Leif

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.

I’ve had my Bauer S160 skates for 18 months, and they fit pretty well. They have some superficial tears but they will last a year or two more. However, I will upgrade to a more high end skate just before Christmas 2018. Several people have told me that a higher end skate will improve my skating. Do others agree? Going from 20 year old entry level Vapors to the S160 did hugely improve my ability. I am a good skater by local rec standards, but not when compared to the really good players. Secondly, a friend bought VH skates as off the shelf skates would not fit his very wide feet. Given that Supremes fit me (seemingly) well, would the VH offer any benefit over the Supreme 2s? From what I can see the VH should fit snugly, whereas the 2s will be slightly less snug, using internal padding to fill voids, but with some accommodation when heat moulding. Or perhaps the 2s is far more than I need? Incidentally money is not an issue, it’s the fit and performance benefits if any that matter. Oh, and I’m 54 but very fit with a lean build, if that makes any difference.

Any update on when Europeans will be able to buy the Sparx? Or is is still ‘soon’ ie could be next year, or next decade or ...?

Nah. I was sent a torch/flashlight to review. It was excellent and said so. I was sent another, it was pretty good, so I said so. I was sent a third, and a I thought it was potentially dangerous, so I said so. I was not asked to do any more reviews. in all cases I gave the lights away to colleagues, who would use them. I had too many lights already. So it’s not always a blatant case of “wowI got this free, it’s great”. If reviewers are not ‘compliant’, they might not get more items to review, and the review for some is a source of income. That said, wine reviewers with big UK newspapers can be honest because they get paid a salary, and the prestige of the paper means everyone sends them stuff to review. I suspect duff items are just not reviewed. So we might think homely online reviews are more honest, but the reality might be different.

Okay, thanks, appreciated. I’m not sure how my original comment sounded like an attack, it sounded like you were saying Chris does reviews for payment, which was a rather strong statement, so I asked for clarification. I can see that this is a grey area, he clearly has expenses, but I’m not sure I am happy with the idea that he charges you, and others, for a review. In my view, he should not charge you, and he should make the money from people viewing his review. Maybe this is rather idealistic, and not how internet reviews work. As an aside, I was once sent a pair of binoculars to review. I did the review, which was honest, then asked for the return address. I was told to keep them, so I gave them to a charity shop to sell on. I felt uncomfortable keeping them, as it would indicate corruption, or bias. I know many binocular reviewers are sent on paid trips to nice places to do the review. Maybe that is the ‘way of the world’.

Hi, no you’re not being grilled, but I would appreciate some clarification as what you wrote could mean several things. Your comment suggested that he will ‘review’ a product for a fee, unless I misunderstood you. I have always assumed his reviews are not paid for ie they are trustworthy. I believe in Canada and maybe America a web site must declare any financial sponsorship, not sure about the UK. Chris has loads of videos, so there’s no way I can know which is yours. Was it a product review for a product that you make or distribute? As I’ve said, you’re not being grilled, or attacked, just being gently prompted for some details. Thanks.

I don’t see what justified the insulting icon on my post. You made an accusation, so it’s reasonable to ask for evidence. Why does that justify an insult? What was the video you asked him to make about/for?

Do you have evidence to back up that statement?

Mmmm. You sure you're not trying to knock the skate? Seriously, leaving some masking tape in is not such a big deal, a trivial error.

Okay, might take a day or two as I have skating this evening.

The problem is that you’d have to pay shipping both ways which could be expensive. Obviously Sparx would honour the warranty in all other respects.

They don't yet ship to Europe, and I doubt they ship to Australia. Maybe you have someone who can do that for you, but you'll have issues with the wwarranty I guess.

I bought a ProSharp BAT and I’m surprised that it is out by 2/1000”, and that the grid is a sticker. Kinda turns me off other ProSharp gear.

Once I got good enough to justify VH skates, the presence of the logo would be neither here nor there, it’s the performance that counts. But given a choice, I’d lose the logo.

I’m with you on that, all black would be better.

I used to use Powerfoot inserts on my stock Bauer skates, as I found the empty space in the toe caps disconcerting especially when doing edge drills. However, since then my skating has improved markedly, especially my edge control, and I find that I no longer need them, and I do not notice the empty space in the toe caps. It is possible that more advanced skaters than me would get some benefit, my skating is nowhere near the level of the coaches who teach us.

Using an oil/wax on the final cut is commonplace among good manual sharpeners. That said, the finish I've had from a ProSharp machine has been excellent.

It is a good idea to repeatedly remove the runner? Or put another way, is the Bauer mechanism robust enough? I read too that there is a small spring that can get lost if you are not careful when taking runners out.

I heard yesterday that Skate Station near Woking are to become a True skate dealer. They will also have the Bauer 3D foot scanner.

Can the Sparx deal with a curved blade/holder? I will explain why I ask. Apologies for the length of this post! A few weeks ago I had my skates sharpened on a ProSharp automatic sharpener, the large pro one with a normal grinding wheel that is dressed with a diamond, but the only adjustment on the skate holder is sideways as it automatically does the alignment. Anyway, one skate was perfect, the other was perfect except at the back which was out by 2-4 thousandths of an inch. I asked her to do a few more passes, but there was no change, so it wasn’t due to not taking a deep enough cut. Anyway, yesterday I had them done on a BladeMaster machine, and both blades were almost perfect. But the sharpener mentioned that one blade had a slight variation that he could not remove. We checked that blade and it was slightly but noticeably curved. The blades were almost new, and he reckoned the holder was bent, due to incorrect attachment to the skate. I found this interesting as it suggests that the large ProSharp machine cannot cope with a curved blade, whereas a manual sharpen can cope better. However, it might be that the correct solution to this problem is to have the holder rivets redone, as suggested by the sharpener. It’s annoying, these are Bauer S160 skates, so not cheapies. But the more I think about it, the more I think it is a good idea. Sadly it will cost. As an aside, I discovered that my ProSharp BAT gauge is out by 2/1000” when compared to my cheap Canadian eBay gauge, and the BladeMaster gauge used by the sharpener. The sharpener is buying a Sparx gauge, when they get stock in, as the BladeMaster needs regular taping to prevent wear. It will be interesting to see how the Sparx gauge is made, although I am less than impressed with my ProSharp one.

Blimey, you are not far off drawing your pension. BTW I'm impressed with your progress. I started learning to play hockey one year ago when I was 53. One lad I sometimes play with is in his early seventies and has been learning for a couple of years. Sure he doesn't have the speed and agility of youth, but he does well. I doubt someone of our age could ever be a top rank player, but I'm hoping I can turn myself iinto a solid player in a rec team.

That’s my home rink, I’ll keep an eye open for your skates. I’m one of the rink rats, albeit with very grey hair, and wrinkles.