VegasHockey

Can you take a video of this? I had an issue like this in the past when we had Sparx machines and I disassembled the machine at one point to get a better understanding of how its assembled.

We have plenty of them in stock. Shoot me a DM if you want a pair.

Yes. IMO, it's an improvement on the Ultrasonic, but nothing significant has changed other than the selection of materials and some refinements.

Thats a lot of questions. I align the holder to the center of the boot. This requires drilling many new holes, though sometimes a handful of them actually line up and can be reused. I tend to use a mix of carbon and epoxy to close all holes that cannot be reused before drilling and mounting. Pitch doesn't change. Holder height doesn't change. Steel height doesn't change. Pivot point does change. Since the holder itself is longer even when you mount the oversized holder centered to the boot you are moving the pivot point back.

The same time they release Supreme skates every other year 😉

If you use Flare give a 3/4" FIRE a try. It's quite impressive.

I would normally agree with you but consider how such a significant number of high level players use oversized holders. I find I get better balance and toe snap out of a longer holder/steel combination. I personally tell a noticeable difference between the same profile on a 263 vs a 271 regardless of altering the pivot and balance point to be similar.

I have seen it in person. It's basically an Ultrasonic v2.0 with some considerable upgrades. Changes to the tongue, liner, foams, modified facing to allow for even more forward flexion, and moved to a full carbon boot without CURV.

I think the longer steel changes the balance point but also allows for more of a working area on the blade. It feels more stable overall compared to a 263.

That is the retail skate. It looks very good in person.

I t does not hold an edge better. Less material and smaller edges always results in a weaker edge. Just like edges on a 3/8" ROH will not be as strong as a 7/8" ROH.

They are nice but quite costly. CCM/Bulletin stuff is the best bang for the buck.

Funny story. I am at the shop the other day and we get a call from a younger player, maybe around 11 years old. He says "I broke my stick, it got stuck between the bench door. When the coached closed the door it broke the blade off. My friend told me I can go back and exchange it for another stick." I had to explain to him that the breakage is not a result of a defect and he needs to talk to the manufacturer. I also explained the manufacturer will likely not approve the warranty replacement claim since its not a defect. He was upset by me telling him the facts, that we wouldn't replace the stick for him in store, and basically threw a tantrum over the phone and then hung up. So, when people ask why sticks are trending $300+ I always think back to this young player who will likely submit a warranty claim, which may get approved, and thus stick prices will continue to rise.

We sell Conway+Banks bags and for the cost they are amazing. Hands down the best bag you can buy at the price range. Pacific Rink is too costly. You are paying for a brand name and nothing really special IMO. Never personally used Mammoth, but I hear good things. The new TRUE bags are very nice and are decently priced. Same with Warrior bags.

Great stick but the durability has been questionable. UNLV ACHA D1 teams uses them and those guys are going through them constantly.

Flare edge checker by Blackstone. Works on all skates and steel.

Can someone point out any players that use the FBV in the WHL, OHL, QMJHL, AHL or NHL?

what skate are you looking for and in what size?

Correct

Nice! I hate dropping down holder sizes. I usually skate on a 271/272 but recently borrowed a friends skates that are pro stock Patrick Kane and they have a 280 holder. I love the 280 holder on a size 7.25 skate. I might actually tinker with going up a holder size!

More than I care to admit. It literally kills me on the inside to do this. Agreed. Maybe it varies by location, not sure where in the great white north you live but in the west, profiling is extremely common. When I lived in Seattle I spent a lot of time in Vancouver and the best pro shops there tend to sell a profile with almost every pair of skates or steel. The stores I owned in Seattle also saw many players visit from the north and many players were excited we had ProSharp machines since that wouldn't "ruin their profiles." I would note many players don't even know they have or have had a profile. For example, anyone skating on Bladetech steel is skating on a profile since they come with a triple radius. Byonic also has a dual radius profile applied out of the box. Keep in mind that profiling can be something as simple as shaving the toe, or applying a single radius, such as an 11' profile on new steel with a minor forward pitch. It doesn't always need to be something fancy. Typical players just know they like one steel more than another, not even understanding that various brands have different profiles applied from the factory or have different steel shapes.

They are not all the same. My understanding is the adhesive Comp-O uses is not the same as Howies, for example.

In Canada, almost every single player gets their skates profiled. It's almost expected when a customer is buying a pair of skates that they get the steel profiled. It's definitely not as popular in the US but is growing slowly. I can break down our metrics. Beginners don't typically ask for profiling. When presented as an option they usually decline either because they dont see a benefit or dont want to spend the money. According to metrics pulled from our sales that is about 8% of beginner skate sales and this represents 38% of our skate sales total. Intermediate/advanced players have a much higher percentage. Many ask for profiling or want us to match their existing profile with the replicator. This percentage is 36% of intermediate/advanced skate sales and accounts for 62% of our skate sales. Replacement steel we see about 65% of customers request profiling or profile matching.

I usually sell the standard ones as opposed to the Mako/VH.

Honestly, not sure about patterned tapes. We have patterned tape in stock from Lowry and Howie, both are made by North American Tape and they seem to be the same. We have the winter camo tape, Canada flag tape, and USA Flag tape. All of them seem to have a more course texture/pattern as compared to standard black/white. It could be they are made by another factory or maybe when they dye the tape it gives it a different texture/pattern.