Diel11

I just received mine. I ordered AS1, 9.5D on the left and 9.75D on the right foot. Ordered black tongue with my number embroidered, and made the skates extra stiff. I told them to leave the holders off as I use oversized TUUK holders and didn't want a bunch of extra holes on the boot. Took 3 weeks from when the order went in to receiving them. Even without baking, the skates fit like a sock. I've broken my foot 4 times from puck hits, so I have a pretty messed up right foot. Baked them yesterday afternoon, skated today for 2 hours with no pain at all, and no hot spots. My previous skates were Mako II's so I have to get used to the CCM stiffness, but other than that, very happy with them.

My Bauers are 9.5EE and Grafs are 704 9.5 W. Both have the original holders. Why do the have the longer holders on the wider sizes? And thanks for the response. Just trying to figure out if I want to put 288 on the Makos or just try the 280.

New here, thanks everyone for the help. I'm an old timer skating on Vapor XX and Graf 704. Tried the Makos today at the LHS and without baking them they felt really good, just a little high arches. One thing I noticed was the holders are 280s on a size 9.5. Please keep in mind that I haven't bought skates in a long time but why are they using that size? My Vapors, Grafs and an old set of Supremes all had 288 holders. Is this something being done to get the skates to turn easier? I always thought the longer the blade the faster the skate.