SolarWind

4.5 min in a preheated oven is a lot longer than what instructions state a max recommended time of 2 mins. Is that safe? Could it lead to long term deterioration of the boot?

I see. I thought you're adding more foam at the top of the ankle ie under the comfort pad so it sits on top of the donuts vs overlying over them. the ankle donuts are great, super thick, but they don't extend all the way to the top of the skate, and as they taper off, the stake edge is still only covered by a thin layer of foam under the comfort pad. also curious if you follow 2 mins baking instructions of bake your skates longer?

While in general I agree with the sentiment that a skate doesn’t make a player I’d like to point out the obvious: custom made pro skates aren’t the same as retail so Mcdavid’s jet speeds aren’t FT4s. plus each pro player makes unique adjustments like skipping 2nd top or the top eyelet, while others lace all the way up but loosely etc Ovi on the other hand cranks it all the way up in the stiffest skate ever and seems to be doing ok with it. so a more reasonable generalization would be: to each his own. Even setting the skate fit aside, the flex profile and stiffness level can suit each player’s unique style differently. But marketing surely can be very misleading offering a panacea to all issues.

Curious if you went with extra ankle padding on 100k and if you did what it ended up looking like? I’m still trying to visualize it, is it like a thicker comfort edge? I did ask for it on my custom order but can’t see anything different from the retail model up top hence the question.

of course you beat me, I'm still waiting for mine. Like how the green is gone and it says total custom, I requested green to be removed as well, we'll see if it worked and I really hope my size wasn't messed up. Did you manage to keep the retail tongue?! How?! I asked for it as well but was told that the only option is one of the 3 usual tongues Re baking instructions - seems very similar to what the proper bauer baking instructions were. Assuming the standard skate oven goes to 220.

Can Someone comment on what the Proper process for a “good bake” is like?! Not at home, at the store. Looking to confirm timing, oven pre-heating and whether baking 1 at a time is still the way to go?!! thanks in advance!

I didn’t mean to imply that I’m trying to bake $1600 skates at home what I meant is they every shop seems to do it differently, but generally they just throw both skates in the oven for like 5-7 mins straight. In the past with Bauer skates I’m used to preheating the oven first for like 5 mins then putting 1 skate in, then 2 mins later put another one. 1 min later pull the 1st skate out, put it on, lace up. Takes about 1 min. Pull the 2nd one out, lace up. Sit for 10 mins then stand for another few. total bake time 3 mins, 1 skate as a time. my question is - how is this process different for CCM skates aside of the bake time being 2 mins (it seems) instead of 3?

any thoughts on the baking times/procedure for CCM skates? at some point (hopefully next couple of weeks) my customs will arrive and I want to bake them the right way. one thing I've learned is that the top 2 eyelets should be laced lose if at all since the boot is so pliable and might close off too much if top eyelets are tied tight after baking.

This sounds very promising! Obviously the correct fit is still the key, as with any other skate, and 100k have a particular fit profile that clearly didn’t work for me out of the box… curious: what are the proper baking instructions? The box says 2 mins, but I wonder if it’s understated? Like Bauer skates state that too but baking them for 3 mins is a safe way to go (assuming the oven is already pre-heated which takes anywhere from 3 to 5 mins it seems). also do folks still bake one skate at a time?

Here we go: https://ibb.co/brTm5sq https://ibb.co/V9qBsyM https://ibb.co/1sTLMF2 laced eyelet is #6 so surprisingly (since it didn’t feel too shallow on ice) I fail the test miserably below 3rd eyelet then @ 3rd I pass and about eyelets 1-2 I have about half an inch space so the cut the of boot doesn’t match the shape of my foot. In supremes I pass all across so the volume on 100k is distributed in a different way. I have to report that things started to click after another hour on ice yesterday, I played with lacing, laced all the way up but loosely, and the skate started to respond very nicely. So there do appear to be quite significant performance benefits from the one boot piece and some extra flex in it.

My thoughts exactly! if only I could get that silver writing in gun metal or grey (similar to gunmetal custom ultrasonics) it would have been even better! BTW this is what the ankle looks after the skate. Notice the big gap between the tongue and the ankle, the skate is fully laced. https://ibb.co/y85WR4C pasting the link somehow comes as link. I’m doing it on iPhone though so maybe that’s the difference

"beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I personally feel they are a lot more conservatively looking skates compared with all these flashy red and yellow colors modern skates are painted with nowadays! clearly you have trunks in place of your ankles here's what mine look from the side - the tongue is way back vs budging out like in your case: https://ibb.co/tB6MwsB and here's the view of the skate creasing when flexing: https://ibb.co/s9STWm5 (not sure why it won't let me just insert images btw, I try to use 'insert image from URL' but it simply doesn't work)

there is probably 20% more volume/depth around the top 3 eyelets as compared to NXGs, and it does feel too much for me personally. That's probably why pictures don't show how bad the situation is, since the ankle sits way back in the skate, and the tongue (which is thicker than the 3Flex tongue on NXGs) gives the false impression there is no volume issues. Around the foot the volume for regular fit seems on par with NXGs, but around the top 3 eyelets there is definitely considerably more volume. forefoot is odd: it looks Giant on the outside, but probably due to extra padding everywhere it feels snug on the inside. Then there is also uneven lacing, NXGs were perfectly straight and 100Ks have some odd wave pattern to it flaring around 5th eyelet then getting very narrow up top. CCM flex motion tongue is not stiff at all. On NXGs I've always staked with x-stiff insert (1mm thick Curve), and liked it much better than the 2 other ones included. Curious - can the depth/volume issues up top be addressed with the custom fit? Is that what advanced facing is all about? (unless it's only meant to move eyelets forward to add more volume vs move them back & cut the quarters accordingly)

as I mentioned the pictured don't do justice, so here's a couple more shots side by side next to my NXGs: https://ibb.co/Twb9D3r - notice that 100Ks are a much deeper boot around the top 3 eyelets, the rest of the boot has the same depth as the Supremes. also notice the shape up top, even unlaced it's very pronounced C vs U. https://ibb.co/0nv92gQ - as a result they complete wrap around my ankles. Can't figure out what the best angle to take the pic is to demonstrate it, but the result is that when I flex forward in a fully laced boot it actually creases massively around the 5th eyelet, the area where the top of the foot meets the ankle (not sure what the proper term is - mid foot?). In Supremes the ankle just flexes forward through the laces while the foot stays locked in place. I'm a strong skater, and pretty strong overall (190 lbs, 500 lb squat), but fully laced in 100K it's a struggle to bring the kneecaps over the toes. the weirdest part is - stopping on the outside edge all of a sudden is a challenge, ankle angle/flexion patter must be all wrong, catching edges vs stopping... I'll keep trying, ice availability is quite limited so going even twice a week is a challenge...

Here's a couple of photos, not sure they give justice, since even when tied loosely as in the pic, the skate still wraps quite a bit. The laces aren't waxed so I can't keep them tight anyways, but when I pull on them the top eyelets come to about an inch within each other. Top quarters are quite soft when it comes to squeezing them together (ie side-to-side), but the boot itself feels very solid front-to-back. So I'm not really sure where the forward flex is supposed to be coming from... On all my bauer skates the top of the skate always looked like U with sides never really molding. Here's a couple of photos https://ibb.co/6wnFZMn https://ibb.co/sv6NNVL What's the correct baking procedure for these skates? Still one at a time or doesn't matter? Flexing forward or 90 degree knee angle? Does the pencil test still work @ the top of the boot to determine if there is too much volume and quarters need to cut back ideally?