CigarScott

I can't get a custom lie and only can get twigs 4" over standard length so that's a bit of a letdown.

If you're in the US, the costs to ship them back and forth between the countries may get pricey and who knows what True would charge you, if they would even want to mess with it. You may be better off getting someone like Bay Area Hockey Repair to do it for you.

Yes, you're supposed to use a shoe horn to put them on and take them off. They're a breeze to put on and take off once you start using a shoe horn; I keep a $2 IKEA shoe horn in my bag for this very reason.

I got this in my email recently: https://www.icewarehouse.com/lc/brands/ccm-onepiece-benefit-insight.html?fbclid=IwAR3O0ifhOuE_r1oISR6xd8tQBWpw9Ey1NSLkcLDaDhver-FmNMjBmnOHRKc

I seem to remember seeing some on their site which is why I asked as I hadn't seen them on any other American sites. Perhaps Chase loaded his suitcase up with a bunch when he was in Quebec... 🙂

Is it safe to assume that you will be releasing steel (if haven't done so already) for the new CCM XS holder?

Can we now get Step Steel for LS Edge holders in the US?

I was half asleep when I watched it so I may have missed that. Then in that case, I would do the AS1 since they have more volume and are stiffer. I was sad that the video didn't cover all of the options with eyelets, stiffness, extra facings, toe box, etc. It would be nice if CCM did a video that explained all of the options available for custom skates.

It seems like the big difference between the FT2 and AS1 is that the FT2 is a once piece boot. The AS1 was stiffer than the FT2 from what I remember.

This should give you all some chub: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kj4-D6oQDs

I think most people looking at True's are looking for an alternative to the big two due to not being able to get anything from the other brands to work for them so I think for a lot of people, aesthetics aren't a primary concern to them. It should go without saying that the custom Bauer & CCM skates look a lot nicer than True's. Do True's look like a project from a high school shop class? Yes, but I'm tolerant of it on mine as I knew that going in that they're less-refined looking than the ones coming from Bauer or CCM. Bauer & CCM have an 80+ year head start so they better look really sharp.

Alex and the other guy are good people but he even conceded to me that he has only done a handful of custom orders from either manufacturer. If I did get CCM, I might get Mike in HSV to let me know when the CCM rep is in town and have him fit me then.

That's if you're fortunate enough to have a quality LHS in your area. I live in a part of the US where there is one Bauer & CCM scanner within a 6 hour radius of where I live and the closest True scanner is a 7 hour drive, each way. Even if I was fortunate enough to live in Minneapolis or Toronto, how many people in those areas have experience fitting skates for tall, fat guys with a long list of foot and ankle issues? 🙂 I voiced my concerns repeatedly to the store manager that fitted me for my Trues and directly with True and still had several issues with my skates, but that's for a different thread. 🙂 I am curious about the CCM's and may give them a try whenever my True's crap out, especially if I can get my holders sent unmounted and the boots not drilled.

I had these same concerns which is one of the reasons that I didn't go with CCM; I was too afraid of picking the "wrong" thing and being stuck with $1000+ skates that weren't right for me. I had to deal with a similar issue a couple years ago when I finally bought a new drum set: I went total custom due getting the deal of the decade on it but the myriad of choices was completely overwhelming with not only paint job but wood types, the amounts, hardware, etc. It took me at least six months to come up with a configuration that I was happy with before I pulled the trigger. So far, I've been extremely happy with my kit but it was really stressful trying to decide what I wanted and being concerned that I'd regret some option that I selected. Like custom skates, custom instruments are hard to resell if you end up having to unload them for whatever reason. This is a pretty good read on why having too many choices can be a bad thing for consumers (and retailers and manufacturers): https://fee.org/articles/costco-serves-its-customers-by-limiting-their-choices/

If you continue having arch pain after a few skates, you can try this which helped with my arch pain in my True's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KCsrDNuSis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJkcakEc_Sk

https://www.prostockhockey.com/pants/?&search_query=pants&filter=Size_fq:"M"&filter=Length_Adjustment_fq:"%2B1"&sort=price asc&rows=20&start=0

With all of the high quality skates on the retail market, I'm not sure why anyone who can comfortably fit in a retail boot wouldn't just save the money, time, & trouble and go that route. If you have foot problems, ankle problems, size issues, etc. then I fully understand a regular beer leaguer (or really low beer leaguer, in my case) going custom.

I'm not complaining about True or their customer service; they go way above and beyond than any hockey equipment manufacturer that I've ever dealt with. I came to their defense regarding this. I ordered my first pair in July, got them remade in September, sent them back for adjustments in October and they're paying to ship them back next month for them to move one of my holders medially. I doubt anyone else would do that after all these months.

I agree that the shop should be doing this for the customer but sometimes this is not practical. I, along with a lot of people, who live in hockey deserts have to travel far to get fitted for True (or other companies) custom skates. The closet fitter to me is about a seven hour drive and I ended up getting mine fitted at a shop that is about a 10 hour drive from me. A lot of people plan on getting fitted when on work trips or vacations to hockey areas so I, along with a lot of people can't just drive down the street to where they got fitted to show the issues to shop and have them work on their behalf. In my case, I would just email them info and pics and they just forward them up to Winnipeg since they can't add any additional info as they can't see me with the skates on in person. For myself, it's a lot easier for me just to email Rob than email the shop or True's customer service, who do give short, sometimes unhelpful responses.

All of my protective is either Jofa or Reebok or CCM derivatives. My shins are Reebok 20K which are about the only shins that I found that my knees fit comfortable in them. My Jofa/Reebok shoulders are one of the two types of XXL shoulder pads that I've found and they're built like a tank. My Jofa ASD7000 elbows look ancient but are built like a tank, as well. I also have a pair of CCM Tacks 7092 and other than some improved materials, look and feel like the Jofa and Jofa/Reebok elbow pads that everyone covets.

I agree, you can only improve some things so much. I'm rocking Tackla Air 9000 pants which look like at 20-30 year old design I can't see myself using anything else.

I buy and sell on there all the time and only list my stuff for sale on there besides Facebook. I just wish they had an Android app...

I've heard the same thing from the guy that owns my regional LHS regarding Bauer being in bad shape and planning on shaving down their offerings even more. If this is true that Bauer cut down their R&D departments, that could be a boon if CCM cherry picks them or if Warrior ever decides to get into the skate biz.

I'm in a different situation than most. Outside of 15" gloves, Tackla pants, and XL CCM elbow pads, everything I use has to be pro stock or custom. Nobody currently makes retail sticks, skates, shins (I can use Bauer S190 if I'm desperate), shoulder pads, or helmets so I'm constantly on the lookout for gear that I know will fit me as well as learning about stuff that may fit me that I had no idea existed. I have countless alerts set up on Sideline Swap and Ebay for these very reasons. I keep backup sets of everything, except skates because of me knowing that a lot of this stuff is hard to find and I can't walk into a LHS or go on one of the online retailer sites and get replacements for a lot of what I use, and me working in IT for a living, I'm big on redundancy. 🙂 But I try to not be a gear whore and I don't need 20 different gloves, sticks, or helmets.