anybody not lacing their top eyelet?

[Roach 0]

I used to lace up all the way, now leaving the top eyelet unlaced.

[logan 0]

I am a bit surprised by all the people who don't do up their top eyelet.  I have always looked at it as the skate designers know more what they are doing than I do. 

In addition, I know most pros lace their skates up all the way.  That being said, pro skates are 100% custom...custom # of eyelets, custom cut, custom stiffness...so this may be a moot point

Amen!

I love it when people come and buy the latest skates even if it is not the best fit, and they will end up leaving 3 eyelets undone. Leaving 1 eyelet undone is fine, but when it gets to 2 or 3 sets, you have to wonder about the design of the skate, or the person's choice of skates. Just my 2cents.

[hurricane 0]

I am a bit surprised by all the people who don't do up their top eyelet.  I have always looked at it as the skate designers know more what they are doing than I do. 

In addition, I know most pros lace their skates up all the way.  That being said, pro skates are 100% custom...custom # of eyelets, custom cut, custom stiffness...so this may be a moot point

Amen!

I love it when people come and buy the latest skates even if it is not the best fit, and they will end up leaving 3 eyelets undone. Leaving 1 eyelet undone is fine, but when it gets to 2 or 3 sets, you have to wonder about the design of the skate, or the person's choice of skates. Just my 2cents.

YEP!

[chippa13 1844]

I've always laced mine all the way up. Most of the guys I've known who didn't were the ones who also held onto skates until they became a pair of Chuck Taylors with blades.

[f2racer 0]

I guess I'm going to resurrect this old thread... I've always laced my skates all the way up. I also tie my skates very tight. I recently got a pair of CCM U+ 09 (one model down from the U+ Pro Reloaded), my first "modern" skate. One of the first things I noticed is the exterior of the skate is very stiff. And the tongue also has stiff plastic in front of the felt. The boot also came up almost an inch higher than my old Micron 10-90s. I had them baked but have been struggling to skate well with them until I stopped lacing the top eyelet. I'm guessing that the combination of stiffer/taller skate tied tight meant that I wasn't able to flex the skate forward enough for my style of skating. Not lacing the top eyelet made a huge difference.

[Dolom1te 0]

Vapor X:60.... do not lace the top eyelet

[cptjeff 0]

I normally do my skate up all the way, but at a public skate the other day I forgot to bring good socks, so for the heck of it I tried the Ray Scappinello school of skate tying on one skate that was giving me issues with rubbing.

I was quite surprised at how good it felt and how well I was able to skate. However, it defeated the point of having a decent skate.

Anyway, thought I'd share. Figured not many people had actually tried it.

[Skoda10 14]

I leave the top eyelet undone on my One75s. I started doing that way back on my Vapor 10s and now if I lace all the way up it just feels funny, and uncomfortable.

I also tried skipping the second from the top and lacing the top eyelet after reading about it here on MSH. I didn't really care for that either. Still felt uncomfortable having the skate tight that high.

[87vert 0]

I've never tried it without the top eyelet. I like a lot of ankle support for my tree trunk legs. haha

[HattrickSwayze 3]

I don't do the top eyelet on my One75's either. When I had my Vapor's I skipped the top as well. With the stiff tongues, I just feel like I get way more forward flex out of my skates without the top eyelet done up. It was a night-and-day difference for me when I tried it on my One75's. Doing it all the way up just feels like it puts me on my heels too much, it's not comfortable for me.

[gxc999 7]

I don't do the top eyelet on my One75's either. When I had my Vapor's I skipped the top as well. With the stiff tongues, I just feel like I get way more forward flex out of my skates without the top eyelet done up. It was a night-and-day difference for me when I tried it on my One75's. Doing it all the way up just feels like it puts me on my heels too much, it's not comfortable for me.

I agree completely. It feels exactly the same to me, maybe it's partially mental but I do notice a big difference.

[Jarick 5]

I just can't get any forward flex all the way up. One eyelet feels much better, two feels good sometimes, other times it's too much freedom.

[jarret_g 5]

I wear one95's and found that lacing all the way up didn't give me any side-to-side mobility, but when i left the top eyelet open there was too much forward flex. I now use a lock lacing system between the top two eyelets and love it.

[shifter 0]

Been switching back and forth and after getting new skates and skipping the top eyelet its definitely a lot more comfortable! I can get that deep knee bend and have a bit of freedom which I love! When I lace it fully up it just doesn't feel right and indeed does it put me on my heels.

[Ice Pirate 0]

I have CCM Tacks where I do not lace the top eyelet, but more comment worthy is that I don't start tightening my laces until the 6th eylet up my boot. Eyelet 7 through 10 is all I need to perfectly lock my heel in place. This prevents my foot from going numb as I have very wide feet with a high arch, and even a E width CCM Tack thats been stretched isn't enough on it's own.

So my question is, who here leaves the bottom few laces loose?

[BucksAway 16]

Without lacing the top eyelet on my roller skates i cant seem to get them tight enough, they dont seem to support my ankle properly unless i do

[McDougalfaschnitzer 32]

I don't lace the top eyelet in my one95s. Haven't done it for a while. Mostly personal preference.

[automorph 0]

one95 as well, no top eyelet

[nichols735 0]

Just curious, has anyone tried this with a newer RBK skate with the Skate Lock. I though that was the point of the Skate Lock bs, was so you could leave the top a little looser. I have had problems with the very back of the skate ripping away from the rest of the boot, do you think leaving the top lace undone will help or hurt this with problem. Thanks

Ben

[TBLfan 25]

I have CCM Tacks where I do not lace the top eyelet, but more comment worthy is that I don't start tightening my laces until the 6th eylet up my boot. Eyelet 7 through 10 is all I need to perfectly lock my heel in place. This prevents my foot from going numb as I have very wide feet with a high arch, and even a E width CCM Tack thats been stretched isn't enough on it's own.

So my question is, who here leaves the bottom few laces loose?

Eyelets 1-6 are loose enough to easily slide a couple fingers under them.

Eyelets 7-9 are tight.

Eyelet 10 goes unlaced.

[JR Boucicaut 3768]

Depends on the boot cut, but no, I leave the top eyelet undone

[jazz4all 9]

i never leave the top eyelet undone. At the first time it puts me more on the heel and i was having difficulty to flex the boot because its stiff. But, after a month, the boot soften itself. So im hv no problem with it. The stiffness is perfect and also i can flex the boot well. I once tried undone the top eyelet, it totally ruined my skating style. Im more an upright skater anyway ^^

[cptjeff 0]

Just curious, has anyone tried this with a newer RBK skate with the Skate Lock. I though that was the point of the Skate Lock bs, was so you could leave the top a little looser. I have had problems with the very back of the skate ripping away from the rest of the boot, do you think leaving the top lace undone will help or hurt this with problem. Thanks

Ben

You're backwards. the idea was so that you could leave the lower portion looser for comfort without compromising support and heel lock up top.

It works well for that.

[gxc999 7]

One method I previously used was to leave the 2nd and 3rd eyelets undone but lace the top one. This was done mostly because of how tight my previous skates were on my ankles, but seemed to give me some more flexibility. Anyone else ever try that?

[titand19 0]

I don't do the top eyelet on my One75's either. When I had my Vapor's I skipped the top as well. With the stiff tongues, I just feel like I get way more forward flex out of my skates without the top eyelet done up. It was a night-and-day difference for me when I tried it on my One75's. Doing it all the way up just feels like it puts me on my heels too much, it's not comfortable for me.

I agree completely. It feels exactly the same to me, maybe it's partially mental but I do notice a big difference.

I recently got some lace bite. Put a gel pad under my tongue and unlaced top eyelet. Very minimal difference. Odd at first, but adjustment was pretty quick.