VegasHockey

Here are some better pics that show the cage fits fine. There is roughly a fingers gap between my chin and the chin cup with my mouth closed.

In Scottsdale, AZ it rarely gets cold enough I need a heated garage. 😉

I have a whole setup for my personal unit in my garage, all my extra sets of steel, hones, oils, and such. Lots of skate sharpening goodies 🙂

1: The difference is Sparx you pay less upfront for the machine but pay more over time with the rings, the Pro Sharp consumable rings last much longer. I did the match and if you keep both units they end up costing the same after 2 years assuming you only use one ROH. If you are using various ROH for different players and such the Pro Sharp is significantly more expensive. 2: Yes, I have done blind back-to-back testing in our store with Sparx and Pro Sharp portable units and 95% of players cannot tell the difference. I think it has a lot to do with the prep prior to sharpening and then finishing after the sharpening. 3: Yes, they are both user-friendly and fairly simple to adjust 4: Sparx warranty is much better than Pro Sharp in my experience 5: None that I can speak to. 6: I would say the Sparx can be used anywhere, living room, garage, wherever, it has a built-in filter and is a closed cycle system. I still would not use it in my kitchen though as there has to be some debris that escapes through the top of the unit. Better to be safe than sorry. The Pro Sharp has much more debris though, I would recommend using it with a vacuum attached to help control the metal shavings, based on this I would not recommend that to be used in your home amnd only use it in a garage or some other space.

I've used every single ROH and FIRE and I seem to always go back to 1" ROH on all of my standard width steel, but on my Flare steel I like the 3/4" FIRE

Because you said the following above which was implying RFID and NFC are different. At least, thats how I read it. No biggie.

The skate is so adjustable once heat is applied that you can pretty much remove all negative space that you will never be able to get your foot into the boot. There was a player recently who we fitted and he hatesnall negative space in his skates, likes them to fit basically too small, kind of like Paul Coffey. He had us heat them extra long and wrap them so incredibly tight his toes ended up bruised. I think he is crazy but that's exactly the way he likes his skates to fit and TRUE skates were the only ones he has been able to accomplish this same fit. Also, the reduced facing I requested had nothing to do with volume adjustment.

Come on guys 😉 RFID is the process by which items are uniquely identified using radio waves, and NFC is a specialized subset within the family of RFID technology. Specifically, NFC is a branch of High-Frequency (HF) RFID, and both operate at the 13.56 MHz frequency.

That would make sense as the PS100 is significantly more expensive so they make more money up front and less per ring vs the retial model which they sell for less but make money from the subscription service of people buying rings. The good news though is the ES100 and PS100 are the same units 100% excluding the vacuum system and software/firmware.

They are exactly the same, the packaging is different and the NFC codes apparently are different as well.

I had a friend testPS100 rings on an ES100 today and it will n ot recognize them....

I think Hockey Monkey. Right?

I'll take some better pics of it on when I get back from Miami Beach. You'll see it's not that big.

LOL. Yeah, I like the cage off my face a little but not THAT much.

The PS and ES use the same rings. The XG rings should not be used in the ES units and I am not sure if Sparx ever updated the firmware on the units or the encoding on the XG rings NFC to allow/disallow the use of them. You will likely have to email them to find out unless they reply here. I know their stance is to not use the XG rings in the ES units. Also, the XG rings should only be used to remove large amounts of material or when you sharpen new skates. These should not be used constantly and the finish on them is not ideal. If you are sharpening skates that have already been sharpened previously you should not need more than 1 or 2 passes unless the blade has serious trauma.

it's just the angle of the shot.

Here are some pics of my TRUE lid, size M with an L Bauer Re-AKt cage.

Funny you mention 9.5/10.5 as thats what is now standard on the TRUE Shift holder STEP steel and it feels almost exactly like a Quad 0.5.

Yeah, the numbering system actually sucks IMO. Too often I get people thinking the Q0.5 sits between the Q0 and Q1, which any normal thinking person would assume. lol

I'll throw my hat in the ring here as someone who does a ton of profiles and also tests them. Owning a full-service hockey shop gives me the ability to have access to try all different combinations of skates, steel, and profiles. Yes, I am lucky, but this also comes with negatives as well considering I change configurations so often I sometimes physically hurt myself s and it most certainly does take its toll on my skating as well by changing equipment so often. Such is life..... BTW, when I say I hurt myself testing, I am dead serious. I hurt my back not too long ago, slipped a disc. I was testing an unreleased pair of skates with a very aggressive Quad 0 profile that was applied, it still had the full pitch in it and my back just couldn't handle the strain exerted with being so far forward. My back and core were constantly engaged fighting against the extremely stiff skate and the pitch of the profile and something had to give... Something did. My back. Anyway. Quad 0.5 is a great overall profile and as mentioned, what I typically like to start players on if they are coming from steel that has not been profiled previously. It's also very good for new adult players, as the pitch is something they are not yet accustomed to and can throw off their skating. For the young kids, I prefer to put them on a single longer profile until they develop advanced edge control. This allows them to focus on skating and not worrying about balance as much. Quad 2 would be my second go-to. The Quad 0/1 removes a very large amount of steel and also add quite a bit of pitch. Once you blend the toe properly many people feel too far forward and they get short choppy strides due to balance issues and such. There are so many factors I think we can all agree that its truly impossible to say what is the best method and what to use for each player without seeing. Not to mention that some skates have a built-in forward pitch, like TRUE, and many other skates are very neutral. For example, skating on a Quad 0 using the "Pro Sharp recommendation) on my TRUE skates makes me feel unbalanced. When I do Quad 0/1 I tend to remove most of the pitch from the profile to preserve steel and also lessen the forward pitch. I can always add more pitch later but I cannot add steel back once it's been removed.

Did you go with the Shift holder or another option?

Pic showing the changes I made to the facing on my skates.

I had a few people ask for pics of the SHIFT holder, specifically to see the mechanism. Here ya go.

Look at this skate tongue too. It's super thin. Based on his playing style he probably is willing to sacrifice some protection for flexibility and weight savings.

Looks like Structure has released a new camera so I imagine scanning is going to take another leap forward and become even better IF TRUE rolls these out. https://structure.io/structure-sensor/mark-ii