Radien55

Definitely. They need to motivate the price increases with something, lower weight, different materials/manufacturing process, ultra low/supermid kickpoint, etc. The result is a higher price and a less durable product. Extra added bonus is that the end user will need to replace them more often too, doubly whammy for the bottom line. Which custom build did you do, G63XL? Sounds great except the pingy blade. I was thinking of ordering a couple of VF P92 sticks, hoping they would be somewhat similar to the Jetspeed line. What did you not like about them?

Oh I remember. As a kid I had a Titan, (fiberglass?) and the blade snapped pretty quickly, they were breaking all the time. This was relatively new tech at the time though and they didn't cost $400. The sticks of the last 10 years have been much better indeed, but when you see weights of 340g, price of $400 and it breaks after a couple of one-timers, we're heading in the wrong direction.

Those are actually two of my favorite sticks as well. The FT2 was nice, FT3 Pro was amazing but fragile. FT5 Pro was the culmination of the Jetspeed lineup. Great feeling and shooting stick like you said, better than the FT2 and more durable than the FT3 Pro. I stocked up on FT5 Pros, so I have not tried the later models. Can you still custom order these from CCM? Is the min order 6 or more? Nexus 2N Pro, Great shooting stick, kickpoint is perfect. very durable and still no cracks on mine. I would love to get more. After, they went to the 5-sided shaft on the Geo and Sync, not a fan. Many NHL players still use the 2NPROXL dressed as a Geo/Sync/Tracer. I would too if I could. Bauer should just make the 2N Pro again. I have every Trigger from 1 to 7, (I avoided the latter ones due to the helicoid blades). The Trigger 6 and 7 Pro standout as the best of the lineup, very nice feeling and shooting sticks. My 7 Pro has developed a crack near the bottom of the shaft though, but it has seen years of use by now. This one goes in the top 3 as well. I used the Tacks AS 3,4,V Pro. ASV Pro shot really well, favorite in the lineup but I never really gelled with these sticks. Feel was quite different from the above mentioned sticks. That's the Top 3 for me: FT5 Pro, Trigger 7 Pro, 2N Pro. Not Necessarily in that order though.

I have tried some older Vapor sticks, but I can't say for sure if it was the 1X lite. However looking at the specs, it's 397g. That's the sweet spot of light enough and still durable. You don't need more and I rather have that, than a new $400 stick that shoots great for 10 shots then dies. Sticks have fallen off a cliff in the chase of being light, I've never seen sticks break so often as they do now. There are 1-3 sticks breaking almost every NHL game I watch, which is pretty crazy because it is a new stick for basically every or every few games, it's not high mileage sticks that have been worn down.

Your favorite sticks from the last ten years (or ever). Pick a top 3, or top 5 if it's hard to narrow it down. I thought this would be a fun topic, sticks have developed a lot, sometimes maybe too much where they become very light and fragile and don't last very long. Some might like the latest tech or prefer an older model, or somewhere between. Naturally, professional players get theirs for free, so durability is less of a concern for them. I even heard an NHL player said he used a new stick for every game. A luxury most of us don't have. Many Pros stay with an older model dressed as something new. The reasons for that could be many; consistency, don't like the changes made, etc.. If you could also order your favorite (discontinued) model instead of switching to the latest release, what would you pick and why?

Now when I searched there were more options. Interestingly enough, both Bauer Nexus and CCM HP45 pro stock have the belly flap. These pants all look very solid.

Yes, they are a bit more streamlined, countered to the body without being too tight. Both the 3S and Mach fit me very well. I also tried the XF Pro and Jetspeed Pro, but they were smaller in the same size and going up in size made them too long. Quality pants though.

How do you get a hold of pro stock pants exactly? I've only looked a little bit on sidelineswap and it was mostly pants that were quite worn, from the less popular teams.

I know what you mean, but there is no padding anywhere in that region, it is just the closure system, which is very thin. I bought the pants, I'll try to get a picture of it. There is less protection in that area. However, I do not think it will cause any big gaps. Last game (I paid more attention than I ever have to that region and) I noticed that the flap of the 3S pants overlap quite a bit with the extension pad (bottom) of my Ultrasonic shoulder pads, when you are in a skating position. Overall, the pants are very nice and I am happy with them.

I have almost the same pants, Supreme 3S and the flap isn't very thick, but there is at least something there, even if it is a placebo effect. I never noticed it get in the way though. Thanks for the explanation! I figured it had to be something like that, because they would not remove it, if it was important. The pants have tons of protection every else, way beyond what the 3S offers. So it wouldn't make sense to skimp there. I will get a pair and see how it goes.

I am thinking about getting new pants and I like the Machs, but I noticed they don't have the belly flap protection and thought that was kind of strange, as most pants have it. I looked at them in the store today and there is nothing behind the closure system, which is very thin itself, so the only protection in this region is the jock and there would perhaps be a gap between it and the shoulder pads. Does anyone have experience with this, is this an issue?

Wow that sounds like perfection! You say bars instead of template, so there is no OMNI Quad template that would work on a Prosharp machine? When I skate on Quad 2, sometimes if feels like I hit a transition point and lose grip for a split second before it catches again and that is a bit sketchy. I have been very reluctant to try the ellipse profiles for that very fact that you don't know what you will get, so it feels like a total crapshoot and I don't want to waste steel trying back and forth. If I can see numbers, it makes it easier because I know what I like. I'd take a Zuperior and shorten the 13' section a bit in the front to 10' for more agility. Not as much as the Quad 2 because it lost some speed and is too much on the toes. I guess something in between the Zuperior M and Quad 2 would be the sweet spot.

Yeah I was really confused about that too in the beginning, (still kind of am). They use two different words to describe the same thing, or two different methods to achieve the same result. I think (big emphasis on think, so any sharpening gurus please correct me if this is wrong) the old machines had a function to profile pitch and it was labeled as such. You would move a lever to x degrees and that would tilt the template and become the pitch profiled onto the blade (i.e. 9.5/10.5 with 1 degree forward pitch). With modern machines (that may not have the pitch lever) they do it by moving the pivot point. This is my current understanding of it, feel free to correct if I got something wrong.

I have not tried them, but in my experience, even the FT6/ASV do not fit the same as the Pro versions so I would advice you to test them first. It is the same for Bauer, Machs fit different than the M5 Pro. The latter is more narrow.

Yes that is how it works. If you have a blade in front of you, put it on a table with a pen under the middle of the blade, then move the pen back 20mm and see how the front of the blade falls forward.