flip12

That makes sense. Do you miss the cushy feel just at the top or all along the foot? I only tried on a neglected pair of Makos that were lying around the rink and actually was impressed by the tongue, and I have extensive familiarity with and appreciation for Graf tongues. I can see where, with the idea of the extreme moldability of the Mako, they went with something a little less bulky, but I have tried several Graf tongues in my MLX instead of the stock ones. In my opinion, the Mako tongue was much more reminiscent of what I prefer and usually find Grafs to be quite nice. Which Graf tongues do you have lying around? They have changed drastically over the years and there have been quite a number of different tongues since the mid-late 80's, which is where my collection begins.

Tongues have a lot to do with the feel of the boot, especially forward flex and balancing over the blade. If you’re not unhappy with that aspect of the Mako tongue I’d first try to add extra felt to the existing tongue to provide the flop you want without messing with other factors that are more integral to skating rather than purely or primarily cosmetic.

I also usually add a wooden plug for balance. It feels like it’s mostly a weight distribution issue for me, rather than a question of material/vibrational medium. I tested using a plastic plug with a bolt fed through it. I loaded it up with washers to adjust the balance and I couldn’t really feel a difference between that and having a wooden plug of the same weight. The only sticks that I’ve tried that have had great feel without having to add a plug have been Trues. Also a Kovalev gamer but his shaft is heavier than normal and the end plug probably weighs 40-50g as well, effectively reproducing the effect of an end plug.

That’s a great summary, and makes me really want to try the Shift holder.

How do you mean, the dynamic of the Shift holder and steel is different?

I would have, but shipping to and from Europe would have been too expensive for me. I think that kind of program is the future of profiling.

Elite order volume is probably high right now too.

What makes a pair of shoulder pads more protective? My best guess is: 1. Coverage or fit. A good fit, where the pads are properly aligned with where the impact points and prone areas are will protect better. This is a question of size and model. It has to be a good match with the wearer, or even the most protective shoulder pad won't protect as it should. 2. Material composition. There's usually a base of softer foam for comfort and some protection, paired with plastic and or denser foam for higher grade protection, resisting impacts of greater force. The top end pads are usually tricked out with what could be viewed as gimmicks: fancier foams, range of motion provided in dimensions that the body itself doesn't use, etc. You can get a sense of how protective the pieces are and where their respective strong and weak points are in person. It can be a little hard to get a sense for that shopping online. 3. Deformation depth: Just like how a golf ball collapses when struck, the stiffer parts in protective equipment (hd foam or plastic) also compress or collapse on impact. If there's more of a crumple zone in the high impact areas, there's ample space for the pad to bend inwards on impact (sometimes it's called absorbing the impact) and not reach the body of the wearer underneath. I used to have light and slim shoulders (Easton Pro Light Design) that were light for their day but had minimally deep shoulder caps. Ultimately I replaced them because I was playing with some chippy idiots most of the time and wanted better protection against hacks and cross checks. The 20 years between that pair and my Warrior AX1s did a ton for improving shoulder pad protection and performance. I got the AX1s over Bauer Vapor APX2 shoulder pads because I got the AX1s for a great price on closeout. They're not impressively light compared to the APX2, but they are light enough that I don't notice them when I play. The fact that they are extremely mobile also contributes to that. When I took them out on the ice the first time, I was blown away at how much more mobile they were while also being much more protective than my previous shoulders. Although they don't pass the "looking cool in minimal shoulders department," I got over that by looking at how cool Fedorov looked even in bulky shoulder pads (we're about the same height) and figuring I wouldn't have to worry about looking cool anyway. Instead, I'm more concerned with whether or not I'm safe on the ice--before getting these shoulders, I didn't feel protected enough given the group I played with, sad but true--and whether or not I'm having fun. It's much easier to have fun with these shoulder pads on than my previous ones, and I have no motivation to change these at all until they fall apart. For reference, I also wear full face coverage when I play. It has saved me a few times when I've closed on puck carriers faster than they realized and they stuck me in the face as I approached. No scars or dental work necessary.

Vector Pros weren’t bad. They were a bit odd but they had a solid look. They also stuck to the black, white, and grey color scheme.

How long is this long bake?

Absolutely! It just got weird really fast. It’s strange though because Ovi’s SE 10.0s look quite sharp in my book, if a little bling. You had to be world class to pull it off though.

CCM has had a slew of fugly designs over the years, especially the Externo line comes to mind, but just about everything after the 952 was a belly flop in a surfing competition. I submit the Vector 10.0 as the ugliest and guiltiest of all time. Prior to this, skates were black, white and grey. Not the flashiest color palette but workable given the multitude of schemes every skate would invariably pair with, as well as the effect of wear and tear on their looks. Enter the 10.0, with it’s suitably repulsive name, and suddenly arbitrary colors were involved. They were impressively competent at finding a color which looks good with exactly no other color as well, just to touch bottom on the first go. Ever since that, skates’ looks have been been irrevocably tarnishes.

I didn't use shrink wrap anywhere. I let the top three eyelets flare outward to allow for ankle rotation when I skate. It almost got me the same amount of room as in my 703's but not quite. Next time I bake them I'll wrap all the way along the foot up to the top three eyelets and leave them open again.

They look considerably worse with the full striping.

Definitely. There’s a direct correlation between viewing distance and attractiveness of this graphic.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHtVC_dhz0L/?igshid=kq1u8e8e31mz

If you have a lot of ankle aversion in your stride you might want to bake them snug over the foot and loose in the ankle. When I baked my MLX the last time, I didn’t lace the top three eyelets.

SVH said their recommended bake time is 6 minutes.

Does it also fit the True Shift holder?

You can test your hypothesis with lifts. No change to the steel so you’ll be certain what the forward pitch variable does. Everyone is different so predicting how it will affect you is quite difficult.

The Goph M1s are incredible!

I noticed that in the first go 'round. However, looking at it more carefully now, there's a notable difference in the articulation of the heels of the two skates. The heel of your custom boot is much more radiused. A visual guess at what an x-ray might reveal makes me think there's more negative space in that bottom triangle between the horizontal of the boot becoming the vertical. I have no doubt the stock boot would pass as bigger if we could slice both down the middle and inspect the volume better, both metrically and visually, but there are still some apples to oranges issues I'm seeing in the comparison itself, visual illusions that contribute to the perceived size difference.

It's a bit hard to see much with any precision when looking at your pictures, @SkateWorksPNW. Your camera looks like it might be handheld because the floor line slants down to the left and you tend to put the smaller skate on the left. The skate on the right looks bigger in both cases, but in the True custom / True stock photo, it appears you might also be positioning the camera closer to the skates, which would make the scale different in the two shots.

But I’m pretty sure they can be made in any mix of materials Graf has.

The classic series also has great forward flex; -3 and -5 patterns. The gap between the top and second eyelets acts almost like an eyelet skip à la Crosby. The top eyelet being lower than other brands helps as well.