smcgreg

When you say "stumbling", is it falling forward/backward? How many tiimes have they been sharpened? My son (Squirt) has heel lifts in his vapors to pitch him forward. Recently, he's been falling down more, but I wasn't sure if it was by design (diving to make plays) or the skates. I took a look at the blades though and it was clear, the original 9 ft radius was probably more like a 5 or 6 ft after the 30-40 + sharpenings. I took them to TH and had my guy put a 13 ft radius back on them and voila.... stable as a clam (not sure if that's a saying...). What made me think of it was when I was on my Mako Is and they had been sharpened a bunch of times, I started falling too much. New steel... fixed. Anyway, if yours is on junior steel, and they get sharpened regularly, I'd bet the heel and toe are probably shaved and the radius is shorter than when he started. Just a thought because it's a familiar story.

Well, if you have ankle issues, the Mako may not be the skate for you. It is pretty easy to cut off the circulation with these skates because of the excellent wrap. So, the key is to tie them looser. Since you seem to want to tie tight for ankle stability, you should tie the lower eyelets loose, then tighten the top two. I just got a new pair of Mako IIs to replace my originals and with the new bake, the first time I wore them, my feet went numb in about 10 min. I loosened them up on the bench and it was better. The next time I went looser and they were fine. They'll likely open up a bit over time so that it will be less of an issue, but the Makos are definitely more finicky to get right (at least for me) and that's what's great about them. You can fine tune them to perfection. Just need to be able to remember how you got it right. Still, the ankle is low on the Mako and they may just not work for you.

Well, I'm getting them from the shipment that's coming to my LHS and last week they said it would be 2-3 weeks. So, 1-2 weeks from now. It depends on size though, because I know some sizes are already in some LHSs in the area.

I'm having my Makos warranty replaced with Mako IIs in the US.

So, does that mean you're not getting VH, or do you still need to throw your money at something ? ;)

Actually, since they will likely open up a fair bit after baking, the fit very likely will get worse. For example, in the store, the Bauer Brannock indicated I should be in a 7.5. So, I tried those, but they felt sloppy. Then I tried the 7. Before baking they were ok. After baking they were better, but I still felt like I could go smaller, so, I told the guy that I wanted to try a 6.5 with baking. He said ok. I could not get my foot in the boot at all before baking, no way, no how. After baking..... like a glove. If I had gotten the 7, they probably would have fit "ok", but not as good as the 6.5 and so, wouldn't perform as well. I will reiterate what Optimus said, you MUST bake before trying on. You could be sorely disappointed. Heck, you might not be that disappointed, but you also may not know what you're missing.

Have you skated on Makos before? Regardless of the timeframe after baking, I'd hesitate to skate on them the first time in a game unless you have already been accustomed to them. If you're coming from something like a Supreme, but difference. If you've already skated on Makos... nevermind.

Yes, I was so happy to get one more skate in youth for him. I was prepared to have to go to Jr this last time. I am dreading the day having to buy SR skates for him. OTOH, he's defense and some size would be a nice thing. Sa lavie. This is crazy, but you 10 yr old will be wearing the same size Mako as I do. Anyway, to your point. Of any skate, to go a 1/2 size bigger to allow for some growth, I would think the Mako would be the best. As you point out, the moldability will make it the closest fit of any 1/2 size big skate. Further, the old MLXs (precursor to the Mako) only came in full sizes. I almost got my hand on one of the last pairs of MLXs in size 7, and they came with an insert for the toe cap to fill the space for people that should have a 6.5. So, with a bit of growth ahead of him, he should be good.

Your 10 yr old will get a size 6.5??? Holy crap. My 9 yr old is still in youth. Yours must be a giant. Congrats!

Looks like these guys have what you need. http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23869

Yeah, that was the original idea, but then.. you know.... forget to swap them out and the next thing you know, 9 months have gone by. It was an interesting lesson to the effects of sharpening on profile even from sharpeners I trust for the most part.

Unfortunately, I'm only a theorist. I know that facts and the theory behind what was done to my skates, but the practical details are another matter. JR put shims in my son's skates and I believe it was HDPE. Not sure of the source, but I think he's provided it on here before. I'm with you though regarding the profiling. JR is the only guy I trust to profile my skates now after the previous debacles I've gone through. So, if you don't have confidence in your local profilers, shims are probably the way to go. On a related note, I got new ES4 steel for my Makos about 9 months ago. I broke one of them on Tue in a drop in game, so, I had to throw a relatively new set I had as back up in for my game Wed. Even though they were both ES4 steel in Makos and had initially been profiled exactly the same, by the same person at the same time, 9 months of sharpening once a week or two had made them different enough to feel like different skates. Good luck on you quest.

The total pitch (combined holder and stock ES4 profile) is 3/32. I'm not sure what the APx2s would be, but maybe somebody else can give you that one. I'm guessing a 2/32 (1/16) shim would likely do the trick.

I did essentially the same thing, but since I was in a hurry and wanted it pronto (needed to play and didnt' want it to get worse), I picked up these at my local Dick's http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=32590566

Then why are you getting VHs? ;) Seriously though, on the Makos, I leave the top two eyelets untied, but tape the top. That way I get a nice snug fit on the lower, but a looser fit up top for more flex. I tried not tying the top two and leaving it like that, but that's a bit too much lateral flex. The Makos are cut lower than my old supremes, so, need a bit more support with the tape. If I tie all the way to the top, even tightly, I feel like I don't get enough heel lock, nor enough forward flex, so, this is what I've settled on. I would probably lace them the way you plan to skate on them. The nice thing with the Makos is, if you don't like them post - bake, you can rebake a number of times. So, come to think of it, I'll take that back. I'd lace them the way you did with the Bauers and if you don't like that post bake, you can rebake. The good and bad thing about the Makos is that can be almost infinitely tweaked very easily. You can spot fix or do an entire rebake if you want, in contrast to most other high end skates. For those who like to micro manage their fit, this is great. For those who don't, not so much. The only limitation is stretching lengthwise, I believe.

I would echo Chippa, MoJo and Broadstreet. Out of the box, I couldn't get mine on. Actually, I had a hard time with a 1/2 size too big out of the box. Once warmed up though.. they slip right on. So, I went down a 1/2 size and voila... Importantly, I echo Chippa. I made that mistake (top eyelets too tight) and tried to skate through it. I paid the price for a good 3 months while my achilles healed. I still have a bump on it. That being said, I wouldn't go back to my Total Ones. They feel like wearing a brick now in comparison.

Actually, if I bought an Italian sports car, handmade or otherwise, I'd expect it to breakdown before I pulled into my driveway. And yes, I'd expect imperfections all over the place. That's not a comment on evidence of care that is taken in custom products in general, but more a comment on the work ethic and care taken (or lack thereof) in Italian-made products in general. Some are getting better, but it's a slow process.

I didn't have the specific problem that has become known as the Mako Bump. I noticed the potential in a couple early skates, but the way I set mine up probably avoids this. I don't lace the top two eyelets on mine and then tape the top with clear tape. This allows me to get a good snug lower fit, and in particular, heel lock and still have good flex at the top. This probably is a bit like the 55 Flex thingy. Anyway, mine are not very tight where those who get the "bumps" have the problem, but are quite snug in the lower.

I came from Supremes. Didn't do my top two eyelets in Supremes, but don't do my top eyelet in Makos. Granted, I do tape loosely just for some lateral support (I didn't do this in Supremes) When I laced all the way to the top in Makos, I couldn't get good heel lock and not as much forward flex.

I stuck with the stock profile. There's a long back story, but the 11 ft profile I was on in my Tones is not the stock profile. So, I wanted to stick with the stock Mako 9 ft. It works well for me and was immediately better than the 11 ft in my view. The mako ES4 is pretty good steel from what I can tell and the stock profile works well for me now. If you have a profile you are comfortable with, you probably want to use that profile, though. It may or may not be the same as the Mako, so, eliminating one variable would help if there is an adjustment period.

It's hard to say. It was a biggish adjustment, but I came from an 11 ft radius with a -1 pitch to a 9 ft radius and +2 pitch. Never even considered the blade length. On top of it the boot fit so much differently and I messed with that. So, all in all, I can't comment specifically on blade length and adjustment since there were so many things that contributed to the adjustment. Sorry.

As is often remarked by others, the aggressive pitch is a relatively easy fix. If the boot fits better than anything else, then if you try the pitch and don't like it, you can get the steel profiled to essentially, exactly match the pitch of the Bauer skate of your choice. Alternatively, lifts could be used as well. In both cases, a relatively simple fix for the skate the fits your foot the best.

Right. When I bought, the salesperson used the Brannock and wanted me in 7.5. I told him I was in 7, so, I put those on and they felt "ok" without a bake. he told me I could bake them, so, I said, let me try a 6.5. I could barely get my feet into them without the bake. It was very tough and uncomfortable. After the bake....... fit like a glove. So, that's why I say if they feel good out of the box, I am afraid you might be disappointed. A lot of money to spend to be disappointed. If you went online, you could probably bake and try them and as long as you don't sharpen, send back if they don't fit. That might be the way to go if the shop won't bake and you don't have the size you think will work.

I was in 7 E Supreme Tones and I ended up in 6.5 D Makos. I even feel like I could possibly go to a 6 in the Makos, but the 6.5s are immensely better than the 7 E Supreme Tones. Still, they are so moldable and can open up soooo much, I'd be wary of buying without baking. The shop really shouldn't have a problem with baking, the reps recommend it.

I've not seen a shop that won't bake them before selling. I wouldn't buy without trying on baked. They will change a lot and if they fit out of the box, I am guessing you need a different size. For an $800 skate that's intended to be baked multiple times, I'd try and convince the shop to let you bake them. Have them call the Easton rep, he'll tell them to go ahead.