Leif

If there is an exposed heating element at the top of the oven, you might want to place a layer of foil on a rack just below the element, but above the skate. That will prevent the oven toasting the skate. Or skip the foil and shove a slice of cheese on.

Vet88: How long per session do you skate without laces, and how many sessions before you get benefit? I can imagine my skates wobbling about, I can’t see how you place the foot down on an edge when the skate is wobbly. Is this useful for all skaters?

I’m an older player, 56, and I skate roughly 7 hours a week, 3-4 hours of hockey scrimmage/training. Are you saying I don’t have time for skating without laces? IMO someone will learn quicker with lessons, most of us learn and then reinforce bad habits through practice.

You can become a good skater. Once you’ve got the basics down, you should find that one on one lessons will help a lot. The coach will correct poor technique, allowing you to be more stable and skate faster for less effort. I’ve been learning for three years, I started at 53, and I’m making good progress. Sure some youngsters learn faster, but many don’t. One thing that is often ignored is the importance of off ice exercises, such as yoga, gym or a martial art. You can do exercises at home, using inexpensive aids such as large elastic bands, a roller, a gym ball and a hockey stick. Without wanting to be rude, at your age you should be doing exercises each day, not only do you become more flexible, but they will cure any longstanding issues, such as back ache and sore knees. These sorts of exercises are also known to slow or reverse the effects of aging, and reduce the risk of dementia in later years. I do 15-20 minutes a day, I started out aiming to do 10 minutes, but they are quite enjoyable and leave my body feeling much better afterwards.

Not in my case.☹️ When I bought new skates last November, I realised why I had difficulties on the old ones: the blades were flat just like goalie skates. Repeated hand sharpening had removed the profile. I now use a Sparx, and even though my current blades are nearly worn out, the profile looks perfect. Round here many LHS sharpeners can’t even get level edges, never mind retain the profile. I can’t speak for other people. Round here you struggle to get profiling, and most shops will do 5/8” or 1/2” by default. I’m not disagreeing with you, but I’m with stick9 when he/she says that your suggestions were more like guidelines, which can help someone understand depth of hollow. 🙂

Yes, those parameters do have an influence. A heavier skater digs in more. A poorer skater might not be able to use their edges on a flatter hollow. A weak skater might not cope with a deep hollow, due to excess grip. Harder ice requires a deeper hollow to get the same grip. And so on. But personal taste is a big factor. I like 7/16”, but I found recently that I can still find my edges on 1/2”, and it is less tiring, and kinder on my knees. I will go even flatter and see how it feels, simply because I might get more speed, less effort. Some people favour speed, some favour grip. If you look at NHL players, you’ll see a huge variation. As to your question, without doubt almost all if not all of the players I know skate on stock profiles. The decent skaters wear decent boots.

I’ve been asking people what hollow they use, and I agree with you. I know a very light (10 stone or probably much less) superb adult skater on 5/8”, a heavier excellent skater on 3/8”, a very heavy skater on 1/2”. However quite a few have no idea. I think here in the UK we are less concerned, most people I know are on 1/2”, 7/16” or 3/8”. I’ve never come across flatter than 5/8”. However, that is not to say each person is on the ideal hollow, it’s not easy to try out alternative grinds. I suspect a deeper hollow helps on glice and other artificial ices.

Exactly. I started out on 5/8” and accidentally tried 7/16” thanks to a shop mistake. I was unable to skate on the 7/16”. But over the years I went down to 1/2” then 7/16”. Maybe my leg muscles had got stronger, who knows. Then after a year, and some skating lessons, I decided to try a 1/2” hollow. I was surprised to find that not only can I skate well on this hollow, but it is significantly less tiring. The skating lessons have given me better edge control, which means I don’t need so much grip. I think I will will try 9/16”, 5/8” and 11/16” and see if I can still do tight turns and crossovers without losing an edge.

This should answer your question: https://my.volumental.com/en/bauer/2f029e24-c1e1-4885-bd8a-706f9cc01baf/?utm_medium=myvemail The scan is from last year, hence last season’s skates.

I have the Bauer one, and it drips with condensation on my local rink, which is very humid, it’s not usable. I’ve seen people wearing hybrid visors, so I assume they get more airflow.

Thanks Steve, that clears it up. I also heard from Lisa, your colleague, equally helpful.

The 7/16” box says 40. The 1/2” box, as well as the Spaxx and Monkey Sports web site say 60. Apparently they used to do 40 pairs at four passes per skate per sharpen if you loook back to oage 7 of this thread. So either I have old stock, or new sock in an old box. It is possible all that has changed is the RFID chip ie they decided they could cut more pairs. Alternatively the cutting surfece of the ring might have been improved. I have contacted Sparx.

I bought two grinding rings from Monkey Sports in Europe. The sales page say each will sharpen 60 pairs of skates on average. The 1/2" packet says it will sharpen 60 pairs of skates. The 7/16" says it will sharpen 40 pairs of skates. Have they changed the wheels recently? Do I have an old inferior wheel? Or have they changed how many passes equate to one complete sharpen?

Basingstoke Bison (semi pro) sell off old kit at the side of the rink each year. I’ve seen jerseys and sticks.

Me too. Not suffering foot pain is worth the money.

I’m 155 lb and 5’11” so fairly light. I changed up from mid range skates to Bauer Custom 2s Pro and love them. I can skate for three hours with no pain. I’ve never had lace bite. And I feel the ice better. I’ve been learning to skate for three years, and skate 6+ hours a week including 3-4 hours hockey. I guess I should try not using the top eyelets and see what happens. My LHS told me that they make less profit on high end skates, and they don’t keep them in stock because they will lose money when the next model is introduced. I thnk that is why they like customs.

Yes, I agree, they should be compared to Bauer/CCM customs. I know four people with Bauer customs, including myself, all are perfect. But I won’t draw conclusions from a small sample. Incidentally I don’t have a dog in the race. I would have bought Trues if the shop wasn’t 250 miles away, compared to 25 miles away for the Bauer dealer who now stocks Trues!

Here in the UK True skates are only slightly cheaper than Bauer customs, £733 compared to £780, so it’s a wash. What’s more, True charge for each customisation, eg £25 for letters/numbers on the tongue. To be honest this thread puts me off True skates. A friend has a pair, they do have globs of glue on them, they are wearing much faster than my Bauer customs, and he says his feet are numb after an hour skating. My Bauers were flawless, and they get more comfortable with skating, I’ve done 3 hours on the go and no problems. You’ve said True are no worse or better than Bauer, maybe, but this thread is one bad advert.

That is weird, I guess True have a good reason for that. I’ll ask a friend about his UK True skate purchase.

Yes, of course.

I assume you mean MyBauer Custom Skates. I was scanned in England. I chose my options while in the shop, and I then paid the shop. Three weeks later I received a pair of skates. They are fantastic. The shop are very keen on custom skates even though the profit on each pair is small.

I know someone who went from Nexus to custom Vapor. Whatever the reason, someone fitted him wrong originally cos the Vapors are comfy. My first decent skates were fitted casually, no attempt to see which line was best. They were a size too big.

I have a Bauer fish bowl, I used it once and moisture was streaming down the inside, it was completely unusable. On our rink even my washing up treated glasses fog up. It is a very humid rink. Some of the Olympic women's teams wore fish bowls, so they do work sometimes. Looks good. I like the fact that the visor is quite separate from the cage, giving plenty of ventilation. I hope these will be available in Europe/UK.

Those look a lot neater than usual, no obvious glue blobs.

I was talking to a rink owner yesterday about his Sparx, which was one of the first in the UK. He travels with it, and on one occasion he dropped the bare machine (not in a case) from waist height down a flight of stairs. It bounced down 7 steps. It has also taken direct hits from a puck, including to the glass, and has some cosmetic damage as evidence. It still works perfectly, which shows how solid the internal mechanism must be. The fact that it is not out of alignment is surprising. Mine copes with the stresses of sitting on a carpeted floor. 🙂