Leif

Something else I forgot, he mentioned that one of the eyelets is falling apart. Someone said these skates are indestructible compared to high end Bauer and CCM, but this friend has two issues with his skates, lining wear and eyelet failure. Okay he's a big lad, 6'5" and build like a brick out house, but still it's not really acceptable from a high end skate.

Wouldn’t it be better if smu waited for third time lucky, and then showed us the outcome, rather than reposting the same long story again, and again and again? If it was me I’d have been on the phone to True, and given them a polite ear full.

When my ankle flexes forwards, as during a stride, the tongue will brush the skate. This is nothing to do with foot issues. The skates fit correctly. Why do high end Bauer skates have wear pads near the top eyelets?

I will ask Tom on Thursday when I next see him, though he might be away on business. In the case of my skates there is severe wear on the tongue in the corresponding locations, indicating that the tongue is the cause of the worn lining.

I don’t know how he has his shin pads and won’t see him until Thursday. That said, this is caused I assume by the edges of the tongue rubbing against the inside of the skate, assuming it is as per my Bauer skates.

A friend has had True skates for 8 months. Previously he had Bauer Nexus skates which caused him a lot of foot pain. He still gets pain from the True skates, but much less. The last time I saw him he was talking about re-baking them. What surprised me is that the skates show significant wear of the lining near the top eyelet, such that the lining has worn away to reveal the hard plastics beneath. He skates two hours a week at most. I see the same issue on my mid range Bauers but they are 18 months old and I skate 6+ hours a week including 3 hours hockey. High end Bauer skates have some tough fabric sewn over this region to prevent such wear. I also noticed in one of Nicholas G’s posts that his True skates tore at the back after a few skates. That is a bit shocking. My friend’s skates look good, the outer shell is very tough, they don’t show any obvious marks from other skates whereas my S160 skates are covered in rips and general damage. I presume high end Bauer and CCM skates would have a much tougher shell than mine. The True skates do look a bit home made, but in a good way. One aspect did surprise me about Bauer customs and that is that the shop makes more profit from mid range skates which is why this shop does not keep high end skates in stock. After all, when the new range comes out, they would be left with old stock that they would have to sell at a loss, hence overall they might lose money. They don’t stock True skates, so I don’t know how much profit is in those.

This isn’t the best advert for a True is it? That makes a lot more sense. Presumably that is the case for Bauer and CCM customs too.

Maybe orders have slowed down due to custom options now being offered by Bauer and CCM. This is just a guess, and could be nonsense.

Maybe he could shove the runners in the freezer beforehand, and wear gloves when putting them in. I have step and standard Bauer holders, no issues swapping blades, but obviously there are sample variations.

How much does it cost? Bauer and CCM have invested in CNC milling machines for their custom skate lasts, so clearly they think that sales will recoup the cost over time. And I suspect that a custom cutting machine is cheaper than a CNC mill. Not sure anyone is offended, or unrealistic. And isn't space fairly cheap in Quebec? As to people to operate such equipment, the hard work is in programming the machines. Once that is done, costs per unit can be reduced. But I have no inside information.

I do not know how the manufacturers make custom skates, but you are making assumptions. These days computer controlled cutters and CNC mills could allow full custom skates at reasonable prices. As to what a True do, who knows. I will soon speak to someone who has spoken with Bauer reps about their custom skates, and I am eager to hear her news.

I don't think they've even started selling units overseas. I'm one of many Brits who have the money, but cannot yet buy one. I am sure many countries especially those in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe could prove quite lucrative for Sparx. Also don't forget that many machines will be sold to a family with one or more kids who have started playing hockey on a regular basis, so there's a whole set of new customers each year.

I decided on Bauer rather than True for the rather prosaic reason that the Bauer custom shop is 25 miles away, whereas the True shop is 200 miles away, and fitting requires two journeys, one for the scan, and one for the heat moulding. I also have a very good opinion of the people at the local shop and quality of service is important when you spend that sort of money. I suspect many people in the south of England have made the same decision, certainly some friends who said they would buy True skates subsequently opted for Bauer customs after the local shop started doing them.

Are you sure? Bauer and CCM claim that they use 3D scans to make custom lasts for each customer. They even have videos on YouTube showing the lasts being machined on CNC mills. According to discussions on this forum True do not make a custom last, but use an existing last, chosen from a large selection, which most accurately matches the customer's feet. As to longevity, a friend has Easton skates made from carbon fibre which he replaced when they started cracking after 8 years of heavy use. Before that he used cheaper skates which wore out after a year or two. Can others confirm that for example Bauer 1S skates only last one high level season, whereas Trues last much longer?

About me: Age 55. Experience: One and a half years. Level: muppet. I started out with the Bauer 4500 helmet and face cage. It does the job, but you feel every bang on the head due to the firm foams used. I decided to upgrade the helmet after I collided with a huge player going at full speed who wasn’t looking where he was going. I was nowhere near the puck, so there was no excuse, but there was a loud bang as our helmets collided, I went flying, he remained upright, and I had a headache for several days afterwards , which is not good. The Bauer Reakt 200 is a top end helmet, and well reviewed by Virginia Tech. I know the VT reviews are controversial, but a good review can’t be a bad thing. So I ordered a large to try, and bought it as it fitted well. The first time I wore it on ice I had mild pain either side of my head, which I figured out was due to the cage being too narrow, despite being a large. A few minutes manually widening the cage sorted out the discomfort. This helmet is much more comfortable than the 4500, and after suffering a collision with the boards and a whack on the head from a stick I can say that it provides noticeably more protection than the 4500. Obviously if my head hits something hard, and decelerates rapidly, the helmet will not protect my brain from the deceleration, but the soft foams do without any doubt dissipate the impact much better, and hence the helmet should reduce brain damage to some degree. The helmet is expensive compared to others, but given that brain damage is a serious risk, I don’t mind paying more for a better level of protection. Added 1 January 2019: Last night I took a slap shot to the head while wearing this helmet. The puck hit the plastic shell above the forehead. It wasn't the most powerful of shots, thank goodness, but the helmet did its job: I didn't feel a thing, nothing and I haven't felt anything since either, so hopefully there was no zero injury. When it impacted, I had the feeling that the foams and suspended lining inside the shell were deforming and absorbing the shock of the impact. I'm sure my old 4500 would not have dealt so well with that shot. So, a big thumbs for the new helmet.

I largely agree, however they might have been scared of law suits and decided not to take the risk. My new VW car has a user manual that is largely useless as most of it consists of warnings along the lines of “do not drink the brake fluid”, no doubt due to fear of litigation.

True, but there’s probably a lot of bad ideas out there. The Marsblade holder might not be the product hoped for, but it looks pretty solid in terms of support from respected names.

These people, and many others, accept various names for the heel problem: http://www.aofas.org/PRC/conditions/Pages/Conditions/Haglund-Deformity.aspx

I was told that the Bauer custom skates (such as custom S2 Pro) are full customs with moulds made from the foot scans, and the boots are then built around the moulds. Am I mistaken?

Maybe the lack of criticism reflects the general satisfaction of owners? I was chatting to someone who may soon be the UK distributor for Sparx, and he said that a good hand grind was better than a Sparx grind, which rather took me aback. He explained that blades are often bent, and automated machines do not necessarily deal so well with bent blades. My right blade is very slightly bent, perhaps due to the holder, but a Sparx did a good job of sharpening it. I suspect that if a blade is bent to the degree that a Sparx can’t deal with it, then the bend should be rectified.

I had a sharpen from a Sparx machine in the U.K. and it was a very good sharpen. The owner of the machine might end up being the U.K. distributor/retailer for Sparx, so I hope you guys sort out all the details soon as I am tired of driving 25 miles to the good sharpener.

Coach Jeremy has a short mini review of these on YouTube. Someone posted a comment that they own some, and they lose a couple of rivets each month, and they have several friends with the same problem. Can I assume this is BS? Presumably it is someone who sells some other brand of skates, and wants to discredit True. Or a childish ‘prank’.

I returned the BAT gauge but not having heard anything I assume it has been lost in the post.

Thanks all. 18 months ago I was fitted with skates by someone who works as a hockey coach. No pain, apart from when I regularly fell on my backside when moving slowly and my feet shot forwards, and once I left blood on the ice from a head wound. I soon realised they were way too big, and bought boots elsewhere that fitted. In 18 months not one single unexpected fall due to feet shooting forwards. And no head wounds. It sounds like I can’t go wrong with the VH, even though I might not gain as much as hoped. I had a look at the Bauer 2s yesterday. Very very stiff. Massive tongue, and I mean massive, with hard plastic on the top side. Large tendon guard. Loads of squishy foam in the ankle area to compensate for the lack of custom fitting. I’m inclined to think they are way beyond my needs. As the lad (and co owner) in the shop said “you could skate in them, but you don’t need them”. I’ve examined VH skates, and they are more like hand made gloves.

Thanks. All To be honest when you're my age an extra few hundred pounds for a skate that will last years is neither here nor there. I recently upgraded to top end pads, and the increased comfort and mobility is well worth having, and I feel I am playing better as I no longer notice the pads, apart from the weight of course. The question I have is whether or not a better skate fit is anything more than a lack of spare space inside the foot. Sorry if this seems to be a stupid question, but the space around my toes in my Supremes does not bother me. In other words, does it have a practical impact? Of course comfort is worth having if it makes you skate better.