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raganblink

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Posts posted by raganblink

  3. Posted · Report reply

    I think part of it is getting that deeper heel pocket for him. 7.5D APX2 is a lot narrower than a 6.5 FIT3 HL allowing for the foot to properly fit all the way back in the skate. Not saying that isn't what is happening to you, but, in my experience with skates the wider you go you can usually go down in size. And typically people get too long of a skate (even if it is "touching" the front) because they need that width. 

  4. Posted · Report reply

    8 hours ago, Vet88 said:

    I don't know enough to comment on the difference between 90 and 85 for the flex ratings, maybe someone else can provide more info. But if you believe that a softer boot is going to make a difference to the way you skate then imho you have bigger issues to worry about ie technical issues. Be it a soft or ultra stiff boot, laces tied or untied, if your technique is good then it shouldn't matter. But you may not be able to train enough to correct this, in that case buying the stiffest boot you can afford may help.

    Friend just went from APX2 7.5 to 6.5 fit 3 Hyperlites...couldn't tell a difference in stiffness at all, but sure as hell felt more in control & better push offs. Especially if you "aren't that heavy" then I highly doubt the intermediate sizing is going to effect you at all in your skating. The more properly fit skate is going to help more than that. The info you have been giving about lacebite, etc screams to me you're in a skate too long and just not enough volume. Go back to the shop and try 3XPro or HL in 6.5 fit 3 or even 6.0 fit 3, I'm sure it'll be better than you think.. Especially once you bake you'll gain some room in it. 

  5. Posted · Report reply

    On 7/6/2021 at 12:27 PM, BenBreeg said:

    Maybe a bigger sample size before everyone characterizes Bauer's entire NPD team as incompetent...

    Haha no kidding. You also don't know if they're sized correctly or anything else that may have caused that.

     

    I picked up a pair, baked, forgot my socks and had the best skate of my entire life after 1 go around.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    6 hours ago, stick9 said:

    All that can be handled. There are a lot of business that operate under a build to order (BTO) model. I don't know if CCM has the staff to do so, but it's certainly doable. 

    Cost wise, I bet it's closer than you think. Yes labor in NA is higher but you save money on tariffs and shipping. You're already paying $1k, what's an extra $50-60 bucks.

    Absolutely nothing. That's why no one blinked when sticks went from $199 to $249 to $299. Or top-end skates being $499 to $599 to $799 to $849 to $899 to $949 to $999. Or helmets going from $69 to $99 to $139 to $199 to $299 to $399...

     

    As for becoming a JIT manufacture, the biggest pro is what was mentioned by Leif, you will never have excess stock that needs sold off nor will you have a warehouse storing that or accounts that do not pay their bill, etc. However there is a demand for players going into a store and getting a high-end product that despite however much they want that to go away, most likely never will. I think one solution they could or should get to would be offering one retail top-end skate, in one fit, and making that your offering for a top-end skate. If you need a FIT 3 for instance and you want a top-end boot, go custom. Otherwise buy the $600 skate. For the $1000 skate it only comes in 4-12, half sizes, 1 fit, 1 model. 


    Knowing these companies, I'm presuming that the financial costs outweigh any pros for them to offer this. At the end of the day they are a business and need to profit, and cut as many areas as necessary in order to increase their profit as much as possible. There is a reason you can only buy 4-6 colorways on gloves these days, and they don't make every model pant in royal blue or red, or the forgotten maroon and greens. Just didn't make financial sense to stock those items, so they pushed a lot of teams to go MTO custom ordering. 

    • Like 1

  8. Posted · Report reply

    12 hours ago, Leif said:

    Here in the UK there are two big retailers that I am aware of, one is huge and I think they carry stock for all Bauer skates. However, they are 250 miles away. The other, which is nearby, cannot afford to have each size and fit in the high end skates. I went custom, as I wasn’t prepared to buy skates without trying them on. I am told that they make more profit on lower end skates which just adds insult to injury as come the end of the season, they struggle to sell off excess high end stock before the new models come in. They love Bauer custom, and True custom, as they make profit without risk, and the customer is happy which is good for their reputation. 

    The margin for custom is worse than stock, but it's a sale with 0 over head (although you do need a high volume to even be able to do customs, but all of your dollars don't need to be in skates). Same with custom goalie; great for retailer but downside is you need to have a big stock in order to get volume in custom. 

     

    Ideally for the retailer they do not stock any skate above $600, and all high level skates are custom-only. The manufacture probably wouldn't like that though with a massive increase in labor costs. 

    • Like 1

  11. Posted · Report reply

    On 4/8/2021 at 4:49 PM, Beflar said:

    I was under the impression that the CCM one piece boot design was selling well.  That plus adding Step steel makes CCM a very strong boot IMHO.

    Currently skating in Bauer skates.  

    my clearance section would like a word with you.

     

    Granted partially because CCM had an opp buy and Bauer did not.. but the fact that there was an opp buy to begin with says something. They had excess stock, Bauer didn't. So they overbought initially. 

  13. Posted · Report reply

    CCM is over-estimating the demand for $1000 skates I think and the practicality for retailers to bring in all of their lines and stock 3 different fits. 2 lines and 3 fits works for Bauer because they do substantially more volume in skates. 3 lines and 3 fits would probably work for Bauer, too. 

     

    I don't see many shops carrying all 3 models and fits beyond the largest Pure in an area (and even then, probably only 4-5 cities) and a half dozen independents. Best of luck to them, just seems challenging to me to accomplish. I know we're our rep's biggest dealer and while we'll have all 3 models, we're only bringing in regular and wide fits, and even then a low quantity with us chasing the rest of the way. $1000 skates don't sell daily, unfortunately. 

    • Like 1

  18. Posted · Report reply

    On 1/25/2020 at 11:18 PM, SkateWorksPNW said:

    I think there is some promise to the idea of a stiffer top portion of the blade, more torsional rigidity, but they added the hole to as more of a marketing thing. They could easily have accomplished the same thing without making a hole in the stick blade. 

    I mean they couldn't, if you want to talk out of your ass go ahead though. At Bauer World they talked a lot about this - to create the slingshot effect of the stick you have to separate your blade cores. To achieve that you had to physically separate them. Wasn't another way to create the effect without doing that. As for if it works or not? I'll put it this way - We took a radar gun out last week and screwed around with the sticks I had and my buddy had. We used the same p28 curve in 75/77 flex. They were 2S Pro, 2N Pro, MX3, AS1 & Trigger 2. For me I was shooting around 52-57 consistently with those sticks. He was 55-60. In the Nexus ADV my low was 57 and high of 63. He never dropped below 60 and highest was 64 in the ADV

    Essentially a 5-10% increase on shot speed is what we noticed. Not insignificant in any way. The shaft felt amazing on the bottom hand and definitely felt like I had more control as well. I would recommend to buy it if you can afford it, stats speak for themselves. 

     

    13 minutes ago, colins said:

     

    Thanks for the info, I'll look into that. Bauer the same way? Is it a 6 pack minimum for them?

     

    colins

    Minimum 6 yes. Bauer doesn't do that just top-end.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    On 1/21/2020 at 11:16 PM, colins said:

    Who's going to fill that space? Retail with 3 curve options and a $350+ price point for the top end is nuts. Give us access to the 'team edition' sticks in the $150-$200 range that match the build quality and often exceed the durability of the retail, but make it easy to order instead of sifting through prostock websites with re-paints and questionable curve options.

     

    colins

     

    It appears to be that you are unfamiliar with what some companies actually do, do. I sell 6 pack CCM Team custom sticks like crazy. Price point is what people want, most curve options available, its win-win. Talk to your local shop about CCM TEAM custom and they should be able to help. Pretty easy to do, honestly. 

  21. Posted · Report reply

    On 8/18/2019 at 8:55 PM, Nicholas G said:

    I think Bauer still uses too many materials in the new 2X series of skates that are not durable. 

     

    qoF2LMd.jpg

    So 2 things that they've had forever on skates? One that continues to be improved and the other that has never been an issue? Not sure what your point is here.

    Until I start seeing 1 piece CCM boots that are older than 2 piece Bauer boots, Bauer will still be the more durable skate. We'll know in a year if there is a durability difference between FT2 and 2X Pro - I can tell you the 2S Pros are holding up better than the AS1s...

    • Like 3
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  23. Posted · Report reply

    On 6/14/2019 at 4:35 PM, BlueNux said:

    I have to say, irregardless of actual performance benefits, Bauer just feels like they're falling behind CCM from an average consumer's standpoint.

    With CCM removing unnecessary materials and improving their one-piece tech generation after generation, the new Vapors look so outdated. So much extra stitching, layered materials, etc.

    Even if the one-piece benefit is overstated at the moment, there's no denying that CCM is putting R&D money to improve their technology every year. Compared to Bauer pushing out the same CURV composite every year, I'm really happy with what CCM is doing. Bauer didn't even want to put any soft comfort edge padding on their 2S model last year.

    If you can fit equally well into Vapor and Jetspeed, why would you opt for Vapors at this point? Would you ever pick the 2X over the FT490?

    What's wrong with Curv? Its the gold standard in skates, still, 11 years later.

    And between picking either Vapor or JetSpeed at the $900 or $600 level, I'd still go Vapor. I don't see 3 year old CCMs at all for that high-end U20/U18/U16 player, however I do still see Bauers. At the two year old level I still see some CCMs but they are in much worse shape than their Bauer counterpart and I've had a couple of kids buy 3 pairs of ST/FT1/AS1/FT2 now in the last 4 years. Not because they're out growing but because they aren't lasting for them. Conversely, I've had 1 person buy 3 pairs of 1S/1X/2SPro/2XPro in the last 4 years, and that's because they outgrew their 1S and their second pair of them got ran over by the SUV while it was drying so they bought 2S pros. 

     

    For a durability stand-point, Bauer is still on top of the skate world. And don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of what CCM is pushing out - but nothing beats CURV durability in hockey, yet.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    On 12/30/2018 at 9:05 AM, Paddy said:

    Where is your local pure hockey?

     

    I'm in a situation where I have one closer to home (<1hr drive), and another 5min from work (work is 1.5-2hrs from home).

     

    Anyway, the PH near work is super convenient, but their skate fitting was a joke when I got my last pair. A couple teenagers, occasionally walking by, who'd go in the back to grab something I ask for. It took hours to try on 4 pairs. The other PH has a fitter who's been talked about on this site as good. My locations are Sterling and Rockville.

    I wish there was a prideful, knowledgeable, local shop that did custom skate fittings around me.

    And that becomes a problem when there are more guy's in hockey (or any hobby, really) to make a buck rather than trying to make things right for the customer to leave them genuinely happy with their purchase which will ensure less money spent in the future.

    Don't get me wrong - the goal of running a store is to make money - you're dumb if you don't - but the best way to make your money is to build something over long periods of time and create a well-known, knowledgeable, respected store that takes pride in making sure the customer gets the best thing for the customer, even if it means that customer won't spend as much with you in the future. Instead of the current status quo with a lot of stores in the US - which is let's just try to make as much money as possible every year, even if it means selling product that won't leave the customer satisfied. We have a AAA team which has kids come in from all over the country - these kids are 18-15 - and it is insane at how many of them have ill-fitting skates. I had one in today, he's 17 and has skates that have 2 inches between his toe sweat and the edge of the footbed. I know that's not a sure fire way of finding out the correct length, but, I know you're not supposed to have 2 inches between your toe sweat and the end! Whoever sold him skates didn't give two shits about proper fit. And now his less than 6 month old JetSpeed FT1s are going bad on him because he doesn't fill the skate out correctly and is causing a crease because of it. 

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