sdcopp

Feeling really blessed today living in Colorado Springs. The community has really come together after having so many people lose homes here in the wildfire last week. I was able to provide some kid items and money for a co-worker who has lost his home which has really made it a good day. Anyone who works in emergency services, thank you for everything you do to keep your communities safe

Alkali CA9 size 8.5 – 6 mos usage Reviewer intro/specs/previous skates used: 5’10” 210lbs 32 yrs old, experienced skater playing in intermediate to advanced level leagues and club teams. Med-High volume foot, Avg-Narrow heel, Wide Forefoot. Alkali CA9, Mission T9, Revision Vanquish, Mission Commander SE, Mission Boss Black Fit: Wide forefoot, narrow heel, med-high volume. The amount of change you can get through baking the skates really opens up the fit of them for a lot of different types of feet -10/10 Chassis/Wheels/Bearings: All 80 magnesium chassis/ Addictions/ Alkali swiss. I stated in my LTR of these skates that the all 80 was nothing innovative, but there’s nothing wrong with it either. Good solid mag chassis. I’m not a fan of Addiction wheels, but there’s nothing wrong with them on a top tier skate, just not my thing. The bearings on these are actually quite good as I tend to bust stock branded “swiss” bearings, but these are rolling strong and smooth - 9/10 (-1 for wheel preferences and having to purchase two sets of other branded wheels, would be 10/10 for most) Weight/Protection: weight is on par with other top offerings, so not a standout in this regard but not bricks either. Protection on these is top notch, which I was pleasantly surprised by since the quarters run a little thinner in the materials than a more standard/traditional built skate. - 10/10 Durability: Durability on the skates has been top notch, no real signs of wear and tear in spite of some decent shots and whacks against the skates - 10/10 Intangibles: “Those look sick” is one of the more repeated things I’ve heard. They have a definite signature look to them, and after having seen next yrs Mission catalogue will be even more of the toned down, slick look vs the very flashy look of the other products on the market. - 10/10 Conclusion: Alkali has come out swinging with the new products and there’s no reason they won’t be a top contender for years to come if this product launch is any indicator for what’s to come. My personal subjective score on these is a 9/10 because I really didn’t end up enjoying the Addictions and had to go through Rink Rat and ultimately to Revision to find wheels I felt good on, but objectively these are a 10/10 in terms of quality and value

I have somebody totally inept at doing their job correctly which in turn is robbing me of over $3000 in take home commissions for the quarter.

Revision Vanquish size 8.5 – 1yr usage Reviewer intro/specs/previous skates used: 5’10” 210lbs 31 yrs old, experienced skater playing in intermediate to advanced level leagues and club teams. Med-High volume foot, Avg-Narrow heel, Wide Forefoot. Alkali CA9, Mission T9, Revision Vanquish, Mission Commander SE, Mission Boss Black Fit: Wide forefoot, med heel, high volume. Out of the box these things hurt bad. The skate stance is slightly forward, and unlike most other models on the market the tendon guard is super stiff. The first couple skate while adjusting to the pitch and C-Note chassis it did dig into the back of my leg a bit. The tongue was the other big source of discomfort as the felt is a little thinner than others and the lace-bite guard is much thicker than any others. After a bake and a couple skates the tongues became very comfortable as did the overall skate. The stiffness I have become accustomed to in top end skates wasn’t quite there, but for the price the Vanquish is better than the field (8.5/10) Chassis/Wheels/Bearings: C-Note chassis, Variant wheels, Revision branded abec9 bearings. The chassis looks very alien at first, but the 100mm wheel on the back performs, and performs very well. The advertised increased speed, better grip cutting and turning is true, not a total night and day type difference, but a nice bump on all accounts. I’m a big fan of the setup. The Variant wheels are a real nice wheel, though they tended to not last quite as long as the Rink Rat wheels I’ve used prior and since. The performance is top notch though. The bearings are solid and spin well. Nothing special, but nothing awful. (10/10) Weight/Protection: Compared to the top end skates I’ve used, the weight and protection both take a hit as the big wheel adds some decent weight along with the materials used in boot construction. Compared to the $300 field, the weight is only slightly higher and the protection is a bit better. For the price range and intended usage both are good, though multiple games in the same day does make the higher weight more noticeable late into things. (9/10) Durability: The overall durability of the skate is pretty good. The silver material on the boot is an exception though as it tears up pretty quickly, but seems to just be an overlay and doesn’t affect boot stiffness or protection as it wears down. (9/10) Intangibles: The Vanquish is a one of a kind look. I honestly wasn’t a big fan of gold wheels with a large silver patch on the boot, but there’s still a very cool factor of the overall look. With the newer look wheels though it definitely makes the skates look much better. The C-Note chassis is a very different, but very nice feature of the skate and is probably my favorite setup to date. For a bigger guy like me to be able to dig in on a cut and not worry about my heels slipping out from under me is a wonderful feeling. (9/10) Conclusion: I really like the Vanquish skate, and bought two pairs given it cost the same as one top end pair of skates, so I could have an indoor and outdoor pair. I was quite anxious to see the VQ2 and possibly pick up a pair based on my experience on the Vanquish, but with the unfortunate delay in its release I did move on to other skates. The indoor pair is still in my closet with relatively fresh wheels as my go-to pair of backup skates as I know without a doubt I can use them and perform in them. The weight at the end of a tournament series two summers ago with me playing multiple games a day over the course of four days did add up at the end and prompted me to get back into a lighter setup as I don’t recover quite as quickly as I used to. If Revision can get their manufacturing woes ironed out and produce skates at a pace consistent with the market the Vanquish is a very promising entry for them to build off of. (Total score 9.1/10

Mission Axiom T9 size 8D – 6 months usage Reviewer intro/specs/previous skates used: 5’10” 210lbs 31 yrs old, experienced skater playing in intermediate to advanced level leagues and club teams. Med-High volume foot, Avg-Narrow heel, Wide Forefoot. Alkali CA9, Mission T9, Revision Vanquish, Mission Commander SE, Mission Boss Black Fit: Wide forefoot, average heel, high volume. The boot is lower cut than most providing an increased range of motion. The liner and ankle pockets provide a comfortable feel with socks, but the material is slick enough that I wouldn’t want to go barefoot in them for fear of slippage. The tongue is a nice thick felt that conforms easily. The newer last being used is a good catch-all fit for those of us with higher volume and wider feet, though the molding capabilities aren’t on par with some high end ice boots or the new Alkali skates. I also wouldn’t have minded a lace bite guard as I did experience some issues early on while breaking in the skate. (9/10) Chassis/Wheels/Bearings: Magnesium Vanguard Hi-Lo, Rink Rat Hornet Splits, Mission Swiss. While there’s nothing groundbreaking about the Vanguard chassis, there’s nothing wrong with it either. The Hornet Splits felt slightly different to me as they don’t have quite the bouncy feel I’ve previously experienced on Hornet wheels, but the feel is good all the same. The wear on them is as good as I’ve ever gotten out of RR wheels, which has been pretty good. The Mission branded Swiss bearings are solid out of the box, again a nothing special but nothing terrible either. Overall a solid package below the boot (10/10) Weight/Protection: The weight is among the lightest on the market, no complaints. The protection afforded by the boot is very good; I can only recall one clapper off the toe box that was a stinger. (10/10) Durability: The durability is pretty good, the tech mesh outer is a fairly tough customer when it comes to pucks and scrapes for indoor play. (10/10) Intangibles: Mission always has a very signature look about their skates, and while some didn’t like the graphics I like them a lot. The build quality is back to top notch, I experienced outsole separations on two pairs of the SE line and have had no issue on the T9s. The lower cut of the boot combined with the higher volume fit makes going from on the balls of your feet to digging in with your heels very fluid and comfortable (10/10) Conclusion: If these are the right fit for your feet, they’re a very good option. It took a very good skate in the Alkali CA9 for me to sideline these, and had the LTR opportunity not presented itself I would still be in these skates without any issue. I was really disappointed in the SE line which led me to the Revision skates for a while. Had the VQ2 skate made it to market I probably would’ve stuck with that line, but the T9 removed any doubts I had about Mission quality being compromised with the Bauer acquisition. The T9 is an excellent entry at the top end skate market (Total score 9.8/10)

That sucks man, hope something comes through quickly for you to get back to employed status

haha, I have a friend who just got into an old TR2000 with the Labeda Warlock frames that weigh a ton. I wore 8000s through all of high school, and have always had a fond memory of those skates. Back then it was a Final Factor frame, now it's Vanguards. Boot and frames are the latest Ebay special build for me, total cost before mounting was $100 for both, wheels and bearings laying around to round it out.

new beater park skates

it's fairly normal (depending on size occasionally) to have the wheels stick out a little front and back. You can slightly affect the feeling by moving a chassis slightly forward or back as well to put more wheel or less under the toes/balls of the feet

it's off an 08 Boss skate, not Boss Black so it has the lousy Trinity wheels instead of the Hornets

use some two-part epoxy from the hardware store, you can layer it up as it dries and get some patches on there

the scuff guards are on inline boots for those very reasons, an ice boot would have holes through the boot in those spots. The assassins are solid boots, you should be fine

Isn't Warrior's 4 the same as everyone else's 5 for the most part? The Weight/Vanek pattern is a 5.25-5.5 lie

the Vapors are far too popular to get rid of, the Flexlites are like a half line with 4 models instead of the 7 models of Vapors and 6 Supremes. All different fits, really something for just about everyone

the irony is that the catalog pics of the Vapors aren't really telling either, not sure why they wouldn't want those posted since they look like x-rays Law Goalie, there are Flexlite skates this year, 4 models I believe

in the spring

Looks like it says it has high-densite foams, where the previous blade did not. it's some sort of epoxy fill instead of foam, but what I'm asking here is what is the advantage of the new HD blade over the prior Dolo? Better feel? Stiffer blade? Lighter weight? And not the sales rep marketing fluff, what am I REALLY getting from the new blade?

what is the real world difference between the prior Dolo blade and the new HD blade? What exactly am I getting out of the HD blade I didn't have before?

ice wheels I believe they were called, had disks running around the whole wheel that would rotate and allow an "ice stop" the inline wheels with tread pattern on them quickchange products

The Sprungs are relatively new still and been pushed on word of mouth, not carrying the Bauer identity. I haven't replaced the Vanguards that came on my Missions with Sprungs, but if I didn't like the Vanguard I would in a heartbeat.

http://www.inlinewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=MAC

I wanted to share what one of my LHS has listed in little made up pamphlets they carry to show pricing on the products they carry as well as costs for services. The owner, Marty, is a great guy and has many of the same issues that a lot of shop owners/workers have expressed here. Despite the online shops and multiple chain stores, he's maintained his business well. "ALL customers ARE welcome & appreciated in our store. Customers are treated EQUALLY regardless of team, league, or association affiliation. We do NOT discriminate against ANY customers by discounting select groups. Please do not ask us for discounts, we DO NOT haggle over or 'match' prices. We KNOW what internet & our competitors prices are - PLEASE COMPARE TO OURS! We ARE usually more expensive on SHARPENING & REPAIR ONLY - for a reason. We will NOT over-sell you things that you don't need or anything that doesn't work & then sharpen your sates for free OR give you a free roll of tape to cover it up. We ARE honest with our customers, even if it means NOT SELLING YOU SOMETHING. We are NOT a corporate owned franchise, we ARE a locally owned private independant. Please respect our store & TIME if other customers are waiting. You CAN schedule a before or after hours appt. if needed OR if coming down from Denver/up from Pueblo. If you need to get fitted or recommendations but are NOT buying we do charge for our time & experience as well as any work done on 'brought-in' equipment, skates or sticks. We prefer service-work & fittings be done during the week & NOT the last hour of the day. Service and repair work on items originally purchased from us DOES take priority. We are NOT after NOR do we EXPECT everyones business.. for those who understand & SUPPORT us, we exist for YOU. WE DO APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS, THANK YOU - Marty" Marty has a few different pamphlets with such store philosophy, as well as properly fitting all types of equipment. Great guy, and his prices line up with everything out there. With the fitting fees and everything he always has business in his shop. People aren't usually payng those fees though because they are buying from him. Once the FDA or whoever approves a neck surgery he needs, he's packing up and moving to Minnesota to work up there because of the ever growing retail chains and online stores. It's kind of interesting though, because he'll be going to some chain of shops where it's a lot of experienced guys basically working together to do business against the Giants and Monkeys of the world. Kind of a weird evolution of the LHS.

Check with Player's Bench, since they get a good amount of Avs returns

Thus the shafts now. The Apollos aren't bad, but they do feel just off the mark, whereas the M-2 is probably my favorite shaft ever because it just has that right feel to me.

Teh Tour shinnies are good and comfy. The skates are all stock, other than putting on the extra set of Factory wheels for outdoor use on the 5500s. The 10K skates are tearing me up trying to break em in though, I've got blisters on the bottoms of my feet (go figure that one out) and raw spots where the top of the boots rub me.