flip12

HP70 is a Tackla clone, if I'm not mistaken. Love my Tacklas, which is why I'm interested in some HP70s.

The translated text claims this is the finished graphics package. Bauer finally listened after teasing so many nice looking minimally cluttered prototype skates that looked far better than their finished counterparts.

I would take a look at True TF7s. They’re cut very similarly to Grafs, with a boot height quite a bit lower than other brands. The stock holder is also aggressively pitched, which it sounds like you appreciate from your G5’s. TF9s are similar, just with a bit stiffer and lighter shell, thinner tongue, Clarino liner and fancier steel. TF7s are a steal for their price in my opinion.

25% VAT in Denmark.

What would you say is the main price driver? Also, a stick is more than a pile of materials.

My guess is the Shift holder's forward pitch and small size (because the boots run very large) puts a lot of people on the upward curving toe rocker of the blade when they're used to having more "flat" there to balance on...pretty much the opposite to having the toe of new blades ground down to feel more natural a decade+ ago.

Please share when you find the comparative weights. I love the HP70 fit, so I’m keen to know how it stacks up.

Erik Cole and Matt Cooke as well. Don’t know of any current players.

I met a former Swedish pro from the Toronto area who said he loved Grafs “because their radius is so short I can just spin like a top on them.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him Cobras had the longest stock profile on the market.

Thanks for the info! Luckily, I'm at a new club where we have a ProSharp 1001, and I get my skates done at 25mm now, which is fine, but I'm thinking of going down to 30 maybe once I get some issues with my skates fixed. I'm thinking of getting my own dressing tool, so I can try out different combos with the Z-Channel. There's at least one other guy who wants to try it, but none that I know of that have actually dressed the wheel for that yet. In Copenhagen, there are only two shops and the one I used to live closer to wouldn't redress their wheel. The other one will, but now I don't need to go there for sharpening anymore either. Have you tried Z-Channel yet? What hollow, channel, radius are you skating on?

How did the original Synergy shoot? Was it low-kick because of the T-Flex taper?

I don’t know how current this is anymore, but 15-ish years ago an employee at an outdoor sporting goods store told me how manufacturing winter coats in China works. He said K2, Arcteryx, Mountain Hardware, etc. were manufactured by the same group and sometimes even in the same factory, just in tightly scheduled blocks. For a week or so they’d make Company X’s jackets then the next week they’d reset and make Company Y’s jacket, and so on. Specialization at the front yet again.

They do! McDavid was using Oates' preferred pattern again yesterday: There are many characteristics that can impact how a blade plays for someone. There are a few things that would steer me away from McDavid's curve if I were a P92 user. It's a junior sized blade, smaller in length and height. This will likely be noticed by someone used to bigger blades. It has very little rocker, in stark contrast to the P92. It's a very low lie, where even the P92-"5" is still higher than a P88 "6." It's not exactly a square toe, but more of a hybrid semi-square, like the E13 (P89's a touch bit rounder). Depending on what you're looking for in a square blade @Jbear, it might fit the bill. The curves of the McDavid and P92 are quite similar, and the loft looks to be very close, but there are other important things to consider. The first 1:35 of Geppetto's review of the blade has some good side by side comparisons with the P92. @Hills also reviewed PSHS and their McDavid curve in some depth: @Jbear, have you tried squaring off the P92 toe yourself? There are some suggestions on MSH if you search for repairing a toe with epoxy for wet environments. That way you'd keep the other features of the P92 and only lose a little bit of blade length. Plus, it's still maybe the easiest pattern on the market to find.

I'm not sure the shell is the same.

There’s a massive opening for innovation in my mind, using only tried and true materials already common in the market. The problem is rather traditionalism, on the consumer side showing itself in the reluctance to try new or different looking things, on the manufacturers’ side showing itself in the incredible degree of clustering around selected archetypes in each category. There’s symmetry in those two dancing that way, product market fit in a less exciting form. Still, once in a while something innovative breaks through: Graf’s 700 series, Micron Air 90, N/B’s one90 (I don’t see much innovation in the one95), SVH boots, Easton Mako gloves...

His square toe junior pattern that he’s been slowly working away from is a more open and curved Easton Iginla Jr. I’ve read on here that Oates insists McDavid use Oates’ preferred curve (Stamkos Pro?), which I believe is a P92 with some mid-toe curve added to it.

You could stitch some of the palm up under the binding of the inside and top borders like shown in Fedorov’s gloves above.

Oh dear. When do we get to see that?

Absolutely spot on.

Your feet are likely to broaden as they bear more load. It’s like any soft support. Press down on a squeeze ball with your fist and it expands outward under the load. It’s maybe only a few mm on each side, but add that up and suddenly stiff, snug-fitting footwear goes from comfortable to unbearable.

Wasn’t that true of Makos too? The active factor I’d guess is the True boot offering more direct energy transfer which makes the same hollow feel grippier compared to lossier boots. Though, I thought Mako users often experienced it as well. Still, I agree with @Sniper9, you’ll likely find the right feel at a slightly shallower hollow. Definitely try that before messing with your profile.

It’s a bit rich isn’t it. Bauer raises prices to ever-increasing heights and wants the crown of inclusivity. As long as you’ve got the dough...

It's a smart move to put a logo on the heel. With a lot of skates' quarters covered with shot blockers, it can be hard to see what skate a player has on. The heel is often still exposed when much of the rest of the identifiable branding on a pro's skate is covered.

Up to date, nevermind.

Is the liner and foam spec carried over from the Mako? It reminds me of that lineage.