malcb33

I picked up my skates on Friday after anxiously waiting for them to be delivered. I ordered them through a local fit center, so I was able to demo their (baked) stock models before placing my order and get them to take care of the measurements as well. This was really helpful as I had skated on MLX before but never VH's, so I could really feel what the skates were all about before deciding make any changes/ alterations. When I placed my order a asked for, Plain black boot New toe cap Clarino liner Oversized 280mm Edge holder with LS4 steel Full foam on inside of tendon guard Maltese tongue Top 3 Eyelets forward from standard position on VH skates- Top 8mm forward from centre, 2nd eyelet to top 6mm, 3rd eyelet to top 4mm Rust resistant eyelets Extra cooper rivets (front and back of front tower, back of back tower) Extra thick comfort edge VH came back and said that they aren't really doing the Maltese tongue anymore as they found while the gel worked well, it was heavy and the new metatarsal guard tongue is as good if not better to relieve lace bite, but they could do all the other requests, no problem. I was a little hesitant about the metatarsal guard tongue as I had them a while back in a pair of pro stock Bauer One90's and wasn't a fan as I found them to restrictive through the top eyelets and above. I decided to give it a shot anyway that's what VH recommended to relieve the lacebit issues I've had ever since I had started playing hockey many moons ago. I hadn't been this excited about a piece of new hockey equipment in a while, so it was a nice change to be really looking forward getting these on my feet. The skates were delivered directly to the fit center instead of to me so I drove over once I got the word. Once I arrived I open the box and inspected the skates, only to see that three of the main additions/ alterations I asked for were missing or not even close to what I had asked for. I was initially a little disappointed but decided to try the skates and VH's recommendations with an open mind. They didn't cover the the whole tendon guard as I asked, as I found on demo model rubbed a little where the plastic corners were. They also didn't add the comfort edges either which was a bigger disappointment as I sent them pictures (of the sides and top veiw of an X100 skate) to replicate on my skates. The biggest disappointment was by far the eyelet set up. Again I had sent them a picture of what I wanted and gave them specific measurements (didn't want quite as aggressive) and they said they were able to fulfill this request before proceeding with my order. When I got the skates, I saw they had added on an eyelet extension for the top tow eyelets (approximately 22mm forward) and left the original eyelets in as well. I will skate on them tonight, which will be the real test of course but just from trying these on inside the eyelet set up doesn't feel ideal as it's to far forward, similar to how the 55 flex feels. I've different lace combinations as well but nothing is exactly right. Hopefully it's just in my head and they feel amazing on the ice. I don't know if I am overreacting a bit, but it seems weird to me to say that they can fulfill a request and not communicate anything throughout the manufacturing process about having difficulties and deliver something vastly different than the initial request. Do you think this is fair and I am just over blowing the situation? To me it seems unreasonable to pay money for customs and have them say they can do something and not deliver. If they had told me this was the only way (adding the extension) or it's not something they can do and it was my choice to still go ahead, I would understand and that would be on me but not saying anything isn't really fair IMO.

I don't find the wrap at the top eyelets really effects me either as I typically have the laces fairly loose anyway. I've been skating with the 55flex system and the extenders came very close to touching each other and never found it a problem. I find having the past vert eyelets allows more forward range of motion with compromising the lateral support, like what happens when you skip the top eyelet completely.

Thanks for the pic Flip12 Cosmic- I've owned MLX and know their story. I was interested in seeing the prototypes and what grew to become MLX as Flip mentioned the eyelet placement on them.

Have you got pictures of these? I'd be interested to see and hear more about the prototype boots.

The eyelet placement was an estimation from pictures of the old Mission roller hockey skates I owned which had the Past Vert eyelet configuration. I've been using 55 Flex for the last while, but found those a little to aggressive, so I wanted to tone it back a touch. I actually did ask ask VH about adjusting the pitch of the boot, but they weren't very keen on doing this. The full foam is on the new tenon guard. They have a foam on the inside of the plastic which doesn't cover the corners, so I wanted the whole thing covered.

Placed my order last Thursday and asked to receive them by Christmas if possible. Just got word that they should be finished production by the end of the week. Amazing!! I asked for, Plain black boot New toe cap Clarino liner Oversized 280mm Edge holder with LS4 steel Full foam on inside of tendon guard Tongue with metatarsal guard Top 3 Eyelets forward from standard position on VH skates- Top 8mm forward from centre, 2nd eyelet to top 6mm, 3rd eyelet to top 4mm Rust resistant eyelets Extra cooper rivets (front and back of front tower, back of back tower) Extra thick comfort edge Also if anyone is wondering about the Maltese tongue, it's not something they're doing anymore. They found while the gel worked well, it was heavy and the new metatarsal guard tongue is as good if not better to relieve lace bite. I'm really excited to get these on my feet!

Those are the most extreme lifts I've ever seen. On Cobra's as well

I'll give them a call. Much appreciated!

Where did you get the LS3 coated?

I have a really high instep which is why I'm looking at VH customs. The tendons which run across the top of my feet are very tender and sensitive (even after extended periods of not skating at all) because I've been using retail skates which are much too shallow for such a long time. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the benefit of the Maltese tongue is to relieve the pressure across the top to your foot, which should elevate the issue with the tendons in my feet.

Has anyone had experience with the Maltese tongue option?

Does anyone know if base is still doing tapered blades?

Perfect, thanks. Thats exactly what I was hoping to hear. Do you have the same holders on both? Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm good with LS2's + a shim. Gives me the same pitch as my Cobra's and I already have a bunch of Step steel for LS2's

I add shims anyway, but still prefer an agressive pitch boot and then add a shim as well. I got them same general response from Scott but nothing specific, so thats why I would ask to see if someone has had firsthand experience with both skates.

For those who own VH skates and have had vapor's in the past, is the boot pitch (angle of the forward lean of the boot, not pitch of the holder) similar or more aggressive than vapors? I personally really like the boot pitch of the vapor's and I'm considering purchasing a pair of VH skates. Is this something that can be customized?

Are you a lefty EBondo? I loved the MSH (CB?) M-1s, but I was never a fan of the HE750 glove.

The Mlx chart wasn't very accurate IMO. I found Mlx skates fit fairly closely in length to Bauer.

Using a stone will take the coating off, so its best to avoid it (and tell your sharpener not to as well). The blades sharpen pretty well, but you can use leather to debur if needed.

To me it looks extremely similar.

Thanks for the advice. I actually was trying to mimic the profile on my second set of steel, so even though I was changing profile it was actually the same as what I was using previously. I'll look into purchasing a spinner, I really do like the glide advantage of FBV but edge control is pretty crucial for me. Hopefully I can find an equivalent FBV cut.

Thanks for the reply guys. 90/75 is the most shallow FBV sharpening my guy offers. Being a bigger guy (205lbs) I was using 13/16ths pervious to using FBV but I got used to the 90/75 and actually enjoyed the extra bite (without the drag of a deeper ROH). Perhaps trying an FBV cut which is less sharp would be the answer for me, but unfortunately it's not available for me locally at this stage. The ice I was skating on was pretty hard for this time of year and maybe I'm not doing a good job of explaining the issue. It felt like a more smooth transition from glide the phase to where the edges bite using a 13/16ths ROH aposed to when I skate on FBV. To me it didn't feel like it was from using a less sharp hollow, but more that the edges gradually dug into the ice giving me more control. Does that make sense?

I've been skating on 90/75 for the last 2+ years, but last week I was trying a new radius out so the sharpener recommended trying it with a regular ROH before getting him to sharpen my skates with my regular FBV cut (to save on the FBV sharpening fee, if the radius didn't work). He sharpened them to 13/16th's which has a little less bite than what I'm used to, but to my surprise I found a had better feel for my edges with a traditional ROH compared to FBV. It was like the transition to my edges was smoother/ easier with a ROH sharpening, where as with FBV the transition to my edges is more abrupt. Has anyone else found this as well? I've been a very loyal FBV user for a while, but now I'm thinking about going back to a ROH sharpening.

Its not far off and the poster asked a general question.

If your worried about weight, try the Ti-SS (Step Titanium fusion style) steel. Lighter than LS2.1 and has way better edge retention.

They are officially in production now (finally) and should be out very soon. Step should be releasing more details on the facebook page soon: https://www.facebook...114819765333209