stick9

Don't forget the $30-50 you'll spend on profiling....

I will of course defer to JR or mojo, but I am pretty sure you can. In fact, there is a member here who just received his custom Bauer’s. Some light reading.

And there lies the issue. You can't compare a retail offering to a custom. Hell, they aren't even in the same price point. So for the sake of discussion, lets put a True up against a custom Bauer or CCM, you know, apple to apples. Who's better performer....

Those differences are to work around Bauer’s patent. Both companies have designed steel to work in those holders. I use Step in my Edge holders and it’s the opposite effect, they are total pain to get and out.

@Sniper9 If the Tyden blades are moving enough to cause you to toe pick, that’s probably enough to get a replacement set from Tyden. I’d document the movement and contact Tyden. That to me would warrent replacements or a refund.

That's like saying all black shoes are the same.

Honestly, even if placed at the front of the line, three weeks doesn't sound unreasonable. If that includes shipping, it's actually impressive.

@hollowicked I tried them on at WF earlier this month. I liked them so much I tired them again at a local shop when I got home. Super comfortable. The new ankle packs are a thing of beauty. The CCM rep at WF called them the coaches skate due to the level of comfort. Fit wise, they had a little bit more volume than the 1X. The forefoot and toe box were a touch wider. Heels were about the same. That was out of the box, no heating. I ended up with the 1X, but I really liked the 70k.

Couldn't one make the argument that people coming over to True from the "big brands" probably weren't in a custom skate? Couldn't one further argue, maybe those people were never in a boot that fit them properly in the first place? Filter through this board and you will see literally hundreds of posts asking for help with skate fittings. My point, its not really apples to apples. Think about the difference between a custom tailored suit and something you'd buy off the rack. Even at the same price point that custom tailored suit will always fit better because it's made specifically for you. I just find the whole comparison thing a bit disingenuous. For the most part, people are comparing retail boots to something that was built specificity for them.

Sort of like what Bauer and CCM have been doing for years. Not knocking True, just adding context.

Yeah, I am moving down to a 5/8th's Fire. The bite just wasn't there, especially on harder ice. Would like it to feel like that 85/100 FBV. That worked year round on pretty much every ice condition.

I've been on a FBV for years and recently switched to a Sparx Fire. I went from an 85/100 FBV to a 90/75 FBV then to a 3/4 Fire. I also had a few 3/4 ROH mixed in there. For the most part, it was all the same guy doing the sharpening, so the quality was spot on. Glide wise the Fire is pretty close to the 90/75 FBV. Where I noticed the difference was the bite. The Fire didn't seem to have the same level of bite the FBV did. It wasn't bad though and I do actually prefer the Fire to the standard ROH. Given the option I'd go FBV, but good FBV's are getting harder and harder to find. I hated the Blademaster flat bottom, the Fire is definitely better than that.

We had people bitch when we expanded out roster to 14 for the winter season. We've never had all 14 show up. The most was 12. I joke, 14, it's the new 9. I can't imagine playing mens league with that many guys on the bench. 6 forwards & 4 D is ideal.

Rebirth Sports Back about mid-august I started searching for places to have some jerseys made. Kicked plenty of tires and eventually settled on Rebirth Sports, good reviews, their work looked very good & the prices were hard to beat. I sent off my artwork files (which they graciously tweaked). After a few days I had a nice mock up to pass around. Everyone liked it, so it was game on. Come early September (September 9th), we’re ready to officially place the order. We get all the details sorted out, receive a quote and off goes a cashier’s check, paid in full. A few days later some questions about the proper colors come up. They are quick to reach out and work though it with me over the phone. I’m thinking great, they had a question and they called. I’m feeling pretty good about the whole thing. A few weeks later (September 20th) I message them (Facebook messenger is the most effective method) asking for an update. They respond quickly and tell me it’s way too early for any sort of update and say they will update me when info comes in. At this point I think nothing of it. Fast forward to October 13th. It’s now getting close to the 4 week lead time they originally quoted. I take to FB messenger again and ask for an update. Again, they are quick to respond to me. This time saying it’s usually about a 5 week lead time and my order didn’t reach the supplier until September 18th. They again assure me, that as soon as they are given a status up date, they will pass the info along. I’m like fair enough. It is their busy season after all. October 28th, a month since I last contacted them. I'm getting harrassed by the guys about our uniforms. This time I contact the owner directly via email. I ask for an update and finalized version of my artwork. The artwork comes pretty quickly but no update. I figure, I will give it a day or so and try to get them on messenger. Yesterday, October 31st, I get a message asking for the best number to reach me...this is never good news, but hey maybe they need a shipping address. They call shortly after letting me know they are having issues with their supplier and orders are taking twice as long as quoted and my order could take as long as another 4-6 weeks. They are very apologetic. No point in losing my shit on this poor woman, not really my style anyway. I tell her, before I can make sort of call on this, I need a real-time status report, i.e. how far along are they and a solid answer as to when it would be completed. She was very nice and said she’d call me back later that day with the info and we would go from there. When she called back, she said that the supplier was nowhere close to completing our order and didn’t really trust what the supplier told her because he didn’t want to lose the job, and that Rebirth was canceling the order and refunding my payment in full. Here I am, 7 weeks after submitting and paying for my order and I am being told it’s been canceled….

Where I come from (New England) fish is for dinner. Raw fish is dipped in soy sauce, not covered with cream cheese and served on a bagel. Had a good time hanging with the Millers and the rest of his extended family. Thanks again for letting us crash there.

Kg, I think you inadvertently pointed out the flaw in VT testing. The end user will never take into account all the particulars of the test, merely assume that 200 pages of copier paper will stop a bullet. Mom & Dad go and buy junior helmet X for Christmas because they read on the inter web that it has a 5 star rating. Doesn't matter if it fits, how he wears it or what he does in it. The report says it will reduce concussions.

Maybe not bad, more like flawed or incomplete. Other independent testing agencies (UL, CE, CSA and the dozens I have forgot or don't feel like listing) have set standards and guidelines in place. If a manufacturer doesn't follow those standards and fails testing, the agency does not grant approval. In most cases that means you are not allowed to sell your product in a certain market. This is done before the product is released to the public, not after the fact. The data is the data, but data can be very subjective. Look, it seems like they want the right thing, but does their testing tell the whole story. How do their findings relate to the real world? Does a 5 star helmet actually reduce the risk of concussions on everyone who wears it? Hockey isn't played in a lab so how effective is their testing? I've played for a long and have yet to have a giant hammer pop out and hit me in the side of the head. Ideally, VT should work on creating a metric or baseline along with a test procedure that all manufacturers can follow. That would allow companies to use those metrics and procedures during the R&D phase. New materials and assembly methods could be vetted before even going to market.

Pretty much my view of independent test ratings. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mEB7WbTTlu4

If you like Kessel maybe you could ask for hot dog emoji sewn to the back of your jersey......better yet wear #11 and tell people it's two hot dogs in honor of Phil. Call it the dual dog.....heck of a nick name.

Looks very 1S esque. Too bad I'll never get my foot in one.

JR, any chance that LS3 SS steel is available as replacement steel? Then again I suppose you could just get the LS3 and have the heels and toes shaved.

Having spoken to an EQM at the AHL level. He tells me there are a good number of players who have no idea what they are skating on. They simply hand their skates to the guy who does the sharpening. He did say there are some guys who are fanatic about it, but nothing like you see at the retail level. Again, I don't think it's an major factor. If you believe that, then you have to believe that he wouldn't be the same player on a different ROH, and that's just crazy.

I don't thinks it's all that big of a factor. I'm willing to bet guys simply skate on whatever they are familiar with. I don't believe they look to it as a performance gain or loss. I can see them saying to the EQM "skates feel a little dull or a little too sharp", the EQM tweaks the hollow and asks "is this more what you're looking for".

If the skates are essentially the same, then why go with a company with almost zero exposure at the NHL level and zero marketing? Unless of course you are familiar with the brand and want to be loyal. And isn't that on the brand, not the consumer? For example, CCM is doing a no questions money back guarantee on a product they know is at the very least equal to their competition. IMO, Graf sat on an outdated product catalog for way too long. I also think, at some point their "fit for every foot" approach actually hurt them.

Best of luck to Vaughn, but I can't help but think this is about 10 years too late. This should have happened when Graf was still somewhat of a player in the market. Its going to take a seriously compelling product. Simply equal to CCM & Bauer just won't do. It will need to blow them out of the water and at a lower price. They'll sell some skates, just not enough to make it work.