Leif

Thanks. This sounds like the upper half of the toe cap is is not mouldable, unless punched out, but the lower half is.

Sorry, but I did listen. The fact that I said I would try a 6W was as a result. As for the edit, that change was made within ten seconds of posting, as on reading through I saw a minor typo.

I’m sorry you’re upset. I understood your post, that they expand noticeably when baked. That is why I indicated that I will also try the 6W. The point I made in my two earlier posts is that I don’t need my toes touching, or near the toe cap. In my Bauer customs I have quite a few mm of space. Were my toes further forward, I would get pain at the sides of my toes from the toecap. That is because my feet are widest at the toes i.e. flippers. https://my.volumental.com/en/bauer/2f029e24-c1e1-4885-bd8a-706f9cc01baf/?utm_medium=myvemail When I tried the 6.5W, there was a noticeable pressure at the sides of my toes, and I am concerned that with a 6W it would be worse. I’m now confused because someone has said that the True TF9 toecap can widen on baking, and someone else has said it can’t, as did the hockey shop owner. It does look like hard plastic as per Bauer, but that’s just my impression.

As I mentioned above, I’m not so bothered about the toes, a friend who turned up while I was in the shop hates his toes brushing the toe cap, he prefers some space.

Yes I’m aware they mould a lot. The 6.5W was tight at the sides, the 6.5R was very uncomfortable at the sides. My Bauer customs have a few mm of space at the front, I’m more concerned about the overall fit, as my feet are flippers i.e. widest at the front, despite not being particularly wide. He did suggest a few minutes in the oven. He said that the width at the front doesn’t change when baked, presumably because it’s a hard plastic toe cap, as per my Bauer customs. Someone here who got a 7W and liked them has feet that are the same length as mine, but a few mm narrower. But I suspect the 6.5W is okay. I will try a 6W.

I tried some TF9 today, I’m normally a 7 EE (standard width in UK) in Bauer stock supremes. To my surprise the 6.5R was too narrow at the toes, a 6.5W much better. My toes were almost touching the toe cap. He’s getting in a 7W for me to try. Should I go with a just brushing the toe caps? This is a long thread, I read some of it, and I get the impression they will ‘stretch’ a tad on heating. And I assume the heating will improve the heel lock, I’m sure I read that the shells mould more than Bauer (which don’t mould much at all). They’re doing a 30 day money back guarantee which is amazing, and they are half prize here.

Does anyone know how the True TF9 compares with Bauer Custom and True custom skates? I have Bauer Custom 2S Pro skates, 5 years old, scruffy, holders replaced once, but still fully functional. The TF9 are now available at a low price. At some stage my Bauers will fail, maybe next month, maybe in a few years, hence my interest. I’m not a high level player, just casual, two scrimmages a week plus one public skate practice. I’m only 11 stone 10 pounds, or 164 pounds, so not heavy. My feet have a half size difference, I am in between Bauer 1 and 2 foot shapes, or Supreme and Vapor in old money. They are widest at the toes. My Bauer’s are so comfortable, I’ve worn them for 4 hours without issues. Comfort is my key requirement, I don’t care about differences in performance between the higher level skates. I am a decent skater in terms of edge control i.e I can do three turns, crossrolls and power pulls.

I know someone who had one at the side of a patch of synthetic ice. The glass took several direct puck hits. It's not delicate, but it is glass.

Over time the sharpener destroys the profile on the blades. One set of mine ended up looking like goalie skates. Many sharpeners don’t dress the wheel before sharpening a pair of blades. One sharpener I know didn’t set the skate height properly, resulting in only half the blade sharpened.

As I understand it the pressure is applied by a spring act9ng to push the wheel against the blade. Presumably they program the machine to lift the wheel higher before the cut starts, which increases the pressure applied by the spring as it is extended further. Just a guess.

True but how much does a profiling cost? If you use up a ring, so what. However I’m sure they originally had a cross grinding ring for the home machine and withdrew it due to the dust generated. So I don’t see them doing it for the home machine. They might produce a commercial profiling machine, at a higher price, I suppose, if they deemed it commercially viable.

Here in the UK gen 2 is much cheaper. I paid £1,200 for a gen 1 over 4 years ago, gen 2 is currently about £1,000.

That’s a nice feature. Even if you’re not inexperienced, if you’re doing several pairs of skates and each requires an adjustment, the beam would make life easier. I don’t normally sharpen other people’s skates, but I’ve done a few friends’ skates recently. Usually I get a slightly different measurement depending on which way round I place the gauge (a cheap one off eBay). I assume this is because the sides are not plane parallel. I’m not sure how best to deal with this, so I just get it close measuring with the gauge facing consistently in one direction. My higher end Bauer steel and True steel are fine. This new machine looks good. There is no compelling need to upgrade for most of us, but it’s nice to see that they are working on improvements. My gen 1 has rubber buttons and the printing on them might wear out. Otherwise it looks durable. Does anyone know how long these beasts last? I think at least one owner had to replace the clamp spring.

I occasionally sweep out the inside of my machine, and remove and clean the filter. The latter gets filthy with steel dust, but cleans up nicely with a paint brush, and gentle knocks against the frame. The machine is four years old, and is used once a week, no issues.

I tested it on a blade against ones from Blademaster, Sparx and the ebay one. The latter three all agreed with each other. The Prosharp was out by about two thou.

In Europe we have to pay about $400. Guess why so few of us own a Sparx edge checker? I have the cheesy ebay one, and it works fine. It is better than the Prosharp one I had, which was out by a few thou. When I sent it back to Prosharp, they claimed it was within spec. I never did get my money back or a replacement. Scumbags.

An edge checker is always good, but you can lay a large metal coin on the upturned blade to get a rough idea, any really bad imbalance will be visible.

Thanks all, it sounds like they have a year or so left in them, maybe with a repair to the tongues.

No, but I do pull the tongue when the skate is on, maybe that’s an issue.

How long do top end skates last, or to put it another way, what are common signs of impending failure? I have Bauer Custom 2S Pro skates, and I had to have the holders replaced a few months ago. They are about four years old, I skate five hours a week, including two hours hockey, and three hours practice (three turns, tight turns, power pulls etc), I’m casual beer league, a good skater but not powerful, and I only weigh 160 pounds. We had maybe 8 months of no hockey due to lockdowns. The tongues are coming lose where they are sewn onto the toe cap, the sides of the tongues are heavily worn but useable and it looks like the small gap between the toe cap and the shell of the boot has increased to about 2mm. That last point worries me as it suggests impending failure. They have lots of cuts, but all superficial, and the carbon fibre shell is solid. I don’t want to find that they fail suddenly, and I am then stuck with my tatty old and uncomfortable Supreme 160S skates while I wait for new customs. And money is an issue, otherwise I’d just buy new now with a current price of about £1,000. I’m not considering mid range, I have mid range inlines, and they are uncomfortable.

Thank you, that’s even better than I expected.

I don’t suppose anyone has some reliable information as to the typical life span of the original Sparx? Mine is over three years old, and running sweetly, one sharpen a week with long breaks during lockdowns! Also, is it easy to open it up to clean? I’d rather leave it be unless it is a risk free task.

This sounds like it taught you to feel your edges, in the same way that conventional skating drills do. Perhaps it creates better edge control.

I thought about it, but ruled it out due to cost, and preferring ice.

Thank you, I didn’t know that but it makes sense. When I go back to inlines, it feels like I need to push from the heel.