shoot_the_goalie

I second this. They're incredibly protective/durable and have the pro cuff, which is great. They do have some drawbacks imo. They do feel heavy and the palms are of a pretty thick material.

How do you mean less wear? Because there's no felt?

Short of buying the smaller size pair or customs, you could try Stable 26 socks (check out the ski version if you need to fill a lot of room), and then add a Bunga pad sleeve (or equivalent) over those. Also add a Powerfoot insert. Might be a bit of overkill though, but for just recreational skating, might work.

How's the protection level and stiffness of the new tongue? Doesn't look like it would do much in terms of softening impacts, but looks like it would allow more forward flexion.

I don't have experience with Makos, but the Trues are a PITA to get on if you've never tried them before. You sorta have to twist you foot into them. When I had mine baked, I asked the fitter to sorta bend out the top eyelet area so it wouldn't be insanely hard to get my foot into the boot in the future. However, I prefer a lot of forward flexion and previously skated with my top eyelet undone, so I didn't mind the slight loss of support at the top.

Try to get fitted later in the day, as you foot can expand during the day. (and if you're typically playing at night, this can be a factor). Make sure they put you in the proper stance when scanning and there's decent lighting. Have them take pictures of each foot and more pictures for problem spots. Communicate any issues you've had with previous skates and any general foot issues. If it's not inconvenient, bring your current pair of skates and show the fitter what you like, don't like about them. When they arrive, make sure you are wearing your socks you typically skate in. Make sure the fitter bakes the skates for the proper amount of time (True's take a little longer in the oven typically). If you can, try to bake them one at a time, and don't tie full tight. Use a long shoehorn to get your feet into the skates after baking so you don't mess up the liner. From my experience, Aug-Oct is a busy time for True skates, as they're getting everyone ready for the upcoming season, including pros. So production time usually is a bit longer.

Stick length is based so much on preference. I'm the same height, and my sticks are about mouth height when on skates. I know others about same height who have it to their throat all the way up to their nose. So it can be all over the place. Throw in factors, such as lie, flex, playing style, position; it gets even more varied. For your son, I would worry more about flex first, and go from there. At 125lbs, unless he's really strong, he's gonna need a pretty low flex stick. I concur with some of the other posters who said to check out intermediate sticks. You could also check out pro stocks as well. I've seen senior pro stock sticks all the way down to 60-65 flex. Retail senior sticks, the lowest you'll find is 70-77 flex, and at 5'-9", you'll probably end up cutting a few inches which will bump up the flex rating 3-7 flex (depending on brand). Again, unless he's really strong, retail senior sticks will be too stiff.

Does anyone clean out their Sparx periodically? (like vacuum and wipe the interior - outside of changing the filter). If so, how often? I was thinking of cleaning out every grinding wheel use...

I used to not tape the toe, but now I do, as I have seen how many less chips the blade suffers when fully taped. With that said, tape only does so much and it does add a slight a bit of weight (with wax) and does change the balance a tiny bit.

Shooting pucks is noisy. They're noisy in a rink, they're noisy in a garage, they're noisy in a driveway. No real way to get around it... Changing the shooting pad isn't going to do much.

Got this in my e-mail box today. Definitely showing the new holder, and hard to tell, but looks like a thinner tongue (pro tongue?) https://imgur.com/Y4fZwMh

1) Would these use the same holes as the current Step holders? 2) I assume this would need a different set of runners than the original Step holder runners due to the change in design

I want those new holders!

Rubber honing stones for coated steel...do you use them just as you would a regular honing stone?

bummer...if I would have known this was coming I would have waited... oh well.

Devils just announced they will no longer be affiliated with the Riveters. http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/26768491/devils-ending-partnership-nwhl-riveters

My guy at Pure Hockey was a great fitter and knew his stuff. So, it's really about the fitter...not the store.

Fox River adult wick dry CoolMax ultra-lightweight liner crew socks. They sell them on Amazon for about $6 a pair. They are basically a white dress sock that dries quickly and has a little stretch to them.

I got my Sparx two days after ordering it. That was fast! Impressive machine. Skated on 1/2 FIRE; previously on 100/50 FBV. Gotta say, it's not as good as FBV, but when you factor in the convenience (even though I have my own Blackstone X01), I think it's worth it. I would say I now get about 10% less glide, with maybe 10% more bite, but it still feels pretty good. (and I actually like that I get a bit more bite) Maybe I'll try a 5/8 FIRE. FYI...I got a metal dust tray as opposed to the white plastic ones I've seen online/in videos. The machine also now has a screw on the top that you only use when moving the machine, which I haven't seen before. I did notice that the Sparx does burr blades much more than using my X01.

@STEP_Official. Say you don't care about cosmetics. Can you stone hone V-Steel or Blacksteel and not lose any performance? I assume with Blacksteel, you might, since you'd be taking of DLC coating...

Are you getting re-fitted and going through you LHS? I would love to know if it's possible to just order a new pair from True from the specs of the last pair they have on record (assuming no changes to one's feet).

Thanks all. I think I'm finally going to pull the trigger on a Sparx. Does anyone know if the Sparx cycles are different with Step steel? (i.e do you need to run more cycles due to the harder steel?)

I'm sure it's been mentioned in the thread, but don't feel like searching through. What's the closest, equivalent Fire radius to an FBV 100/50?

From a Sports Illustrated article from 1995: Coffey, who wears size 10-1/2 sneakers, used to put on skates the way Cinderella's stepsisters tried on glass slippers. Now instead of cramming his feet into his old size 6-3/4 skates, he is in 8-1/4's. ``Wayne [Gretzky] was the same way in Edmonton,'' says Coffey, who often went sockless back then. ``He was an eight who went down to 7-1/4. We tried to make the skates be part of the foot. The trainer used to say, `No pain, no gain.' '' Although he is as finicky as ever about his skates, his dogs don't hurt now. Hypothetically, let's say Coffey wore his sneakers for comfort, and was really a 9.5-10 shoe. Dropping down to essentially a 7.0 skate (softer boot), is pretty extreme, but not insane.... I personally have worn skates 2.5 sizes smaller than my shoe size, and know others in similar situations. So I agree...a lot of times, the story is told as if he was 2 sizes down from his proper skate size, which I think the truth is more like he was a little more than 2 sizes down from his shoe size. My two cents...

The terms "performance fit" and "comfort fit" may best be defined by the ski boot industry, since they use those terms specifically in their marketing. Typically "performance fit" ski boots are stiffer, a closer/tighter fit to your foot (still w/o pain), and allow for more micro-adjustments, so that you can tighten/loosen very specific areas depending on your preferential needs). Typically these are racing boots, both downhill and slalom. Typically "comfort fit" ski boots flex more, have more internal padding, and don't allow for as many micro adjustments. These typically are touring boots, where you'll be walking around in them more, or you're not looking to break any speed records while skiing leisurely in powder, skiing for long periods of time, etc. Both fits should still be of proper fit (w/o pain, etc.), but just provide different responses/results. In hockey terms, I guess the best comparison would be wearing an ultra stiff boot vs a tech mesh boot, both which properly fit?