althoma1

Most people go a half size down from Grafs to most other skates. If you ordered the same sizes your Grafs then that's likely why they're a bit long. With the prices you can grab the skates for now, you could consider ordering a half size smaller, keeping the pair that fits better and selling the other. Then after you're sure of the best fit you can stockpile that size. I tried both the 8EE and 8D myself (only baked the D as I didn't need to skate on them to determine they were too narrow). I might have been able to make 7.5EE work post bake, but my toes were pressed against the cap prebake (also tried that size when they were full price) and in the 8EE I can feather the caps when standing and am only just off them when in a skating position. I think a 7.75EE custom might be ideal performance wise, but I have good heel lock in the 8EE and they are comfortable - at the end of long reffing shifts I can feel the caps even when just standing. Oh, and I managed to sell the 8D pair without losing any money since they were only baked once and unsharpened.

I've never mounted a chassis myself, but I think Larry's advice is sound for most chassis including the Hi-Lo. The only chassis I know of where this differs slightly is Sprungs where they should be mounted 1/4" more toward the rear. I do like when a shop alternates copper and steel rivets for roller conversions as it feels more secure - roller puts even more stress on rivets than ice, plus I'm not a small guy at 6'2" and north of 200lbs; so having the extra copper rivets give me piece of mind that it's not likely to come loose. I have had rivets come loose in the past ages ago on stock skates that only had coppers in the two rear positions and steel for the rest.

You shouldn't need to dremel the outsole for a HI-LO chassis. It's the Labeda Hummer all 80mm chassis that often requires some dremelling.

The whole setup looks great; even sideways.

Use an external hosting site like tinypic and then post the link.

I would (and have) stock up. Besides, if Bauer were to release Mako like skates would you rather pay $1000 for those or the prices you can find Makos for on clearance now? These new theoretical Bauers would of course be cleared out at some point, but not for at least 2 years after they're released and even then they still might not dip as low as the current Mako prices.

The stock profile is 9'. The pitch is +3. I'd change one thing at a time and then give it a few skates to get used to things. The first and easiest change would be to get them sharpened at your usual 100/50 FBV. Some people have stated that they actually had to go shallower in hollow due to the more responsive one piece boot. That wasn't the case for me since I was coming from a responsive one piece boot (KOR Shift 2), but if the 100/50 FBV feels off then you could try something like a 90/75 FBV and see how that feels. Whatever you do, I wouldn't do anything more than minimal one at a time changes and then give yourself a few hours of ice time to adjust to each change.

Yes, they're very popular with the older refs in the Toronto area, but it's rare you'll see a younger ref wearing them (Supremes seem to be the most popular amongst the younger refs). I was talking to one senior ref who'd used custom Grafs for quite some time, but is now actually considering going the VH route since he needs new skates soon and can't currently get customs through Graf. I recommended trying some clearance Makos to save some cash, but he seemed pretty set on going the custom route.

I'd take the whole box with you to show them you bake them for 10 minutes at 200 and make sure they preheat the oven. If they're not used to baking Mako skates or skates like them then some shops baulk at putting skates in for longer than 5 minutes (at least that's been my experience in the past).

The early batches said 16. Not all originals. 10 minutes should be ok in a good preheated CONVECTION oven. Read Chadd's comments about the box saying 16 minutes a 200 early in the thread - see the post below.

A regular non-convection oven doesn't distribute heat as effectively or evenly. That's probably why they didn't feel that pliable. I'd try them first and if they don't feel that comfortable then I'd take them to your local shop and have them baked in that oven for at least 10 minutes (the original Mako boxes said 16 minutes) and make sure it's preheated.

The 9.5D is your most likely size so that's a good call; at that price you should be able to resell them and recoup your money if they don't work out anyway. You've probably gathered this already from this thread, but don't panic if it's hard or impossible to get your feet in before baking. That's pretty normal - Makos in the right size generally only fit well after baking.

Based on most posts here and elsewhere most people seem to use the same size in Supremes and Makos, however; some people go a half size up and some a half size down. Each foot is different; you're most likely a 9.5D in the Makos, but could be a 9D or 10D. You really can't be sure until you bake them in the sizes, however; if you have to guess I'd go with the 9.5. Most people go a half size up for Graf vs. Bauer and a lot of people use the same size in Bauer and Makos; so the 8.5 would be your best bet, but you could be a half size either way since each person's feet are different.

Technically you could've beat that in late July...see the post on July 29 by Hat_Trick. With that said, no one has a time machine and it was only $2 less. Still a great deal!

Same, the only difference is i had to put two insoles in my CL's, much more volume than the Makos. If you look at the review section here you'll see that the first reviewer dropped down half a size in U+CL skates vs Supremes. Reading through the Mako thread it seems a lot of people who used to wear Supremes use the same size in the Mako. The Supertacks thread also mentioned that the old CCM sizing was about a half size larger than Bauer in most skates. Now, this assumes all those people were sized properly in their skates, but those facts would lead one to believe that a 9 Mako might work for someone who wore 8.5CLs. It does seem icewalker has used both the CL's and Makos; so his input is informative, however; each foot is different. You might be an 8.5 or a 9...you can't be 100% sure until you try them baked on your feet. At this price you could probably recoup most, if not all, of your money if the 9's don't work out.

Yeah, the Verbero's are a great value if they fit you well - that's of course the gamble as there isn't really anywhere to try them on. Someone I know has a pair and I felt and tried them on - they're the stiffest boots I've ever felt in my life and they're also pretty light. The pair I tried on were about a half size too long for me, but even though they were D width skates and I have very wide forefeet they felt comfortable in the forefoot area, however; the heel also felt a little too wide for me as I have a narrowish heel. Keep in mind, they were baked to someone elses feet and they were not my size - those are simply my general observations from briefly holding them and trying them on. It is cool that you can by the undrilled boot separately and then put any chassis you want on them. I did briefly think about picking up a pair myself, but I'm not sure they'd lock in my heel as well or fit me as well overall as the Easton Makos do; so I've just stockpiled a few pairs of clearance Mako skates (the first Gen Mako wasn't very durable, but the second gen models seem like they'll hold up much better).

It obviously depends on how much he values the curve composite and also what price he can find the older Inhaler skates for in his size. The higher end Inhaler skates from this line (DS1 and DS2) or even the previous line (AC1, AC2) will not have the curve, but they're still stiff high end boots. If he can pick up a pair of older high end inhalers for $400 or less I think that'll be the better value as they already come with the chassis mounted and he can sell his old chassis and the new wheels. I was assuming he'd use the wheels he currently has on his converted One95 skates since the wheel sizes would be the same. Personally, I wouldn't be able to go either route as I'm addicted to both the Sprung Chassis and Mako style boots, however; I think it might be possible to find sub $400 high end Mission Inhalers in the coming months that will fit similar to Supremes and still be good skates even though they don't have the curve material. I agree that if curve is a must then grabbing the 180s for $299 makes more sense as the new NLS1 line will not be on sale any time soon.

The Mission line is based on the Supreme last and a new line is being released in October. So you'll probably be able to pick up a pair of the higher end current Mission line on clearance in the next little while. You could then sell the wheels that came with the new boots as well as your old chassis and you'd save the cost of doing a conversion. The higher end Mission boots will be just as stiff as the Supreme 180 and also have some roller specific features like vents. I'd only going the conversion route if you want a boot where there's no comparable fit in a stock inline skate (like the Easton Makos) or if you want to use a chassis that isn't available on a stock skate (Sprung or Marsblade). I have Sprungs on Makos; so the conversions made sense for me, but if I preferred a Hi-Lo chassis and Supreme fit I would've saved time and money and just looked for some Missions on sale and then replaced the wheels.

I had a chance to try on both the Super Tacks yesterday and a middle of the line Tacks 5092 skate (current model) last week. I tried on the 5092 skate last week because the store I was in didn't have the Super Tacks in any wide sizes close to mine. The toe box area of the 5092s felt really tight and it was downright painful where the toe box met the boot. With the Super Tacks in the same size I still felt some uncomfortable pressure around the toe box, but not the serious pain I felt with the 5092s. The seamless toe box is definitely noticeable with the Super Tacks and it's obviously not a feature that's carried down to the lower models. I was impressed with the heel lock on the Super Tacks in EE - there was no heel movement at all when I laced them up and walked around. I have a narrowish heel, but a very wide forefoot so a lot of the times skates that work for my forefoot don't lock in my heel well. The heel felt perfect and the skate felt fine through the midfoot as well - it was the forefoot/toe box area that felt quite tight for me even in EE. Perhaps a bake would help with that area, but the toe cap definitely felt narrower and less ergonomic than the EE Mako toe cap I've been using. It's a very stiff, well built skate, but I don't know if the toe box will work for someone with extremely wide forefeet.

The designer of that skate is on this board. He moved on to form Alkali and designed all their skate models to this point. He's now with Labeda, but Alkali is still probably your best bet. Bauer uses the Supreme last for the current Mission lines which is not the same as the old Boss last.

Thanks for all the answers. Hopefully there will be a few retailers in Canada that carry them as that will save on shipping costs ect. for us Canadians. So it sounds like the mediums are a better fit than the smalls. Looks like I'll have to grab some 80mm wheels if I buy the medium Fizix when they're available, as right now I only have 76mm wheels to go with the A6 Sprungs. I'm sure the 76mm wheels will work (much like they would on an A7 Sprung), but if it's designed for all 80mm for maximum performance I'd at least want to try that setup.

Beyond the cost perspective, I think the design without the perforations looks like it'd be more durable and robust. I have a few questions: Are these going to be available in small, medium and large sizes (similar to the Sprungs in A6, A7 and A8) right off the bat or will it just be one size to start? If they're going to be available in various sizes, are the chassis vs. skate size recommendations the same as Sprungs? eg. I wear 8ee makos with A6 Sprungs; so would I be a small in the Fizix chassis? What will be the recommended wheel sizes for the various sizes? All 76mm for the small and then all 80mm for the medium and large sizes? Are you saying the average consumer will not be able to buy these directly and they're only being sold to manufacturers?

Here are the other pictures with different angles:

I saw this on the FB page - it looks like an Aluminum version of the Sprungs. The Sprungs are great, but over time the area that holds the front arms can get worn down by friction, plus there's an occasional broken knuckle on the arms. Hopefully this would address these two issues. Although Aluminum can bend, whereas plastic either holds or breaks. They do look light and streamlined, but hopefully they're robust enough to resist bending.

Terrible - PK is younger and more dynamic and exciting than Webber. As a Habs fan I would've preferred to keep him, however; if they were going to trade him I would've rather had Hall plus picks/prospects than Weber. Weber is good, but is older and his contract is longer/almost just as expensive. I'm not happy and agree with Hills - fire them all!