louierev07

So I've been contemplating swapping out cxn's for tuuks for a while. Finally did it today - really wish that I would have done this earlier. The difference for me was night and day, and after maybe 10 mins of adjusting my skating was back to the best its ever been. I had been making excuses why my skating hasnt been so good - because I dont play as much anymore, etc. I could not have been more wrong. Even just standing on them in my house before taking them on the ice I felt much better. Not sure if my top speed is any better or worse, but overall agility and backwards skating is 100x better. Just my 2 cents. If you have any questions Ill answer them.

Ah i see. Pretty sure im gonna return my fenders and go with the blockers for now - they will be custom molded for makos, and hopefully will be a little less noticeable. I have had the mako 1, mako 2 and m8. Sizing for me was exactly the same for all. The mako 2 and m8 have more padding and a thicker tongue, which might make them seem a little smaller at first, but once theyre baked and broken in they are the exact same size. I would get whichever you can get the best deal on (m2 or m8). The m8 is pretty much identical to my mako 2. The mako 1 had some durability problems, and is known to tear up some ankles with the side rubbing. I paid 350 on ebay for brand new m8's, so look around for deals. Also I am not sure if easton still offers a testing period. Basically as long as you buy it from a certified dealer, you can return them in the first 30-60 days if you dont love them. Not sure if this promotion is still around - but if your not sure about the skates then this would be a good idea for you.

Im considering ordering the blockers and returning the fenders since seeing that they are custom fitted to your skates. Do you have any info on skatefenders 2.0 or just speculating? If I decide to eventually go back to less protection, just keeping this would solve 90% of my shot blocking problems: I block a lot of shots off my shins and sometimes foot, so if I decide I hate wearing the full foot protection, or even if I decide to switch to vh customs or some other skate, I can still use this.

Ordered some skate fenders yesterday, wont be in for my next game though, so praying I dont get hit in the same spot again. From spot where I got hit to the tip of my big toe is still numb and tingly in some spots. Starting to get black and blue under my foot and around the bruise. Thinking back, since Ive been playing all my most pain in the ass injuries came from taking shots off the boot (even before wearing makos), so im kinda excited to wear the fenders. Hopefully it doesnt make me look too bad out there, but if it means being able to walk/run after blocking shots im choosing looking like a dork over being hurt. Can you explain what you mean by energy return?

So has anyone else had problems with protection with these? Im a winger, and have taken a few shots trying to cover my d-man, and they definitely hurt way more than when I was wearing my Vapors. Just took one tonight thats pretty swollen: Besides that and occasionally wanting to try out a tuuk again, I love these skates, so its definitely not enough to make me wanna switch, but I am starting to consider getting either a skate fender, or shot blocker. Anyone have any experience with either? My only concern is mobility, or them touching each other while turning. My skates are pretty much all blacked out, so I doubt that it would even look that bad. Is it something a lot of people use? Thinking back I cant recall seeing anyone else wear them in my leagues, or even at pickup. Like I said its not a huge problem, and im not a fan of using unnecessary stuff, but I have been running almost every day this summer, and now this swollen foot is gonna put me out of commission for a couple of days :(

thanks...

That could have been it - also from the conversions Ive done - not all nuts and bolts are the same. Some are a little bigger than others depending on the brand. because the bolt was so snug, the little bit of bending from the cutters was probably enough to make it a pain to get back in the nut. Im guessing I would have been fine using the bolts I use now (from bolt depot). EDIT: also just saw this dumb lifehack on reddit. Not sure if it would be better or worse for cutting bolts, but I figure id share it anway.

I used this the first time, and the problem I had was after cutting, the end of the bolt would get kind of messed up, and would make it really hard for the bolt the "catch" the nut. So what I had to do was after every cut with the wire stripper, I would use a dremel to sand down the tip of my bolt so it would catch. Doesnt seem that hard, but do it like 30 times and it adds a ton of time to your conversion. Id rather just spend more money on a few different size bolts and save time.

check my post from a page or so back. I made a video as well. Make sure you get the right length bolt because cutting them down and then sanding the tips is a pita.

new mako 2 steel is pretty cheap compared to Bauer. I got mine from hockeymonkey - they didnt offer just the steel in my size, but I got the runner + holder for 60 (maybe less with coupon), which isnt too bad, plus I got an extra set of holders with it. Compared to Bauer which would be 140 for runner and holder (or 70 just for ls3 steel). IMO its a better option than a re-profile. How much does a profile cost compared to a new set of steel? Seems like a no-brainer to me as long as you like the stock profile.

To the person with arch pain issue - Ive owned 3 pairs of makos now (mako 1 - warrantied because of mako bumps, mako 2 that I use for Ice now, and the mako m8 that I use for roller), and for the first week or so I got really bad arch pain with all three skates. Ive baked them all twice, and pushed out a few spots with a heat gun and my thumb (not the arch) - but I have zero arch pain now. I have seen in the video from easton to heat with a heatgun and push out with the other side of a screwdriver, but mine went away with just normal wear. I have a bone spur that caused me to bake twice and push out - not the arch thing. But my advice would be to try out the heat gun and press it out if nothing else. You will know its hot enough because the makos are EXTREMELY pliable when they are the right temp. Maybe even try rebaking before that- maybe you went a little too conservative on the first bake? Remember not to stand up with them.

I got m8's for 400 new on ebay and converted them to rollerblades. I personally cannot tell the difference between the two. Maybe one is slightly heavier than the other? Idk. One uses carbon fiber, and one uses fiberglass - which might just mean the mako 2 will last a bit longer than the m8's. To be honest, for some reason the tounge on my m8's is actually nicer than my mako 2 tounge. Much thicker. But I noticed after I bought them, my M8's are difference than ones Ive seen listed online. Heres a pic: notice the black tongue. compared to m8s online:

Yet another reason why I cant wait for the sparx home sharpener to come out. No matter where I get my skates done, they eventually look like banannas due to pressing at the beginning and end of the pass. Sparxx uses constant pressure so your blade shape does not change, and you get the same feel with a new blade vs an old blade (same amount of heel and toe).

Before I did it myself my LHS said they could do it. I would still kinda read up on how to do it so you can give them instructions exactly how you want it. The biggest thing is lining up the wheels to be exactly where the blade was. I marked the spots on my boot even before taking my holder off, so maybe you could do the same before they do it. The other thing is centering it correctly from back to front. With sprungs you had to mount kind of towards the back of the skate - marsblade has no specific instructions like this afaik. My guess would be that you are supposed to get it as close to center as you can - but I like my skate a little more aggresive so I moved it slightly backwards (barely moved at all). Try to get someone whos experienced. I dont trust half the kids I see at hockeyshops to sharpen my skates, let alone drill into my boot.

I thought about dremeling, but its just too many (~15-20), and then the threads get messed up just enough to make it a pain in the ass to screw in the bolt, so the oversize washers are fine. If there were a way to do them quick I would but whatever. I checked everywhere for short t-nuts, but all I found was one that had a picture of both and im guessing they dont actually send both. http://www.amazon.com/Prong-Nut-8-32-Tee-Qty/dp/B00BOEKQSM (wtf is that? Which one am i getting?!!!?) @Z1ggy Ill post a pic when I get home tonight. Its weird because you need more oversize washers than youd think. At first it looked like 2 would have been more than enough, but I ended up using three big washers on most, and even 4 on the very front where the outsole is the thinnest.

Might be very slightly towards the back - because I like a more aggressive stance, but there actually pretty centered. Not really, they might look that way because the small wheels, but they are defintey more aggresive - which is my biggest complaint about normal hilo or hummer chassis. That and the fact that the frotn wheel sticks out way to far to simulate an ice skate. Heres a pic of my makos vs Hilo with a shim : Depends. I think they are more like an actual tuuk holder than hilo, or sprungs. Which could make it fit better or worse for you. Mine basically lined up perfectly on my vapors exactly where my tuuk was. (size M marsblade, size 7.5D vapor) The makos I actually had to dremel a bit off of the marsblades where the mako has that weird plastic bump running under the boot. But still they fit great. I actually had trouble at first with the nuts spinning, but then I realized I just needed more washers because the head and nut were touching (even though I didnt think they were that close at first) I used big washers that were large enough to fit over the outside of the tnut so I could tighten the bolt pretty good. Lemme know if you want me to show you if that sounded confusing. Cool. Thanks!

Mako M8 with marsblade: I had to put a few extra large washers because the bottom of the tnut stuck out because the mako outsole is so thin. Looks a little weird but no big deal.

I kinda figured that, but as far as making sure the bolt doesn't get completely stuck, does it help at all? I see that some parts for rollerblades and holders already look like they have a bit of loctite brushed on so the bolt wont come loose, I wonder if this helps them not get stuck too (like Rollerblade bolts, and the bolt on the cxn holders).

ok this might sound like a dumb question, but what does thread locker do? I mean, is it meant to be permanent, or is it so it holds at a certain point, but makes sure that your bolt doesn't get stuck? I ask because I had my first few stuck bolt problems and had to dremel it out. (i use tnuts and bolts for my conversions) Would thread locker help in this case? Or would it make it even worse?

Per, not sure if this has been asked before, but do the marsblades need to be soaked from time to time (because of the plastic)? I know it was recommended for sprungs to be soaked every so often - should i do the same with these?

Im very interested in how the cxn compares to the tuuk. Im my experience since switching to vapor/tuuk to mako/cxn, I thought that the aggressive stance of the cxn is what made me seem faster on the makos, and what made my speed out of the gate faster since I was already in a forward stance. I thought the only real difference bewteen cxn and tuuk was height,pitch, and blade shape, but maybe im wrong. In the last few months though Ive worried that my skating overall hasnt been as good as it once was. This could definitely be due to the fact that I dont play as much as I once did, but sometimes I wonder. I tried skating on Bauer/tuuk one time since switch to makos and I felt way back on my heels. Could have just been a fluke, but either way this week I think im gonna try out putting tuuk on my mako to see if I like it any better.

+1. Cant tell if the chassis is too small, but you definitely want it more towards the back of the skate.

Yea one hole is about what i thought - which is good because id rather have two holes drilled than have to stretch out a bunch of holes. Whichever measurement I said in the video, I actually went up this time by either 1/32 or 1/64. The reason being is that the tnuts from bolt depot are a little thicker than the ones from lowes/home depot. Are you doing the conversion on makos or on bauer skates? The bauers have that little bit of felt at the bottom that helps from spinning, the makos just have carbon fiber, so they have a better chance to spin on you. Curl the outside of the tnuts slightly and it should help with keeping them in place. Also put your finger on the tnut and push until you get to a certain tightness - once its kinda snug itll catch and it wont spin anymore. I wouldnt use super glue though because then its kinda in there for good. Maybe use a bit of some type of fabric or material around the tnut to keep it from spinning - that might do the trick.

Well I definitely agree that adapting to the stock pitch (cxn holder/blade) without changing anything is ideal. But if you want the same pitch/blade shape as your last skates, why not just swap the holder? Less variables to control if you do it that way. I personally love the mako pitch, and was considering getting my bauers profiled to be pitched forward when I had to use them as backups while my makos were getting warrantied. It was much easier to just swap the holder out that try to get the tuuk to match by profiling - which might have ended up not ideal. This is the same concept but favoring tuuk over cxn. The only real difference in the boot for me is a better fit and much more mobility because of the tenon guard.

I think ive said it before on here, but if you want the exact same feel as your bauer's, just switch the cxn out for a tuuk. Even after profiling your not guaranteed the same, as the shape of the heel/toe, height, and whatever else might be different. Its not gonna cost that much more and I think theres a much better chance of you liking it.