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Any pix of these bubbles?

Thank for that link. What does the "E" stand for on the sticks?

You aren't imagining that. I had the same experience with Vapors and Supremes regarding the spacing issue. This past weekend I tried on the M5 Pro and the Mach in a 6.5 Fit 3 and they felt amazing. The toe box issue has been addressed (and well documented via Bauer) and I definitely noticed the extra space. My toes and forefoot were crammed and crunched in the 3s when I tried it on last January. The clearance pricing of the US's is pretty alluring, but I remember the fitment was just not good for me. As @Sniper9 said, the Mach will fit different, but in a better way imho if you didnt care for how narrow the US's were in the forefoot and toe box. FWIW, I'm currently in a Size 7, Fit 2 Vapor 3x, and feel like they don't hug/snug my entire foot as well as the M5 Pro and Mach did (more padding in the Supremes). I plan on buying the Mach in a 6.5, Fit 3 here in the near future.

Remember my comment on the previous page about the hot dog in a hallway feeling regarding the TF series? 😜

I don't own TF's or Catalysts but can tell you from trying both on, back-to-back the TF was much more hotdog in a hallway feeling in the toe cap area compared to the Catalyst. I tried on the same size, and one half-size within the other for both as well. Catalyst felt like there was a liner bunched up in the end of the toe-cap, where the TFs didnt have anything.

I'm a 7, Fit 2 in Vapors, was a 7EE in Vapors before the new fit system. Been considering a pair of AS3 Pro's, you think an EE in a 7 would be the ticket for me? 7.5 R in the 580 felt too narrow overall, but decent lengthwise. Perhaps the narrowness was causing my foot to lengthen a bit?

I have two, both in P90TM, 65 flex and love them. I play defense and have no trouble getting quick snaps/wristers off from the inside the blue line. Took a little bit of adjusting my technique so I wasn't sailing shots over the net.

I had Graf Ultra G5's for a few years as well. No matter how many punches and alterations I made, they just never had the "it" factor for me, in fact I think they are the reason I have the bumps on the base of each big toe, maybe? Anyhow I was on a quest for skates too after those and ended up in Bauer Vapor x500's for a few more years, not sure why I didnt get rid of them sooner as they were never comfortable. I now skate in Bauer Vapor 3x, Fit 2. They fit great and I have no real complaints. Didnt have to punch them or anything. The taller steel was an ordeal for me, but as far as the boot goes, its been great.

I didn't care for my Bauer ones, they had seems that bunched up along the pinky toes, drove me nuts. I just use an over-the-calf sock from Adidas. They are thinner than a standard cotton sock, but not as thin as a dress sock. I use pro-stock hockey-socks with the cut-resistant material in the calf area over my shinguards.

My skates were in the stock profile from the factory. I told them (Pure Hockey associate) I didnt care for the taller steel, particularly in the front. I would occasionally toe-pick during my beer league games (causing me to fall) and felt that the taller steel was the culprit. He recommended a Zuperior S, my skates are a size 7, Bauer Vapor 3x. I used them a few times since I picked them up last weekend and didn’t care for how much it put me on my toes. Since I’m your average Joe Schmoe beer leaguer I just went along with his suggestion. PH is about 20 minutes away from me, not far but not too close, especially with SoCal traffic. I work full time, M-F and have two kids, extra time isn’t really in my side. My rink with three sheets of ice doesn’t have a pro shop, hard to believe, I know. So I don’t have the luxury of trying out various profiles and returning to the shop to provide feedback. At this point due to my own ignorance I feel like it has just been a waste of time and money. I’ll pick up my steel tomorrow and be done with it. I asked them to try to get them back to the original factory profile as best they could. Who knows how it will be. Again, all I really wanted was to have some steel shaved off the toe so it was a smoother, more fluid curve. I’m done with driving back and forth to PH. Gas out here is still close to $5 per gallon and my 4Runner drinks it. So each round trip to PH is costing me $10 or so as well.

Last weekend I got my steel profiled, Zuperior "S" on my size 7 Vapor 3x skates. I'm not so sure I'm liking it. As my other post mentioned, I'm a bit more pitched forward and it has forced my toes a bit more forward in the boot too. Causing them to slightly more than feather the toe-caps. A feeling that I don't like. Not only that, I felt myself consciously noticing that I needed to be leaning back a bit more on my heels or I felt off balance, too far forward. Sharp turns felt a bit better since I could lean on my heels a bit more when apexing a turn without feeling like I'd loop out backwards. But other than that, blah. No toe-picks happened though! Should I bring them back and see if they can manipulate the profile so I'm not so forward? When I went in and told them I just wanted some steel removed from the front of the runners, a guy recommended the Zuperior S profile. Being rather ignorant to the profile process, I went along with his recommendation. Not really wanting to throw another $45 at this though.

Late 40's something beer leaguer here that plays strictly D. I do lead an occasional rush, but am more stay at home than an end-to-end type of player. I'm skating on Vapor 3x, size 7, and until this weekend was using the stock steel, unmolested other than a few 5/8 sharpenings. I found myself toe-picking here and there, as recently as last game. Something that bugs the crap out of me, as it happens at the most inopportune times. My previous Vapor x500's didnt have tall steel, and I never toe-picked like I am doing in these 3x skates. I bought them at Pure Hockey and told them basically what I just told you. Initially I was hoping they could just grind down a bit of the steel off the toe, but they recommended that I go with a Zuperior S profile. I got the skates back a day later and went to a public skate. I felt way more on my toes, (reminded me of my Graf Ultra G5's from many years ago) and then almost leaning back a bit to find my balance. Leaning back made me feel like I had too much weight on my heels. I obviously couldn't simulate too much game play type of skating, but I was pivoting from forwards to backwards, backward crossovers, forward crossovers, tight turns (both ways), stops and starts. By the end of the session it didnt feel too foreign. But it was giving me flashbacks of me not really like the pitch of my Grafs and feeling much more comfortable when I got out of those and into my old Vapor x500's. TLDR; I play beer league D, Pure Hockey recommended a Zuperior profile (and I had it done), does recommendation make sense to you guys?

Yup, I was coming from a Vapor x500 7EE. I tried on a size 7, Fit 2 Supreme 3s and a size 7, Fit 2 Vapor 3x. Very different fit. Like what @skates73 said, the Supreme was shorter in the toe box (toes were crunched), and more narrow in the midfoot and toe box than the Vapor. The Vapor 3x fit me much better (toes feathered the toe cap) and that is what I went with. But as some said above, they feel a smidge loosey-goosey as a whole and not as "cozy or snug" as other skates. Maybe a thicker sock would help? While they fit the best right out of the gate, I feel like I want something that really hugs my foot better than what the 3x does. I've used them since last February pretty much once a week.

Will your staff transition into PH staff?

Speak on it! I CAN'T STAND the leaves on my MLS jersey.

Ok. I was I no way knocking the method, I know you are very knowledgeable on the subject. What I meant was, I personally wouldn't want to take the risk of the retailer/manufacturer denying a "re-do" or what not because I tried that method (or any other method) you described to make the skates fit better and ended up somehow damaging them. Perhaps if I was out of options and denied another skate from the company then I'd be open to trying that method, or anything else that would help alleviate the extra volume in said problematic areas of the boot. Cheers.

This sounds like the LAST thing I'd want to do after dropping $1,000 or so on custom skates.

CCM needs to make it clear then in their consumer facing 90 Day Guarantee legal/fine print. HockeyMonkey actually did try to sweat me for bring back a second pair of CCM's, but no where in the CCM 90 Day Guarantee does it state there is a limit. From the HM site: We're so sure that you'll love your new CCM Ice Hockey Skates that if you aren't satisfied for any reason, we'll take them back within 90 days of purchase - no questions asked. If you aren't completely satisfied with your purchase - you can return them for a full refund. This offer is valid for specially marked CCM JetSpeed, Tacks & RibCor Skates. Only models listed on this page qualify for this offer. Customers who wish to return their skates need to call customer service to initiate a standard merchandise return within the return period. Upon receipt and inspection of the skates, the customer will be provided a refund for the purchase amount of the skates. From the IW site: CCM 90 Day Satisfaction Guarantee CCM guarantees that you will love your skates or you get your money back! Purchase a pair of qualifying CCM skates, even sharpen your ice skates however you like and give them a true test. If you are not completely satisfied with the skates, you return them to IW within 90 days from the date of purchase for a full refund. Complete skates must be returned to IW within the stated time period along with a copy of your invoice to be eligible to receive a refund.

Yup, returned a pair to Hockey Monkey, and Pure Hockey, no hassles.

Dang, I missed it! 😧

::Tap-tap, blows in the PA, is this thing on? Oh...it is? Good.:: Paging @Hills to the white courtesy phone, will @Hills please report to the nearest white courtesy phone? Thank you. ::hangs up PA::

Is/was there that much of a need for a removable tendon guard? Seems like those have been the Achilles heel for True.

I tried on the Catalyst 7 in a 6.5 today and a Catalyst 9 in a 7. I tried them on right after trying on the TF9’s in a 6.5 and a 7. They Catalysts felt much more snug in the ankle/upper ankle area. Also noticeable was the padding or lining felt much thicker than that of the TF9, particularly in the forefoot room toe area. The associate offered to bake them for me (both Catalyst and TF9). Huge shout out to Leon of HM if you are reading this! After the bake the Catalyst 9’s felt much better around the ankles, the discomfort was gone! The toe area felt slightly better, but still kind of felt like a bunched up sock for lack of better words. Another customer tried them on prior to me and said the same thing. We both were comparing and contrasting the TF9 and Catalyst 7’s and 9’s. Like me, he felt like the 6.5 in the TF9 was too short, even after the initial bake (I’m sure the padding would settle/compress more in time), we both had our toes hanging over the edge of the footbed, could feel it inside the boot and was verified by taking it out of the skate and standing on it. What was also interesting was how the liner curled up around 1/2” before the toe, so it wrapped upwards into the toe box. The Catajyst seemed more narrow in the forefoot and toe area compared to the TF9. Now the hang up for me buying a pair of Trues is that compared to my Vapor 3x, I felt like the 3x just fit great, felt great and there was no question about it. With the Trues, there was slight discomfort right out the gate and I know I’d question my purchase if I got a 6.5. The 7 felt better, BUT also felt too roomy in the forefoot area. Which screams to me that the 6.5, with some time to break in should open up a bit. I just felt like my toes were a bit more than feathering even after the bake…but he didn’t Saran Wrap them…but did look for some and couldn’t find any. He was a very knowledgeable associate. To sum it up, the Catalysts felt more snug overall (due to extra padding/liner thickness) compared to the TF9’s. The ankle and upper ankle area of the Catakyst felt tighter around my ankle than the TF9 prior to the bake, but after the bake they felt nearly identical to me. Im far from an expert but just wanted to share my experience today with you guys. Still not sure if I will go for a TF9 in a 6.5 since my Vapor 3x in a 7, Fit 2 feel really good after five months.

During my new skate quest a few months ago, I tried on a 7, Fit 2, Supreme 3s and a 7, Fit 2, Vapor 3x and the Supreme's were definitely shorter in the toe box area, my toes were crammed against the cap, v.s. barely feathering the cap in the Vapor 3x.