krisdrum

It is a 2 piece system. Just like his inline chassis. Top part affixes to skate like a traditional holder. Bottom part hold blade (or inline wheels) and has a degree of arch motion to it. Ice holder appears to have a leaf spring, inline chassis uses a rubber bumper to control the motion of the 2 pieces. Idea is that the blade/wheels stay in contact with the surface longer, while boot rotates slightly above. Very similar in theory to a speed skating clap holder and blade.

I watched a few of the videos. It looks great. I was really hoping Pers was going to figure out a modular approach where the inline skates could be converted back to ice, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It looks like a dedicated ice holder and appears different enough to not work with the inline chassis. As a novice I was looking for a way to do both ice and dry land skating without needing 2 pairs of skates. This system had the most promise for that capability.

Thanks, don't want to get too off topic, but I will give the "Crosby" a try and maybe not go so tight on the top eyelet of the Grafs. I will say most of the boot fits like a glove, so I know the potential is there for top performance.

Cool. The Makos in EE were super comfy and fit me pretty well everywhere but the heel. My Graf 535 wide fit my foot really well, but I've struggled to adapt to the lower cuff height and much softer boot. As a new skater, coming from Vapor x4.0 EEs, a much stiffer boot allowed me to compensate for my weak ankles and pronation issues. There is nowhere to hide in the Grafs. The Vapors had less than ideal heel lock and had to get them punched in a few spots in the forefoot, but kept my ankles from flopping around. I should have kept them, but stupidly sold them before really running the Grafs through their paces. Although maybe a blessing as the Grafs expose just how weak I am, so I am starting to do some strengthening exercises. My LHS fitter started to talk to me about the Ribcors as another option last time I was in there that I might want to try at some point. With the new model coming out, I am tempted to pick up some of the last version on clearance, but this new version sounds like there are some improvements I could really use/appreciate.

Awesome. For comparison, what do you skate in now?

Echoing the sentiments already shared. Congrats and fight like hell (not with each other). Turning something as scary and uncertain as cancer into something as wonderful and loving as marriage speaks volumes about you both and your relationship. It sounds like she is on the path to recovery, remission, and giving cancer the ol' 1 finger salute. That is positive news. The birth of our son awoke some dormant health issues in my wife, so I can fully understand the emotions and distraction that hits your life when these types of things happen. It changes things in a way that often erases "the way things used to be" and becomes your new normal. You learn to live and thrive and celebrate the joys of life just a little bit more.

Thanks, I've continued this saga in another thread so I don't pull us too far off topic. But, yes, superfeet are primarily designed to stabilize the heel (I worked for many years in outdoor retail selling hiking boots and such, and of course, superfeet along with them). But they do also provide some arch support, even if it is not their primary purpose. Looking at my post above, I did mis-speak in that regard. In summary of my experience since my last post here... I have been working with my LHS to shim my skates to compensate for over-pronation issues. So far, after a few trips back and forth between the shop and rink, I think my right foot is in good shape and my left just needs a bit more cant to get me well balanced and feeling centered over my blades without skewing me towards one edge or the other. Hopefully be able to stop into the shop tomorrow for what should be a last adjustment. I also plan to explore podiatric advise and involvement to hopefully reduce/eliminate the need for shimming in the future.

Mako sizing should be equal to Bauer sizing. I'm in a 5 in both brands. If memory serves, CCM is 1/2 size bigger than Bauer in most skates of equal length. Agree with IP, I'd go down 1/2 a size.

That is a toe in the picture.

Ask UPS store if they have "ski boxes". Depending on how many sticks you are shipping, it might be a good option. More than likely going to get nailed with an "oversize" upcharge, so might not make a difference if you can find a smaller box.

Thanks Chippa and Vet. Learning this sport as an adult has been highly frustrating when it comes to my feet. Skated last night in my Makos. Right foot is rock solid, except I don't get the best heel lock (was looking at ezeefit sleeves to help take up a bit of negative space). One foot glide and balance drills are no issue. Straight as an arrow, no wobble, feels like I could just go forever. Left foot is a different story. I tried a few different lace tensions, looser was better for overall comfort, but noticed the outside edge on my foot (pinky toe side) burns and aches pretty regularly during and immediately after regardless of lace tension. Could that be a sign of pronation or needing to compensate for my left leg balance over the blade? I tried similar 1 foot glide and balance drills with the left foot, and it is much more difficult to keep the blade flat and running straight. I'm also having heel lock issues on this foot that feel more exaggerated than on my right. Which has me thinking I may be served best by going back to my Grafs, where I have firmly planted heels. My issue with the Grafs has been feeling limited ankle support. They are a b!tch to tie up top and get anything close to what I feel is good wrap around the upper ankle. This makes me feel like a new born giraffe alot of the time. I also now KNOW the hollow on the Grafs is too deep. LHS had me on a 7/16. After some research and discussion here, had the Makos done at a 9/16 and could probably go 5/8, so I know I can go shallower on the Grafs as well. Anyway, back to my feet. I know I pronate slightly in street shoes. I always wear out the outer portion of my heel and inner portion under my big toe on my shoes before the other surfaces. Didn't even occur to me to mention to my skate fitter. What is the best way to determine if this is effecting my skating? And if it is, what are the remedies? Insoles? Shims? I have used Superfeet in the past, as I felt I needed the arch support. In hindsight, I simply could have been tying too tightly and causing discomfort and deflection of my arch. My arch does seem to collapse in rigid soled footwear (cycling shoes, skates, ski boots). However, I have been happy with arch comfort in the Makos with the standard insole and arch that is pre-molded into the boot. So another factor I am considering is using the Grafs with the standard insoles, which I don't think I've ever done. Anything else I should be considering? Sorry for the long post and derailment of the thread, happy to take this conversation to a new thread if that makes more sense. Update: Stopped in to my LHS last night to get my Grafs cut to 5/8 and was chatting briefly about pronation. He does blade re-alignment, custom insoles, etc. so I will go in to do an assessment and see what comes of it. Been playing around a bit over the last day or so and doing some research, and I think I've unknowingly been struggling with pronation related issues for a while. Hopefully I can get this rectified and can get my skating back on track. I've also been playing around with some different lacing patterns on the Grafs to get a better wrap up around my ankle.

Ok, I guess I can see that. So how do I diagnose? You mention a lot of potential factors, some body, some equipment, some user adjustments. Hard to fix if I can't analyze all the factors and narrow it down.

Tell me more. I've just assumed it was my muscles working overtime to adjust for this odd new stress I am putting on my body and there is an acclimation period before the muscles are firing more efficiently to not ache.

I skated last night at open skate for about 45 minutes. I tried to really focus on the basics. Inside edge, outside edge, balance, body position, knee bend. I have the strength to stand on one leg. I have the strength to hold my body in a position where I am using my outside edge to turn, while on one foot. However, I don't have the endurance and technique to get my body to do those things consistently over multiple reps. I might get 1 or 2 good ones out of every 5. So, based on the discussion, I am thinking that is more of an endurance issue than a strength issue. I can do a single rep (that in my mind would be strength). I can't always do multiple reps. Now I am sure there is a factor in there that has to do with strength in some way, but it would seem to me it is a smaller factor compared to endurance and establishing the right "blue print" for body position, balance, weight distribution, joint activation, muscle firing sequence, etc. so I can execute 5 out of 5 1 leg outside edge turns. As I've been skating more recently (since beginning of the year), I notice my feet ache a bit during and after each session. Sometimes more than others. I'm sure that is all those little muscles in my feet and lower leg working to help stabilize my body while trying to balance it on skinny little metal blades attached to my feet. Thinking back a few years when I started with lessons and was skating 2-3 days a week, I recall a similar period at the beginning, of that aching. But that as I skated more, the aching lessened until it was no longer a factor during or after my sessions. I struggle more with this as I'm on the fence around this being an endurance issue, a strength issue, or both. Thoughts?

Thanks all for weighing in. I do recall seeing this debate previously. And each time it is a good reminder of the complexity of our bodies and circumstances. For me, I can say with a lot of certainty it is about neural pathways. The brain/body connection just isn't there for me when it comes to the physical demands of skating. So a lot of it for me is building that coordination. This foot goes here, is angled like this, weight and balance are distributed like this, and I get this result. Repeat, or don't depending on the outcome. I'm sure to some extent there is muscle strength and maybe mass being built, but it is probably pretty minor compared to the coordination piece. So, tonight I am signing back up for some adult skating lessons (I started on these about 3 years ago and went once a week for about a year) and looking into ways to increase my skate time overall. Vet88 will be happy to know I am looking hard at some cheap inlines.

Man that was hard. Took the plunge in the big boy pool this morning. Did a regular adult skills clinic this morning at one of the local rinks. OUCH! I was woefully unprepared. First time with a stick on ice without my son involved. It was an eye-opener. Wasn't too bad on some of the passing drills, but the skating still needs ALOT of work. I made the rookie mistake of being all excited and tightened my skates WAY too much. Foot pain from 15 minutes in, until I had to throw in the towel and take myself off about halfway through the hour long session. Felt like I literally shot myself in the foot. Lessons learned: 1) Don't overtighten your skates, dumb@ss 2) Getting a few hours in at the public skate over the last few months is NOT good preparation for real hockey 3) BEND your knees 4) My backwards skating is lacking 5) My transitions are lacking I can go forward ok, turn ok, crossover reasonably. The rest is a mess. To Vet88s suggestion, I need to up my skating time a week like 5 fold, push myself out of my comfort zone and really focus on balance, edge work and the other fundamentals of the game. But, I did live to fight another day, which I guess is a victory.

Another great post Mark and follow up by Vet. I'm in the same spot you were in about a year ago. Been waffling on giving the sport a real try for a few years now, in my case, my son being the inspiration. Looking to make 2017 my "year of skill". Mark - your posts continue to be an inspiration and provide great insight into learning the game. Vet88 - I'm seeing the pattern in your suggestions. 1) Skate a lot (ice or roller) 2) Stick handle a lot (ice, roller, dry land) 3) do the 2 skills together as much as possible. Considering so much of this game is about creating time and space and getting to open ice (with or without the puck), that totally makes sense to me. Need to start looking at roller blades. Already have the biscuit.

Mine click now and then as well. I've tightened the steels also. I'd be interested if anyone has any insight as well. As for the difference, I don't recall there being much. M8s have a hard plastic metatarsal guard on the tongue. Oh and I think a full carbon chassis, versus carbon and fibreglass. For me, there wasn't enough of a difference to justify spending more. But I am a beginner, so feel free to take that with a grain of salt.

Cool, thanks. I tried some hockey specific inlines last spring, but the fit was not right and they gave me awful lacebite, so I gave up on the idea. Those set me back $150 for entry level skates. Doing something like this with a soft boot that should require minimal break-in and at less of an investment sounds like it is worth investigating further. Thanks.

I think this is the first time I am reading this advice from you. Just to clarify, a "soft sided" inline skate is anything that doesn't have a full plastic shell to it? I see a lot of models with fabric sides but strategic plastic reinforcement for support, etc. Something like that is what you are suggesting, right? This makes alot of sense to me. Maximize your time moving, using a lot of the same muscles and controlling a puck simultaneously.

I've got a Jofa that my brother in law gave me when I first started skating a few years back. Love the way that thing fits. Nothing else I've tried has come close. I've considered throwing a cage on it.

Yep, VH is definitely on my radar, not that I need new skates any time soon, fingers crossed. And I would need to get WAY better before I could justify that expense. Are the Super Tacks and Jetspeed FT1 going to have the same moldability and minimal negative space fit parameters? I have really weird feet that have been a bear to fit in just about anything on the market. So keeping up with this kind of tech in skates will be important to me going forward. I just started skating about 2 years ago, so finding boots that fit has been a long frustrating process on top of learning the balance and mechanics. I tried the current Jetspeeds on (forget which model, mid-bottom of the line probably) and barely got them laced up before I wanted to rip them off my feet. Super uncomfortable.

I'm actually kicking myself for not getting on the bandwagon sooner. By far the best fitting, most comfortable skate I have found in my short skating career. Sad to see them going the way of the Dodo. Hopefully mine hold up for awhile.

Quick update. Still no movement on the hard carbon in the heel. But I was able to further adjust fit in the heel, just above the hard carbon. My left heel is pretty narrow coming up into the Achilles. So I still had more play and less heel lock than I wanted after a few skates in them. Last night, took the heat gun out, took the tendon guard off (key for getting to the area I wanted movement in). and was able to really nicely pinch in the very back of the heel area above the carbon heel cup. Hopefully will skate on them this weekend, but my quick step in post adjustment and cooling is feeling very promising. It may need a bit more tweaking on the sides of my heel, but I am purposefully making small adjustments step by step. So far, unlike the above poster who is breaking up with his Makos, these are the best skates I have found in fit for my wacky feet. Add the incredible thermo-forming abilities and I am one happy camper. After only a few sessions I am feeling way more comfortable and competent in these than I ever did after a year in my Grafs and very close to the same feeling I had after over a year in my Vapors. Granted, I learned alot with those previous skates that I am sure is carrying over to the Makos, but to my delight, the transition has been a real pleasure.

Mike, I've switched skates (from Grafs to Easton Makos) and the pair I have are too thick. Tried them last night (they do have the shim adhered) and my toes felt really cramped. Any suggestion on modifying the pair I have? Can I get the shim off without doing damage to the insert? Or do I need to open my wallet? I did like them quite a bit in my Grafs, so am assuming the Makos will have the same favorable results.