smcgreg

Not sure if I should be offended you replied to everybody but me.... Care to point us to these? Honestly, you can get anything published .... somewhere.

Hmmm... interesting. I haven't skated on inlines enough to think about something like this. I honestly hate inline, but was doing it during shutdown to give my kid somebody to play with. I am using softer wheels, though. I was comparing it more to ice with regard to the feel. To your point about more "grip". I'm just going by what has been discussed on this thread rather than BT's documentation, but my impression was it was simply for spring effect to putatively increase linear speed. On the other hand, if what you propose were the case (e.g. increased grip in turns, allowing for a shallower hollow), this could result in greater speed without complicated stride mechanic interactions. So, that would be interesting. I skate on 3/4 and if I could go to 1", that would be awesome.

I'm curious about this too. If we look at the mechanics of running, we know that increased spring stiffness can increase running performance (but possibly increase injury risk). But skating isn't running. If you have trained skating mechanics, then I can see this spring energy return mechanism possibly helping, but after skating for a while, wouldn't the body adapt to the new mechanical dyanamics and minimize the benefit? Alternatively, the point I think you're getting at is the fact that just because the spring is loaded and releases, doesn't mean the timing of the release can contribute to increased speed. Mechanics would need to be "tuned" to this effect presumably. Further, I can see how mistiming of the spring release could be detrimental and contribute to decreased efficiencies. Somebody earlier compared them to spungs for ice. When I skate on my sprungs, I feel like I'm skating in mud. I guess I'm a bit skeptical? If there is data though, by all means, let's take a look!!! 🙂

I'm going to concur with SWPNW (that's still a mouthful) here. At that age, stiffness can actually be detrimental as it can remove some "feel for the ice" and really won't make much difference from an accelerattion/power standpoint. Both my kids skated in Makos (my 15 yo son still does) and whether it was M7/M8/MII or original, it really didn't mattter, but they are both very good skaters although have totally different styles. I see other kids in stiff top of the line boots as SQ/PW and even Bantams, and have very poor mechanics, because they are just "punching the ice". All that being said, does anybody really know what difference in stiffness between these boots is going to be? They're not even out in mass yet. In the end, as long as they all wrap and give good fit, that's the important thing. At 77 lbs, differences in stiffness from a performance standpoint will be inconsequential. So, I wouldn't sweat that issue too much, just make sure he tries them baked and gets a good wrap and good fit. The other issue would be this, by spending less, you're less concerned about getting a bit of growth out of them, so, two pairs in one season, but with the best fit, would be better than one more expensive pair with "room to grow" to get more time out of them. Of course, it's an opinion, so, take it for what it's worth.

Why would somebody need to read the whole thread with a nice synopsis like that 😉 Well done!

Not to be argumentative, but I've been in Makos since they came out. I went from Supreme 7/7.5 to 6.5 in Mako. So, I don't think it's generaizable that you should move up in size in Makos. Maybe in CCM, I don't know about them though. Just wanted to make sure the OP didn't think he should just move up a size without investigating further. Sorry if I confuse the issue though. As far as the width goes, my feet are like sausages in my D widths, but because they're so moldable, they're still comfy. If I put on a Supreme D width, I'm friggin miserable. The width is very forgiving in the Makos.

Ha,... hilarious. I actually contributed to this thread back when you originally posted it. I'd forgotten that I actually read this thread before I did a punch myself. I used the c clamp and spoon to punch out a spot on the back of my OG Mako that irritated my achilles and created a real problem for a while. This worked great for that. That was more a spot punch though, and like your widening rack shows, I'm really trying to make a D boot into a EE. So, this stretching rig look like it will work. As an update, I tried using inserts along the side of the foot after baking the way some other posters suggested and it really didn't do much. He was still having intolerable pain after 30 min. It's been 5 skates and 2 bakes, so, I think I need to try and make them wider with an overnight stretch like your set up with the C-clamps. Thanks

Thanks to all those who replied. I'll do some work and report back. Stay healthy everybody. Steve

Sorry if I'm being thick, but you mean the toilet paper to the oustide of his foot? Then tape to hold it in place? Just want to make sure I understand you correctly. Yeah, I already had him stand up, but maybe not long enough.

So, this is something I would normally hand off to my local shop, but... given the circumstances, no dice. So, my question is, are there any tools people can use at home to punch skates? Here's an explanation for what I'm trying to do 1) My son has flat feet. Has been in Makos for 4 years or so (on ice). Of course, nothing fits like Makos. 2) with the rinks shut down we got inlines to keep skating in the downtime. He's going into 15U, so, a very important year to have your skills. 3) The inlines are vapors, which were fit to his feet by the scanner and an experienced guy in the shop. 4) because of his flat feet, when he skates in them, they widen out in the forefoot and kill him. 5) I used a heat gun first, with not much improvment, then took the wheels off and baked them. Still not much better. He can only go about 45 min (normally could skate 3 hr or more otherwise). Soooo.... you can now see what I'm trying to accomplish. Trying to figure out a way to get the forefoot wider so, he's not so miserable, because who knows how long it will be until we're back on the ice. HOPEFULLY his makos still fit then. Thanks in advance.

Kind of crazy. 3 high level players with ROC < 9 ft and 3 with ROH </= 3/8". Yikes!

I don't know the study to which you refer, but this confirms my intuition. If true, it should be posted on the banner... But of course, that would negate a lot of special profiling arguments wouldn't it? 😉

Ok, that's interesting. Confirmation bias is always nice 😉

So, I had a couple pairs of skates sharpened with a Sparx yesterday. I watched while they were doing it, and on one pair, the sound while the first couple passes were done was uneven, then it sounded like the sound got more even on the last two passes. In contrast, the other pair sounded more even from the start. So, the question is, is the sound during the passes indicative of the condition of the skates? The guy commented that the first pair were worse than the second and they were my sons, who is older and skates harder, or is at least harder on his edges, than his younger sister (the second pair). Thanks,

If I could get them through you, I'd be happy to do so. When I contact them, I'll let them know where I got the info. Thanks for everything. Steve

Yeah, that's me, always looking for the subpar job.... I get what you''re saying, but I'm not the problem 😉 Thanks for the referral. I'll reach out. Steve

Thanks. I guess they don't want to sell. Oh well

Did you ever find any info out about these? My son is still in Makos and actually wearing a pair I bought for myself when they went out of business. He's playing varsity HS now and I'm worried about taking a shot off the foot from an 18 yr old with a cannon. He's not concerned, but I"m sure he'll be bummed if he takes one off the foot in makos with no extra protection.

At the risk of getting too far off topic, it is possible to be guilty of plagiarizing oneself in a peer reviewed article. That being said, my original comment was ironically pointed at what appeared to be copying the Mako, since I'm well aware SVH was involved with DC on the MLX skate. The reason I thought it was worth noting was that if the heel had changed, maybe the boot had gotten lighter. It appears from subsequent comments that it has gotten lighter, although I'm not sure the heel has actually changed. Back on topic, if the weight has come down, that's very interesting. My son is a Dman and since he's a bantam, shots are starting to hurt the foot in Makos. I told him he should get a beefier skate and Trues are better for that, but he hated the weight when he tried them on. So, if the weight has come down significantly, but they are still more resistant to shots than the Makos, it might be time to switch.

Yes, but I can't copy and paste myself in a publication... that's plagiarism. Just saying. Seriously though, yes, I know and I was kind of thinking the same thing, but at the end of the day Mako and True (VH) are two different skate lines, so, one would be imitating the other if the scenario played out. heck it would be very nice if somebody would simply imitate makos for real so I don't need to keep scouring the web for 5 yr old "new" skates for my kids. Oh well...

After looking at it again, maybe you're right. The picture made it look more like a mako heel, but I think it's just the lighting or something. Nevermind....

Um no. The heel of old Trues vs the heel of the new Trues, see the difference? What does it look like?

Less imitation? Hmm.... that back end looks a lot like another skate.... which one?? Hmmm....

As Vet88 writes above and I have commented on several times on this site, orthotics will only exacerbate pronation. My son has feet as flat as boards and orthotics made his pronation worse and killed his feet. For his flat feet, skates with no support feel best. He wears orthotics in his athletic shoes, which are necessary to avoid problems, but only make things worse in his skates. In my case, I pronate on my right foot, but am neutral on my left. In this case, it's not truly pronation, but the weight is inside the center of the foot and hence more on the inside edge, because with old age, my right knee has become Valgus. This was not an issue when I skated as a kid and young adult. It only became a problem when I started skating again in middle age. Anyway, the only thing that has worked for me is to have the blade moved inward to move it back under the center of pressure of my foot. This isn't sufficient alone, as I've also shimmed under the holder, but actually shimmed the outside of the skate rather than the inside (which is what one would do for pronation in shoes). Anyway, I would not look to orthotics to solve a situation where one "pronates" in skates. Again, this has been discussed extensively in various threads I've commented on.

I'm not in Trues, but when I went from Supremes to Makos I found a similar issue. I left the top two undone on my Supremes, but since the Makos were lower, I didn't feel like I could do that, so, I laced them all the way up and felt like I lost some forward flex. So, I went to 55 flex and that fixed the issue. Now, the problem is that 55 flex is no longer around (add it to the list of innovations that went away), so, I've had to get GREAT SAVES alternative. I actually don't like them as much as the 55 flex, but after some fiddling, got them to work like my old set up. So, my point is, if your other attempts don't work, you might want to try the lace extender to improve flex. Again, I felt exactly the same way when I initially moved to Makos.