Miller55

Techmesh was in a class of its own. Not sure why, but I hated that material.

Your only real option is the True ax9 shaft or cut down an old ops. A standard shaft is good as it's pretty hard to come by tapered blades these days. I'd say that your options with the True shaft are either the True composite blade or a woodie if you're into that. Comp has better pop, wood has better feel. Agreed. I went back to it recently after many years with comp ops. Mostly because I dug out a bunch of old shafts at the start of covid shutdown and threw in abs blades to play outdoor roller. I looked the feel so I just threw in the wood blades I had when rinks reopened and I'm loving them. I never take slappers and I haven't found the slight loss of speed on my wrister to matter, but the feel and passing are amazing. I play d and carry the puck a lot, so I'm definitely enjoying it.

FT2s. They skipped FT3 on order to keep up with the FT4 stick release. Honestly, I think they look sick, but I would never wear them because that kind of flashy doesn't appeal to me. But I kinda like the look. If I would wear them I'd probably try to paint them black though

Agreed. Want a fan of the blade but the shaft was really nice. Had a few Easton pro wood blades in the basement and I really like the setup. No issues with the 6.0 shaft.

Hey thanks, I looked but didn't see this pic

Looks odd. Very low cut and the heel pocket looks huge and like it's flaired out on the bottom. Can you post the source of this photo?

Whatever is more comfortable to you

Not sure if this is the right place but I didn't want to start another thread, but the TF Inlines are now available on IW. Very interesting looking skate. I happen to hate revision, so the value is not there for me.

You might end up having to swap those holders. Your other option is to scrounge some old reeboks with the epro and just use the hardware, but you're probably better off just swapping for xs holders or tuuks

Bauer lengths have changed since then. Not sure if the change applies to Vapor skates as I've never worn them, but in Supreme, a 7.5 from back then would be equivalent to a 7 today

Minnesota m1s are hot

Yeah definitely, I had the elbows which were great, shins were too low profile for me. They were good quality, on par in protection, weight and comfort with my old 19K/20Ks even

The Easton tech is definitely still being used by Bauer. Easton was way ahead in sticks in those days, before they took their eyes off the prize and their foot off the gas, to the extent that Bauer still uses that tech. The issue with buying old Easton sticks is that the last 5-7 years were a series of bust launches that resulted in an excessive amount of repaints, and if you don't buy from someone good, you probably aren't buying the stick that it's painted to look like. Plus, good curves and flexes are not so easy to come by. Maybe it's different for lefties...? IDK. But I'm about as on top of this situation as anyone around, and it's definitely not going to last forever

Reading comprehension, dawg. He said if you're not concerned to drop a G on skates then consider dropping a G on lessons, it will do more for your skating than custom skates. The guy didn't say anything about not getting the right fitting skates and redoing the custom job, just that if money isn't an issue, put it towards skating lessons. IMO very sound advice. Obviously get skates that fit well and are comfortable, and, like a few mentioned, give True another shot, but also look into lessons if you have the change to drop.

The jury is still out on whether it was an asset or a handicap for the guy wearing them. On one side you can say that everyone heard him coming a mile away. On the other hand, they were so loud that most people dropped in terror of an impending fighter plane bombing. Easy goals lol

I'm aware. GXs are not available under 100 bucks. Same with CXs. Maybe you can find an HTX. Probably lefty out with a crap curve or 110 flex or something. For all of this stuff you're looking at closer to 150 anyway. There are plenty of new pro stock sticks that come in cheaper than that. Also, another issue with Easton is they were the literal kings of repainting sticks, so probably half the time you buy a new old stock Easton you don't even know what stick it actually is. Like I said, I still use them and am very aware of the situation. But I have a good supplier that is knowledgeable and honest with me. For me, yeah, in a weird gear geek who grew up with Easton and that's what I like, Easton and TPS, so that's what I continue to use. For someone to just go buying GXs on SLS and eBay for her kid, bit of a waste of time and energy. Buying old Easton's on SLS is a great way to buy an RS II and end up with an SE16. Not the end of the world, no, but definitely a pain in the ass when it happens over and over and it's not the stick you want. Easier to just get an Alpha or Jetspeed from a good source and know what you're getting most of the time. You don't save much money either.

T blades did work, and they were definitely loud as anything. There were definitely folks who benefited from it.

I'll look into it. They seem pretty accommodating, I just assumed it sort of defeats the purpose of this style skate and the whole speed skating influence.

8Ks have better calf protection, but you can just add a piece of padding for the calf. You can diy it or any gear repair will be able to give you a long term fix. These pads are regarded as the best because they are light and protective and also comfy. Most pros still use jofa/rbk for this reason.

Agreed. I had a pair of pro return True customs that were incredible comfortable. Ended up selling them for a profit and going for the TF9s, but I'm just not a huge fan of the low cut boot. Same issue I had with Mako IIs and MLXs (although MLXs were also a bit of a volume issue for me). Never had an issue with Supremes before, but lately I'm finding that they're not very comfortable for the ankle that I broke a while back. They're very supportive, but not too comfortable. I'm looking into other options at this point, but the low cut of True concerns me. I'm looking into Ribcores or Grafs, but haven't had a chance to try anything on yet

I've only ever ordered blades and they usually take at least a month

At the custom level, yeah. The G7s are comp quarters even on the retail skates. I'm not averse to going custom at this point, but I would only do it with a fitter that I really trusted. Anyway, on topic, one piece boots claim the advantage of better feel, power transfer, stiffness possibly and some say comfort. Two piece boots claim the advantage of a better fit, heel lock, ability to vary stiffness in different areas of the skate and some say durability. These are the claims, but there is no hard and fast proof either way, so everyone basically just goes with their preferences, as with all things gear related. If I left anything if the list please add or correct me

Absolutely, but those are made with a much softer material.

Looks pretty much the same, but I haven't seen one in person

Haven't tried them on, but from my understanding the quarter is composite and very stiff, and the lacing flap that they have is what enables the forward flex to stay good. They are made for ankle injuries apparently, so they are really stiff but have a sort of hinge that enables forward flex.