krisdrum

Considering steel is a "consumable", especially with the quick release systems all the major players are using, it is what it is. Especially since you purchased a "third party" set of steel (despite that they are owned by the parent company, I'm not sure they are "doing business as"). SLS will probably provide the best chance of recouping some of that sunken cost. If you'd purchased a model that came with steel - that is a no brainer - the steel goes back with the returned skate. I was in this exact situation last year. Bought some Ribcors and a set of Bladetech steel feeling pretty confident the Ribcors would work for me. Unfortunately they didn't. Returned the Ribcors and their original steel and luckily was able to use the Bladetechs on my son's skates as he outgrew his old pair.

I doubt they will take the steel back that you purchased separate from the boot and holder. That is just an educated guess from years of working in sports equipment retail, but no harm in asking.

I used it on a pair of Ribcor that were giving me heel pain and despite multiple attempts to punch and create space (I have a Haglund's bump), I still couldn't get comfortable. I purchased them from an online retailer. Shipped them back and as soon as the package was received I got notice I would be fully refunded for the purchase. I had the skates for nearly the full 90 days. I really gave them an opportunity to work for me.

Their stick bag looks pretty similar to one by a company named "Partage" https://www.amazon.com/Partage-Hockey-Stick-Bag/dp/B07ZMXWB8N I don't see anything similar to the gear bag under that name, but I am wondering if they are importing these and slapping some screen printing on them and there could be another source elsewhere in the market.

I find Grafs to run a bit short compared to Bauer/CCM. The issue is I'm not sure it is a full 1/2 size. I wear a 5 in Graf (535) and a 4.5 in CCM/Bauer. But as you said, trying them on is really the only test that counts.

I know a long standing strength conditioning guy in the show and another who does a lot of work with D1 guys and some strong prospects (and pros in another sport). I can ask, but I can't imagine either one of them would find much merit in these. Heck, I mentioned Gel STX to them a few years ago and they basically laughed me out of the place. @BenBreeg hit the nail on the head. Heck, one of the guys tells a story of a D1 hockey coach tossing the incoming recruits a basketball on day one of practice and saying "go for it". The guys who couldn't play pick-up didn't make the team. Obviously there are hockey specific skills, but there is a lot you can take from general athleticism.

Plenty of "official" True videos out there that demonstrate. I haven't tried this modification to True's standard instructions yet, but like the approach. I tried the standard approach solo, not sure I got the greatest results. Probably better as a two person job.

The singularity. Look it up. Everything is accelerating. There will be lulls in there, but overall everything is exponentially increasing. Maybe right now hockey has optimized performance in the materials available. Maybe it hasn't. Sometimes a breakthrough doesn't feel like one until you look back at it in history.

Yeah the tent sale is nothing new. They have one every 6 months or year for the last several years.

They'd been selling direct to customers for the last few years, so no one local will have them in stock. Does look like the Halo stick is gone from site, but most everything else is there. Besides their gloves and RX3 elbows, which are pretty good, not sure anything else really hit the mark. I used their sticks for awhile. They were ok, but nothing compared to the big 3.

I like the basic felt tongue in my TF9s way better than the stock lightweight foam things

My understanding for the rear post only, is the pronation is coming from the heel/ankle area. Canting that area will cause the rest of the foot to follow. It does slightly twist the holder, but nothing that would cause damage. We are literally talking about maybe 2-3mm. Ok, so you've tried in-boot shims in your ice skates? Obviously you've done it with other footwear with success. Odd that canting the medial side makes you feel like the outside edge is further away from the ice, as it should compensate for the "fall" in your heel and shift your weight more to the outside. If shimming the outside of the boot (between boot and holder) you shim the lateral side. My understanding is shimming and remounting effectively do the same thing - shift your balance point so it is more centered over the blade. The MLX skates had move-able holders laterally, similar to figure skates, but believe they were bought by Easton and became the prototype for the Mako skates, but that design feature was discontinued.

I had good success some years back with what you are calling "wedge shims". I was in a softer boot and my feet naturally pronate (arches fall, internal rotation of the foot, wear the inner heel of my shoes more quickly). The combination of soft boot and biomechanics made it less natural to get on my outside edges. My LHS shimmed the back post of my holders on both skates. The shim took up only the external half of the mounting area (from centerline to outside of heel) and was placed between my boot and holder, held in place by the rivets. With a bit of experimentation, we got to a place where I was much more neutral on my blades. I've also at times experimented with heel shims inside my boots. These are common in the sport of cycling to correct biomechanics against a fixed pedal surface. There are a lot of similarities from that perspective. Both approaches had similar result to re-mounting the blades further to the inside of each foot, but no extra holes needed to be drilled. I've found for the most part, people typically do not move the holder position in hockey (like they do in speed or figure), but instead shim to adjust the natural balance point. I've found a stiffer form fitting boot (True TF9) reduces my pronation and need to shim. That could just be correlational, since I am now skating way more than I was back when I had shims and have built up a lot more strength in all those little muscles, but there could be something to it.

Can you shim the holders to get the desired effect? Or is moving the holder the only viable option? Just making sure you've thought through all your options before drilling new holes.

The Pro will be based on a foot scan at your local dealer. The Cat9,7, and 5 are standard retail sizes.

Interesting... so you think the 6.5 Supremes in hindsight are too short? That seems odd considering your other data points, but... Did you also bake/try on the True size 6? or determined they were too small unbaked? If unbaked only, you may want to keep your options open for the 30 day return and size down. I would recommend you pay very close attention as you start to break the skates in over the first 5-10 hours of ice time. Unless you've been seriously misfit in the Bauers, I'll be surprised if the 6.5 aren't too big by the time they break in. But YMMV. As for the fit process, at least in my area, NO ONE does the wrap (big box or otherwise). I talked to several shops and all told me I could request it, but they don't default to it. Some ask that you bring your own wrap if you want it. I even had one shop tell me they would charge me to wrap vs. not wrap after a bake. Insane. Unfortunately when all the other brands are the same and quick and easy, having a process that is more intensive and time consuming tends to get tossed to the side, devalued or ignored. Good luck with the skates this week. Keep us posted.

I guess we see it differently. I'm reading your suggestion as go into the store and try everything on. Which I guess there could be some merit in. I tend to like to narrow my choices down a bit to what I think will work, and then consider other options if I am proven wrong, especially when it comes to decent sized financial outlays.

That sounds like pure trial and error to me. I prefer to make more informed decisions, if I can.

I wouldn't either, but I think guys like Matt have proven themselves to be thorough and fair in their review of gear. It sure beats relying on what the marketing department comes up with to try to move some product.

Seems like an expensive endeavor for them. Instead of sending demo pairs to some high quality reviewers who can help steer folks in the right direction. I personally don't think I would drop the money to try them, even with the 30 day trial, without more information from folks that I trust.

Thanks. I know you've posted that before, but could never see it on my work computer. Just opened it on my personal... So the Cat series is replacing the TF series based on this. Interesting.

To add to the conversation, you might want to look into the Malkin or Hossa curves from Prostockhockeysticks. I believe both are similar to a P88 with a toe kink. He just posted his on-ice review of the Malkin on his YouTube channel this week and the Hossa was reviewed a few weeks back. Believe he gave the edge to the Hossa, but liked both curves very much.

Not to derail - but I just picked up a P90TM. Trying it after seeing my son love his and seeing many of the folks here enjoy it. Been a P88 user. I put both stick blades flat against the ground side by side and it looks to me like the P90TM lie is higher. Maybe 5.5 or 6 compared to the P88 lie 5. Am I not measuring/comparing these to each other correctly? Or is there really a difference? I thought the P90TM was a P92/29 with a toe kink and max height. Stemming from CCM's prostock equivalent of the retail P29 being the P90. If so, shouldn't the lie be higher? Isn't the lie on a P29/92 typically 6?

Sorry to quote myself, but... I just dropped a message to True's Instagram account making the case for them to provide Matt with a demo pair of Catalysts to review. I suggest others here write a similar note. I'm happy to reach out to them by other channels if anyone has good contact info for them. I'm sure my Insta message will go into a black hole, but it was the only direct access point I could think of. Open to other suggestions. If we can get enough people to make the suggestion... maybe they'll see the value and do the right thing. I know for me the TF line review Matt did was HUGE to making my purchases.

Boo. Bummer. Hey @True hockey - hook him up!!!!