MaximRecoil

You mean the "Power Clip"? It does give the Micron Mega line a unique look. Back when I first saw Micron Mega skates in the late '80s, I thought the "Power Clip" looked cool, though I didn't know what it was called or what it was supposed to be for (pre World Wide Web days). I assumed it was some sort of added puck protection. Even today I'm not completely sure about its intended function. The Micron Wikipedia article (which is completely unsourced, so take it with a grain of salt) says: It "gives increased power to the skater"? It does this, how? Via what mechanism? I'm going to call BS on that; just sounds like unsubstantiated marketing to me. I do think it played an important role in the Micron Mega's success though, simply because it looked cool and made them stand out from the crowd; you could easily see when a college or pro hockey player was wearing them when watching a game live or on TV. That applies to the white plastic "Heel Wedge" that showed up on CCM 652 Tacks in the early '90s too.

My Bauers are a size 9 E-A and these Microns are a size 9½ EE-A. The fit of both pairs of skates is practically identical. There is ever-so-slightly more length and forefoot width in the Microns, as one would expect with the extra half size in length and extra E in width, which is a good thing for me. If I could go back in time to 1995, I'd get the Bauers in a 9½ EE-A too. But like I said, the difference is very slight between the two pairs of skates, and both pairs fit well and are comfortable in the foot and heel area. I believe that by the time Micron started making stitched leather/nylon skates (as opposed to only molded plastic skates), they were part of Canstar, like Bauer, so it stands to reason that their sizing would be very close, if not identical, to each other. The most surprising thing for me was the lack of adjustment period. They both have 280mm Tuuk holders, but the Bauers have the newer Tuuk Plus holders, and have been sharpened a lot more times, which means much shorter steel, and the radius of rocker tends to get altered after so many sharpenings, unless it was done perfectly every time, which is unlikely. So because of that I was expecting my skating to be "off" until I adjusted to it, just as it always is when I try a different pair of skates (like if I go back to the CCM 652 Tacks it feels like I'm skating more on my heels at first, which throws me off until I adjust to it), but the Microns didn't feel any different at all, except for them being incredibly dull.

I found these used for $15 + $10 shipping, and I tried them out yesterday. They are in pretty good condition, and there is plenty of steel left (they don't look like they've been sharpened more than a few times): I believe that these are the original version (first-generation) of the Micron Mega 10-90. The holders are standard Tuuk (pre Tuuk Plus), and the blades are some sort of stainless steel alloy. The felt on the tongue is surprisingly thin, only about 3/16" thick. That's in contrast to the 3/8" thick felt on my first-generation Bauer Supreme Composite from 1995, and the 1/2" thick felt on my CCM 652 Tacks from 1992. However, Micron took an unusual approach with the tongue, i.e., there is very thick internal padding sandwiched between the leather and the felt, which gives the tongue its characteristic bulged-out appearance. There is also a strip of something relatively rigid in there, which I assume is some form of lace-bite protection. This results in a tongue that has an overall thickness that's greater than either my Bauers or CCMs. The quarter package isn't very rigid; my Bauers and CCMs are like rocks in comparison. The rigidity is comparable to CCM 251 Sport Tacks from the late '80s / early '90s. The outer side panels aren't even reinforced with anything (what I mean by "outer" is: the left side panel on the left skate, and the right side panel on the right skate); the only structure there comes from the ballistic nylon combined with the interior lining; nothing sandwiched between for rigidity like most high end skates have there. When I tried them on at home, the fit was very good and they seemed comfortable. When skating on them, there was no adjustment period needed, i.e., they felt pretty much the same as my Bauer Supreme Comps, which have been my regular skates since I bought them new in the winter of '95/'96. However, after 15 or 20 minutes, I noticed minor pain in one of my ankle bones, which never happens in my Bauers, which suggests to me that the ankle padding isn't as good, or is not in the right places for my ankles. This may be due to them being used, so the ankle padding formed to someone else's ankles. Also, I couldn't skate hard in them because they came to me dull as dishwater, so once I get them sharpened and skate hard in them, I may discover additional issues. These won't replace my Bauers as my regular skates, but they were dirt cheap and will make good backup skates, especially since there is no adjustment period when going from my Bauers to them (which surprises me).

Bauer Turbo - I couldn't go back to these now, but when I got my first pair of them, Christmas of '87 when I was almost 13, I loved them more than anything; they were my most prized possession. I'd wanted some since Christmas of '84 when my old brother got his. Plus many of the best skaters at the rink had them, and I'd looked through old hockey cards and found a few NHL players wearing them, or similar molded plastic skates. We always opened presents on Christmas Eve (after eating supper, so around 7 PM), and as soon as I got them I went over to the rink (along with a new Vic hockey stick that I also got) and skated around by myself until after midnight. It was snowing that night, several inches had accumulated on the ice by the time I left, but I didn't care. They were so comfortable, and actually had ankle support. This was a major improvement over the "Sherbrooke" skates I had previously, i.e., crappy vinyl Chinese torture devices with zero ankle support. They were size 7, and in '89 I got another pair, size 9. I was always perfectly happy with them, but I still wanted to try something better, so in '90 when I was 15, I saved about $150 from my part-time job and had my mother take me to Goldsmith's Sporting Goods in Bangor, and for $120 I bought: CCM 251 Tacks - These were amazing, and I could easily go back to them today. At the time, the 251, 451, and 651 Tacks were all made the same way and of the same materials (full-grain leather and ballistic nylon mesh), though the 651s had the Vacu Tack or Custom Fit ankle padding which the 251s and 451s didn't have. These had the best tongue ever. The ankle padding and heel lock in these (absent in the Bauer Turbos) brought my skating to a new level immediately. CCM 652 Custom Fit Tacks from '92/'93 - I actually liked the 251s better, but they were still good skates. I regretted not getting the Vacu Tack version of them. Bauer Supreme Composite from '95/'96 (known as the Supreme Composite 5000 the following year) - I still use these. Slightly better than the 652s, but not better than the 251s. That's probably due to how they fit; i.e., I don't think they are deep enough. With the CCMs I could lace every lace tight and be in perfect comfort. With the Bauers, I have to be careful with the middle laces or I quickly get arch pain. The Tuuk Plus holders/blade seemed to be shorter than the SLM holders/blades on the CCMs, which makes the boot more likely to hit the ice during aggressive crossovers. I have some like-new Micron Mega 10-90s on the way, the version like the ones Ray Bourque used to wear, so I'll have to see how those pan out.