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Literally everyone who is mildly selective about sticks says these are always somewhere between low end mediocre to trash. The people who hype them up are either the people selling them, or people who love a “good deal” above all else. Whats more likely - a factory in China is gonna sell unbranded Bauers/CCMs out the back door to some random suburban dad in the USA, or that those sticks are actually just off brand sticks that play poorly and weigh around 400 grams? People delude themselves it’s actually a $400 stick with no graphics but the scenario is so full of holes. If all you care about is weight, go for these. But if you care about feel, balance, performance, etc, spend $30 more and buy a prostock stick from somewhere.

And just kind of talking as part of an ADVERTISEMENT….. It’s not a video reporting piece about how players adopted their curves, it’s Easton marketing material.

When does one use the ruby side vs when to use the white side?

For the history of who developed given curves, don’t we assume it’s like Leibniz and Newton both developing calculus independently at the same time through different routes? If there’s enough guys tinkering with curves, eventually two people are gonna get to them same idea.

I broke a holder on my TF7s. A few questions for the brain trust: a) do the Max holders have the same hole pattern as the shift? b) I’ve seen a few places say that the Shift steel can go in Max holders, but not the opposite. Is that correct? I’m hoping to avoid buying new steel. c) Are there any other holders that line up with the shift hole pattern without having to drill new ones?

For future reference SMU = Special Make Up. They are designs offered to only certain retailers, usually a mix between two price points. Sometimes it’s a good value and you’re getting upgraded tier 2 specs at a tier 3 price point. Other times they are putting lipstick on a turd. I was looking at some Jetspeed SMU elbows and the “upgrades” were different colors and a chrome CCM logo.

Can you post a pic of your “funky triangular knob?”

Did you get just the collar, or the one with the “bib”?

How’s the sizing on these? One size fits all from 11yo to adult makes me nervous they’d be super tight on adult feet.

Last dedicated thread I could find was 10 years old, so wanted to start a new one. Any strong recommendations for cut resistant skate socks? Or advice on brands/models you didn’t like for one reason or another?

Has anyone used the Jetspeed 485 or 680 shoulder pads? Any strong opinions?

It’s also wildly lazy “science.” If I wear a helmet that’s too big for me, and then complain that I got hurt, and you saw that the helmet fit improperly, you’d tell me “hey man, that sucks, but that helmet is obviously too big.” But, these guys as policy use helmets that are too big, give some inscrutable ratings, and have parents wringing their hands over terrible data. Your point that “no one would read all that” is a huge problem with this study. Their testing doesn’t do a good job testing for hockey injuries. It’s all buried in fine print and the results incredibly oversimplified. There are consumers making choices off of bad data. And now companies are chasing good ratings from this study, but the variables they test are so skewed it’s not even viable. We aren’t critiquing a highschool science fair project. If we were, I think people would be right in their “hey guys, they are doing their best and this seems like a neat idea” defense. VT is pushing this as a rigorous study and it simply isn’t. Imagine if they were testing seatbelt safety, but some of the time just stuck the seatbelts into that cushions rather than latching them correctly. Personally, I’d see that and think I can’t trust anything they publish, because the methods are so flawed. But, instead, people are craving this ratings system even though it’s flawed the variables are wonky.

Pretty sure at this point they have zero interest in making the study better or relevant or useful. They’re just doing it and churning out results that people then haphazardly use.

This thread just seems like someone who has enough money that they don’t really care what they spend it on, and then try to justify it after the fact (custom skates last longer), and then when that false assertion gets called out, backpedals to another money flex (I don’t need to buy new skates, I just do).

Because a lot of people can find comfortable fits for stock skates. Especially off the shelf Trues mold and fit so well the non-custom are fine for a lot of people. I suspect a lot of people need to actually just take time fitting their skates and trying things on. There’s a huge gap between ordering Vapors online because “Bauer is the best” without ever trying anything on, and going full custom. A pair of off the shelf $500 Trues would probably be the best option for a huge number of people. But the world too easily pushes the narrative of you need the most expensive things all the time no matter what.

Sorry, let me rephrase. Mot comparing cost of gen 1 or kickstarter. The time before before gen 3 was released, did the gen 2 model cost the same as it does now, or was it more and they have since reduced the price?

Geez, at $300 for holders and steel I’d just buy new skates at that point.

Did gen 2 get cheaper, or did gen 3 just get more expensive? Or both? Honest question, I don’t pay attention to the pricing.

Prostockhockey, while not a scam and gives you what you order, and will answer specific questions about sticks if you contact them, does advertise and awful lot of stuff as “straight from the pros,” but seems to be things that they just order directly from the manufacturer. They can also be brutal on shipping prices.

I assume for a lot of shops that have Sparx the person who buys it and implements it goes all in all the “super duper easy!!!” marketing lingo, then just plug it in, maybe calibrate it once, never clean it, and train people with “put the skate in the skate hole and press the button. Rub that rock on it when you’re done. If you get an error message, turn it off and on until it goes. Don’t forget we increased the price of sharpenings $2.”

This feels like a solution in search of a problem. Were there a bunch of interface problems on the previous gens? The buttons on all the ones I’ve used are pretty simple and direct.

New advertising talks about Bluetooth. If this were being released 6 months ago I 100% would assume it’s an April Fools joke. Why does my skate sharpener need Bluetooth? There’s apparently a new fancy laser thing to improve alignment, but mostly seems like they added racing stripes and fins and increased the price.

I’ve seen that blade master link but a) looks like they won’t sell to US buyers b), like I said, I don’t know where to start with sizes. Are hockey skate eyelets not standardized? After a lot of googling I haven’t found anything that says “buy size X.”

Is there an important difference between the bigger eyelet press like you see in shops, vs a small handheld one? Is the press that much more better, or is it just that those are quicker and smoother so you spend less time? And, for people who replace eyelets at home, do you have a recommendation for where to buy them in bulk? Quality and cost seems to jump around a bit. I’d prefer a seller in the US so I’m not paying international shipping costs.

Do you need a super specific color and design? You should be able to find some prostock M that are +2. I’m 6’2” and wear mediums with the zipper open and they are fine. Have you tried other brands and models?