Leif

I have pointed Prosharp to your post to see if they think it is fair, though you make some very interesting points. However, the EU has very strong consumer law and making a false or misleading claim opens them to prosecution, and hence false claims are rare. I have asked ProSharp about their 500 pairs of skates sharpened per wheel claim, and how many passes they assume. Lastly, you said somewhere that you will soon release the Sparx to the European market. Can you indicate whether this will be in a month, 3 months, six months, a year, or several years time? And have you finalised who will be the distributor?

When you sharpen your skates on the Skatepal, how many passes do you need, assuming you're not changing the radius of hollow?

Thank. The Skatepal is a much more expensive machine, I'm not sure how it differs from the Home. Nice to hear you like it though.

Does anyone here have the above, and how do you find it? I've decided to buy a machine, but reviews of the above are scarce, a few on YouTube of course. The alternative is the Sparx, maybe half the price although no European dealer yet, but wheels last nowhere near as long.

I bet it records the number of passes and the value can be queried by Sparx to assess whether or not it has exceeded the warranty conditions. Technically that's easy to do since it has relatively sophisticated electronics inside. It could even be running Linux!!! So most of your concerns will not be an issue for Sparx.

To answer the last point, I was going to buy a Wissota, but it can't be kept in my unheated garage. So it'd have to be indoors, and given that it is big, and messy, that is out of the question. So an automated machine is the only solution for me. And I like the fact that it can give a blade a few passes without me having to think in a minute or two. Regarding Chris Kibui, I think you are unfair on him. I've watched Jeremy at Bauer behaving like a kid in a sweet shop asking no critical questions. Chris is I think no worse. His review of the Sparx and ProSharp Home machines is informative. And yes I do like Jeremy and Ken's videos, excellent stuff. But Chris is okay too, a bit wordy at times, but it's free tuition for some of us. Regarding sincerity, well it might be a case of patriotism perhaps, we tend to favour someone with our own accent/dialect. Just a thought.

That's a very cryptic statement. Could you explain?

I'm not sure if you were suggesting the Swedish unit is more rugged, however as it is made in Sweden, and the Sparx in China, the higher price of the Swedish unit need not translate to a more rugged unit, the price difference could be due to higher manufacturing costs. Anyway, my last three sharpenings were all bad. Two from the good sharpener were both out by 4/1000" which is bad, and one from another recommended place was 3/8" and not 5/8" as requested, leaving me unable to skate. I had to have them redone the next day. It's starting to look like a home sharpener is the only way to ensure good sharpens.

I bought some inserts and I used them for a few months. They did improve the psychological feel of the skates. But I stopped using them and I don't miss them. Maybe my balance has improved, maybe I'm used to the void above my toes, who knows. I know others who have them, so they are not uncommon in the UK among rec players.

I considered a manual sharpener. But it needs its own heated room, it's messy, it's very heavy so cannot easily be moved about, and it takes time to learn. I have one pair of skates to sharpen, and no-one to teach me, or spot the mistakes I make and reinforce. So a machine makes sense. As to them being made of lots of plastic, there is a rec team in the UK who own both Sparx and Prosharp machines, and they take them all over the UK and even overseas, and they say they are both robust.

Any update on when the Sparx will go on sale in Europe? I'm assuming no sooner than mid 2018, maybe even 2019.

Thank you.

Thanks Steve I realise these things are dependent on people outside of your control, but do you have a handle of whether or not you expect to start supplying UK/European customers this year, or next year, or the year after?

Hello Steve Do you have any idea when the Sparx will be available in the UK, and at what sort of price point? As I understand it you do not ship direct from the States, but you will have a UK distributer.