Performance vs Durability

[DarkStar50 679]

Ok, the season is on. We are all playing the game we love and live for. Now lets address the issue: Do You want performance or durability out of your equipment? Since this board is packed with Gearheads, lets discuss the issue. Are you going to sacrifice performance of a skate, stick, gloves for durability of that item? There is no middle ground here. You either want the best performing product, given a 6 month window of high level performance, or you want the durability of the product to last longer and longer knowing that your opponent may be using the higher performance product. The best performing product will have definite performance advantages over the longer lasting more durable product. Which is it for you and give a few reasons for your choice. There is no middle ground. Performance or durability........

[All Torhs Team 0]

Performance just because all i concentrate is on hockey and i play so much. I think that players will want durablity if they are playing once a week in beer league. But there IS a middle line on this subject, for example sticks, theres that "gear" stick, its about $50, the cheapest ops on the market and its fairly durable, just not as good as other ops,but has a better feel then woods. so in my mind there will always be a middle ground somewhere.

[#28tz 0]

Well this subject is running all through my head as im deciding whether to get an SL or will it just break <_<

[Chadd 916]

Obviously the reality is that it's a sliding scale for most of us. The shafts I am using now are the best performing ones that I have ever used and have held up as well as any other that I have used. For me, it's a win-win situation.

[cobrAA 0]

performance with super dupper taper flex technology doesnt count for me..what i look for a stick is

Nice weight/balance

and Durable

feel doesnt seem to matter a lot for me...i can get used to any type of blade feel...

I dont know if weight come in the performance line..but if yes, then i would say i whant 40% perf and 60% durable

[ktang 34]

Durability, because I'm a beer-leaguer / minor hockey coach. The gear has to last at least 4 years.

Which segments do better in LHSes; the durability products or the performance products? I would assume that the performance products would generate more sales because they need more replacing, but perhaps most of the replacing is done via the internet retailers rather than at LHSes.

[A_Steeves12 0]

this is kind of hard for me for sticks i say i want performance but my R+ has lasted me since july and i conisder that very durabill, but overall i say in a stick i look for performance. skates i say durability but im wearing vapor xxx and we all know about the lack of durability, but luckily so far they have held up great(knock on wood).

[Cavs019 710]

I play the same with anything, as long as it has a slight heel. So chalk me up for durability I guess.

[mojo122 538]

I've always thought that skates, sticks, and gloves were the most important pieces of equipment for the game I play, so I'd say performance for these three. The rest of my equipment really doesn't affect my game one way or the other.

[Fonya 0]

When I buy my equipment, I try to find a nice balance between the two but I would probably lean more towards performance but not extreme performance like stealths or anything that has zero durability and made for performance only.

[MissConduct 1]

performance, playing 4-5 times a week with men, I have to keep up :D

[thejackal 46]

Sticks: Performance, but at the same time I need to trust the sticks durability enough to not worry about snapping it in half on a 1-timer with seconds left in the game.

Everything else: confort and durability

[hockeydude_49 0]

Durability, so I can live off my birthday money all year :D

[Eazy_b97 1]

It depends on the equipment, this is how I'd break it down, assuming everything fits, etc..

Skates, Shins, Pants, Elbows,Shoulders, Helmet - Durability

Sticks, Gloves - Performance

Basically, I want my skates to last because of break-ins and a comfort level, I don't find "performance" on skates to be much of an issue. With my cut, profile and a good fit, I can fight through anyweight or such. Sticks and Gloves, I don't mind sacraficing as long as I am aware I am buying a performance based product.

[notorious#29 0]

Skates, Gloves, Sticks - Performance

Everything else - Durability.

[jimmy 194]

You left out fashion, style and popularity from your poll. I believe these (in many cases) are the number 1 factor. Few choose performance. Come on now, how many would be seen with a Mylec OPS, if it was the best performing. Never happen.

[rrajz 0]

Sticks Performance..since I've never had an OPS longer than 30 days..

[beaucoup_fish 0]

Can't we have both? Despite the rash of "high performance" products that last all of 3 games of recent years, I would hope that many manufacturers still take pride in the quality (read: durability and workmanship) of their products.

Of course, certain pieces of equipment are, by their nature, prone to breakage or have a shorter life expectancy (read: sticks and shafts), but I would certainly expect my skates to last longer than a few months (read: XX(X) - why I still stick to Supremes).

There is, in fact a middle ground, just not for every product. Sign me up for both.

[LetsGoWings13 0]

Well id go with durribility because hockey is already expensive enough as it is and killing equipment every couple months is just not affordable.

[DarkStar50 679]

You left out fashion, style and popularity from your poll.  I believe these (in many cases) are the number 1 factor.  Few choose performance. Come on now, how many would be seen with a Mylec OPS, if it was the best performing. Never happen.

I left fashion ,style, and popularity out because this question is about performance and durability. Think about this from both the vendors side as it relates to product design and manufacturing and then the player side(Us) as do we want performance or durability. Any vendor can build a skate to last 2 years. However, performance will be sacrificed for heavier materials to sustain longer wear from play and sweat deterioration. Skates from as little as 5 years ago are simply tanks when compared to present day product. They are lasting but definitely the player sacrifices performance when his opponent lines up with newer and superior technology. If NBH had not pushed the envelope with the first generation Vapor 8 skate, the skate world would still be stuck in the dark ages. That skate definitely woke up the the skate world for better product innovation.

In the shop, if you educate the consumer to performance advantages(which is why he is in the shop and not online) then the consumer will understand the product more clearly. If they want durability, you can always point them in that direction, too.

In my skates, gloves, and stick I look for performance advantages. Durability is not what drives my purchase decisions. I take care of my gear so I know it will last. When the OPS goes, I still know that it improved my game and made me a better player by using it.

If the Mylec OPS was the best performing, it would be in the NHL and bingo the kids would be lining up at your shop for it. Plenty of no name companies went from the outhouse to the penthouse with proven product at the NHL level. I'm thinking early 80s when Vaughn, Brians, Heaton, and John Brown goal products brought excellent ideas and product to a category that was in the stone ages for protective equipment. I watched those guys move from the basement at the CSGA show to the second floor to the main floor in less than 4 years. They had performance advantages that blew away the traditional competition and thinking in the goalie marketplace.

[jimmy 194]

True is some respects, but as a retailer you should know that style and polularity is #1 in making choices (for the under 18 group). Everything else comes after that. When they come in the store and their mind is set on a Vap XXX, that's all they want, even if they try it on and the skate hurts like hell. Do I wish it were different, yes.

The early 80's were ripe for goal equipment breakthru. Up until then you basically had Cooper with deer hair brown leather and that it. In 1976, I had a pair of Brown pads, they were identical to the Coopers. Now if you want to talk revolutionary and visionary, the Aeroflex was it!

[cobrAA 0]

when talking about skate.by how much more percent will the vapor XXX make you perform better?? let say...not more than 5% compared to my ''old'' 1152 or even 852 tack that i had for 2 years...

stick: well i've used wood,z-bubble(maybe the best standard shaft in term of performance) R2XN10(best in the tapered shaft) and cyclone,SL, OPS(V110 with their super duper 24 inch taper flex)

and i never feel i was shooting more harder...i think performance is more in our head...

[hocckey77 0]

for skates, i guess it used to be performance but since my vapor XXXs are breaking down so quick my next pair will be graf's of some sort...

i don't really care about everything else.

[DarkStar50 679]

When they come in the store and their mind is set on a Vap XXX, that's all they want, even if they try it on and the skate hurts like hell. Do I wish it were different, yes.

You know, no one has ever told me in the shop after trying on a Vapor XXX that the skate hurts like hell. They try on a few sizes, get the correct width and size and then we bake them.

[CardinalHcky19 0]

i think both are just as important because you want something to performs well but you dont want it to break very easily