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)?

My guess would be that's why the direct drive motor on the X01 spins at 5500RPM, to get the surface/ft/min up. With the X02, I imagine since it's belt driven it's "geared" (excuse my ignorance on mechanical word usage) to allow the grinding wheel to spin at a higher RPM than the motor puts out thus increasing the surface/ft/min.

It's physics, velocity of an object in circular motion is angular velocity multiplied by the radius. So if you have a 4" grining wheel and an 8" wheel and both are on shafts that spin at the same rate, then the speed at the point of contact (where the wheel touches the blade) will be higher on the 8" wheel than the 4" wheel. So, if you want the cutting velocity between the blade and wheel to be the same, the RPM's of the smaller wheel needs to be increased.

That's funny, I just sent blackstone an email asking a bunch of the same questions... haven't recieved an answer yet. My limited undesrtanding with belt driven versus direct drive in other applications is that the belt helps to absorb vibrations leading to a more stable and quieter cutting tool. Also, (not sure if this is the case with these machines) but with a belt driven motor, if the motor dies, it can be easily replaced because it's essiential an independent part of the machine... whereas direct drive motors are often integrated into the machine in such a way that you end up having to replace the whole thing.

Prince Fielder is coming home to the Tigers! Woo-hoo!

The rest of the world finally finding out what kind of scumbag he is. This stuff has been going on since he was coach at Youngstown State... yet OSU and the rest of college football turned a blind eye to it while he released books on fair play and integrity. Can't wait for the SI investigative piece coming out today/tomorrow.

I didn't know him or his family, but a kid from my hometown passed away this morning after falling out of the bed of his friends pickup truck the other day. 15 years old, was suppose to report to the London Knights this past weekend after being selected in the 2nd round of the recent OHL draft. Way too young to go... Local News Article

Debated whether to put this here or in the vent thread. The story is I haven't skated since before my 1st daughter was born (9 years ago)... a lot of it is due to a mental hurdle because of putting on so much weight since then. I've lost a bit in the past few months, so got up the courage to give it a go. I've gone to public skate a couple of times since the first of the year, but have yet to go out and help with my kids mite practices... until yesterday. So here I am, shocking all of the kids and parents as I walk to the ice... I go to hop on, take one stride and feel my left skate give out from underneath me... in front of 20 kids and parents. I land HARD on my left side just under the hip bone. Kids are all cracking up, and I'm dying of embarrassment thinking my fat ass just broke a holder. I look down and see I left one of my soakers on. I get up, laugh it off, and proceed to have one of the best days I've had in years. Absolute blast to be out there again. I felt infinitely more comfortable skating with a stick in my hands. I'm still a bit sore today, but it was worth it.

For the X01 owners, do you have any feelings on the approximate sharpenings/week max that it can handle? Any regrets not going with the X02? I'm trying to gauge which would work better... Right now I have 2 mites and myself to sharpen for... but I have a feeling when I do buy a machine, I'll be sharpening for a few of their friends on the team. I'm wondering if I do 5-10 pairs a week, if I should jump up to the x02, or save the money for extra wheels/spinners/other accessories?

Question regarding the new holder coming with the x01/02... I see there is now an option to pick either the Childs or regular holder. Can the Childs holder also handle adult skates? I have a couple of mites... one is in a youth size 13, the other in a junior size 2 (and I have two more who will probably be skating in a couple of years)... I wear a 10.5... thinking about getting the x01 with my tax return and not sure which holder I should pick... or if I would need both holders.

What about a traditional roh recommendation? I'm also in the 3 bills club... just got back into skating after an 8 year absence. Had a 5/8" cut done, but wondering if I should go more shallow?