Santos L Halper

Agreed. Every time I see one in a kid's bag, I tell the parents to throw it away. Too many people think they're a substitute for skate sharpening.

Thanks. Too bad my kid's wide feet won't work with Jetspeeds. Looks like you'll probably be replacing holders for him at some point... 😁

Anyone have any information as to when CCM will be releasing the new SB XS holder to the retail market? It's almost new skate time for my kid and I'd prefer NOT to have to deal with the inherent problems of either the SB 4.0 or the Tuuk Lightspeed systems again.... ________________________ N.B. I'd totally go with Step holders, but I can't seem to find those anywhere except for on True skates....

Given OP's pictures and where the actual 'taper' seems to be happening, I would not be at all surprised if the repeated (over)use of one of these lovely items was the primary cause of this phenomenon...

The only thing I'd say here is to take some time to seriously consider what you want to get out of this surgery. After the stitches are gone and all of the PT and rehab are over, what do you want your life to look like? What do you want to be able to DO? Is it enough to just live pain free with 'normal' activity? Or, do you really want to be able to play hockey? Run a marathon? Climb the Grand Teton? Go skiing? Figure out what you really want, then sit down and talk to your surgeon about what he believes he can deliver. Then, if you don't like what you hear from your current doc, find another one and talk to him/her about what YOU want. Put differently, if playing hockey is something you REALLY want to do after this surgery (and I can't imagine why you wouldn't...😉) don't blindly accept, "well, I'm not sure we'll be able to get you back on the rink after this..." without getting at least ONE second opinion...preferably from someone that has NO knowledge of your situation and is starting from scratch. It's your damn back and your damn life, after all. It's not the same, but my mom has dealt with progressively worsening back issues for years. As I write this, she's about 5 weeks out of her 4th back surgery and is finally standing up straight for the first time in years. Unfortunately for her, she didn't go into her first surgery with a clear idea of what she wanted out of it and wound up with a surgeon that was content to deliver 'good enough for occasional walks around the neighborhood', when my mom wanted 'I'd like to be able to kayak and snowmobile and roughhouse with my grandson.' 7 years, 3 surgeries, and a different doctor that knew how to ask the right questions later, we may finally be getting somewhere. Finally, best of luck to you. Back surgery can be awful...but it can also be effing life-changing!!!

Have become curious about this myself... With the resounding success (right? I mean...I think so? It's been hugely successful, right?) of the Sparx machine, you'd think that the company would want to capitalize on the goodwill in the marketplace right now and revisit some of the corners they undoubtedly had to cut (be it in design, production, whathaveyou...) to get into production. Since they're dealing with a (relatively speaking) closed audience of potential buyers, I suspect that eventually they're going to reach something of a saturation point where most people that are willing to purchase a skate sharpener will have done so; and, as a result, sharpener sales will fall off. Sure, they have the built-in recurring revenue from grinding ring sales, but I can't imagine the per-unit margin on those is all that high. Eventually, they're going to want to convince some of their existing customers to buy another machine...and to do that, they're going to have to give them a reason to do so. Wonder what that's gonna be...?

I'd just like to point out that this sort of thing really won't work for True/VH skates - simply because of the custom, hand-made, one-of-a-kind nature of the product. My Trues could weigh substantially more (or less...) than another pair of Trues and still use the same size blade holders; simply because my unique fit situation may require more (or less) carbon weave than someone else's. Just food for thought....

Hehehe...I intentionally neglected to ask that. But since you went there..... My feelings as a skating coach regarding the wisdom of purchasing custom skates for young skaters are well documented in this thread. For those that don't want to scroll through 160-odd pages of posts, put simply, I believe that, barring a significant physiological concern that can only be addressed by a custom product, ANY custom skates are a complete waste of money for youth players whose bodies (and feet) are still growing and developing. If a kid is still pre-pubescent and doesn't have a glaring 'fit issue', then, why on earth would anyone spend $800US (or more...) on a pair of skates that won't fit for longer than 6 months? To my economical (read: cheap-assed) nature, it just doesn't make sense. However, in the end, whether it's OP's money or another parent's, they can spend it however they want. If only custom will do, then you can't go wrong with True....but at least go into it with eyes open....they're gonna be heavy and they won't fit next year!

True skates are heavy. There is no getting around it. You say you knew this going in, yet are surprised? Not entirely sure I understand that.... Anyway. If you're asking 'why' they're heavier, it's mostly because the entire True boot is made of heat-moldable carbon fiber weave, while skates from Bauer and CCM use thermoformable composite plastics. True's carbon weave is MUCH stronger than the plastics used in other skates...but it's also quite a bit heavier. Also, steel makes a big difference - particularly now that all True skates ship with Step holders and Step runners. For all of its wonderful qualities, Step is notoriously heavy steel. In the end, there is absolutely a trade-off; comfort, protection, and performance vs. weight. Is it worth it? The answer to that will necessarily vary from player to player. For me, it's worth it. For 68 NHL players, it's worth it. For your son? Only he can answer that.... ________________________ N.B. By way of comparison, my Trues with a size 272 Step holder and Step Blacksteel runners are 21.8% heavier than my old Bauer TotalOnes... ________________________ Edit: Many people have fit issues (Haglund's Deformities, unusual foot geometry, flat or high arches, bunions, extreme pronation, etc....) that make off the shelf retail skates a virtual impossibility. For them, even the lightest skates on the market would feel like they weighed a metric shit-ton, simply because they'd be so damn uncomfortable. When the choice becomes a skate that weighs more vs not being able to play at all, most people will choose to deal with a few extra grams....

Oh god....car manuals. Ain't that the truth? My wife's Audi has all of these fancy sensors and automated systems which are detailed in the owner's manual with constant use of the phrase, "within the limitations of the system..." My reaction, of course, is "Ooh, there's yet another effort to avoid a lawsuit!" Look, I get that Sparx is a (relatively) new company, and I get how such a company has to weigh the risk of expensive lawsuits and negative media (social and otherwise) exposure against the desire to provide a fully functional product to their customers. Hell, back when I owned my business, I constantly wrestled with whether or not to even SELL a certain class of products, because I couldn't control how my customers would ultimately market it to THEIR customers. However, in the end, I did my best to give MY customers what they wanted and sold them the products and documented the shit out of all the inherent caveats. I just wish Sparx would do the same.

Oh, I know. And, don't get me wrong, all things considered, I love the machine. This is just one of those issues that prevent the Sparx from being what I would consider the perfect solution for those of us that live in 'sharpening deserts' and have neither the time nor the inclination to master a manual sharpening system.

Okay. So. One genius ignores the safety literature, ignores the flashing light on his machine, and proceeds to fill his sharpening room with smoke. As a result, the company completely discontinues a hugely functional part of their machine. Talk about throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water.... My kid's remote control truck's LiPo batteries can explode if charged incorrectly. The company that manufactures the batteries and chargers didn't stop selling them as a result of some dipshit starting his garage on fire - they included a warning in the literature. You don't read the instructions, sometimes you get to pay the damn price. At some point we, as a society, need to stop protecting people from their own stupidity.

Perhaps you can summarize for us. The only thing that I recall seeing is some vague notion that it clogged up the air filter 'too quickly'...whatever that means.

I don't disagree. But, that's kinda my point. It'd take a bunch of passes to get rid of this little nick/gouge...and this is one that really doesn't matter that much. If you have a bunch of nicks like that...or a bigger nick...then, what do you do?

He's currently working with the folks from Marsblade to try to dial all of that in. Aside from making sure that he has a sharpen that he's happy with, I kinda need to stay out of it. Also, I don't profile skates....😉