightly above average depth. For the needs of my feet with the possibilities at retail this seemed to fit my foot better than the Supreme line, Ribcore, Jetspeed, and obviously Vapor line. My foot barely passes the pencil test in these, but the tongue is fairly low profile and I'm able to tie them loosely where needed to adjust the depth and fit. The full 360 composite boot molds to bumps that are on the sides of each of my feet, as well as wrap around my ankle to provide a custom like fit out of a retail boot. These skates come with CCM custom insoles designed to match your arch, but I have opted to use the thin stock insoles to add as much volume as possible and I've been very happy with them. I'd say a touch more comfortable foam in the "comfort pad" high ankle padding on top of the collar of the boot would help immensely for coaches, refs etc. When I have my shin pads on I do not notice any soreness or bruising but after 3-4 hours of coaching or skating with my kids with no gear my ankles where they make contact with those pads is sore and or bruised depending on how hard I'm skating. Blade/Holder --- 6/10 --- This is my least favorite part of the skate, my Nexus skates had the Tuuk light speed edge holder with the fusion steel, and I really liked the feel of the holder and steel and the ability to swap blades if needed quickly. The SB 4.0 has a mild forward pitch, and feels good under your feet, you can get low and not fear your boot causing you to loose contact with your edge and slip on cross overs, but beyond that I'm not a fan. The steel/bolt system has had a click in it since day one, my older son skates on Jetspeeds and his has the same click in both pairs he has so it seems to be common, all common sense fixes for the click do not accomplish anything. It should be noted a bolt has never come out, and the steel seems to be in there solid but for $900 I'm not looking for any clicking. The speed blade black steel is awful, it can not be traditionally honed and I think that contributed to the quickness that you loose or roll edges. I skate at a traditional 9/16" ROH and on my fusion steel I could get 8-10 hours before I needed a sharpen, on my speed blade black I'm lucky to get 4-5 hours without needing a trip to get a new set of edges put on, and I take very good care of my equipment. The speed blade 4.0 holder is miles beyond the old Epro holder so I'm not going to call it a total fail but considering what Tuuk is doing I think CCM could do better in this aspect of the skate. Weight/Protection --- 9/10 --- These skates are very light, I'm not sure on the actual weight and I'd say top of the line Vapor, and Jetspeeds feel a hair lighter but for the construction of the skates and the protection they provide I would say these are some of the best skates available today, if they fit your foot profile. I did take one shot off the top of my left foot near the toecap but off the tongue where it connects to the boot that resulted in a broken metatarsal shaft (long skinny bone in the top of your foot) I was supposed to be off the ice for 6-8 weeks, however I was back coaching the next day, the stiffness of the boot and the support it provided made skating more comfortable than walking! This was a freak accident and would have happened with most skates, I have never considered additional foot protection, but if I had this could have been avoided. Durability --- 9/10 --- If you take a skate blade directly to the carbon on the quarters of the skate, you're going to loose a bit of carbon material with the impact. Beyond that I have had zero issues; some paint and logos have worn off but I have no cracking, zero eyelets or rivets loosening or corroding, no tenon guard damage, no holder cracking or shifting, zero creasing, the felt on the tongue is in great shape beyond some staining from the red on my APX2 shin pads, and the skates have absolutely zero breakdown or signs of needing replacing any time soon, they still look mostly new. Intangibles I enjoy the design of the skate, for some reason I like yellow so I don't mind the bright yellow accents but I know it's not for everyone. Less yellow, maybe a black liner but keep yellow logos etc would give the boot a more stealth appearance, and possibly appeal to even more perspective buyers. The skate seems as if they took their time to develop this skate before it was released, I tried on the 2016 Tacks and those we're no good for me. The super and ultra tack skates are a complete 180 from that, these are close to the foot fit and I'd imagine with the different width profiles there is a decent amount of the skating population this boot could work for, if you are in the market for a new composite boot and like the holder or don't mind swapping it at purchase or in the future I'd put the Super Tacks on your radar and get them on your feet to decide for yourself if they're your next new skates! Conclusion Boot Overall Score - 27/30 - 90% A- I'd say this is fair, I really enjoy the skates and with a few very minor tweaks it would be a perfect skate. I know they have been working on the next iteration of this model of skate, I'm very excited to see what improvements they have made to push their score up to an A+ The holder is really the downside to the skate, for $900 I and most people expect things to be perfect, I haven't changed the holder because I have steel left on there but once I need new steel if I'm still in these skates I'm going to have Light Speed Edge installed to really tie together the skate and holder to create the perfect (in my opinion) combo.

I haven't reviewed anything here but I'd like to contribute more and I tend to review a lot of things in general so I figured this is the next logical step, today I'm going to go over my experience with the first generation TRUE X CORE 9 stick, I had/have 2 of these in right handed, 85 flex MC (P88) as far as I know they all come with a light grip and I used it at full retail length. I'm 28 years old, 6'2" and about 190lbs right now. I played mid to high level open/travel inline until I was 20-21, also played ice through high school and a couple years of beer league and drop in from 18-20 but I haven't been on a team in nearly a decade. I play center in some chippy D league in Troy, MI Friday nights and I'm on the ice 3-4 days a week coaching my kids programs. When I play I tend to take face offs, chase the puck and set up other people to attempt to score, if i shoot it is a wrist or snap shot 95% of the time, nearly always within 20 feet unless I'm trying to get it on net and get in a better spot. I will take the occasional slap shot just to make sure I still have it but I don't think I've scored on a slap shot since high school. I have 2 of the sticks as mentioned before, but I do not rotate them the stick being reviewed has been used day in and day out for roughly six months, it just broke last week and the other stick was brand new until the first one broke. Blade ---9/10--- The blade is what drew me to this stick, my favorite stick of all time is the Bauer Vapor XX and the feel on the blade with the minimal graphics had similar properties of the XCORE 9. The feel of the XCORE blade is awesome, catching passes is effortless forehand or backhand. TRUE claims it spins the puck a bit more and I can't tell for sure but I'd say my XCORE 9 shoots harder and more consistently than my Warrior HD1 and CCM Ribcore Reckoner. I will say that I have a Warrior QRL that releases the puck a bit faster, but it has a p91 so the open nature may contribute to the quicker release and elevation of the puck, overall I prefer the XCORE 9 out of my collection of sticks, it's the only modern stick that I have/had a pair of. I will say if it's possible for TRUE to fully enclose the insert with composite in the blade I'd think durability would be better, but the blade did not break or fail at any point. There was chipping near the exposed edges of the insert, and the insert seemed loose at times but it never came out of the stick and did not effect performance at all. Shaft/Flex ---9/10--- The size and shape of shaft is somewhat standard in my opinion on a senior stick, but this stick feels good in my hand I feel as it could be a hair bigger but I have long hands so this size would probably fit the majority better than something larger. It has a slight concave on the side walls and light grip coating to keep your hand in place. Flex is subjective but I think TRUE 85 flex plays a touch softer than Warrior, CCM, and Bauer at comparable lengths. It is a mid kick stick for sure, not the fastest release but I prefer the feel of something mid kick, low kick tends to feel a lot stiffer to me and less forgiving. Mid kick seems to react to your hands and how you apply pressure without making every shot lightning quick, fast is good but being able to deceive is also good. I prefer clear or tactile grip versus sticky grip coating but the grip on here is mild, it wears off over time so by time this one broke the grip effect was minimal but I did find myself liking it more the less the grip was felt. Stick handling/receiving passes ---10/10--- Anyone at this past winter-fest 2017 knows that my stick handling is atrocious. I have zero deception and my ability to decide on a move to make in a short amount of time handcuffs me and usually results in a low percentage shot, a quick dump or pass off to someone else, or my favorite getting stripped of the puck. I can catch a pass and move into the zone, maybe even get past a flat footed defender or someone looking down as I go by but beyond that my ability to rate the stick handling properties of this stick and or pattern are nearly non existent. Playing D league and coaching younger kids results in a lot of passes not where they are supposed to be and the softness of the XCORE blade allows me to reel in nearly anything I get my stick on, the puck sticks to this blade and it makes me look like a much better player than I am, thanks TRUE! Shooting ---10/10--- As mentioned before, I feel this blade or combo of shaft and blade do seem to keep my shots flatter, more consistent, and harder. The release is not as fast as my Warrior QRL or CCM Ribcore Reckoner, but my shots are more accurate and where I want them to be with the TRUE resulting in more goals than I typically score! I do take the kids to sticks and pucks which allows me to bomb away some slap shots, the mid kick with a full load of almost 200 lbs feels awesome. You feel the shaft recoil and the blade whip into the puck, causing a catapult effect sending flat seeds in or near the net, again I feel as if my abilities are amplified by the construction of the stick and how it compliments my style of play. Snap and wrist shots off the heel not only feel great with the insert, but again stay flat and typically go right where I'd like them to be. The mild MC allows me to keep all styles of shots low if needed, but I can still get the puck up if necessary. I do miss the p91 near the crease if i really need to get something up quick but the older I get the less I'm digging in front of the net and the increased backhand shooting and passing ability with the p88 pattern keeps me satisfied. Weight and balance ---8/10--- According to what I've read, this stick weighs in around 425 grams, some sticks weigh less for sure but anything sub 450 and I think that is light weight and the best feeling sticks on the market. The insert in the blade seems to make the balance on this stick a touch blade heavy, but that goes along with a wood like feel so I didn't mind the distribution of weight at all. I think a clear version could potentially save 10-15 grams and allow it to compete with the lightest sticks on the market but I do not think they should sacrifice any durability to save any more weight than they already have, the weight and balance is great to me but a few teammates noted the blade heavy feel upon first inspection. Durability ---9/10--- Six months of consistent use and I am happy! Two months in after a chippy game and I noticed I was missing a good chunk of multiple layers of carbon on the underside of the shaft near the blade. On first inspection I thought the stick was doomed, but I'm on a kick of using everything until I can't use it anymore so I vowed to use it until it broke. When the stick finally broke it broke exactly in the middle of the shaft, I'd imagine at the engineered kick point but I can't say for sure. The blade and neck/hosel of the blade and shaft has some serious denting, which produced some chipping and splitting but the blade still feels stiff and doesn't twist or compress under pressure even after six months of use. The graphics stayed on considerably well, most of the blue on the underside of the shaft is intact as well. The grip coating is visible peeling from the corners of the shafts but taking face offs and getting hacked and whacked I expect some wear and tear and I'd consider this totally normal, not a defect. Intangibles Nothing that effects performance or value but I do really like the design of the stick, minimal paint with toned down color pallet and exposed carbon is a preferred look for myself personally. I also like that not everyone has a TRUE, for some reason I like to try something you don't see every day. I know on here it's a popular brand but seeing if something is better than CCM, Warrior, Bauer, etc. is exciting to me, I own a small business and while I know TRUE is far from a small business I'd say they're an underdog among the household brands and I like to think we stick together when we can. Conclusion ---55/60--- 92% A- back in school! I really like this stick, I am happy that I have another on back up and I strongly suggest if you can find one (they're on sale!) you should grab 1 or 3 in true modsquad fashion. I can't find a reason for you to not like it, I know some people prefer a stiff blade and a low kick, you may not enjoy this stick the way I did, but that is exactly why TRUE also has the A series for those who prefer a low kick fly off the blade type stick, it seems to me that TRUE is trying to cater to everyone without trying to force a one size fits all mentality. If buttery soft feel, slick graphics, and flat accurate shots are your thing this may be the stick for you!

I didn't see it posted do we know when we can get speed plates on their own? Looking to add those to my nexus 8000 the stock insole slides a bit i think the speed plate will eliminate that

a full grown adult snapped a stick designed for a kid 100lbs or less. that doesn't prove a durability issue, that proves an intelligence issue with the rep.

Custom One95 Boot. Mission MG Vanguard Frame. Labeda Fuzion Wheels. Bones Super Swiss 6 Ball Bearings.

i look on phew now and then, and i still have no idea what half that shit means, and im only 19. guess it never caught on with michigan or i missed the boat on the new terms

i guess im the minority here with jr, i don't mind the white stitching either. maybe i don't mind it on my red pair because there is white on the glove by my black purple pair have no white besides the stitching and it doesn't bother me at all, a little contrast never killed anyone.

thats what i did, BUT the day the order was submitted warrior called me, and i asked them to doulbe check the specs. they told me orange, i said please change it to red. yes sir, order is edited and they will be shipped on ... Then they showed up like this. Not too sure whats going to happen.

i didnt give them 500 buck to red sharpie something.

Warrior decided that I wanted orange numbers on my red gloves. I have to call them tomorrow to see what they are going to do to fix that.

i thought jr decided to get "Black Velvet" on this pair?

both pairs of my custom warriors have been shipped and delivered but fuckin peranis didnt call me so im sure they are hiding somewhere in the back of the store, great. specifically why i PAID for them to ship them to me, but guess that was too much to ask for. Ill post pics when I finally get em

jesus, goin all out on the poor staff at warrior. ive got 2 pairs coming to me in the first 2 weeks of march, im excited now i keep seeing everyone else.

worth double price? probally not. but if your gonna be on msh and show em off, you gotta get the mag! i buy into all the bullshit marketing, so honestly i havent skated on an aluminum frame in about 5 years. but ive mounted plenty for freiends and they work fine.

me and kovy are gonna have the same skates, my 9k just arent deep enough so im goin custom route for one95s to get a boot that fits with that frame.

from the custom skate thread

just got some 08 white 9ks mounted on my MG vanguards, ill post pics when im back in town to pick them up.

it was a ceos car, thats why the price was low. i bought it for myself and i love it, much better traction then my 08 300 awd. and much much nicer. very happy with my purchase.

anyone driving an 08 sts awd? i am lookin at trading in my 300, and getting one. i found one with 5200 miles on it for 30000 off the sticker. hows the traction on snow and all that jazz? i know an awd is and awd but i saw a sts or cts awd struggeling bad with the snow this weekend and i dont know if it was drivers error or lack of taction. anything i should be aware of? thanks if anyone has any input for me

what size is the skate? holder looks too small, and appears to be mounted too far forward. they feel alright when your skating on them?

whats up with the rivets going through outsole only? infront of the chassis and appears to be one behind the chassis on the heel. trying to duplicate what TOUR does on their skates? hopin to increase outsole rigidy?

oh man rick, you run out of tacks? i always counted on you to bring the most tack/sprung set ups on the website and now youve steped into 2008? haha just messing with you, thoes look solid.

yeah, navy blue with the "wood" on the forehand and backhand. the heel and bottom of the blade was basically cardboard and would blow out in about a week. keep in mind i had these in like pee wee or bantam and i wasnt quite as strong as i am now, couldnt even imagine what would happen if i used one now. and they were about 50 a pop. then the lhs here was closing them out for like 25, bought a few and blew them all out just as fast. terrible terrible blade.

tps genesis blades? not sure on how they sold but there definatly isnt anything that terrible out there right now.