Leif

I assume this is ACL used by Bauer? No idea what it is, but in general their products are full of technology described using marketing bull along the lines of PowerTech, EnergyLite and so on. I read the marketing speak and turn off. Sometimes the technology such as Curv is genuinely good stuff, but I wish they would talk in normal language rather than marketing hyperbole/bull, so that I can understand WTF they mean.

Thanks. It's the bones that are thin, and I can't change that. 🙂 I've discovered that I have to tighten the skate laces a lot to draw the fabric around my feet for a snug fit, but the skate is always loose around the bottom of my leg, and that gives me flexibility as you say. It's a very different kind of skate from my previous ones.

I have knee pads with D3O and boxer shorts with a D3O coccyx pad for public skating and the D3O makes a huge difference. Prior to using the shorts I was off sick from work after a fall on my backside, and in general a fall would require a five minute rest to recover. Since using them I've fallen, it still hurts, but I can get up and carry on skating straight away without any bruising. So yes it does work, though I don't argue with your statement, maybe it's not used well in your pads.

Thanks, yes it feels a bit weird, beautiful skates though.

Deleted.

And another question ... My skates have a very good heel lock, the length is right and the width at the toes is good. However, they are very loose at the top of the boot, around my leg. Is this normal? I have thin legs (and arms) for my height and build, although there is quite a bit of muscle on the legs, just not at the lower ends.

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I came across this PDF file while looking into the heat moulding process. It describes fitting True skates, heat moulding them, and getting a tighter ankle fit: https://www.true-hockey.com/media/TRUE_Step_By_Step_Guide_EN_Online.compressed.pdf I thought it might be of interest. Also, does anyone have a link to the description of how to clamp True skates in this thread. It’s a long thread, and I don’t want to read every page.

I think there was an element of pronation, not realising I had to readapt to new blades, and get rid of the pronation. Also I made sure I tightened the laces lots, the injected lacing mechanism makes it a bit harder to tighten laces.

Following suggestions here, I went down to the rink today and I put on the old blades and my outside edges were pretty much back to normal. So I put the new blades back on and did lots of outside edge drills, focussing on the angle of the blade to the ice, and my outside edge control is coming back. I reckon I got used to flat worn down blades without realising it. It makes me wonder what other people’s runners are like after multiple sharpenings. I was chatting to a friend recently and he commented that his blades had only had a few grinds, and yet the profile had changed lots.

Thanks all. I checked the edges and for sure the full width has been sharpened which suggests that she took enough metal off to get a full grind. I placed them upright on a granite hearth, and I see an obvious curvature consistent with 10 feet. Oddly my old skate blades are flat except at the very ends! They look like goalie skate blades. They are well worn Step steels and hand sharpening has evidently destroyed the profile. These skates do not seem to lock in my heels as much as the previous ones. I will try tightening the laces more, though they are stiff boots, so not sure that will do much. And I will try looser lacing. My edge control in my old skates is good, several hockey coaches have watched me do forwards cross rolls, and given a thumbs up. I get a good lean while holding the non skating foot out, and crossed over the skating leg. Sure I can’t do them really tight as per Sean Walker on YouTube. Similarly I could ride both edges while tight turning, in other words I could feel the outside edge on the leading skate. And when doing crossovers I was riding the edges, with my legs crossed over lots, friend commented on good edge control. Unless I am deluded I do have edge control with my old skates. I’m erring towards a technique issue, perhaps due to having gradually got used to flat blades. I will swap out the blades, and see how the old ones do, that will at least eliminate one variable.

I picked up new Bauer custom 2s Pro skates with LS5 blades on Wednesday, did one hour stick and puck, and one hour scrimmage Thursday evening, and one hour public skating this evening. Anyway, I have no outside edges and I’d like suggestions please. The ice on Thursday was very hard, so I was not surprised at the lack of grip. But this evening I’m sure it was not so hard. When I did forwards crossovers, CW or ACW, the leading foot slid sideways. When I did a tight turn, either direction, the leading foot slid sideways. When I did a forwards outside edge one foot hockey stop, the sliding was insane, no bite at all. I trust my sharpener 100%. She showed me the BAT gauge and it was perfect. I checked the edges this evening with my gauge, and the edges are perfect, front, middle and back. What is going on? If it helps, I am 5’11”, 11 stone 4 pounds, and the hollow is 1/2” which I’ve used for a year. I would describe my skating level as intermediate. I find it hard to believe the skates are at fault, the same fault on each is unlikely. The sharpening is spot on. So there must be a problem with my technique. Or do I need a deeper hollow to get grip?

Do let us know what the new skates are like, but no need to write War and Peace ... Glad to hear your woes should be over. 🙂

You've lost me. Why do you assume his shins are rubbing? What is he doing wrong?

I saw Tom this evening at a scrimmage, and he wears his shins outside of his skate tongues. I’m not saying the Trues wear unduly, but they do show signs of wear after 8 months for sure.

My first set of old ones cracked after a year, the second after six months. The new ones are made from a more flexible plastic, and they have some padding so they feel much more comfortable. The new ones are thicker, but only by a few mm. I’m sure the new ones will last longer, and as far as I can tell they are functionally as good. Expensive for a few bits of plastic, but worth the money. I have two sets of the new ones in old and new skates. The ones in the new skates were baked and fitted, then the skates were baked and fitted with the now cold speedplates inserted.

Vapor failed the pencil test, but Bauer say that is only a guide, the scanner is more accurate. What did concern me was the toes in Vapors. I'm not sure what Bauer do for the toe box, whether they use a given toe box for a given model and size, or if they select according to the scan. Certainly these feel a tad longer than the stock skates I tried on, so I suspect the toe box is chosen to suit the scan.

My current/old skates are Bauer Supreme S160 7EE which were the best fit of the three models, didn’t use a scanner. This time round the scanner said stock Vapor 7EE was best but Supreme 7EE okay too. Custom was 6.5EE and 6.75EE Vapor. I tried on 6.5EE Vapor but toes felt cramped. Would custom Vapor have been as good or better? No idea, but Supreme is fine too.

I picked up my Bauer custom 2s Pro today, and they are definitely a snug fit. I can see where the forefoot broadens out for my small toes. The fit and finish is first rate. The LHS reckon I should be okay using them at a casual stick n puck session followed by a scrimmage tomorrow rather than getting used to them in a public session. My feet are fairly ordinary - shallow but broad forefoot, narrow shallow heel, thin ankle - and the skates do feel like exo skeletons consistent with a custom fit, snug but not tight. I’m in England and the time between the shop sending the order and receiving them was three weeks and one day.

Were you in the U.K., you’d probably be able to get a full refund on the grounds that the good is not as described I.e. it is not a custom fit to your feet. After all, you seem to have a worse fit than from stock skates. You might want to look into consumer law in your area. I once lived in Montreal, 25 years ago, and consumer law there was atrocious. I’m surprised True have not contacted you via the forum, this is not good publicity.

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.