MeltingPlastic

So after a long delay, I finally received my custom Eagle gloves. there was a bit of an issue with them so I had to send them out to get "corrected" but no biggie. Basically I had ordered X50s but they made them to the X70 specs which include the extended cuff which I hate so after taking so long to get these gloves in, I just took them to a shoe repair place local to me and had them modify the cuffs to what my old X50s were. Here's the breakdown: X70 base Split Fingers MSH3 Palms MSH3 Gussets ( red/white/black pair) Mesh Gussets (black pair) Custom cuffs (had originally ordered the "custom pro cuff" which Gus had stated would be what I wanted but didn't get that :( ) These things feel amazing and were everthing I was looking for. Looking back I should have just had the cuffs on the X70s I purchased off a member here done up like these and had them repalmed/gussetted but hey, nothing beats non-smelling gloves!

So 5 weeks to the day I ordered my skates showed up at my LHS. I went and got them baked Friday and went to a public session Sat to just skate in them and played a pickup game today. The skates felt great, just going to take a while to get used to. I can tell that the toe-box is not as wide on the Nexus as they were on the Flexlites I used to have but once these break in they should be great. As mentioned I went with the black clarino liner as that was what I had gotten previously and it definitely helps keep your foot from slipping etc. Much better grip than the factory liner. Also went with the APX2 tongue. Now it's weird, I chose the black felt and I guess that does not come in the 3 piece like white as its a 2 piece tongue. That's fine with me because I used the older supreme tongues in my last skates and these feel just like that only with APX2 on it. The LS3 steel takes some time to get used to. The open skate I did not feel comfortable at all with them. Almost like too much of my blade was contacting the ice. I may get them profiled if after skating a few times if i cant get used to them. I will say though, I definitely felt a lot more stable in turns etc with the added height and just felt overall faster in this steel with a lot less effort! Skating today was a lot better and I can tell I'm getting used to them more. A taller/different steel with brand new skates makes it a bit awkward for now. The only complaint I have so far is that unlike the retail Nexus, the drainage holes on the bottom of my skate were just drilled and not clean. It doesn't really bother me but to me, with the amount of money I spent, you'd think they have made it look nice like they do on the retail skates. Overall I know i'm going to like these skates and are obviously worth it as its the only way I can skate. Now to continue with the break-in process as these things are very stiff!

So here's my story with custom Bauer's I broke my ankle back in 08 and by the time i was healed etc(4 surgeries lots of rehab and complications) i was back on the ice in january 10. My old skates made my left foot go numb and never felt right. Went to my usual proshop and the guys who run it said flat out i need custom skates now due to how large my bad foot/ankle had become after all the damage etc. We took measurements and 2 months later Bauer came back and said that they didn't believe the measurements and sent a rep to measure and confirm. Fast forward to April and I finally got my skates. Here's what I ordered: Flexlite 4.0 Pro, increased stiffness to 4(factory is a 2), added material to the eyelet area, supreme felt tongues, black clarino liner, left skate: 10EEEEB Right Skate 10EEB. A foot tracing was done plus measurements at all other places. In the end I also needed 1/8" spacers on the inside of my left helder due to permanent pronation after surgery (I couldn't feel my inside left edges otherwise) Fast forward 3 years, my skates have broken down beyond repair (the boot is pushing out from the footbed and outsole. I used some high strength epoxy (3M DP420) and repaired the skates but I know they won't last. Now here is where things get interesting, the number of my skate has worn down etc and I was only able to make out 3 of the 5 numbers clearly. After attempting to get multiple proshops to help(2 big name chain stores) i was stuck and finally got Ice Line in West Chester, PA to help out. They put me in contact with the local rep and finally got my new skates on order after a disaster of trying to get anywhere with anyone. (side note: i moved from north jersey to PA so I was unable to go back to the old proshop i got fitted at, Pre-Game in Westwood NJ, now the proshop at Sport-O-Rama) The Bauer rep came down to Ice Line and he was able to get the old order sheet after some digging(Huge thanks there!!) So i suggest anyone who goes the custom route, Save your order sheet and number as I was never told to do this! I put on order the following: Nexus 1000, APX2 3-piece felt tongue, LS2 holders with LS3 steel, increased stiffness from a 2 to a 3 (these skates are MUCH stiffer than the Flexlites were so going to a 4 would have been overkill) We also added material again and went with the black clarino liner. I'm excited to see how these look and feel once I get them in next month. Either way, I highly suggest talking to the guys at Ice Line if you're in south east pa or hit up the guys at pregame if you're in NY. Also can't go wrong with Ice House in NJ as we know how good DarkStar is and was my next resort if I couldn't get this taken care of locally down here.