VegasHockey

The sound of someone wearing them coming into the defensive zone when I was getting the puck always made me feel like they were right on top of me even though they were still at center ice. lol

Maybe for some, but I have never once had that issue with ANY one-piece skate.

I agree. Your skill level is irrelevant. In fact, most of the people here would probably be classified as intermediate or novice skaters. If you have the money you can spend it however you want.

Vapor 2X Pro has been the slimmest and lowest profile shin guard I have ever used. Second would be the Warrior Alpha DX.

On all of my girdles I have to get the shell adjusted because they fit too loose otherwise. I look like gansta some rapper out of the 90 if I don't get them slimmed down. lol

You can look at how much space there is at the front and rear of the holder to see the length difference.

In this pic the boots do not have any holders attached so its showing heel to toe in length.

Do you have the travel case?

Part of the reason for the lack of general knowledge is that most of these processes are proprietary, its basically each companies secret sauce, so they want to keep that information internal and provide retailers basic general information. You also have to consider that most staff working at stores aren't educated on custom skates since the number of custom skates sold is very minimal compared to the abundance of customers buying off the shelf retail skates. Not to mention many employees of the larger stores which offer custom skates just don't really care all that much. As someone who has owned multiple pro shops I can tell you that not a single one of my staff truly ever understood how each custom skate differs even though I provided them with literature, videos, and even spent time trying to educate them. I was the only person who could handle these questions which is ludicrous considering I am the owner of the stores. But, back to your initial question... Bauer and CCM take your measurements and basically grab the components to match the specific sizing and assemble the boot. After assembling the boot they 3D print a cast of your feet and insert that into the skates. They then apply high heat and pressure the skates to form them to your foot. How much pressure? A lot. Specifically how much, no clue, that's proprietary. How much heat? A lot. Specifically how much, no clue, that's proprietary. How does TRUE make their custom skates? Depends on who you ask. TRUE used to create a custom last based on your specifications and then build the skate around the last. This allowed them to make many adjustments to the skate as they are building it. It's a very hands-on process which requires a lot of work and truthfully the end result is only as good as the person doing the work. We did a ton of TRUE customs and yes, there were times we had issues with skates being too big or had a holder that was not properly aligned and 99% of the time TRUE fixed the problem. There is only one customer I can think of that we couldn't satisfy and he had significant foot issues. That customer also tried custom CCM and Bauer skates and those also didn't work for him as well. My suggestion, give TRUE one more try to get it right. Provide them as much feedback as possible. The more information you provide the better understanding they have of what works and what doesn't. If that pair comes back wrong still then I would look into other options.

I figured they would push to after December. It made no sense to start the season right at the holiday time period.

Eighteen members of Yale University's men's hockey team have been instructed to isolate after testing positive for coronavirus. https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/16/us/yale-ice-hockey-covid-spt-trnd/index.html

I owned multiple hockey stores until recently.... of course I double and triple checked these things. Also, this is a 7R TRUE vs a Bauer 8 Fit2 (D)

The TRUE skates in the pic are smaller, they are a size 7. The Bauer is a size 8. I don't see a full size difference between the two. Do you?

I think a size 7.0R TRUE TF9 would be considerably smaller than a size 8.0 Bauer skate. When putting both of these on they almost feel the same in size.

I don't have ridiculously wide feet but mine are slightly wide. I also have very high arches too. It's not super difficult to get the skates on/off but there absolutely was a learning curve to figuring out how to do it. I totally understand your frustration. For the first couple of months it drove me nuts.

Scottsdale Ice Den had a men's league player play who apparently knew he was sick and decided to skate anyway and infected 9 other players on his team. Moron.

Usually, I see this at busy shops where they get lazy after sharpening and don't properly hone the steel. Buy yourself a hone and also, get yourself an edge checker to make sure it's square.

Size 8.0 Fit2 Bauer Supreme 3S compared against a TRUE TF9 size 7.0R I don't know if this is the case with all sizes of TRUE TF9 vs other brands but at least in size 6.5R-7.5R, it seems they run about 3/4 of a size large.

Don't block any shots. That's the goalie's job. Problem solved 😉

Ok, I am 100% convinced there is something crazy going on with TRUE sizing. Here are pics comparing my TRUE customs vs a size 7R in the first photo. The second photo is my TRUE customs compared to a size 6.5R TF9. Both have 272 holders. My custom skates are basically a size 7.25 when compared to Bauer and CCM. To think I have to go to a size 6R is crazy. That would be 1.5 sizes down from Bauer and CCM!

In terms of custom fit I would personally rank them in the following order. 1: TRUE 2: CCM 3: Bauer That being said, this is my personal opinion. I have owned multiple customs from each of these brands. I am also open-minded and think that each brand has its pros and cons. I am ranking them in terms of fit specifically not taking into consideration features and such. For example, I prefer LS Edge or XS holders over the TRUE SHIFT holder. I do not dislike the TRUE SHIFT holder but specifically because I use Flare steel and they don't have steel available for that holder currently. I think CCM and Bauer have a better finish and aesthetics than TRUE. I also like that there are more options available with CCM and Bauer as well if you go full custom but going full custom is VERY expensive compared to TRUE. Long story short. They are all good but all have pros and cons. TRUE skates are typically better fitting than the other brands but you have less input into how the skates are built, options, and specifications. Other brands give you more options but it could be argued they are giving you more rope to "hang yourself" as well. I personally have made some decisions in previous skates that I later felt were wrong. Sometimes having too many options can be worse than someone making decisions for you. All of these companies spend a lot of time doing development and testing products finding the right combination of materials to arrive at a product that works entirely with all of the various combined components for the majority. Sorry for the lengthy post.

Use what works best for you. Some people prefer the paper-thin insoles since it gives a better-connected feeling between the skate and the ice. Others like a much thicker insole either due to comfort or foot issues. I personally like the speedplate footbeds as they give a balance between comfort and function.

Equipment managers do actually have some input on what pros use and many pros appreciate recommendations from equipment managers.

If you are having issues with TRUE custom skates fitting you properly you will likely have worse problems with Bauer customs. TRUE builds their skates from the inside out and the materials they use are extremely thermoformable. This allows them to adapt to your foot much better than the materials used by other manufacturers. I have found that people who needed to have a skate heavily modified, punched, foams added, basically altering most of the fit to accommodate their foot type have issues with custom Bauer and CCM skates and usually end up in TRUE customs. Feet going numb can be due to a number of issues. Lacing the skate overly tight, lack of skate volume, incorrect skate length, skate tongue putting pressure on the forefoot. Most of these issues can be addressed by a good pro shop. Did TRUE remake your second pair or did they make adjustments to the first pair and then send them back? What shop did you scan? How have they tried to rectify fitment issues?