gosinger

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.

Thanks for providing the pic louierev07, I was thinking about basically the same setup myself. Will check for CXN holders asap :)

Then again, we don't get most of anything else.... Try getting your hands on an OPS below the top model with anything but P92/E3/Sakic/whatever....:(

Well, the wheels compress slightly once you put pressure (meaning weight) onto them, so all of them will be in contact with the ground, even more so if you do it on an angle. If that wasn't enough, the wear would occur at the wheels in contact, wearing them down quicker until the others start having contact. So it is more of an optical thing than a real issue I'd say, no need to shim just for that.

Got myself a brand new pair of CCM u+12 skates for 50€ (~70$) on clearance, and I was really surprised on how well they heat-mold. Now I'm not so sure if I'm going to convert them (the outsole isn't carbon composite as on the CL) or try them on the ice first.....first-world-problems ;)

The large frame extends slightly over my toe with a size 8.5 skate, but the front of the chassis can also be shortened (just like you can drill your own holes if you want), so it wouldn't be a problem.

@PinkApe: did you grab an x7.0 or X7.0? I made my initial transition from x3.0 to x:60 (which is the same as the x7.0), and I was amazed (so much better cornering and stops, plus a sh*tload of protection). Since then I advise people to start with x5.0 (or x4.0 if budget is really that big an issue) or similar (meaning the same level), they really are worth the increased price. Regarding re-enforcing CF for skates, iirc some people here did outsole repair using sheets of CF, most likely even in this thread. Regarding fixing CF sticks: there are some companies that offer broken OPS repair, but iirc all of the use some material that goes inside the shaft with some kind of "glue" (pardon my ignorance) to re-establish stability. Just putting some layers of CF to the outside most likely won't be enough.

@SirJW: It looks the same as the RBK version (both 10k and 8k) if that helps; worn for 3 seasons now (inline + ice) and still no problems. €: And yes, most definitely the most comfortable cup out there, including some MMA specific cups :)

@PinkApe404: I'm interested on how those will hold up for you; I did a x3.0 conversion a while back, but never had much trust in em (due to the thin outsole). Plus, the tongues were causing bad lace bite for me. Please report back with mid-/long-term experience on the boot :)

For me: more thermo-forming than the Bauer skates, so if you can't get any Bauers to fit really right but don't want to spend the cash on custom skates, these are your best option. Or some Mako I's on discount, if you know how to avoid the "Mako bumps". Wouldn't take the stiff-ness as "copying", every top-end skate is very stiff by now. I feel great in Bauer Vapors, but it takes multiple bakings and punches to get them "just right", so I will give the Makos a try asap.

Ha, got a hold of my notes, so here it goes...maybe not as refined as the full version that was lost during the downtime, but it will have to do. After > 2 months of skating (got them before the ambassador program started) on them 2-4x a week I'm still very happy with them, great feel and very sturdy. Feel free to ask :) --------- + = plus ~ = neutral product & assembly: + plastic is very sturdy, drilling holes for the holder with the chassis as a pattern resulted in a very clean result + ability to add rivet holes in other locations, making mount possible for pretty much any outsole shape + smart tool design, the rocker adjustment tool is great as it fits in-between the wheels + provided wheels, I was gonna replace them asap, but they held up great outdoors and were a pleasant surprise ~ 2 pre-drilled holes are hard to reach with a screwdriver (when using T-nuts and bolts) - according to Marsblade this should be "fixed" by the next batch ~ re-assembly: you might mount the lower part wrong way around if you aren't careful (happened to me, but I had the second skate as reference); after mount isn't easy because of the tight fit on the chassis spacers, took me several minutes each to re-align them - according to Marsblade, there will be some videos in the future to provide tips on mounting / assembly skating (all 76mm setup): + feeling is a lot closer to ice than any roller chassis I've head - skating to the rink (stairs, up- & downhill) with a backpack feels very strange, but once on the rink (where there are not stairs or hills) everything just feels right + turns tightened up by miles compared to rigid 80-80-76-76 setup + first time I was able to replicate my shuffle-stride with inline skates, really allowed for pushing down the heel + shifting weight forward/backward is more gradual than with the old TUUK rocker (which felt like a seesaw by comparison)

Damn it, my 1 page long review has gone.......I dunno if/when I'll have the time to write another, I can't even locate my notes right now :(

Nver seen ads on gloves before...

If at all possible, it would be great to have the holes in the future inline hockey specific frame lined up with the ones of the current model, in case of switching out the frames at one point (obviously not switching frequently) :)

I am soooo looking forward to the ambassador package for the marsblade, from what I've seen it should be the more stable (no arms that could break, no need to soak them, ...) of the setups. Of course nothing is going to be "just like ice", but the less transition required the better.