AfftonDad

My mistake. Mods please delete.

I just ordered one. Cheaper than what I paid for the BR100. That's a bonus!

Mine started making a slight clicking noise when the composite started separating from the toe cap. That's what caused me to notice the separation... trying to figure out what was making the clicking noise.

From 1-10 it was a 10. A complete show stopper. However, as I said, I'm pretty sure it was just due to a bad (raised up) rivet backing 1) Putting a lot of pressure on that specific spot and 2) Causing the footbed to move around a lot at that spot. I had the rivet replaced and went to a public session today and the pain was pretty much gone (I still had some pain from the open blister that had developed, so I'll have to wait until that is gone to know for sure). After trying many different footbeds and lacing tighness, I think I have decided to go with the VH footbeds with the red "under" footbed cut away in the instep area. I'm starting to like the skates a lot more. Super responsive and I'm quite certain the protection will be better. I have to admit though it's breaking my heart to see scuffs on the formerly perfectly shiny composite toe cap. The only knock I have relative to the Mako's is that I think my stride may still be a little bit longer with the Makos than with the VHs (but I'm not sure). I switched to 90-50 and the edges feel (almost) as effective as 90-75 did on my Makos. I'm pretty happy about that. But I may pick up a 95-50 spinner to see how that feels (I'm feeling a tiny bit of slippage every now and then with the 90-50).

I tried spot heating last night and re-baking in order to push out the instep and then I took them to a public session this afternoon. It was little if any difference in the pain in my instep of my right foot. I also tried different insoles... The VH insoles with the red layer (cut in the instep area), just the VH insoles without the red layer, my Mako insoles, my SuperFeet insoles, and my Graf Sidas insoles. It still hurt with all of them however, contrary to what I would have thought (based on my theory that it was due to my flat feet), the thicker ones had less pain than the thinner ones. Also, the pain is extremely pin point. This made me re-think what might be the issue. I took out the insole and felt in the bottom of the skate near where the pain was happening and found that one of the "arms" on the star of the rivet backing was sticking up much higher than the rest. On the way home, I went to my LHS and had that rivet replaced. I haven't skated on them and my instep is still "bruised", but I think that fixed it. I resharpened my skates at 90-50 before I went today and I think I'm happier with them at the shallower hollow. I had emailed Scott this morning looking for some advice on what to do about my instep before I had realized it was the rivet (he offered to make me a custom insole for me... nice guy). I mentioned to him about the fact that the runners felt much sharper than the same hollow had felt on my Mako's. His reply was interesting... You are exactly correct there. All of the Winnipeg Jets that went on the skates also reduced their hollows because they felt like the skates were too sharp. The great thing about reducing the hollow is it improves your glide, which should increase your speed and efficiency. Also, you could increase the radius of your profile instead of changing your hollow, some players prefer this method also. I do have some players that use FBV (flat bottom v )sharpening and they love that combined with our skate - as you get the glide and the bite.It will definitely take you some experimenting to get it right.

I had had them profiled to +1 (reduced the pitch very slightly, almost none), so that took some steel off and they had probably been sharpened 6-10 times. The ARE lower than the new ones, but I doubt that they are 24 grams lighter. If I have time this weekend I'll weigh just the runners. However, keep in mind that the Mako's shown in the picture are size 10 (288mm holders) and the VHs are size 9.5 (280mm holders). So I would think that the extra half size throughout the skate would more than offset the differenct in the amount of steel. What I'm trying to say is that I believe the VH is in fact heaver. Although 24grams is a pretty insignificant amount in my opinion. And with the Mako 2s being stiffer and a bit thicker, I would bet the weights are even closer now. Right now I like my Makos better. The arch pain on my right foot is a deal breaker. Hopefully, I can get that worked out.

Just skated/played on them for the first time. Comparing them to the Makos (and I LOVE the Makos)... In my opinion, there is absolutely no "pitch" adjustment going from Makos to VHs with CXN holders. That aspect felt identical. However, there was the feeling of not feeling quite right because it was a different skate. The feeling of wrap is much greater with the VHs. The VHs are more responsive than the Makos. I feel my edges much more. This must be because your foot it completely locked into the skate. Now this actually had a negative aspect for me. It somehow made the edges feel like they were sharper (biting more) and I didn't like it. I sharpen my own skates and I'm very anal about sharpening them so there was no difference in the sharpen. Some of my shakiness due to the extra feeling of bite went away by the end of the night. I don't know if I'll wait to get used to it or drop down a setting (I'm currently at 90-75, I have a 90-50 spinner but I have never tried it... now may be the time), They are much, much stiffer than the Mako. Along with the additional wrap, that may be why they are so responsive. I'm not sure that I like that much stiffness. On the other hand, I always felt my Mako's could have used a tad more stiffness. I feel like the extra stiffness may be limiting the flexion and snap a bit and making me a little slower than on the Makos (although I still think they feel faster than my previous U+CLs felt). Although it may be just because I haven't figured out how to skate efficiently on them yet. I initially felt like the boot felt a little bit lower (less lateral stability) than my Mako's (and I had felt like my Makos were lower than my U+CLs). I made the mistake of clamping down the laces to compensate but this just caused my feet to hurt. I loosened them up again and by the end of the night I wasn't feeling that "too low boot" feeling any more. I have flat feet and my right arch was killing me. I'm going to have to do something about that. I had to on my Makos too, I heat gunned the arch and pushed down on it. Hopefully that will take care of that issue. All in all, at this point I would still feel more "at home" in my Makos. But I think once I get the arch situation straightened out and get them laced at the proper tightness from the start I'll end up liking them more than my Makos.

Don't know yet. I played the night that I got them, but I didn't have time to bake them before so I haven't had them on the ice yet. Walking around at home, the pitch feels similar, but of course that doesn't really prove much. I'll let you know after I skate with them.

Here are some side by side comparisons of my size 10 Makos (they are a half size too big) and my size 9.5 VHs with CXN holders (I used links instead of inline images to be kind to the MSH server) Lateral Medial Front Rear Inside Weight

Sure enough... worked like magic! I would have never believed they would open up enough to get my feet in (and I came from Makos), but they did. They still have that one spot on the outside where the ankle bends that makes them a little tough to put on and off. I saw the video on how to open that area up, but I think I'll leave it for now and put up with the slight bit of trouble putting them on in order to keep the extra wrap through that area. They definitely feel great in my living room. Just need to sharpen them up and try them on the ice now. They flex very little however, I'm scared to flex them more for fear of harming the rivet. I know that I wouldn't be comfortable flexing them to the extent shown in the picture a couple pages earlier in this thread. At any rate, I contacted Scott to make sure that he didn't accidentally put the regular tendon guard on and he assured they didn't. He said that it isn't very flexible initially but becomes more flexible with some use.

Just got my new skates. I was expecting it to take 1.5 months (Scott said it would take three weeks extra to get the CXN holders in). I ordered them on the July 27th. That's only 2 weeks and 1 day and that is including customs from Canada to the U.S.! Now it's going to be a miracle for me to get my feet into these things! I'm wondering if they accidentally put the regular tendon guards on... these don't really feel flexible to me at all. You can bake them more than once, can't you? I'm thinking I might need to do them once without the tongue/laces in to get them opened up enough to get my feet in and then once with the tongue/laces in to get them to take the shape of my foot.

I don't know... now that my Mako's toe caps are separating from the composite I'm looking forward to the concept of a truly one piece boot when my VH's arrive. Of course they'll probably get caved in by a shot and then I'll wish for a separate toe cap again!

Don't count on the 25% on clearance Mako's. I tried during the July 4th and it wouldn't let me use the %25 coupon on the $459 (or whatever it was at that time) Mako. I also tried Total Hockey (they had a similar coupon at the time) and it wouldn't let me either. So it must have had MAP pricing even at the clearance price.

I don't know... I asked him a couple of weeks ago for a recommendation and he said he prefers the support that the regular tendon guard gives. I went ahead and ordered mine with the flexible one though because 1) I'm coming from the Mako and I am a little bit nervous about moving away from a flexible tendon guard since that was one of the Mako's touted "features" and 2) Since I am getting the CXN holder on mine, with the additional forward pitch I figure the tendon guard might be putting a little more pressure on my calf than with other holders, so I went with the flexible one to try to alleviate that. He also said it is completely a personal preference thing though.

Mine are ordered and will be coming soon I hope. Just curious how many of you VH owners used the Ace bandage method during heat mold versus just using your hands to push on the key spots? Any consensus yet on which way to go?

That's great to hear that he can (at least in some cases) repair broken composite.

Ok thanks. I'll probably stick with the modability then... just men's league and pickup (although I do tend to stand in there when a shot is coming). I just want to avoid this a bit if possible http://i.imgur.com/B4CZNn3.jpg

Yeah, I saw mention of that. Does anyone here know what that actually means (in other words what/how they are doing that)?

Oh sure... go and blow it for me. I have skate fenders (the compact ones) on my Makos and if I have to use them on these I will, but I'm going to hope that this guy and several others that have posted in this thread are right about the protection being outstanding. I'm not talking about passes as much as very hard shots. But every skate is going to allow some shots to hurt. Shots would somtimes even hurt through my U+CLs every now and then and they were massive. It is my opinion that the Makos hurt more than most though. From what I've heard the VHs are more substantial than the Makos so I'm hoping for a little bit better protection. However, it probably has a lot to due with the lack of negative space in the Mako which of course if everything turns out right is going to be the case with these too, so it may hurt just as much.

Buy Mako IIs! ;)

The hockey gods must prefer VH. I was torn between another pair of Makos and VH. I wanted the supposed increased protectiveness of VH but was scared that I might loose something that I had gained when switching to Mako. I went back and forth and finally decided to go with the devil I know instead of the devil I don't know. So I was sitting in the shop with a hot pair of Mako IIs on my feet when I discovered they had a slight defect. One of the eyelets had a sharp edge on it that was shredding laces each time we would tie them up (we tried a new lace and it did the same thing). The store didn't have any more 9.5s so I had to leave without a pair of Makos. I could have gone down the street and gotten a pair from another location, but I took it as a sign from the hockey gods ;) and decided to get the VHs instead. I got them with CXN holders so it will take an extra 2-3 weeks for me to get the skates. So now I get to spend the next month and a half skating on a boot that the composite is beginning to separate from the toecap wondering whether or not I made the right decision!

I'm getting closer and closer to deciding to get a pair of these. I love the way my Mako's feel and I want to keep as much of the upside of that skate as possible. Since I think the default assumption would be that Van Horne knows what he is doing and since the "normal" tendon guard is the non-flexible one, I'm curious as to what made you decide to go with a flexible one?

Hi Mike, thanks for contacting us. Yes, if you put the CNX holder on the VH boot it should give you a similar pitch to that of the Mako. As far as I know both boots have a uniform thickness sole.Please let me know if you have any more questions? thanksScott ---- I had already had this reply from Scott, but since there could be some other factors that could contribute to the overall stance feeling (I would think less significantly than the runner and holder though) I was hoping that I might get lucky and be able to hear from someone who has worn both Mako's and VH's with CXNs and confirm that the overall stance feeling was similar.

Due to wear of tongue and composite on my Mako's I'm starting to think about my next pair of skates. The additional protection VH seems to have over the Mako's would also be an big plus (I'm currently having to wear skate fenders with my Makos). However, I've become a big fan of the Mako's extreme pitch and although I realize I could get there with a pretty large heel wedge or some pretty aggressive profiling, I was wondering if anyone has gotten a pair of VH's with CXN holders/runners on them and can comment about how the overall stance of such a setup feels compared to the Mako's stance?

Please don't tell me my (or my son's) Easton E700 has a low rating. It's so light... I don't want to go back to a heavier helmet.