Santos L Halper

Or when the stragglers come sliding into the group at the board and take your legs out from behind. You can tell groups of 6U and 8U kids 6,382,728 times "NO SLIDING" and, mark my words, whether on purpose or not, at least ONE kid will always come sliding into the group like s/he's playing baseball. It's gotten to the point where, if I'm not actively writing on the board, I make sure I'm well away from the mob until ALL of the kids are in.

Ugh. My specialty is skating backwards into an unseen tire or border patrol/foam pad and then tumbling over backwards. Usually right in front of the kids. Of course. Definitely be careful out there...

So...as promised, here's my detailed assessment after about a month of having True skates... (Sorry it took a little longer than expected - practice, back to school night, and a concert in LA all conspired to keep me away from my computer!!!) Anyway. First off, let's get the background demographic information out of the way, as it will affect how I perceive these skates vs. how someone else might. I'm a 43 year old guy - about 6'1", 225 lbs. This is my first pair of custom skates - my previous skates were Bauer TotalOne NXGs. FWIW, I've never worn the Easton Mako. I'm on the ice 2+ hours a day, 6 days a week as a full time hockey coach, both coaching teams and doing private lessons. Though I played NCAA hockey, I rarely play these days - beer league has no real appeal for me and, quite frankly, I spend enough time at the rink as it is. My feet (size 9.5, running shoe) are a little wonky, in that I have a wide forefoot, but a narrow heel and relatively high arches - I also supinate (walk on the lateral side of my feet) slightly. The Bauer scan voodoo machine recommends a Vapor in 8 EE for me. Whatever. The thought of my heels in a EE skate is nothing short of hilarious. I underwent the True scan process while I was working at a hockey camp in Canada over the summer - the scan was performed by an employee of True, NOT at a Fit Center or by an LHS employee. Overall Impressions (TL/DR version): Overall, I'm very happy. They really are the perfect skates for me. They're extremely comfortable while, at the same time, allowing me to perform at a high level when demonstrating both team drills and complicated edgework. It did, however, take three 'bakes' to get them where I wanted them - but now that they're dialed in....awesome. The skates are DESIGNED to put your body into the correct position, which means you don't have to think about it - as long as you don't fight the skates, your body 'just goes there'....which, for a coach that demonstrates stuff all the time, is awesome. That said, it cannot be disputed that True skates are HEAVY. They weigh almost 21% more per skate than my Bauers and I'm not sure I would like them as much if I were still playing. But for coaching, I can't imagine a better fitting, more comfortable, better performing skate. The Fitting/Ordering Process: As mentioned above, I was scanned in Canada by an ACTUAL TRUE EMPLOYEE, not a LHS employee. Does this matter? Maybe. I don't know. However, I presume that, as a representative of his company, he actually knows what he's doing. When scanning, he also took pictures of my feet and noted some areas where I have had discomfort in the past. Additionally, I filled out a form where I noted my height, weight, current skate size and model, blade holder size, etc...etc...etc... Now then, there has been much consternation as to whether or not True offers different models of their skate - while I can't definitively answer that; I CAN tell you that, as part of the process, I was asked if I wanted the 'pro' fit or the 'retail' fit. I asked what the difference was and was told that they're "basically the same skate", but the pro fit is designed to eliminate as much negative space as possible in the boot; while the retail fit leaves some room for thicker socks, etc...since I HATE negative space in my skates, I asked for the pro fit. Now, as mentioned earlier in the thread, I do have an acquaintance that works at a big box LHS, but since I didn't order my skates from him, I've tried to avoid talking in too many specifics about the actual process of ordering True skates from them. Put differently, I do not know if you can walk into an LHS or a True fit center and ask for a 'pro fit' skate. However, it was an option offered to me and I bring it up because it's possible that my experience may differ from that of another skater as a result of my being offered that option. Anyway. Moving on. The Delivery/Sharpening/Baking Process: My skates were delivered to my door about 2.5 weeks after I ordered them. First impressions were, "WOW, these are HEAVY!" And, "Oh look! The vent holes in the bottom of the boots were drilled by my 3rd grader!" I know it's tough to drill into carbon fiber, but good Christ, True - invest in some high quality drill bits, put a stainless grommet around the holes, and try to space them evenly. Other than that, fit and finish were fine. The stitching in the liner and on the tongue is exemplary and the blade holders (Step) are mounted securely and appear to be straight. Yes, there is some excess epoxy in a few places where the upper is joined to the carbon fiber, but you can't tell unless you're looking for it and, honestly, I chalk that up to the fact that they are a hand-made item. Anyway. The day after receiving them, I took them up to an LHS and had the blades cross-ground and got a 'preliminary' edge put on them. I then parked them in my Sparx and sharpened them up to my usual 1/2" FBV/Fire spec. That night, I baked them in my home convection oven at 180 degrees F for 15 minutes, shoe-horned them onto my feet, laced 'em up, and rested there for 20 minutes. Per the instructions that came with the skates and the videos out there on the internet, I had my wife crimp behind my ankles for the first few minutes of resting. I then pried them off my feet, cooled them, put them away, and prepared to skate on them the next night. The First Skate: The first skate was...weird. And, initially, frustrating. Not realizing it, during the baking process, I had allowed the eyelets at the top of the boot to fold over too far, so getting them laced up in the coaches' room was an unmitigated disaster. I finally had to pull them off, lace them up OFF my feet, then shoe-horn them back on. Ugh. Not a good start to the evening. And then I stepped on the ice.... ...and STOPPED. DEAD. IN. MY. TRACKS. It was like I'd skated into a patch of sand or superglue or play-dough. I had NO glide at all. I was completely non-plussed and didn't know what to think...so, in classic hockey player fashion, I put my head down and plowed through it. But, everything was weird. I wasn't gliding. I felt like I was falling forward. I couldn't feel my edges, so I could barely turn - forget about stopping or transitions. I felt like my right toes were jammed into the front of the boot. And my heels were skyrocketing off the footbeds with every stride. Honestly, after about 5 minutes, I thought I'd made a giant (and very expensive) mistake. But I kept going. Once I finally RELAXED into the boots, a semblance of glide returned and I could start to feel my edges again. I tentatively tried hockey stops, transitions, and cross-overs...no falling, no disasters. I then tried single foot pivots and Mohawks and came to the startling realization that, biomechanically speaking, these skates are designed like they are for a reason. If I simply relax and 'go with the skates', my body will naturally settle into a 'good skating position'. I don't have to think, "bend ankles...bend ankles...bend ankles" when doing a single-foot inside to outside edge pivot, because if I'm not fighting the skates, my ankles are already properly bent. Same with my knees and hips. Encouraged, I kept them on for my second of two back-to-back practices and, by the end of it, I was less worried that I'd made a mistake....but my heels were still shooting off into the stratosphere with every stride. Also, my feet were SOAKED. Like, REALLY SOAKED. Like, wetter than I've ever seen them, coming out of a hockey skate. If I'd wanted to be gross, I probably could have wrung sweat out of my socks onto the floor of the coaches' room. But it was late and I didn't want to piss off my buddies, so I shoved them back into my bag, went home, and vowed to rebake in the morning and see if there was anything I could do about the heel-lock problem. Rebaking...and rebaking again: So, I did a rebake and REALLY jammed my heels back into the boots. I also tied the mid-foot curve tighter to try to lock my ankles back further. Additionally, I slid some wooden dowels in-between the upper eyelets and the tongue, so that I could keep them from folding over so far. The next time on the ice was better on the heel lock front and WAY better on the lacing up front, but the overall fit was still not where I wanted it, so I hopped on MSH and read almost all 150-odd pages of the True/VH forum, figuring I'd find some insight. MSH (of course) did not disappoint and, I discovered that a combination of tensor (Ace) bandages and small ratchet clamps could be used to press the areas of negative space out of the boots and really emphasize that heel lock. Equally helpful were posts recommending against baking with the skates laced to the top eyelet, as it can actually CREATE heel-lock problems. So, I fired up the oven and baked again. Hoping the third time was the proverbial charm, I wrapped, clamped, left the top eyelet undone...and crossed my fingers. Oh, and I also sharpened them at a 5/8" FBV/Fire ring because there was NO WAY I needed that deep of a hollow anymore! On the ice that night, it was honestly like skating in really well fitting slippers - no heel lock issues and zero negative space left in my skates! I had finally found the perfect coaching skate!!! Final Thoughts: Now, I'm willing to stipulate that at least some of my positive feelings about the skate may be due to the improvement of the StepSteel runners over the stock Bauer runners; and that an additional portion may be because of the placebo effect - i.e. I did SOMETHING (spent money on skates), so my brain is telling me that there was a correlating positive effect. Whatever. I'll take a placebo, because, for me, the best thing about the True/VH skates is that they make it easier for me to do my job. I find that in my Trues, my 43 year old body effortlessly slides into proper ankle, knee, and hip alignment with very little in the way of conscious thought on my part. When I demonstrate drills and complicated edgework, I'm far more confident and I've found that I have to think WAY less about what I'm doing than when I'm in my Bauers. Now, please don't misunderstand - they won't take a crappy skater and miraculously make him/her a good skater; but if you allow them to do what they're designed to do, they will get out of your way and allow you to 'just skate'. But it takes some work to get there. You have to be willing to bake several times and MacGyver with the fit until you're happy. Yeah, yeah, I know - You True haters are foaming at the mouth as you prepare to frantically bash at your keyboards in order to regurgitate everything you keep saying in these threads. Let me save you the effort. "Shouldn't they just fit out of the box?!?!?!" "Why bother with a foot scan if the end product doesn't fit your foot?" "WHAT'S THE POINT OF PAYING FOR CUSTOM IF YOU HAVE TO TINKER??!??" And, quite frankly, maybe you have a point. In most cases, if you buy a 'custom' product, you don't have to attack it with a hacksaw and blowtorch to get it to work. In this case, however, I'm happy to do all the customizing in the world because I'm able to tweak the fit to what *I* like. You undoubtedly have a different idea of how a skate should feel than I do...so the fact that we each CAN take a pair of True skates and tweak them to work with our ideas of how a skate should fit is...well, it's pretty damn cool. Now then, it's not all roses with True, because there is no denying that they are heavy. True apologists are great at throwing about platitudes -- "a hundred grams per skate isn't much...and if it is, don't skip leg day!" Yeah. Okay. That's funny and all, but it doesn't change the fact that, over the course of a game or a hard practice you have to multiply that "100 grams per skate" by however many strides a player takes. And it adds up! Your muscles still have to lift that extra hundred grams and, though I don't notice it while coaching, if I were still playing at a high level, I'm pretty sure I WOULD notice it over the course of three periods. Anyway. Once again, it's off to the rink for me (and let's face it, this is long enough as it is...😉) In the end, I suppose it all comes down to one simple question: "Would you buy True skates again?" For me, the answer is, "Absolutely....."

In the end, this is USA Hockey's attempt to put 10U youth hockey in the proper perspective and attempt to promote DEVELOPMENT; as opposed to winning. You hit on a lot of the reasons why (accommodate multi-sport athletes, promote retention, develop organic talent). However, underpinning all of those is the fact that it's not lost on anyone in Colorado Springs how hypocritical it sounds for USA Hockey to expend a giant amount of time and energy promoting long term athlete development - while at the same time hyping their Tier system, national championships, and elite level teams. Those teams and events are SO elite that you simply can't be a part of them if you're not a single sport athlete, devoting multiple hours a week towards on-ice training...AND multiple MORE hours a week to hockey-specific off-ice training. USA hockey knows this...and they know how much it costs to make anything approaching this level of commitment. And, what's more, they know that, in the end, it is ABSOLUTELY BATSHIT CRAZY for ANYONE to be making that level of commitment as a 10U (or younger) player. It is an incontrovertible truth that NOTHING a player does (or doesn't do) at the 10U level really matters when it comes to his/her chances of 'going somewhere with hockey'...unless s/he gets so fed up with the game that s/he quits, of course. As a coach, I see coaches of 10U 'elite' and 'travel' teams doing absolutely horrifying things like teaching 1-2-2 or 1-3-1 trap style forechecks to kids that don't have the mental capacity to understand either the tactical or strategic implications of a specific forecheck system - instead of letting them develop the actual SKILLS that will translate to their games as they get older. "But, knowing where the weak-side wing goes in a 1-2-2 is a skill," you say. No. It isn't. You know what you call the 14 year old that 'knows where to go in a 1-2-2'? A Bantam B player. The player that has developed the individual playmaking ability to step outside that 1-2-2 box and create magic is the AAA player. You simply can't develop as a scorer...as a puck moving defenseman...as a weapon for your team...AS A HOCKEY PLAYER if all you're doing from 10U on is chasing team letters ('A', 'AA', 'AAA', 'Elite') as a result of pressure to 'be on the best team'. USA Hockey is throwing down their gauntlet and telling organizations/clubs that they need to forget about comparing themselves against the teams from the next town, remove the pressure to 'letter chase', and start developing their kids - ESPECIALLY at the 8U and 10U levels. Kids quit because they (and their parents) feel all this pressure (both time and financial) to start chasing letters at a young age, instead of allowing development to happen organically. The mindset of "10 year old Johnny isn't going to get better if he doesn't spend 8 hours a week on the ice" simply needs to go the fuck away. BenBreeg is absolutely right when he says, NONE! THERE IS NO BENEFIT TO 'TRAVEL' AT THE 10U LEVEL! Personally, as a coach, I freaking LOVE this. I wish all state level associations would ban all 8U and 10U participation in all post-season tournaments, there-by removing the vast majority of the incentive to engage in this stupid nonsense. I wish club hockey didn't start until 12U, there-by allowing the good hockey players to continue being good ATHLETES, instead of gradually turning into robots that only play hockey. And most of all, I wish that the damn parents would look at 10U hockey less like 'the first step to a college scholarship' and more like 'something my son/daughter does to get some exercise, learn life lessons, and have a Zamboni room full of fun while doing.' Just my $0.02....😉 ______________________ N.B. Speaking of pressure - the worst, most despicable things that coaches and associations do are reserved for these ridiculous birth-year Brick tournament teams that become all-encompassing, psychosis inducing all-star teams that turn ordinary, normal hockey people into raving, salivating lunatics. It takes about a picosecond for these teams to become 'pay to play' entities. "Want to be on my Brick team? Well, that means committing to two private lessons a week and at least three extra sessions of ice time. Oh, you can't afford that? Sorry..." Kids quit EVERYTHING to be on these Brick teams - they quit school and start home-schooling, they quit all other sports, they quit being kids. All for what? A $15,000 trip to Edmonton the summer after their Squirt Minor year? What. The. Ever-loving. Hell? "Oh, but Connor McDavid played in the Brick Tournament..." "News flash. Your kid isn't Connor Fucking McDavid...and if he was, you'd already know it." If you told a parent of ANY other youth sport what happens with the Brick teams, they'd laugh in your face at the absurdity of it all. There is a special place in hell for the organizers of the Brick Tournament...and for the coaches/organizations that have perpetuated it and allowed it to get to this level of insanity.

In a perfect world, these things wouldn't happen...but, as we all know, the world isn't perfect and asshats that shouldn't coach all too often wind up with a helmet and a whistle. It's just your lousy luck that you got to experience this at 10U. While I agree that intensity and accountability are important things to teach at any level, cursing at 9 year olds and teaching systems play to kids that don't have the mental capacity to understand is simply inexcusable. On behalf of GOOD coaches everywhere, I just want to say that I'm very sorry you and your son had to go through this at such a young age. Anyway. Moving on. As an objective observer, the only thing I would say about future hockey plans is that I would caution you guys about making any decisions while these wounds are still raw. Let the bad feelings dissipate and encourage your son to embrace his new team as a fresh start. Then, see how this year plays out and, as the season winds down next spring, you can start talking about what's next as far as hockey goes. Maybe he'll have an absolute blast on the B team and will be raring to go for his 10U major season...maybe he'll be done with competitive hockey. Either way, it sounds as if you'll be fine with it...which is AWESOME...but I would definitely wait a while before making any decisions there. Finally, regarding in-house hockey: There is a stigma that gets attached to in house hockey that really freaking irritates me. Let me lay it out simply - There is nothing WRONG with in house hockey! The kids that play in house don't love hockey any less than the AAA kids - in fact, they probably love it a hell of a lot more, because there's almost no pressure and there usually aren't any overbearing adults around that are treating every ice touch like it's Game 7 of The Stanley Cup Finals. The kids playing in house hockey are playing hockey because they derive JOY from playing the game! No, those kids are probably not going to play in the NHL; but....news flash...the vast, VAST, VAST majority of the AAA kids aren't either!!! And, let me tell you, as a coach, the in-house kids are (usually) infinitely more fun to work with than the AAA kids that have been told since they were 6 that they're the next Connor Fucking McDavid. There is precious little in this world that is more irritating than a 12 year old that never hears the word 'NO' and has been enabled by every adult in his life into thinking that it's okay to be a insensitive, self-important, prick. Create a team full of 15 of those kids and their obnoxious, know-it-all parents, and, ugh...there's a reason I turn down AAA coaching opportunities. Anyway. Have a blast with hockey this year!!! And next year, regardless of whether your son wants to play football, soccer, or in-house hockey, I hope the both of you march in there with heads high!!! Best of luck!

Dude! Awesome! I'm so glad this worked out for the best! Have a fantastic season and, win, lose, or tie; never forget to let your kid know how proud you are to be his dad! ____________________ Behind the cut, one thing that I'd add - it may be worth doing the mental gymnastics of considering how you're going to handle it if you guys get put on the previous coach's team next year...or two years from now...or five. Obviously, your kid will mature and develop and your and your family's attitudes to youth hockey will evolve...and, in the end, perhaps it'll be a complete non-issue. But, if you at least put it on your 'mental map' now, you'll have somewhere other than 'OH SHIT! WHAT NOW!??!?!!' to fall back on if it does, indeed, happen.... Just food for thought...

Yep. While I don't go out of my way to recommend Trues for most youth players, I don't actively recommend against them. As alluded to earlier in the thread, unless a skater has a biomechanical issue that is best addressed with custom footwear, when asked about Trues, my response is generally something along the lines of: "Hey, if you want to spend the money for customs, you can't go wrong with True. However, go into it with your eyes open. Your 9 year old's $800 skates WILL NOT fit him next year...and MAY not fit him by the end of this year; so you must be prepared to upgrade earlier than you otherwise might have to. As a parent of a kid with a relatively 'normal' (albeit, wide) foot; I wouldn't go that route...but I can't deny liking my True skates and, in the end, it's your money!"

At risk of veering wildly off topic, I'd just like to say that, as a coach that does a fair bit of skating/edge-work with private clients, I couldn't agree with this more. Parents ask me all the time, 'what skates should I buy?' - except in VERY rare instances, my response is always, "whatever NON TOP OF THE LINE skate fits the best". Top of the line skates are simply too stiff for the vast majority of youth players.

As a parent, unless I was dealing with a biomechanical issue that is ONLY solve-able with custom skates, I would have a hard time buying True (or any fully custom) skates for a kid under 16 that has not reached his/her full development - and I'd imagine that the vast majority of parents feel the same way. I understand that a few parents at the margins will pay whatever it costs to have the 'latest and greatest', but it just seems like a unnecessary waste of money to buy custom skates for a 14U player who's still got (potentially) upwards of three years of growing to do... Anyway. As a coach, I can tell you that after having my True skates for about 3 weeks, I no longer notice the weight difference - except when I pull them out of my bag...at which point, I'm like, 'HOLY S&#T, these are TANKS!' Once they're on my feet, however, it's all good and I don't notice anything. Do keep in mind, however, I'm coaching, not playing. If I were still playing at a high level, maybe I would notice that difference (in my case, my Trues are almost 21% heavier than my TotalOnes) in the third period? I mean, I guess I probably would? That said, what I DO notice is that my body mechanics are better in my Trues. I have to 'think less' about maintaining proper ankle/knee/hip alignment when I'm showing the kids a drill, because my body naturally goes there...which is not to say that I DIDN'T have proper skating technique in my TotalOnes...but it just 'feels' more natural in my Trues. Also, I KNOW I'm better on my edges. It is absolutely indisputable. Techniques that I used to put a HUGE amount of thought into executing properly now come smoothly and effortlessly. And I have also been able to drop from a 1/2' FBV/Fire sharpen to a 5/8" FBV/Fire, which has allowed me to noticeably increase the glide portion of my stride. As such, for me, AS A COACH, any weight increase has been more than offset by the performance benefit. ____________________________ (N.B. I am willing to stipulate that some of this perceived benefit of the Trues could be due to the placebo effect - i.e., I did SOMETHING (spent actual money on new skates) so my brain is telling itself that I'm doing a better job than I was before. I've seen video and I think I look 'smoother'...but, again, maybe I'm just telling myself that? Also, some of this benefit could be due to the obvious improvement of Step over Bauer stock steel...)

Let me begin by saying that, as a professional, paid, youth hockey coach, hearing stuff like this breaks my heart. THEY'RE. FREAKING. EIGHT. YEARS. OLD. No matter how seriously the coaches (and parents...honestly, the parents are generally every bit as bad as the coaches at this age) take it, this is NOT the NHL. And, what's more, nothing - NOTHING - that happens in any kid's 10U Minor season will either increase or decrease his chances of playing in college/getting drafted/playing in the NHL. Well...almost nothing. The one exception to this rule is, if the experience is SO negative for the player that s/he quits forever, I can GUARANTEE you that s/he'll never progress to a high level of hockey... Anyway. Instead of focusing on skill development, it sounds like your kid's coach is going to waste the entire year trying to teach 'systems' to a group of kids that do not, I REPEAT - DO NOT - have the mental capacity to understand what it is they are learning. Studies have proven again and again that treating kids like they're miniature adults doesn't work. A child's brain does not process information in the same way the adult brain does. It just freaking DOESN'T. The kids may be able to learn the mechanics of the systems...but they won't learn the 'why'; and they certainly won't learn the strategies behind them. They won't be able to repeat what they learn and, in the end, they won't become better hockey players. Put differently, solely in the name of winning, this coach seems dead set on trying to create a group of little robots that have no creativity, no individual playmaking skills, and no hockey sense. And, for your kid anyway, no fun either. (Thing is, though...I GUARANTEE that your kid isn't the only one not having fun...) So. Enough about why this coach sucks...because let's face it, no matter how many utterly meaningless 10U state/national/global/universal championships he's won, if he's teaching systems at 10U and all he does is yell and curse, he does, in fact, suck. The question you have to wrestle with is, what do you do now? I'd agree with the others that you probably need to get your kid off that team. It sounds like your house leagues are a bit of a joke (don't worry - ours are, too...) and it sounds like you have at least a cordial relationship with the B team's coach. I'd leverage that and see if you can't make a change. If not and the rosters are set, a year off from competitive hockey at 8 years old isn't going to hurt his long term development - just keep getting him on the ice in a positive environment where he leaves smiling and, most importantly, wants to come back the next time. One caveat though - in any discussion you have with ANY person that's part of your club, I'd make sure that you keep the discussion about YOUR KID - NOT the coach. You don't want to get into a situation where you're saying things like, "that coach is a jerk" or "all that coach does is yell and curse" or "my son hates that coach". All of that may be TRUE, but getting labeled as the dad/kid/family that can't get along with coaches is NOT a good place to be this early - particularly if you're going to stick with this club long term. If you talk to anyone about this (current coach, club president, B team coach, other parents, ANYONE other than your immediate family), just say that it's become apparent that your son wasn't ready for that level yet and that you want to back off before he begins to hate hockey. If people give you a hard time about it, simply say, "I understand, but this is what's right for my son at this point. The last thing I want is to push this now and wind up with a 12 year old that hates coming to the rink!" Never forget - this is a marathon, not a sprint. A million things have to 'go right' for any one kid to 'make it' with hockey...and, ultimately, the vast majority of those things are COMPLETELY out of our control as parents. As such, I believe it is our duty to make sure that we parents do the best we can with the things we CAN control...and this situation is one you can control. Get your kid back to a place where he has fun at the rink. Do it quickly. And do it without apologizing to anyone. Good luck. And please report back. I definitely want to hear how your son is doing.

So, I'm NOT a fit expert and NOT a skate expert, but after 2.5 weeks, 20 hours on the ice, 3 bakes, and twisting myself in knots with ace bandages and ratchet clamps, I have to say that I'm not entirely sure I'd recommend these skates to someone that has severe low volume issues in a traditional skate. The Trues are designed to fit SO close to your foot that I can easily see how they wouldn't necessarily be a solution to a skater that has problems with off-the-shelf skates fitting 'too tightly'. Yes, the skates are built 'custom to your foot', but in this case, 'custom to your foot' also means 'tight to your foot'....no, really 'TIGHT to your foot'. There is very little dead space (or, almost NONE, if they fit the way they're designed to fit), and that is BY DESIGN. Hell, they even recommend that you use a shoe-horn to get them on! Put differently, if my experience is any indication of 'normal', I'd have to say that if someone is having volume issues in an off-the-shelf skate, they're probably going to have volume issues in a True skate, too. Now, said volume issues may be eminently more 'solve-able' in a True, but I've gotta believe that going into the scan process with the idea that these skates will be a warm, fuzzy panacea of slipper-like comfort is only setting yourself up for disappointment. Personally, my issue remains the complete opposite. Everything feels great, but my heels do not stay locked into the back of the boot. I'm going to do a rebake this weekend (hopefully - got a tournament to coach) and leave the top eyelet undone. Then, I'm going to do some targeted molding of the area around my heels/ankles with my heat gun and a small arsenal of ratchet clamps and see if that does the trick....

Mine look exactly the same (Ordered July 25th, received August 13th). They weigh 987g with both the red footbed and the stock True insole in them. Edit: Weight is for a SINGLE skate. I have size 272 Step blade holders and stock StepSteel runners. By way of comparison, my old Bauer Total One NXGs (size 8.5 D, size 272 Tuuk LS2 holders, standard Bauer steel, standard Bauer insoles) weigh 816g per skate.

Outstanding. Thanks for the tips. I'm not on my skates today, so it's a perfect time for a rebake!

Interesting suggestion and I may go that route if you believe it's worth a try. However, just to be clear, my heels aren't rattling around in the skates - they're lifting up when I stride, ESPECIALLY when I'm skating hard. I'm thinking my baking may not have given me a proper heel lock?

Back after Saturday's 4 hour marathon....and 2 hours last night. Safe to say that I REALLY, REALLY like these skates and putting my Bauers back on my feet (if I ever do it...) will be really tough. They ARE, however, noticeably heavier than my Bauers and I'm not sure I'd like them quite as much if I were still playing competitively - but, I do imagine that I'll get used to that in time...and, since I coach way more than I play these days, I think I've probably hit on the perfect coaching skate. That said, I've noticed that, even after baking them a second time, my heels are slipping - particularly if I'm skating hard. I can't give a quantifiable amount that they're slipping and it's impossible for me to tell WHY they're slipping; but they're definitely slipping...and that concerns me. I thought the whole point of the True/VH skate was to eliminate this sort of thing...? Should I rebake? If so, does anyone have any tips as to HOW I should use the ratchet clamps/tensor bandages to improve that heel lock? If I can eliminate this heel slippage, I'd be an EXTREMELY happy customer...

Could very well be - having sharpened much stock Bauer/CCM crap on my Sparx, I can tell you that the StepSteel takes a sharpening better and holds a keener edge....

Uh oh....skate #1 is in the oven now... That said, according to the video, 'a couple of hours' before you skate is sufficient. Regardless, my skates will be soaked after coaching tonight, so I'm not sure that's the best time to bake them. Guess we'll see how they hold up....maybe I'll put them in my beer fridge for a couple of hours after I'm done, here! 😁

Hey all. So, I've had my True/VH skates for a little over a week now (coming from Bauer TotalOne NXGs). I've baked them once, sharpened them in my Sparx, and skated once for two hours (back to back practices on Wednesday night). Here are some questions and observations I have after that short amount of time.... It Still Feels Weird I never wore the Makos, so the way these skates feel is just.....weird. Granted, it's only been two hours, but I'm still referring to my Trues as 'my new skates' and my Bauers as 'my skates'.... For those that never wore Makos or any other similar skates, how long did it take until the Trues became 'yours'? Need a New Grinding Ring!!! After two hours on the ice, it's become apparent that, with these skates, I do NOT need anywhere near as deep of a FBV/Fire sharpen as I do on my TotalOnes. It was bizarre, I jumped on the ice for the first time and almost stopped dead. It felt almost like skating on artificial ice there for a while. Once I got going, I realized it was because I was gripping the ice WAY more and, biomechanically speaking, was in a much better overall position - centered on my edges with proper ankle/knee/hip positioning. Put differently, these skates make it NATURAL for me to get my body in the correct position and, when demonstrating, I don't have to *think* about getting my body in the right position. I just go there... All of that said, I want more glide, so I'm thinking that I'll back off my FBV from 1/2" to 5/8". Anyone else experience this phenomenon? Time to Bake Again: I want to get rid of some negative space in both skates and generally get my heels further back (I was, perhaps, too tentative with the whole 'kicking the heel back' thing when I first baked them). Obviously, I need to bake again - anyone have suggestions on time/temperature I should be using? The lone piece of paper that comes with the skates isn't super specific and I don't want to pull an eyelet out or anything.... As an FYI, I have a regular household convection oven with a baking stone in the bottom to ensure even heat - the lowest I can set it for is 180 degrees F. Presuming I'll be using ratchet clamps and tensor/ace bandages, after removing the skate from the oven, how much time will I have to get everything situated the way I like it? The pens to either side of the tongue in Superjet's picture above - I presume that was done to make it possible to lace the skate after baking? When those eyelets fold over, lacing definitely gets really interesting.... Once I get everything set, how long should I leave the skate on my foot to cool? Since a goal of mine is to remove negative space, should I bake barefoot - even though I will wear regular athletic socks while skating? Holy Foot Sweat, Batman!!! I've worn a lot of skates in my life, but I've NEVER had this much sweat come off my feet. My socks were literally SOAKED after two hours on the ice. Anyone else experience this? Should I be concerned about this from a 'damaging my skates' perspective - particularly if they don't get fully dry between on ice sessions? For instance, sometimes, I'll be on ice for an hour; off for two, then back on for two - no way are my skates going to dry completely during that two hour break - is that bad? Any tips on drying them out? Should I remove the footbeds? I think that's about it...any and all feedback/assistance/admonishment would be very much appreciated! I hope to rebake today and will be on the ice for an hour tonight and again for 4 hours on Saturday - I'll report back after that marathon!!!!

Yeah, if I were a goalie (or had a goalie in the house...), I'd be literally LIVID that the cross-grinding capabilities were removed from the system. The Step Steel on my True/VH skates isn't bad as far as burrs go; but the chrome SB 4.0 steel on my kid's friend's JetSpeeds burrs EXTREMELY badly, and my kid's Tydan's steel isn't much better. Again, I CAN take care of the burrs, but it's a pain.... Inverter: I got this one from PepBoys and it seems to be fine. You could probably get most any 800W inverter on the market and have success, but beware any of them that claim to plug into your cigarette lighter for anything over 175 watts - you really need to connect anything that draws 175 watts or more to your battery, or you risk damaging your car's electrical system. Also, don't waste your money on a pure sine wave inverter. It's a skate sharpener, not an EKG monitor. Travel case: Nope. I have a crew-cab truck (4 doors), so I just put the sharpener on the floor of the cab of the truck behind the driver's seat. I, of course, use all of the travel guards when I'm transporting the sharpener, but I've had no problems doing this. For road trips, I just put the sharpener back in the box it came in. That way, I can stack stuff on top of it and not worry about anything happening to it. I may buy the travel case at some point, but it's not pressing at this moment. Bastards! It's how they get you!!!! 😁

So, I've had my Sparx sharpener for just over a year now and I figured that, since we are at the start of a new season, I'd go ahead and post my observations, praise for, and, yes, gripes about my Sparx... (TL/DR - It's an awesome machine. I'd almost definitely buy it again. That said, removing the cross-grinding capabilities from the consumer model was a horrendously stupid decision and I still struggle with getting the sharpener to go consistently high enough on the toes of skates.) The Good: Consistent edges. Every. Single. Time: I simply cannot overstate how much this means to someone that (a) doesn't have access to consistent, predictable manual sharpening; and (b) relies on his skates to make a living. Convenience: As a coach, I am on the ice between 8 and 12 hours a week - sometimes much more, depending on private lessons, sticktime groups, etc. I also have a son that is on the ice upwards of 6 hours a week. Since I won't allow the guys that work at the rink shops to touch our skates AND I live over 30 minutes from the box stores (which don't do a good job, either); having access to sharpening on an 'as needed' basis is invaluable. Ease of use: I'm over 40 years old and I work full time as a hockey coach. I do NOT have the time to become an expert on a manual Wissota or Blackstone machine. I. Just. Don't. I'm willing to stipulate that someone that IS an expert on those machines MAY be able to give me a sharpen that is as good as, if not better than I get on my Sparx...but I don't have access to any of those guys and, since I have neither the time nor the inclination to become one of those guys, I love that I can give my skates a great sharpen without needing to invest an additional 30 years of my life towards mastering a manual machine. Profile Maintenance: I understand that guys that know what they're doing with a manual sharpener can properly maintain a profile, but guys that know what they're doing aren't available in Southern California...and the ones that DON'T know what they're doing can wreck a profile in 2-3 sharpens; so I love that having a Sparx means that the money I've invested in profiling my kid's steel wasn't wasted. Portability: This year alone, my Sparx has sharpened skates in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. THAT'S awesome! Micro-Adjustability: I love that, using the edge checker, I can really dial in perfectly even edges. It takes manual sharpeners hours of dicking around with their equipment to make sure stuff is lined up. I can do it in a couple of minutes with my Sparx. No "Wheel Dressing" or Other Nonsense: With a Sparx, you never have to ask yourself if 'it's time to dress the wheel'. You just sharpen your skates and get on with your day. Freaking awesome. Additional Income Stream: While I don't make a TON of money, the fact that I can save the hockey families that I work with from lousy (and expensive!!!) rink sharpenings while also making a few bucks isn't a bad thing.... The Not so Good: No Cross Grinding Capability: Dumping the cross-grinding ring was a monumental mistake by Sparx (are you reading this, Russ??? MON!YOU!MENTAL!). Look, I get that the filter was getting clogged. I get that people were chewing through their steel. But when you have an even marginally damaged blade that you need to contend with, running 10+ passes with a $60.00 grinding ring is FUCKING IRRITATING!!! Apologies for the cursing, but damnit, both the reasons that have been given for, and the practical effect of, the elimination of a cross-grinding ring are giant piles of solid waste from a male of the bovine species. Hockey is a rough game and edges routinely get damaged. The fact that I have to suck down 1/10th of a grinding ring's life when my kid goes feet-first into the boards ONE TIME just pisses me off. No Provision to Attach a Shop-Vac (or other dust removal system): I love the portability of my Sparx (see above...); but when it's in my garage at home, I'd ALSO love to attach my shop-vac to the system so that I can suck out all of the mess as it occurs. "But the aiiiiiiir filter!" you say. Mmmmhmmm. My shop-vac has a HEPA filter. It works great. Plus, it has a huge amount of suction. This seems like a total no-brainer and one that should have been thought of when designing the machine. (A note on the two above "Not so Goods". Yes, I could have purchased the PS100, but that runs at a $350.00 premium to the the ES100. Which is patently ridiculous...) Getting the Wheel Consistently High Enough on the Toe: I've dicked around with this to no end - toe right, toe left, goalie risers, no risers, small tip forward in the clamp, etc, etc, etc - I just can't seem to get the wheel to consistently hit where I want it to on the toe without a huge amount of chattering/jumping/skipping. I understand hockey players don't skate on the toes of their blades...but we DO start on the toes of our blades and we have to trust that we have SOME edge on our toes so that we can start explosively and efficiently. Doesn't Like Fancy 3rd Party Steel: Part of the benefit of the Tuuk LightSpeed and CCM SB systems is that you can easily replace your crap stock steel with good steel (Tyden's etc...). However, good steel seems to burr horribly in the Sparx and I have found myself taking these fancy-steeled skates out of my Sparx every two passes to de-burr. Is this difficult? No. Is it a pain in the ass? Absolutely. Observations: Traveling with a Sparx attracts lots of attention and questions - almost everyone's HEARD of the Sparx, but not many have seen one 'in the wild'. Once you sharpen their skates, they're (usually) believers. I've spent a bunch less at our local big-box stores - not just on skate sharpening, but also on random useless hockey stuff I don't need. It used to be impossible to get out of HockeyMonkey or PureHockey without at least $25.00 of crap IN ADDITION to the skate sharpening - now, since I'm never there unless I need something specific, I'm not spending unnecessary money there! I sharpen my skates WAY more often than I used to - not just due to the convenience factor; but also due to the fact that I'm not afraid of dropping my skates off and returning to a crappy sharpening job. A $90.00 800W power inverter means you can sharpen skates in your car.... As the sharpener only draws 200W, you could probably get by with a 400W inverter, but they're not much cheaper and you want to make sure that you have enough 'start up' wattage capacity that you're not tripping fuses in your inverter. Plus, who knows when I'll want to run a 70" TV off my truck battery? Also, local rink pro shops hate me now. I've become 'that coach that has the sharpener in his truck' and I love it. I thought the grinding wheels would be a pain - but I actually like them. They're easy to store, portable, and easy to swap out for a different wheel - no dressing or tedious alignment necessary. That system is pure genius. The option for the Fire/FBV hollow is awesome. I wasn't sure anyone would like it, but it's really caught on and nearly everyone that's tried it has loved it. Anyway. That's about all I can think of as far as my thoughts after 'a year with a Sparx'. Hopefully this will answer some questions people who are still on the fence may have about the pros/cons...or, at least generate some discussion, here. In the end, I'd definitely buy a Sparx again - but I'd probably give strong consideration to saving my pennies for a 1/2 year or so and getting the PS100 instead of the ES100....

Yep. And I admitted that my dislike of colored blades was my own personal bias. He asked what MSH posters thought of Byonic blades. I gave my opinion. Think that's pretty much how this is supposed to work...

Ran across you guys on Instagram the other day and was intrigued enough to poke around on your website for a bit. Here are my thoughts: 1) As we all know, stock steel from the major skate manufacturers is largely crap. As such, I very much appreciate the fact that there are multiple aftermarket options where things like "steel composition" and "edge retention" are considered; as opposed to merely "cost to manufacture". 2) "world's fastest performance skate blade"? Really? How do you quantify that? 3) The weight reduction is definitely interesting and I love how you're pushing the envelope with your metallurgy and engineering. However, I'm not sure how much difference weight will ultimately make in the "real world". To me, proper profiling of the blade has a much greater impact on skating than the weight of the blade. Put differently, while neither a good profile nor the weight of the blade will take a crappy skater and miraculously make him/her a good skater; a good profile CAN make a good skater better...I'm not sure the same can be said about a feather-weight blade. 4) Admittedly personal bias here, but I'm 100% against colored blades for color's sake. IMHO, it's a gimmick that needs to disappear from the game. If a player is worried about the COLOR of his/her skate blades, then s/he is worried about the WRONG THING. If there's a performance benefit, fine...but having a red (or blue...or yellow...or pink) blade that, in the end, is nothing more than a fashion statement is patently ridiculous. In the end, while I have Tyden steel on my skates and my kid's skates, I definitely wish Byonic all the luck in the world. I love to see innovation and passionate people trying to redefine what's possible........just not in obnoxiously unnecessary colors.

*nods* Yep. Lowering the wheel one click reduces the upward pressure by the grinding wheel on the blade, which will absolutely help reduce burrs. To me, that whole "grinding wheel height adjustment" thing is still the biggest piece of voodoo with the Sparx - how high is too high? And...in the same breath, how low is high enough?

*nods* Yep. In the end, I generally wind up back on the whiteboard as well. However, it just feels so....antiquated to me. A spaghetti dinner's worth of lines going every which way, erasing errant scribbles with the sleeve of your track-suit, no way to show players how it looks when everything is in motion - not to mention the fact that, depending on the age of the players involved, up to half (or more!) of them aren't paying attention to a whiteboard at a given moment. When I see the animations that can be done (particularly in HockeyCoachVision), I start to fantasize about mounting a 42" TV on a mobile cart, wheeling it out to the corner adjacent to one of the players' benches, and pulling it right up against the glass. Then, I'd pass cables through a hole in the "non ice" wall of the player's bench and have not only a huge screen, but also the ability to use my dry erase markers on the glass to emphasize a particular point. Unfortunately, still a pipe dream at this point.... Anyway. I agree that these tools are great for sharing with assistant coaches and (depending on ages, of course), players. I love it when everyone shows up at the rink prepared!

On the subject of technology.... I'm just wondering what other coaches think of the various computer based drill designing tools out there...and, if you use them, how you've integrated them into your coaching. Any DrillDraw guys? What about HockeyShare? Or, HockeyCoachVision? Personally, I see much value in being able to bring technology to the ice - particularly if it allows us to more efficiently (and effectively) utilize precious ice time. However, there are obvious limitations with these packages, such as limited screen size, the relatively large amount of time invested in learning to effectively use the tools, and the difficulty in determining whether our practices are actually "BETTER" once we start using them. Anyway. Figure this is a good a place as any to discuss this, so let's have at it.......