flip12

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.

PowerFlyByeBye

Different profiles for different people though. I feel much more agile on 13'+1 than I did on neutral 10' or 9.5'/10.5' (if that's True's stock profile). I don't feel the blade catching at all when I don't want it to. I'm thinking of going to an even longer profile next. I haven't tried any of the more complicated combos, but I really don't want a super short profile in the front of my blade as well as the added pitch. The added pitch is enough. Just like ROH, I'd say go with what works. If you get good enough grip at a shallower hollow or if you have enough agility and quickness at a longer radius, it'll only help. As soon as the blade is grabbing when you're not expecting it there's too much dig, either front-to-back/profile or side-to-side/hollow, and it's time to back off. That's my work-in-progress theory.

Steel for True's new holder looks like it has cut outs at the top reminiscent of Tuuk Light Speed perforated steel. It doesn't cut out as far down, but you can see space between the holder and the steel across the bridge if you zoom in a bit. I like the look of the holder. A lot less busy compared to everything going on on the surface of Shift and Shift Max.

I actually like them. You can see where some flourishes could be added to make the more window ready, but they have a decent silhouette. Looks like a pretty average cut pattern—in between L and C. I like the static pattern on the quaters better than a bunch of lines that don’t mean anything. I’m surprised they’re going with unreinforced facing on the fore and midfoot. Every time a skate company does that they go away from it after a generation or two.

I saw some TF roller boots with vented toe caps at one point. I guess they must have gone away from that.

There's definitely something that doesn't quite work out from his diagrams and calculations to the actual feel on the ice. Cobra feels way more pitched than Custom+, but his work shows them as the same. LS2 and Edge are supposed to be more pitched than Cobra but to me they feel less pitched. CXN and True Shift are supposed to be the same, but Shift feels closer to LS2 to me and CXN feels very close to Cobra. I've recently gone from 13' neutral to 13' +1 pitch on LS2s and they feel much better than before, closer to that Cobra/CXN feel. What profiles have you tried?

I only skated on Makos once and the pitch reminded me a lot of being on Cobras. It just feels so much better for me to have that pitch. Even though Bauer’s holders from LS2 on are supposed to be as pitched as Cobra and stock Graf steel it still feels off to me, too far back.