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djm

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Posts posted by djm

  3. Posted · Report reply

    That's what I don't get, Steve says that 100/75 is equal to 3/8" and 90/75 is 5/8" but I believe that people have had both done and claimed(or were told) it is equal to 1/2". Dumbing down numbers is not really the right way to do something, that's how bad info is passed along. But it's better when they atleast know what FBV they're on.

    I'm still amazed that some of you can think that there's a magical answer that a questionnaire can tell you about your skates. If there was some guy that posted on here with a questionnaire about sticks that told you how long of a stick, what pattern and what flex to use, most of you guys would jump down his throat because it's "all personal preference."

    I have no doubt that Bob is a quality sharpener, you don't maintain local customers without being good. BUT I don't see how letting him make big changes in your profile without seeing you skate. I DO understand someone having a problem and him adjusting it to try to solve an issue they're describing but I don't get this change for the sake of change business.

    You are right that you didn't explicitly state that. However, based on your questions and comments I think it was fairly obvious what you were implying.

    What I was implying was not the use of the "medium" forward pitch, 8/13 compound radius(that would be what you are claiming I implied). I was implying a common use of a compound radius with a forward pitch, in general.

    TBL, I think your point is well-taken. The fact is that people are always looking for anything that will improve their skating ability. This is evidenced by the huge interest in FBV. Similarly, a combo radius alleges to provide some sort of advantage over a standard factory radius. Thus, people are willing to make a change for the sake of change.

    As someone stated above, I'm sure Bob's experience has allowed him to formulate an idea as to what combination will generally work for people based on height, weight, experience, etc. Whether it works in a small or large percentage of cases is anyone's guess. I would be a lot more skeptical if Bob wasn't willing to redo your radius free of charge if the initial one doesn't work out. In my case, the radius Bob gave me improved my skating ability. That is certainly not to say it is the ideal setup for me. In fact, I'm sure that it's not. However, given my lack of options as far as LHS's go, I feel that it's the best option I have at this point in time.

    FBV Hollows I know have myself. And I am sure more to come.

    100/75

    90/75

    100/50

    90/50

    and I believe there is an 80/50

    OTG, if someone walks into your shop and says, "I currently use a 1/2" ROH, I want whichever FBV hollow is most similar." What do you tell them?

  4. Posted · Report reply

    It's not that he's offering that service, that's a wonderful service. It's that he's making drastic changes to peoples profile, without seeing them skate AND telling them that it's going to make the better. It's going to work for some but for others it's only going to hurt.

    It also appears(correct me if I'm wrong) that he's not taking the time to explain the FBV numbers so how are these guys going to go to their local guy(when fbv is available) and say "I've got a 9/16th FBV" and get exactly what they want? Both guys I talked to quoted me *hollow numbers*-FBV as what they were considering getting done. There appears to be a lot of rounding up and down with these numbers. If you told someone that a 5/8" hollow is the same as a 1/2" hollow, I'd call you an idiot. Yet it appears that with FBV more than 1 hollow can be achieved with the same sharpening. Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but there are only 4 options of FBV, right?

    I'm not saying that Bob is misleading them with the numbers or saying he does a bad job. BUT I believe he's doing them a disservice when he doesn't explain the numbers. The FBV "bite-angle" can be adjusted to, but I didn't get the impression that he explained it to them.

    I hear what you are saying, but this is how I switched to a different radius...

    Me: I need new steel.

    Bob: Want to try a different radius? (7/13)

    Me: Can you explain how this may help me?

    Bob: Explains the traits of this radius.

    Me: I make the decision knowing that I may need to tweak things a bit and adjustment time could be necesary.

    He's not seeing me skate, but he's explaining what the radius should offer and I make the decisions.

    In the case of the FBV, I think Bob and others are speaking in terms of rough equivalents... Probably because there are 500 people asking what FBV is equivalent to what traditional ROH? I doubt this will be a problem, most places that don't have a Blackstone machine (at least around here) aren't going to buy one just to do FBV sharpenings. I'd say about 90% of my teammates have no clue what their ROH is, so your target audience is small.

    And that's how it should be done. But with the two guys that have emailed Bob, that I know, it wasn't explained like you decribed(according to them). When I inquired about a specific(7/11) compound radius he flat out told me that I'd be better off with 7/13. Without any information of my skating background, height, weight, etc. I ended up getting 7/11 from another guy... In the end, I found no benefits to the "extra stability in turns" so I'm back to a standard 9' radius with my new set of steel.

    As far as the explanation of the FBV offerings, there's a nice little site that blackstone set up, that offers all the information someone needs. It's not hard to pass on a link or hand someone a piece of paper with the web address.

    The crux of your earlier argument dealt completely with your issue of people being given the same combo radius. Now you are talking about the FBV. What does one have to do with the other?

    No it was not, I never claimed he was giving everyone the same combo radius. That was an assumption he made.

    You are right that you didn't explicitly state that. However, based on your questions and comments I think it was fairly obvious what you were implying.

    As to the FBV, I agree that a little more explanation should/could be given with regard to what the numbers mean. It is probably going to cause some confusion in the future when FBV walks into their LHS and asks for a 1/2" FBV. However, the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of people could care less what the numbers mean and just want the bite that is "equivalent" to the standard radius they are familiar with. I think Bob is just trying so simplify things for those who don't care.

    Perhaps Bob can attempt to set the record straight and tell everyone what FBV they are getting when someone orders the 1/2", 9/16" or 5/8" off his website.

  5. Posted · Edited by djm · Report reply

    It's not that he's offering that service, that's a wonderful service. It's that he's making drastic changes to peoples profile, without seeing them skate AND telling them that it's going to make the better. It's going to work for some but for others it's only going to hurt.

    It also appears(correct me if I'm wrong) that he's not taking the time to explain the FBV numbers so how are these guys going to go to their local guy(when fbv is available) and say "I've got a 9/16th FBV" and get exactly what they want? Both guys I talked to quoted me *hollow numbers*-FBV as what they were considering getting done. There appears to be a lot of rounding up and down with these numbers. If you told someone that a 5/8" hollow is the same as a 1/2" hollow, I'd call you an idiot. Yet it appears that with FBV more than 1 hollow can be achieved with the same sharpening. Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but there are only 4 options of FBV, right?

    I'm not saying that Bob is misleading them with the numbers or saying he does a bad job. BUT I believe he's doing them a disservice when he doesn't explain the numbers. The FBV "bite-angle" can be adjusted to, but I didn't get the impression that he explained it to them.

    The crux of your earlier argument dealt completely with your issue of people being given the same combo radius. Now you are talking about the FBV. What does one have to do with the other?

  6. Posted · Report reply

    I have to correct myself as I just checked my skating profile and Bob did give me the 8/14 and not the 8/13. I apologize to everyone for my mistake, as I'm sure it fueled this squabble a bit. In Bob's defense, even if he is giving the same profile to tons of other people, it is working well for me, as I've seen in improvement in my skating in just a short period of time.

    I think the problem may be that when doing profiling via the internet, Bob can only go by what the person fills out on the skater questionnaire form. I may be wrong, but I would imagine that the key considerations Bob uses are height/weight, experience and position when determining a combo radius, as he obviously doesn't have the ability to watch the person skate and determine what they need on an individual basis. That is certainly not his fault, and as someone who is nowhere near a LHS that offers this service, I appreciate having the option of sending my runners to Bob.

    Lohnman: the reason I asked how old your players are was because I assumed you coached kids and therefore it was unlikely that Bob would give them combo radius the same as a 225 lb fat man such as myself. :D

  7. Posted · Report reply

    I have the majority of my players skating on some sort of comb radius from Bob and not one, not one is on a 8-13. I also have most of them on the FBV, and interestingly enough they are all on the same FBV even though they have tried all of the shapes that are available what does that mean to you ol great one?

    how old are your players?

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Got to skate on it tonight. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions as I also got my steel profiled and minor pitched forward, so it made for an akward skating feeling. I did notice some better gliding but not too much and definitely felt like I was grabbing in turns more. I want to get a few more skates on it before I make any assessments but none the less I did like how it felt so far.

    Bob did the FBV along with a combo radius and forward pitch for me. The first time skating on it was a whole new experience. While I could definitely feel the difference in the glide and bite, I was more concerned with my discomfort due to the pitch change. The second time out on the ice was a lot better, and the third time I could really begin to appreciate the effects of FBV as I had almost completely adjusted to the forward pitch. In other words, give yourself one or two more skates to adjust to the pitch change and you'll really appreciate the FBV.

    Bob did the same for me and I knew it would be uncomfortable, he made it clear in the 2 page summary he sent me about my sharpening. I'm not worried just eager to get back on the ice to try it again.

    Let me guess, 8/13 compound radius with a slight(or "medium") forward pitch so you bend your knees more.

    Bingo. First time on it my quads were burning and my lower back tightened up pretty badly. Fully adjusted by about the third or fourth time on them.

  9. Posted · Edited by djm · Report reply

    Helmet: Mission Intake

    Shoulder Pads: CCM V 8.0

    Elbow Pads: Easton S9

    Pants: NBH Vapor XV; Mission Fuel 110

    Shin Pads: Easton S9

    Skates: Kor Shift 1, CCM V 6.0

    Gloves: TPS R8, NBH Vapor XX, Easton 4 roll blackout from EWH, Eagle G70

    Sticks: Warrior MacDaddy (Smyth), NBH One95 (Naslund), NBH One90 Chrome (Naslund), NBH XXX-Lite (Shannahan Pro Stock), Mission Fuel Ti Pro (Rafalski), TPS XN10 Chrome (Nash), TPS R8 Lite (Stoll)

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Got to skate on it tonight. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions as I also got my steel profiled and minor pitched forward, so it made for an akward skating feeling. I did notice some better gliding but not too much and definitely felt like I was grabbing in turns more. I want to get a few more skates on it before I make any assessments but none the less I did like how it felt so far.

    Bob did the FBV along with a combo radius and forward pitch for me. The first time skating on it was a whole new experience. While I could definitely feel the difference in the glide and bite, I was more concerned with my discomfort due to the pitch change. The second time out on the ice was a lot better, and the third time I could really begin to appreciate the effects of FBV as I had almost completely adjusted to the forward pitch. In other words, give yourself one or two more skates to adjust to the pitch change and you'll really appreciate the FBV.

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