goblue9280

Loved the short lived miken kids line of sticks that had a similar concept... hopefully the play rite line sticks around (pun intended.)

Love the black/blue styling of the new nexus skates. Invokes the feel of the old Bauer Supreme Composites... even down to the black laces with blue highlights. Only missing the all black tuuk holder.

The owner answered a question about grinding wheel cost on kickstarter, thought others might be interested: "Randy & Kade - The grinding rings will cost $49.99 - So, $1 per sharpening on the default setting of 3 cycles per skate (6 passes) and $1.66 if you needed 5 cycles (10 passes) with every sharpening. 3 is typically right unless there is damage to the blade. In many cases it might take just a cycle or 2 to get the edge you need."

If you look at the kickstarter page, pledging $299 or more and you can select a Sparx Carrying Case as a reward. "SPARX CARRYING CASE A ruggedized travel case to protect your investment. High-quality, impact resistant, polypropylene exterior."

Thought I would throw my 2 cents in as this machine was made for me. I have two (soon to be three) kids playing hockey in a non-traditional market (Houston.) I use to have two options in town for getting their skates sharpened... #1 our home rink (at your own risk) or #2 had a friend with a wissota. Unfortunately two things happened this past offseason, my friend's kids now skate on a different team and our local rink closed in October. We then had to make the hour trek across town multiple times per week for my kids to play hockey. The new rink we were skating out of does not have a sharpener (have no idea why.) Taking their skates to one of the other rinks (again an hour or so away from where we live) is troublesome as they generally want you to leave your skates there and make you feel like garbage if you beg them to do them while you wait. I'm not picky... I'll wait up to an hour for them to get sharpened... still, they make you feel like you are asking the world of them. I also try to get my kids skates sharpened whenever we have a travel weekend in Dallas... but that usually means having to wait until after the first game to have them sharpened. I've looked into buying a X01 or wissota, but something always seems to come up to prevent me from putting down the $1000 plus. In addition there's learning to use the darn thing, and then finding the time to sharpen. Between running my kids across Houston multiple times per week, and the volunteer hours I put in for the org, it's hard for me to envision having the time to become proficient at and regularly sharpening the kids skates. This machine (if reliable) would be a godsend. Never having to worry about my kids having proper edges, and stressing over where to get them done. I'm sure I'll still get them done by a traditional sharpener when we are in Dallas 6-7 times a season (not to mention any profiling that may need to be done) but this machine would be perfect for the weeks in between. Plus, I'm sure my wife could use this thing with minimal effort... another plus for when I'm stuck at work. Like I said, this thing is made for me... so I put down my $550, and hope to have one sometime next season. As for doing others skates... I'm sure I will... and yeah, I'll either charge a small amount for supplies or trade for rides for my kids. My kids often get rides with teammates and I will either take their kids sometime or give them some gas money... when I give gas money, I never worry about the parents having a taxi license.

JR, I can't find the thread (I could be imagining it, lol) but I thought I remember you alluding to blackstone possibly coming out with a new generation of the x-series portables? If so, is this a near-term release?

A proud University of Michigan alumna!

You're 100% right, supply and demand... it's a business after all. I'm getting way off of what this thread is about as this could turn into an entirely new thread regarding the concussion scare, tested versus untested technology, scientific claims, company acquisitions, and on and on.

My first thoughts as well... redesign the reakt and add $60 to the price tag. I thought it was crazy when helmets went over $200, now they're exceeding $300 a couple years later. While I applaud the companies for striving towards safer helmets, itd be nice to see them drop the prices of some of their now "older" advanced tech helmets rather than continue to increase the pricepoint at the top end.

I was a complete jackass at my kids hockey game today. Got irate for a minute and yelled at the ref about a bad call on my kid. Then a minute later yelled about an icing on us not realizing it was 4 on 4. Just felt like a complete idiot... I wasn't YouTube crazy bad, but I realize yelling at a ref at a kids game is never justified. The worst was my kid then comes off the ice blaming the ref for the loss and I know that's on me.

Willis is still alive... only his career passed away.

Got the email I'd been waiting for with an access code to buy winter classic tickets yesterday. Quickly selected my tickets (along with the GLI tickets you are required to buy) and realize it'll be $700 for the four seats. Call my wife to beg... as I start to tell her the price she interrupts with "it's a once in a lifetime thing, what are you waiting for?". I'm lucky to have married someone who just gets it!

Probably my favorite band/group... very sad... got to see them in 2004 at Cobo in Detroit and was hoping to see them again as they were expected to tour for Hot Sauce Committee pt II once MCA's health got better RIP!

Andrew Breitbart (43 years old) died today. Apparently he was out on a walk after midnight and collapsed.

I got an email response from blackstone. Basically the same stuff that has already been stated. The X01 is direct drive and runs at 5600 RPM, while the X02 is belt driven and runs at 7500 RPM. The X02 is more robust and meant for more than 5 sharpenings a week. I also asked about the differences between the child and adult holder and was told that if you have skates where the blade is 6" or under, you should go with the child holder. He also referred to the child holder as "universal" in that it can be used on goalie and figure skates. He also told me that the main advantage of the adult holder over the child for larger skates is stability. With that in mind, has anyone with the child holder had issues mounting/sharpening a large skate (adult 10.5 or 11)?