I've had middle of the road skates last me around 5 years, playing 2-3 games a week, so I expect AT LEAST 5 years out of a "top-of-the-line" custom skate. I don't care about cosmetic stuff, but if they start falling apart, or break down, I'm going to be pretty pissed.
I'm really interested in the CDN vs. US pricing difference here too.... If I order these and have them shipped to a Canadian address, it looks like a savings of more than $150 even with tax and shipping... The exchange rate is .74 to 1 right now. It's kind of amazing to me that they are charging US customers 25% more....