Leif

I could never get the same reading on both sides of my old blades for that reason. Which steels are not punched? I now have Bauer LS5 runners and they have parallel sides. My previous Step steel runners didn’t. Just a sample of one set of each though, so you can’t draw firm conclusions.

If you look at Bauer charts you’ll see that Nexus is exactly what you don’t want. You’re more likely to fit Vapor or maybe Supreme. I have duck feet, Bauer scanner recommends Vapors, but Supremes are comfy too. My feet are widest at the front, but not that wide.

That was released before the MyBauer programme, it’s unclear if the process is the same. Certainly the foot moulds don’t look like 3D printed ones, maybe actual casts.

My understanding is that both Bauer and CCM use a similar process for custom skates, taking essentially stock boot components but adjusted in cut to the individual feet - including different lengths and widths for each foot - and then as you say pressure moulding each to a printed cast of the foot. How much they tailor the quarter package and the in/outsole and tongue to each person is unknown. I’m sure Bauer has a stash of toe caps so they can accommodate most fore feet. But I am very impressed by what Bauer has achieved, and I assume CCM is as good, not that I know.

Bauer alone have thermoformable insoles, injected facing and thermoformable tongues. I was very screptical of these features, but they work extremely well. The high end quarter package is made from carbon curv, basically carbon fibre, not curv which is a cheaper alternative, albeit extremely good. However both companies buy in a lot of tech. CCM buy in d3o. Bauer buy in G-Form, Curv, the wicking fabric, and other technologies. As for the one piece boot, surely the stiffness and the fit are far more important. The 2x Pro looks ugly as hell though. They remind me of silly cars (automobiles) with big exhaust pipes and go faster stripes.

I’m not convinced about that. Bauer custom does not cost much more than stock, and you get a custom skate. I have 2s Pro, and I am impressed, very nice skates, well worth the money albeit expensive. However, I do find the pricing structure odd. The actual cost of each ‘feature’ such as comfort edge and injected facing can’t be much, a few dollars, and yet the 2s Pro costs a fortune compared to a mid range skate. I can only assume I am paying development costs, and higher overheads due to lower unit sales of high end models. My LHS tells me that profit margins on high end skates are low, much lower than for mid range skates. They won’t keep them in stock, as unsold ones will cost them money, and they don’t make enough profit overall if any.

You poor lamb, I’m sure we all feel sorry for you. 🙂

One point to note is that the 1s has the original speed plates. They are not as comfy, and not as durable. My last set lasted six months.

If it makes you feel any better, the UK price is £1200, or over $1,500. That includes 20% sales tax. I’d be curious to know how well they sell in Europe.

FWIW I have 6.5 and 6.75 and the holders are 263. I was a perfect fit for a Vapor, and a borderline fit for a Supreme, but went for Supreme. The heel and depth are perfect, but the toes are too tight which is nothing to do with the family, since they adjust the width to suit.

Nicholas G. said "Our store is considering doing a loaner/lease program to the hockey association for the 16U and 18U AAA teams " If you're going to do that, you need to know if the machines can stand up to the sort of abuse customers will give them. I am also interested in the robustness of these machines, in case I do transport mine. I'm going to take care, but accidents do happen, and it'd be nice to know the sort of abuse they can take. A two foot drop onto a floor is unlikely, but a 6" drop could easily happen. Colins posted a nice video which shows the Pelican case is very tough. But I honestly don't think I can trust myself to carry a $1500 machine around.

You missed the key point, which is that I (maybe not you) find the Sparx hard to carry as it is big and heavy, and it has no carrying handles, and I’d quite likely drop it. With two people it’d be fine. I doubt there are any laptops that weigh even half the Sparx weight. Most people don’t walk round with TVs.

Yes, I know the Sparx is made with a solid steel frame and the case is tough. My concern isn’t damage while in the case, it’s concern at what happens if it drops on the floor while putting it into or taking it out of the case. I find my Sparx hard to lift as it is so heavy, hence easily dropped if I slip. That’s why I’d opt for the ProSharp if portability was a key requirement. Regarding the glass, I know someone with Sparx machines that have taken a hard puck shot to the glass, it’s tough. The exterior metal case is tough too, although the cosmetic plastic ends might break more easily.

I guess there’s two issues. How many grinds can it do before failure, and how robust is it when knocked about. It looks like it can do oodles of grinds, but can it survive regularly being carried, and potentially dropped albeit in the carry case, or even accidentally dropped 6” onto a bench? These things are heavy.

I doubt Sparx said shops suck, but I find most are poor, and the good ones are 25 miles away. Anyway, if a shop buys a Sparx, it requires far less attention and concentration, so they can serve customers more quickly at peak times. My LHS has one of two top staff members sharpening at the weekend. I’d rather they were serving customers because they kniw what they are talking about. Curiously they have a ProSharp SkatePal, looks like an aluminium camera case, but it sits unused. The wheel clogged up with steel and customers apparently preferred the hand sharpening. That said, my Sparx is incredible.

I wear a Bauer 1s short but even that is not padded enough to protect my delicate (old) backside. So I also wear a Xion d3o boxer short underneath. I can now take a tumble with no long lasting damage. There are cheaper alternatives such as the Demon d3o shorts, not as good as they get sweatier, but just as protective as they use the exact same d3o pad.

Presumably because a metal dust tray is more durable. Mine came with one too. The plastic one did look a bit flimsy. The locking screw is in addition to the locking guard. Nice to see improvements after launch.

I tried Bauer hockey socks, horrible, designed for people with very narrow toes and they developed holes after a couple of skates. I now buy packs of thin cheap socks from the local sports shop such as these: https://www.sportsdirect.com/kangol-formal-socks-3-pack-mens-416507?colcode=41650793 https://www.sportsdirect.com/giorgio-4-pack-high-socks-mens-416512?colcode=41651290 When the ice is very cold Merino wool socks keep me toes warm.

Me too. A snug wrap with no empty space is ideal.

It doesn’t have to be a black and white discussion you know? I’m convinced the VT results have value, but as pointed out earlier, they also have serious failings. Once you recognise the limitations, you can then take them for what they are. One valid criticism IMO is that VT over egg their conclusions. In practice hockey is potentially dangerous, as are skiing and parachuting. You either mitigate those risks, or do something else.

Of course it is completely down to personal taste. Many reckon ~15 hours between sharpens: https://medium.com/@number9hockey/when-to-sharpen-skates-fc95f12de7f6 Our ice is quite hard, and after ~8 hours I do feel my edges sliding during crossovers. This might be poor technique of course. I happen to like the feel of fresh edges, a luxury that costs very little (~25 cents per pass) once a Sparx is available. I don’t sharpen my car tyres, but then again us Brits are often behind the times. 🙂

I skate at least six hours a week, lots of sideways slides, lots of sprints with deep cuts, generally before the Sparx I liked to get them sharpened every two weeks to maintain the edges. I'd have done more but it meant a morning driving. I have a 7/16" hollow. With the Sparx I can do one pass before every session, as I really like the feel of fresh edges.

Does anyone know how much steel one pass removes? I’m curious to know the lifetime of my runners compared to hand sharpens. Previously they (Step steel) lasted about 6 months. I currently have Bauer LS5 runners. I have been doing one pass before each session, and noticed a slight tilt to the edges at the rear which was cured by an extra pass, so an occasional two passes may be needed. I still think this device is phenomenal.

This is an interesting discussion. What I am taking away from it is that the VT tests will tell you which helmets provide more protection from certain kinds of impact, such as a puck to the forehead, but there are other significant kinds of injury that are not accounted for. Specifically they do not account for rotational forces which are a major cause of concussion. The danger of the VT tests (as stated by stick9) is that they could give someone a false sense of security, whereas in reality even with the ‘best’ helmet, you really do need to avoid certain situations. I’m also quite shocked at the levels of brain injury in hockey, something I had previously only associated with boxing, a sport that I abhore for its brutality. Is it right to subject athletes to life changing injuries in the name of entertainment?

I’m not sure what you mean by football headform. A quick search found this: https://nocsae.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NOCSAE_Football-Helmet-Standards-Overview-_May-2018.pdf However, if I understand correctly, the above is saying that rotational forces are the ones that cause the most damage, and a helmet does nothing to reduce those. Was it an earlier link that said that ~124 out of 125 NHL brains studied had significant damage (CTE) from repeated traumas?