gosinger

Without being any kind of foot specialist, if you experience rubbing you could try the spot-heating and punching method, you can do it at home with a heat-gun and the back of a screw-driver as demonstrated here (I know there also is a VH vid about this somewhere): As the Mako can be baked multiple times this shouldn't do any damage (as long as you don't burn them) at all and might be worth a shot.

Just note that the STEP steel for the Easton CXN holder is not profiled for +1, so compared to the Easton retail holders it puts you slightly more on your heels (still, the boot+holder is +2, so not that bad). I've got 2 pairs in active duty, one with STEP and one with retail, switching works fine for me.

Depending on your hockey store (how much of a cut they take since you don't order directly from Fischer) and your request. If they have the mold for a common curve iirc its something like 150€ each with minimum order of 3 for the top model. That post was a year old, but I haven't heard anything else to make me think they offer low-kick now as-well. The 2016/2017 catalog doesn't mention anything either.

From what I've heard the 20k (previous model to the Ultra Tacks) was more protective, as they thinned the padding to show off the D3O. I've got the 20k, no major complaints on knee protection.

While I've got nothing factual to contribute, I wanted to thank you for your updates, as it shows one persons detailed experience with something that could happen to anyone in this sport. Not mainly for the medical information, but as a window into what goes on in ones head after such an event, and the road to recovery. Keep your chin up, and good luck with your return to the ice :)

iirc there were some QC concerns with Graf CA, maybe those will be a thing of the past now? All Graf skates I've seen in the past were from Graf CH and those looked fine.

Would be awesome to have them in the UK, from there everyone within the EU can get them (at least until Brexit or something....) :)

Playing with them on both my skates since about 2 years, couldn't be happier.

@HeppTrimCosmetic, have the similar "swirels" on some of mine

I was never able to make the "traditional" (EQ50/EQ5/...) Easton skates work for me, but I love my Mako's (3 pairs and counting - stocking up). The EQ50 is a very stiff boot in all directions, while the Makos feature plenty of forward flex. The EQ50 is also higher cut. I think there is not much in common between them except for the brand name. However, I switched from a x:60/x7.0 (similar stiffness to EQ50) to the M2 during a training camp and at the end of the first training I've adapted.

Just bought my 3rd pair of Mako 2's and stocked up on holders and runners, that should keep me going for a while.... :)

They look like the Fischer FX9 / Sherwood T90 Narrow / TPS R8/T10 Narrow, but they are missing the split top bar on the back hand - but it could be the same factory...

Could we move speculation over to the Performance Sports Group Acquires Easton Hockey thread and keep this about the skate rather than the company or speculations what another company might do?

I have some as-well, they do offer quite a few curves (which is not usual in Europe, but since they are local they can do it) at the different price points. Their curve 19 would be the same as the Europe CCM/RBK 19, which is a clone of the P92. Kickpoint is always mid-kick iirc. Fischer sticks are also hugely popular in the KHL, as they offer good bang for the buck and have a good custom/player-model program. Durability is excellent for mine.

Well, I'm pretty picky about my gear, but the Mako skates are here to stay for a long long time....so it is warranted to have such a huge thread giving people a nudge towards those skates :)

Well, I wouldn't say a change in holder would defeat the _entire_ purpose, as for the overall pitch there is still a forward pitch in the boot construction itself. Plus, the range-of-motion and the mold-ability of the entire boot would remain unchanged by that. So 2.5 / 3 main selling points are still there ;) But then again, I'm also not sure the RB2 / LS2 / SB4 / whatever holder on those skates would convince the majority of buyers, as the pitch is only felt on the ice and most people don't get/opt to try the skates on the ice before buying them.

To all of those with Tuuk's on their Makos for a while now, have you had any issues with those? A colleague of mine has developed some knee issues due to the forward pitch, but loves his Mako's, and since shops round here don't do profiling he's thinking about simply mounting some LS2 since they should line up perfectly...

I mounted both my Marsblade chassis with equal extension of the front- and back-wheel when in the straight (all 76mm) configuration. When switching to the "advanced" configuration with the front wheel smaller (72mm) it protrudes a little more on the back than the front (by 2mm). Keep the two different setups in mind when deciding on your mount, Per is a huge believer that one should try the smaller front wheel config when using Marsblade as a training device.

@EJB: he was taken in but released shortly after, haven't heard any specifics about him. The runner has been identified from what I was told by the police, once they have him I might have to come in for an identification. But since he is a junkie without a place to stay, what are they gonna do to him besides adding this to his record...

(sorry for the long post, just needed to get this off my chest...) I just rode my bike back from a friends, and on my street I spotted two people transporting a hockey bag and a black Alkali CA9 backpack. I was wondering because I own the same bag, and I've never seen anyone in Austria with this bag (got it from Germany) and I didn't know any of them from the rink. So I rode the few more meters to my flat, went for the cellar (where I keep plenty of gear) and noticed my basement had been cleared out. Call it stupidity, but deciding to instantly race after the guys sounded better than calling the cops from there, which would have required explaining and carried the "risk" of them vanishing in the area (near a central train station). I caught up to them two streets down, tossed my bike and started shouting at them "that is my gear!". They dropped the bag & backpack, one proceeded to pull a smaller backpack from the bag. I dropped a knee on the bag to keep them from running of with it and called the police. During the call the one with his own backpack just took off. The second one stayed around, claiming he doesn't know what is happening as he was just "helping a friend carrying his heavy stuff", how he "didn't do anything wrong so he wouldn't run", and did actually stay around till the cops showed up a minute later (the station is just around the corner). What followed was the long process of explaining what happened, how the second guy looked like and where he ran to, how I could be certain this was my gear, having them secure evidence at my basement, and so on and so on... The police found another bag inside the backpack, containing (among other stuff) drug paraphernalia, and are currently looking to apprehend him. Now I'm sitting at home, writing everything down ("memory minutes", to be added to the police report), and the realization kicked in how stupid it was to go after them for basically two sets of used gear + skates. If any of them would have attacked and injured me, the costs would surely have been higher than what the gear was worth...somehow the heat of the moment got the better of me, and I was lucky I came out unharmed (the retrieved gear is nice, but doesn't really matter in retrospect). Usually in debates I argue along the lines of "it's just your money not your health, so just give them anything they want", but it is very sobering to see that I wasn't able to keep my cool and did the opposite when it counted :/

@louierev07: Awesome combination :) Is it just the camera angle or is the frame mounted fairly far biased towards the back? I always had to skip the front two holes on the marsblade frame (size L on skates size 8-9) as they were too close to the end of the toe-cap.

Just finished my second pair of Marsblade skates, so I don't have to change the wheels twice a week for the different surfaces. Tried them for a bit in the parking lot, amazing feel right off the bat, and that is after 7 month of ice without any inline session :) One100 with new Marsblade (very minor changes to the initial batch), will snap some pics once there is some light outside.

Regarding the centering of the chassis, multiple opinions on that do you want the middle between the axis or between the wheels (different on HiLo, no difference on straight chassis)? See this post on the topic: http://modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php/topic/18451-custom-skates-ice-to-inline-conversion/?p=924069. If it is your first conversion, I'd simply center the chassis (method #1 on the linked post) and not move it back, you could always add lifts (no new holes) afterwards if you want to be more on your toes - just my 2c. Not from the UK but EU, I've gone with M4 for all my recent conversions, M5 for the first but those were too big. No experience on M3, sorry (couldn't get any M3 T-nuts over here).

Not on the Makos, but plenty of ice-to-inline conversions on here were done this way (cut of prongs from T-nuts). Mine are still all going strong; don't cut too much off (the prong won't grab) or you'll have trouble removing the screws at a later time.

@Jamie_tnt: Don't i.e. the German shops ship to the UK without additional taxes n stuff? I know ordering from UK to EU isn't a problem, so EU to UK shouldn't be one as-well.