louierev07

eh, I think once you use them on an outdoor surface they are pretty much done. Doesnt matter if it was hard or not.

Went through those options in the other thread. Even with profiling, your not guaranteed the same feel because the steel will still be contoured differently (different toe and heel). For me since they line up and aren't that expensive compared to tuuks, the decision is easy to just switch out the holder.

I think for most people, they eventually end up liking the more aggressive pitch of the cxns. More than anything else about the skate, the pitch I think made me a better skater. The combination of cxn holder and runner is only 60 bucks, vs 120-140 for tuuks. If you like the aggressive stance, it might be cheaper just to swap out holders than to get a profiling. Plus since the holes line up perfectly (according to this thread) that it's easy and will not compromise the integrity of the boot at all. I plan on using tnuts and bolts to put my holder back on, because I think they hold better than rivets. I'll report back how it goes.

I searched through the thread, but couldnt find a definite answer: Does the LS edge holder line up perfectly with the cxn holder? Im trying out a pair of APX2's and its cheaper for me to just try out the skate with a cxn holder than getting the steel profiled. And does anyone know when replacement extendon guards will be available? If theyre cheap enough, Id like to get a mako II guard to slap on there to eliminate some of the orange overload.

Anyone know how many different mounting holes is too many? I ask because right now I've got a pair of vapors converted from ice to roller with a sprungs frame. I picked up a pair of marsblades and I'm gonna mount that on them. Is this gonna really start weakening the outsole? I'm apprehensive to do any work on my really nice skates for this reason. I wanna convert them for the summer, and go back in the winter, but if that's gonna really reduce their life then I might try something else out.

Just beause the wear pattern isnt consistent, doesnt mean that the wheels are coming off. It is essentially a straight chassis on top of an ice rocker. Yes the wheels will flex a bit when there is more pressure on one side, which might barely let one wheel be off ground, but this will not be noticeable at all, and essentially the exact same as a straight chassis. (soft wheels will flex more than hard ones, but both are so small its negligible) And even without considering the above, even if all four were ALWAYS on the ground, the wear pattern would not be consistent. you push off the back wheels more, and stopping uses the back wheels more.

Agreed that HDPE is the way to go, Im just hoping a find a source locally. Last time instead of ordering a sheet of HDPE from amazon I was able to just get a HDPE cutting board that was the same size I needed. Not sure they make cutting boards as thin as I need this time. Sucks not having anyone who actually knows what theyre doing around here. Every answer to whatever you ask them is "ya whatever its fine", or "yea you can bake them as many times as you want". Ive had guys pretty much refuse to sharpen my skates at anything other than 1/2". I havent been playing as long as some of them im sure, but at least I put the time into understanding how things work, and why people prefer some things different. Its frustrating. This is part of the reason I'm strongly considering paying $1000 to get my own home shaprener. Well heres part of the problem: The first is I got them used and the person before me got a custom profile (9/10 i think), so Id rather have stock, and then go from there. I also used to use Vapors before my Makos, and I think the aggressive pitch of the mako pretty much instantly made me a better skater. So I told myself even if I ever go back to Vapors, I would adjust the pitch to be the same as the Mako's. The last reason is I am trying to make everything the same across roller and ice. I did some work to try to get the pitch of my roller blades (with sprungs) to match the pitch of my mako ice skates. So I would like to be consistent across all skates, and Having the blade get profiled back to stock, and them adding a shim to match I think will be the easiest and most accurate way of doing it. Do you know if noicing would just be able to know how to make the pitch on my vapors the same as the pitch of the makos? I guess that would be an option for now, but that would mean every set of new steel would have to be profiled as well. Which is why I think the shim is the better choice.

Those measurements are in inches right? What type of material should I use? I bought a polyethylene cutting board and cut it for the shims on my roller blades, but that was also a huge shim (8mm or about 5/16"). I could always order a thin piece on Amazon, but if theres something else I can buy locally thatll be easier. If I decide to go the profile route. Do you think they would be able to just look or measure the Makos, and get the vapors to match it? I dont have a lot of faith in the people who sharpen my skates - which is why Id still probably feel better with shims.

any idea how big of a shim I would need? Its hard to judge just going by feel. I have a way of measuring, but there's a chance it might not be right. And after adding a shim, would the blade profile be the same, or would additional profiling be needed to get them so they are as close to each other as possible.

Any idea how I should get apx2s profiled to match the mako's exactly? If I add a shim, would that be the same thing, or is the shape if the blade different on vapors vs makos? Adding a shim is easy and I can do it myself. Profiling I have to have someone else do, and afterwards every runner will have to be done as well, so a shim would be better I think. Anybody have any advice on this?

@optimusreim - thanks for the pic. Im gonna go pick a pair up today. Its more than a blister. Quite a few layers of skin got rubbed off.

So I spoke too soon about not getting the mako bump. My first 5-7 sessions I had absolutely nothing. I even wear ankle socks that fully expose the part that rubs and got to bump. Two weeks ago in the final game of our tournament I got some skin ripped off. Took about two weeks to heal. I was hoping it was a one time thing. Had my first game since then on Sunday and in just one period I got the worst bump Ive experienced yet. I had to go in the locker room and wrap tape around it so it wouldnt get any worse. Heres what it looked like yesterday: How do I try to fix the boot so it doesnt do this? I was thinking of heat gunning that part, and then trying to flatten and bend back so its not rubbing. And as an alternative, where can i find a neoprene sleeve that is thin, but thick enough to save my ankle in the mean time. Im really hoping this is a problem I can work out without having to wear the sleeve all the time. If its just a break in thing, I can deal with that.

Just ordered one with the ambassadors coupon. Excited to see how these compare to sprungs. My main focus is improving my ice skating (or at least stop myself from regressing), and my hope is that these are more suited for that purpose than sprungs. Ive used sprungs for the past few months, and I do think it has helped the transition for me, but roller is really my default since I only started ice skating a short while ago. It might take me 5-10 minutes now to get used to roller coming from ice, but it still take a few sessions to go from roller to ice.

I am a D width, but my instep is pretty high. Ive never had a problem with lacebite or anything as long as the tongue was good quality. Compared to Vapors, I think they are a tiny bit deeper, but the sides are molded better to your feet, so your supported better. I can take pictures if you'd like.

I tried this, but my Vapors have a cloth liner between the rivet and the sole, the the drill bit ends up grabbing the rivet, and it starts spinning. I think im just gonna try using some type of pick to pull up each rivet and then try to use a chisel and pry the rivets out of the bottom. EDIT: Also forgot to ask about the size of the screws that you use. using 8-32 1/4" right now, but im guessing I could use bigger. This is what he used in the video, so thats why I decided to use that.

So you never have any loosening of the screws and need to tighten? Id rather just use the loctite and not have to check to make sure its tight every so often. And ive read somewhere that copper rivets arent as good as steel because the holder has more play with them. Is this gonna be the same deal with the t-nuts? Also, im going nuts trying to get out the front 4 rivets. What method should i try to get these out?

Im about to mount some sprungs on my vapors. Im trying to do everything myself without goint to my LHS, so that I can do it again if I need to. I also plan on messing around with different heel lifts. What kind of screws and stuff do you guys use to mount? Im using pretty much everything this guy uses in this video: I think using the 6-32 screws, and 1/4' t-nuts and securing with loctite should be good - just as good as rivets hopefully. where do I get the plastic to make a heel lift? Im trying to match the pitch of my converted vapors (with sprungs) to my ice skates (easton mako).

@leftwinger: How is the koho chassis? Ive been checking around for straight setups, and there arent many cheap options out there. How much worse can the koho be than the lebeda one? Ive seen the koho sell on ebay for about a fifth of the price.

I was just going by the video from Easton's youtube. I had my oven set at 200, but my thermometer was reading a little higher. The video said 10 mins for Easton ovens, and 6 mins for anything else (which is kinda dumb), so I did about 6-7 mins in my oven. Did you do yours at home or at a hockey shop? I think you're right though, I did the same thing with my vapors - which is what finally made them feel good. I just dont wanna go too hot or too long. I didn't feel as bad pushing it with the vapors because they werent nearly as expensive/nice as these.

Before baking they were super stiff - could barely get my foot in before baking because the sides were so close together. Afterwards, they were more pliable - enough to get my foot in and try to form - but nothing like I saw in the mako skate fitting video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRdaS3-5eMw I baked them for 6-7 mins each on ~200 degrees, wore on my feet for about 16-17 mins until completely cool, and afterwards put in the freezer for 20 mins. The fit right now is OK, but I know if I tried to skate in them my feet would end up killing me. I tried wearing them around the house, and my feet were done after about a half hour. I had the same issue with my Vapors, and ended up having to skate in them for about a month or two, and re-bake to get them to feel good. The only way I can describe it was a "whole foot cramp", and it felt just tight all over. I would never be able to get the correct tightness of the laces - but I later found out it was just that the boot needed to be broken in more. Im contemplating baking them again tonight. Im pretty sure Im gonna have to eventually, so why wait. I also want to try to get a little more heel lock, so I might try doing what they do at 1:30 of the video above. All in all though, the toe box and bottom part of the skate are a much better fit for me than the vapors. There is Zero negative space in the boot, without any cramming of any part of my foot. After taking off my vapors, it would sometimes look like my pinky toe and big toe were completely demolished and numb from the toe box.

Waiting until tomorrow then. How about re-baking? I baked both skates, and put in the freezer for 20 mins. Im letting them get back up to room temp now, and Im gonna try them on to see how my bake job came out. If I need to rebake do i need to wait until tomorrow?

quick question: gonna home-bake tonight since I trust me more than some rinks. How long do I have to wait to skate after baking? I know with my bauer its 24hours - just wondering if easton is different.

@Chippa and smcgreg - I leave the top eyelet unlaced, and prefer a lot of forward flex. Should I lace them up with or without the top eyelet when I go to bake? I think with my Bauers, I laced them up all the way when baking, but then undid the one eyeley when I actually went to skate.

Getting mine in this week - any way I can bake mine without having this happen? Maybe a clip or something on that spot, or when I go to mold them, build up the rubbing spot on my ankle with tape. Anyway you can post a pic showing where the exact spot is? To be honest, they fit pretty damn good even without baking, should I consider not baking them? Baking is just supposed to speed up the breaking in/molding process right? So I eventually would get the same result, it would just take longer?

I wouldnt say the "winner" is sprungs, since they are two different products. Since sprungs allows different wheels on the floor, it might have an advantage in the stopping, and controlling category, but marsblade is basically identical to an ice rocker inside the chassis, so in that regard marsblade might be closer to ice skating than sprungs. Im probably gonna end up trying both by the middle of summer, so I will try to give a review once I do. Personally, even if sprungs performs better for roller hockey, if marsblade makes the transition from ice to roller easier for me then that will be what makes me choose one over the other. Ice time is hard to get around here, so any practice I can do on rollerblades that doesnt kill my skating is huge.