flip12

Interesting they’ve changed the eyelet pattern to Graf’s classic skip to the top. Makes sense for their concept.

Makes sense. Catalyst is one gen older than Hzrdus. Edit: Duh. I see what you meant. They just updated Cat so you'd expect a HZRDUS update next, and then maybe a new line replacing Cats.

Same. I have a pair of Air 9000s that are still holding on from the ‘90s. They’re beat up, but still amazing.

True has some deal with Tackla, so their new pants have the classic Tackla fit. I’ve never had any wish for better than that. The fit, feel, function, and look are all great IMO.

I think the pitch / balance point shift is what I like most about the Ellipse II. The back being a little longer than my 13’+1 feels good, but the change in balance point is the most freeing thing about both profiles. I thought it was about achieving a similar pitch to VSi on 72-80 HiLo, but that’s actually a little less pitched than most hockey holders. Maybe it’s really about moving the center line of the blade to be where my push naturally is, which is probably somewhere close to the third wheel from the front.

That sounds interesting. I may have had a quad on my first pair of MLX. The eBay seller I got them from didn’t know what the steel specs were, but I liked the feel. It was like a flat on the heel that fell into a ramp as you rolled forward. I have Ellipse II on my Cat7s now. It feels better than what they came with, but I’m not bothered by the flatter back portion. Some say it feels longer than Quad II. I’m more interested in seeing how long of a single radius I can roll with and at what balance point. I think balance point is the most effective variable for my skating. The shorter front on combo profiles and Ellipse don’t seem to be much of a feature for me.

My Mission Proto Vs had a metal d-ring instead of the plastic loop. I think it was one generation before they went to the plastic loops. I don't think I used it. I just laced snug, but not overly tight, all the way up. The cut on those was like 90's Tacks on Ozempic. I think that was the basic idea behind the Proto line. By reducing the volume with lower vamping, it made for a nice snug fit, similar to Tacks with the ankle hinge flex, but more connected. The first two generations of Vapors were similar in that respect. The ankle creasing made for a boot with great forward flex while maintaining lateral stability.

The boot flex definitely has some effect on this equation, though I was stumped just when I thought I was getting it. I had some VSi's converted to ice, on VH/Step holders, thinking they'd be as amazing on ice as they were on their original 72/80 HIlo. They were not. They felt comfy, but pretty much as frustrating as any other ice hockey skate I've tried, with a few exceptions. I think that was the moment that I decided to actually start trying out profiles, which I had been thinking about doing for a long time. My favorite boots do feature a similar degree of forward flex and lateral stability as the Proto Vs did though: Vapor 8, Vapor 10, Mega Air 90, 703, and MLX with the right tongue. With the right boot, like the Vapor 10, even a profile on the opposite end of the spectrum feels quite nice. I can only imagine how Vapor 10 on my ideal profile would feel, once I find it.

I'm not the best to comment because I'm drifting toward the long end of the profile spectrum. I think the closer I get to what my skating mechanics were developed on, the more natural I feel on the ice. I really honed my skating for hours in my apartment building's parking lot on '96 or '97 Mission Proto Vs on a 4 x 72mm chassis. The more my blades mimic the pitch and flat radius of those rollerblades, the more natural I feel on the ice. I get why some skaters would feel locked on rails in a 10' radius, but my mechanics seem to center around something closer to 20' +2. 13' and Ellipse II, both at +1 pitch, feel perfectly short and quick to me. 13' neutral felt a little rail like, but as soon as I had it redone with +1 pitch I never felt stuck on the ice again. It seems like the shorter front sections can mimic the effect of pitch if you don't actually want to mess with pitch. My favorite ice setup so far has been Cobra's stock 11' (now I think they're doing 10') on what felt like at least +2, compared to the +1s I have at the moment.

I love the Vapor 8 and 10 perforated steel though. I was skating on some again with the Vapor 10s I picked up. I was really enjoying the feel of those blades until one of the Tuuks cracked on both towers. I've only skated on LS perforated steel a couple of times. I don't really remember it being all that different from standard LS steel.

Found a better shot of it:

The original black set that debuted on the Vapor 8 did, but the LS2 perforated steel from the Vapor XX era had wide wedge perforations that lined up with the holes in the holder bridge as seen here on the best player ever deliberately excluded from the Hockey Hall of Shame:

I'm the same: 9.5 R in True, 9 Fit 1 in Vapor. Bauer's Birkenstockier toe cap makes the difference.

I was thinking of Cobra and VHStep's aft bolt too. It's hard to tell from the pictures I've seen. The wavy shoreline of the holder where the rivets go reminds me of MLX. I know Cruikshank said they were working on boots and holders with D'Cosi, but it's hard to find anything on them. I agree, it doesn't seem like this is actually Bauer.

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