smcgreg

A point I got tired of making years ago. I wonder how many people have been made worse by inserts or orthotics and haven't realized it? In most cases, moving the blade is the only good fix. (which presents a major problem in most modern skates)

Yeah, like I said, didn't realize they were that small. Thought they were 4.5s shoot.

Bauer Vapor 3x Pro - 3.5 I didn't realize they were that small. sheesh.

Curious. Do you think it would be doable going from 239 to 254?

Two things, then I will be done. 1) I was actually going to acknowledge that with the relatively recent marketing and proliferation of profiling systems the "knowledge" of the existence of profiling is increasing. 2) Again though, if you do the math, a good chunk of players are older, casual players who don't pay attention to that or would not be aware. For those that aren't older, again, still casual and not paying attention to those types of things. The marketing is being done to the small chunk of players who have gobs of disposable income and spend $1k on skates alone. That is not the majority of players. Without the actual market research, this is all speculation, but until very recently (last two years), I still stand by my assertions. I'm done arguing speculation based on experience though. thanks.

The majority of players haven't bought new skates in the last 2 years.

I am pretty confident in my assessment that most don't know. Heck 50% rec players don't even know what ROH they skate on. They take them to a shop who sharpens them and that's the extent of their knowledge. Then 25% know what ROH they get, but don't know what it is, then there is another 25% that actually know what it is. That last 25% may be an overestimation though. I have sooo many humorous anecdotes about the extent of this lack of knowledge that it is sometimes sad. In the case of profiling though, I am quite confident that for the vast majority, "profiling" is this mythical thing that some people get if they are really concerned about their skates. Within that minority, for those who have taken the time and effort to figure out what profiling is and what different profiles are, they know. I am quite confident that the majority of the hockey populace have no clue what a profile actually is, let alone the details. People corresponding on this forum are in the tiny sliver of a minority that know what the heck things are. I don't have quantitative data to back it up, but quite a bit of empirical experience. I am willing to have somebody with actual market research to show me I am wrong though.

Yep, and the funny thing is, the vast majority of players don't even know what a profile is. They may have a concept of a profile, but just say, "I'm gonna get my skates profiled" and have no clue that is actually happening. Seems like all of these variations are just trying to slice one of the smallest pieces of the hockey pie into even smaller pieces.

Yeah, not sure where, but I remember seeing it, since Conor Bedard is on Flare and Fantilli is on xCBlades.... But also, the owners showed me his custom UM blades too. Actually pretty cool if you can skate on them.

Listed on website.

Adam Fantili is on them as well. He will be a top 3 draft pick this year and likely in the NHL next season.

It seems like one difference is that the flare doesn't have width options. As you point out, they get to their effect differentlly. I like the XCblade approach, because it's been well proven in downhill and XC skiing for over a decade, if not longer. The principle is valid. Haha.... my son's a hockey player.... cost really doesn't factor. You choose which kid's education will get sacrificed down the road 😉 That being said, it appears as though the XCblades are cheaper than the Flares. So, another advantage. We talked about it and he has an old pair of Trues that are the same size that we will likely throw some TUUK holders on for testing purposes. If testing goes well, then we'll switch his main skates over. The cost isn't the issue, it's the fact that the rivets start failing much sooner when you switch holders and it becomes a pain more than anything else. Thanks for the responses. Steve

That's what I figured. Thanks for the response. Have you tried Flare as well? From the comments I've seen, they seem similar. I'm thinking about these for my son who already skates on 7/8 ROH. If you went from a 1/2 to 1 in ROH and felt good, he's probably have to go greater than 1". Which should be fantastic for top end speed. So, really thinking about trying to give them a try somehow. Without a true option though, will need to change to a TUUK holder, which I don't really want to do.

I've checked both Flare and XCblade websites and don't see options for True. Does anybody know if there options from either one for True skates?

As an update, the package I ordered from Seattle on Nov 18, which was shipped Nov 23 (USA Flat rate (3 days))...... just arrived at my door. Only 2+ months for 3 day... nice. I had written it off though, so, I guess I should be happy it showed up at all.