krisdrum

Thanks for the input. Why would my son need to use a different boot? My plan would be to get a pair of used Vapors (his normal ice boot) and mount the O1 chassis to them. That way, he has a similar boot fit and I can use the same chassis as his feet grow and boots change. I did a rigid chassis conversion on a pair of skates for myself awhile back and have plenty of spare nuts and bolts to do the conversion for him.

Wasn't sure where to put this... admin, please move if you think there is a better spot... With no legal ice available in our area... nor are we really too keen to use it if it was (wife is high risk due to chronic health issues)... I'm looking for alternatives to help my 10 y.o. son keep up his skills. For context - top D pair last season, skilled skater that does a lot of agility work in addition to regular practices, etc. His team finished top 20 last season. He loves this sport and works his tail off to get to where he is. I'd hate to see 3,4,5 months off the ice impact that. And yes - he plays other sports and has other hobbies, he's 10. I can make space in the basement or garage or driveway for synthetic ice or I can get him on rollers. Looks like Can-Ice is the best of the bunch of synthetics based on my research. Great glide, no shavings to deal with, etc. He's used rigid chassis rollers before and isn't thrilled with them, finds them too different from ice. So considering Marsblade 01 in hopes they would get him feeling as close to on-ice as possible. He's a size 2 skate, so he just makes the size minimum for a Small chassis. Obviously one choice is thousands of dollars, the other a few hundred. If I boil it down, the question is... are Marsblades close enough to the feel and motion of an ice skate to be a sufficient alternative.

This is super helpful. Thanks for sharing the inside scoop. Curious what you'd suggest for someone with a narrow heel and wide forefoot? Ribcor D to get the narrowest heel and let the boot mold in the forefoot to get the width? Or maybe a Jetspeed EE? Maybe in a 1-piece boot to take advantage of the more moldable heel? I've had decent success in the Vapor line in a EE width. Had to punch out a few spots on the sides of my foot, but heel lock was pretty good. In Graf 535 Wide right now, but miss the stiffness of a modern boot. I'm not sure I want to spend the time building up all those tiny muscles to get the stability and performance I got in the Vapors. There is appeal to something a bit more point and shoot.

Sorry Greg, wasn't trying to stoke the fire. You mentioned the USHL combines and I took it on a tangent. To some extent, I get the position you are in with your son. My nephew just had his U16 season on a team that was top 10 the last 2 seasons, on the road to nationals and made it last year. He's hoping for a local NCDC contract for the fall. Plus, we've been billeting the last 4 years. Our latest "son", who lived with us the last 2 seasons, will be playing for Dartmouth in the fall. Those experiences have given me a preview of what we could be in store for with my 9 year old if he decides he wants to pursue things to that level. I don't envy the position you and your son are in, the tip of the needle gets pretty thin. Hope you can figure out a solution for him and he rocks his upcoming season, whatever it may look like.

Not to go completely off topic... but do we really think the USHL and NAHL are going to have a fall/winter season? Don't those programs depend on ticket sales to give kids their tuition-free opportunity? What about billets? Are these programs going to be able to attract enough households to house the players? Are people going to send their kids to live with strangers? I'm sorry, I just don't see it happening. I'm not even sure I see a way for USPHL NCDC to have a season. Less from ticket sales (as they mostly depend on the tuition of their youth programs to fund the NCDC program), but definitely from a billet perspective. Sorry... back on topic... maybe a stupid question, but why does it even need to be a hockey-style lace up boot? I've been given advice on this site before that roller-blade type skates are sufficient for most applications. Granted, I am NOT a U15 trying to make a spot in the #1 league in the country. So... what are you hoping your son can continue to work on in his inlines? Fitness and the general skating motion or more specific technique that may not translate in a different boot?

Similar to what I have (I have the older style tiles that don't puzzle piece together), works for me and my 9 y.o. You can find the old style ones much cheaper, about $8 a 18 x 18 tile. I highly doubt the new versions are significantly better. Our set-up is 12 feet wide (8 tiles) by 24 (16 tiles) and sits in our driveway. Son uses it all the time for stickhandling, shooting, battle drills, etc.

What size space are you looking to cover? What other activities do you use this space for? Maybe we can help suggest some things that are more DIY. Unfortunately a $20 can of paint from Home Depot isn't going to get you the results you are after. Epoxy or something similar might, but will require significant prep work and likely won't save you much compared to a plastic purpose-built product. Either way you are probably looking at a few hundred dollar investment if you are looking to cover a decent sized space. If the Stick Wrap Around is more your speed, I've seen folks do something similar using thin sheet metal. This would allow you to customize the fit to the curve of each stick. Some Tin Snips, a sheet of metal and some hockey tape would be a small investment to protect your expensive sticks.

Shooting pad/tiles? Either purpose-built or DIY? I've seen folks use plexiglass or melamine boards that are relatively cheap compared to the poly boards/tiles sold specifically for hockey.

A bit. I don't have large hands either (usually a size small or medium winter glove) and there is a bit of a difference between a Int and Sr stick from my experience. I didn't find it hard to adjust, but I think if I was switching back and forth between them, it might be more noticeable. I think it depends on the stick too, how the shaft is spec'ed. I have an Easton Stealth and Velocity and the Stealth feels closer to a Sr. shaft than the Velocity does. Both 65 flex Int sticks. I also tend to do either a spiral grip with twisted tape running under it or a grip I saw Kucherov do in a video (butt end gets 6-8 wraps of tape, then you move down and do 1 or 2 wraps less, then move down 1-2 wraps less, etc.). So I am adding a bit of bulk for my top hand.

Thanks. Was only aware of the new Supreme ADV. Didn't realize similar tech was available in all three lines.

Phil Kessel, Johnny Gaudreau, and I'm sure countless others use low flex sticks compared to the common guideline of 1/2 body weight. I think the days of 90, 100, 110 flexes being the norm are behind us. Stick tech has gotten to the point where a lower flex is a more versatile tool. I have nowhere near the skill of any of those guys, but have seen much better shots come from dropping my flex from 85 down to 65, as a 5-6, 180lber, I think the lower flex is better for me. Is the ADV a low kick? Given the Supreme badging and everything I've read, I thought it was still mid-kick. Did I miss something?

Survey response likelihood is less about attention span and more about "value". What value are the respondents providing compared to the potential value they'll get back. This "calculation" includes their time to complete, usefulness of the information, sensitivity of the information, etc. If the value ratio isn't tipped in the respondent's favor, you are way less likely to have a strong response rate. Similarly how intimate the questions are (are you asking very personal things or not) will be added to their calculation and may be a factor if their anonymity/confidentiality is in question. Your question about "do they really get shots off quicker" is answered (somewhat) on a linked page to the Tennis Warehouse page already linked. According to the research they did, the Vapor 1X had the quickest release of the sticks they tested (20.7 ms). Worst is True A6.0 SBP at (23.3 ms). We are talking less than 3 millisecond difference between the best and worst sticks on their list. The mean/average of all the sticks tested is 22.4 ms. That gives us a standard deviation of less than 1 for all the data points provided, which would not be scientifically significant. So, is there a difference... yes. Is it one that scientifically makes a difference...no. According to Wikipedia's page on milliseconds, a horsefly's wing flap is 3 milliseconds. If a human can pick out 1 wing flap of a horsefly, I'd be amazed. So.. maybe they are "hype". So if we take the science off the table as being significant, it comes down to feel/proprioception. Stiffer blade feel vs. softer blade feel. Where the stick flexes compared to where your hands naturally fall on the shaft to give the sensation of flex back to your body. Etc.

I'm assuming it is a mistake, but the scale on the Supreme 1S graph is double the scale on all the other graphs. All the graphs show 5 inch increments up to 50 inches. The Supreme graph shows 20 inch increments up to 120. It would be a pretty flawed testing protocol to treat one stick in a very different way from the rest, but it does make me question comparing that graph against the others. Not being a materials engineer, I'm not sure how similar producing a graphite golf shaft is to making a hockey stick shaft. Does graphite come in sheets like carbon fiber? Are there different qualities of graphite? Can you manipulate the lay-up of graphite in the same way? I would want to know more about that before comparing the flex manipulation for each shaft type.

Sorry, maybe not being clear, although a mute point. I thought VH offered a full 360 custom fit, by that I mean a custom spec boot and a custom insole (ex. orthotic). Obviously I am mis-remembering/understanding the product, as the video you posted is the one I was thinking of. I thought the yellow/black footbed was molded by VH to fit the contours of your specific foot in the event of a 3D scan fitting. Thinking that through, it doesn't make sense, because then the product would be different for paper/pencil fittings and 3D fittings, which wouldn't be a good a business model. Figments of my imagination. My bad.

Bummer. That was a major selling point for me. Full 360 custom.

I stand corrected. Perhaps that was an old option, as I could swear the videos I've watched on the skates talk about a custom insole.

Don't VH come with a custom molded insole that is based on the profile and shape of your foot? Why would you need an aftermarket generic insole?

Update: Got the left skate most of the way assembled last night while watching the Pens/Caps game. Need to re-drill 1 hole up in the toe and the plastic I cut to shim my heel didn't work out the way I thought, so I need to re-assess and figure out another solution. Might just finish assembly without the shim for now and alter down the line if needed. Should have the pair complete by tonight. Realized after a few bolts in the toe area that I was trying to assemble with too short a bolt, so I adjusted and the rest went much easier and have gone back and switched the shorter ones out. I'm doing a dry assembly at the moment to double check fit. Will go back and add threadlock once I have everything square. Updation Nation: Finished them up last night. Salvaged some thinner shim material from the garage, re-made my shims based on the ones I had already made. I may need to increase the size down the road, but at least I have a starting point to work from. Found a Torx 15 screw driver too, which made assembly alot easier and faster. I was using one of those stupid "flip out" kits the night before and it was a PIA. Only had to re-drill 2 holes. 1 per skate to get proper hole alignment. Not too bad. Assembled dry then backed the screws out and dropped thread lock into the T-nuts from above. Everything seems solid. Laced them up quickly last night and did a lap of the dining room table. Hope to give them a real go on some Ice Court this weekend.

Got it, makes sense. I just looked at the IW fit descriptions of both and I'm not surprised to hear you needed a bit of help in the heel of the CCMs given what you've found with the Makos. U+10: General fit aspects of the CCM boot are medium-high volume, medium ankle area, wide across top of foot and forefoot and medium toe box. Mako: General fit aspects of the Mako boot is low to medium volume with a very contouring fit; offering low-medium volume in the ankle area, heel pocket, across the top of the foot and the toe box

Nice. I am in 535's. Great heel lock, but the pronation is very evident. I had the heel of the holders shimmed, which has helped re-align the balance point, but I am still having issues with my left (weak side) foot. I've started doing exercises to strengthen all those little muscles to help build strength and re-alignment, but who knows how long that will take before I see a change for the better.

Which CCM were you coming from that needed the Stable 26?

Sure. Found this one the most complete and helpful. But there are a few others that were useful or had some unique tips. Basically replacing rivets with t-nuts and bolts.

Yep, size is right. Toes feather. Same length as my old Vapor EEs. Boots are a touch longer than my Graf, which have a slightly tighter fit in the toes. I am almost positive my lack of heel lock is more a function of where my heel is narrow not matching up with where the Makos can be molded. Hence seeing if maybe the D width could provide better heel dimensions. Outside of using an ankle booty, I think I have explored and tried all options. I'd rather not use one if I don't have to. And I don't have to in the Grafs. Of course the Grafs expose my ankle weakness and pronation issues. So neither right now is a silver bullet to make me skate like McDavid. ;)

Thanks. I was looking at bunga pads or the ezeefits. But decided to switch back to my Grafs (much narrower heel, great heel lock). The Grafs fit great, but they have exposed significant weaknesses in my technique and mechanics that stiffer boots minimize. I'm trying to work through that, but progress is slow and frustrating. Maybe that is just what it needs to be. Not sure how I feel about adding a pad to help me get a better fit. Maybe that is silly and short-sighted. But that is why I am asking the question as a last ditch effort. Either I get the heel to lock in these, or they are going on the block. Food for thought I guess. Need to make a decision.

Thanks. No dice. Done that. Still too wide. Ultimately the carbon area is too wide.