Marsblade

Sound good Casey! Good ambassadors like yourself is important for us so thanks for helping us spread the word about us. Good luck with your training and look forward to hear your experience going forward. //Per

Hi Casey, I would not recommend using 72,72,68,68 as the frame is not designed for that. With time some wheels will wear down more that others. Seems like the back 72 and back 68 would wear down a lot faster than the other two. If you want to change the pich it is better that you include a shim in the front. If you will go through that extra work that is... If not you can certainly keep that wheel setup. The purpose of Marsblade is to force you into using a proper stride and it seems like you have felt the effects of that in the way I intended. If you don't use a proper push and knee bend, and "cheat" trying to push with the toe to early you will (almost) fall on your face. This is done intentionally to give direct feedback and force you into the correct position. With the "advanced setup" (smaller front wheel (68,72,72,72mm) will force you even more to a proper stride. I have not heard anyone that had an issue of ending up on his heels when going back to ice so I'm pretty sure that you won't have that problem. The problem with the traditional rigid frame is that you have support on the toes all the time and since the body is lazy you will use that support. Then as you go back to ice you won't have that support and feel very unstable. Removing the toe support that we have done with Marsblade forces you to only activate the toes during the end part of your stride, as on ice. By removing even more support, as with the advanced setup, you will have to work even harder with the proper stride and deep knee bend so when switching back to ice it will feel like you have more support and can perform a more powerful stride. The reason that you don't want to activate the toe push early is that you in that phase start using the calf muscles that are not very powerful. You want to use that large powerful muscle groups (like the glutes) as long as possible during the stride and that is achieved with a deep skating position. That being said I think it's best if you try the different setups and try going back and forth ice/roller to see what works best for you. Not sure if this answers all your questions. Please feel free to ask if you have more. //Per

The pitch aggressivness is somewhere in between the TUUK holder and CCM holder. You might be thrown off by the height of our frame since it is higher than the ice holder. I would say you try the standard setup to start with, using all 76 or 72 depending on chassis size. If you then feel off balance you can experiment with switching the wheels. I've had other guys that asked if they should use a shim but once they tried it without the did not feel the need for the shim. Let me know how it feels when you have tried them. //Per

Casey, Realized I never answered your last post but it seems like you have it all figured out, awesome! Please let me know if you have any questions going forward. //Per

Hi Casey, Can't really figure out how to post a pic here. Did you not get a folder with mounting instructions and info regarding placement of the chassis? Please e-mail me at per@marsblade.com and I can send an illustration. However I will be travelling and will be off line until sunday unfortunately.

I was going add a picture of some instructions but could not figure out how to attached it... Please let me know if you guys have any questions on how to mount the chassis. Best regards // Per

No, there's no need to soak the plastic. All the best //Per Yes, it might be good to clean the rocking surfaces from time to time. You don't need bearing fluid cleaner, you can just take a brush to get rid of the dust that is stuck. Or if it's really stuck a suitable metal tool. All the best //Per

Yes, you can find Chassis only here: http://marsblade.com/allAre you not able to order?

Yes, you are not alone... But you'll improve your skating technique quickly so after a couple of times you'll feel totally comfortable. Then try the traditional inlines again and you'll throw them away :-)

Yes, good thing you did not start of with the shim :-) Remember that it is designed to help you improve you skating technique so the fact that you are falling over your toes is what most players do. This helps you get deeper down in you skating position and focus on a proper skating stride with full extension. I'll be surprised if you don't feel that the transition back to ice is much easier. Let me know how it goes! //Per

Good to hear! Looking forward to hearing your feedback, once installment is ready! It can be a bit of a challenge sometimes with the t-nut, I know :-)

Hi, Yes, we have plans on making it in aluminum and/or magnesium. But I'm afraid that I can't promise you when it will be on the market. How's everything going with your current?

Yes, pretty great ambassador

It usually doesn't take more than 5 business days

Thanks Louiev07, couldn't have said it better :-) Don't use a Hi-Lo setup. For Marsblade we use the smaller wheel in the front to enhance the feel of skating on ice, as you get even more toe push at the end of your stride and you get amazing maneuverability. Depending on your level of skating I would suggest you starting with all wheels the same size, to get used to the rocker. Then when you're comfortable with that I would add the smaller wheel. At first you probably find it really challenging, which you are supposed to, as this improves your technique and trainins your stabilizing muscles. Then after a while you will have improved your technique and can take full advantage of the rocking motion when you are playing games etc. All the best //Per

If you plan to use the setup with smaller wheel in the front I would start testing without the shim as this setup will gives a similar effect. Since you are using T-nuts and screws to mount it will be very easy to add the shim later. Even though it will be easy to go the other way around as well, so it doesn't really matter. T-nuts will work great! Good luck and let me know how it feels :-) //Per

Hi there, Actually got feedback from a customer earlier in this thread that got some good info for you, here's what he says: --------------- "Ive only used marsblades with Bauer skates so far. I use Makos for ice, so I tried getting the same pitch from setting them up with Bauers. With other chassis, I have used a 7-8mm shim to try and get the pitch to be the same (sprungs and hilo). Marsblades actually felt more like the aggressive mako pitch right off the bat (even more so with the 68mm wheel in front). They probably could use a small shim to get it a little closer to the real pitch though. If I were you, I would try it without the shim first to see how it feels. Shims are really easy to add, especially after you have all the holes drilled already. For the shim, I just ordered a big piece of HDPE plastic that is 1/32" thick. I can use plastic epoxy to glue sheets together if I have to make the shim thicker." --------------- Hope this helps! //Per

It's the Labeda shooter, 78A that comes with the box. Best regards Per Mårs

Let me know if there's anything I can help you or the skate shop with. Best regards Per Mårs, Inventor Marsblade

I would go for a size Medium. However, if you play inline hockey and prefer higher speed over maneuverability you could go for the Large that uses 76mm wheels instead of 72mm wheels. Hope that helps. Best regards Per Mårs, inventor /Marsblade

The reason we use those terms is because it is originally designed to help improving your skating technique. However we have hundreds of players that use it for inline hockey games and there is no problem with durability. The design is very simple and few parts that can break. Let me know if you have any questions. //Per Mårs, Inventor of Marsblade

Will have that in mind :-)

Hi, Just to tell you a bit more about the background, my thoughts on training and why Marsblade was develped. I was sick of putting in so many hours working out during the summers, then going back to the ice being a worse hockey player than when I stepped off the ice a couple of months earlier. I might have improved my strenght and conditioning but I actually was not a better hockey player. I wanted to create a training tool that, not only, allowed me to do conditioning, speed and strength training in a proper way (in terms of muscle activation etc), but also gave me a chance to improve my skating technique. I didn't just want to maintain my skating technique, I wanted to improve it. The only way to develop and improve is if you challenge your body. Challenging your body with the imbalance built in the chassis forces you to activate stabilizing muscles in the core and all the joints. This forces you to keep a good skating position and not be able to "cheat" or be "lazy". By challenging your body a bit more than ice skating, skating on Marsblade will make you improve your balance and skating techique, making it feel easy once you're going back to ice skating again. This is extra noticeable if you use our "Advanced Training" setup with a smaller wheel in the front. Improving your skating technique improves you as a hockey player in so many ways. It lowers your energy consumption, makes you stronger, quicker and even improves your shooting and passing. It just makes it much more fun to play. Technique training is underestimated in sports and especially in ice hockey. It is not a normal movement for the human body and demands extremely good balance and technique. If you watch players with a good skating technique, like Datsyuk, it just seems like skating is so effortless. So how do you improve you skating technique to acheive a more effortless skating? Not by running, riding a bike, skating on traditional inlines or lifting weights... You improve your skating technique by challenging your balance in the same way that you are challenged while ice skating. By controlling your centre of gravity over the foot, over the radius shaped blade. That is what Marsblade is acieving. A bonus feature of the rocking motion is that it allows for a smoother movement and more fluid movent pattern. As the rocker adjusts to the ground it also allows you to have all wheels on the ground (if you have the all 76 or 72mm setup) for a longer period of time, which improves your grip when you play inline hockey. -------------------- We are also developing a version with a more powerful spring back function optimized for inline hockey. With a more powerful spring back function it will be easier to skate and you can achieve higher performance when you play. Hope this helps //Per

Regarding the ice feel here are some more quotes from North American users: "Spent about two hours last night skating and changing up the holders, inserting the 72 wheel on front and changing the pitch around. Had a blast with them. Found my groove with the backwards pitch, being able to make tight cuts and feel like you are digging in was amazing. I gave up rollerblade about two years ago because the sensation was far less superior than being on the actual ice, but with the holder the enjoyment has differently returned." -------- "The Marsblade skating is going great, thanks! So far I've played in 2 roller hockey games and one ice hockey game. The first game my ankle wasn't in too good of shape (I probably shouldn't even have played) but I could tell right away that you have to skate completely different on it vs. a regular chassis (I'm starting off with the center bolt tightened almost the whole way and will slowly loosen it as I adjust), which is good, but I was still getting used to it. Then by the second game it felt way more natural and felt like I was ice skating on concrete! It seems like they aren't as fast since it's on 72 mm wheels but the maneuverability is amazing, plus our roller rink is small so I want more maneuverability vs. speed. I also played in my first ice hockey game on Saturday since recovering from my injury and I could tell right away that the Marsblade helped my ice skating. Switching from roller to ice during the week was much easier compared to when I was using my old hi-low chassis. This is exactly what I was going for. Thanks for all of your advice/help and I'm looking forward to your product helping me improve every week! "

Yes, we are. Pricing will be in EUR. The box is in production as we speak. //Per