Tblades, A Day by Day Journal.

[BK 0]

Chadd, If I lived in your area and you sharpened my skates, I would buy replaceable blades from you and not from an online store.

Get it? The question will aways be about who can give me decent service. I don't even ask for exceptional customer service anymore, but because I could probably get decent customer service with your shop as opposed to an online store, I would be buying disposable blades from you.

Unfortunately, I don't live in your area, or near ANYONE who knows their stuff when it comes to skates.

Around here it's price, price, price. People would go to PIAS around the corner from the shop because their sharpenings were $4 instead of the $5 I charged. The fact they never got their skates done the same way twice in a row or even level most of the time didn't matter to them. They saved about $10 a year, quality and service is irrelevant to a lot of people.

Yup. Thats what its like here.. Except to get a good sharpening, I have to go all the way up to Murray.. which is about 40 miles away. I got sick of going up there every few weeks so I just settled for the half-assed job that our proshop worker did. He's some 16 year old kid who the rink hired to man the pro-shop during public skate.

I dont see the problem LHS' have with tblades.. honestly I would pay a large premium for them locally than having to go through an e-tailer. No joke, if they stocked them here, I would pay upward of $30 a set.

I am more than happy to support my lhs. I prefer to have something in my hands when I pay for it, plus you can never judge a products quality online from the pictures. I prefer to have a hands on test beforehand.

P.s. Yes, im one of those dumbasses who flexes a stick in the shop. I do it to see how flexy it is compared to my sticks

[BK 0]

This will probably be my final post in this journal. I hope it was informative and a good resource for those who are interested in tblades.

BOTTOM LINE:

Was that I didn't buy the new skates for the tblades. I got an absolute KILLER deal on my skates (if you are interested in a pro-level skate, with amazingly comforable boot for a deal that is hard to turn up, talk to SalmingUSA.. You wont be dissapointed). Anyways, the tblades were an added bonus. I know that there will be arguements about them and that even if it is proven that tblades give you SOME kind of advantage, there will always be nay-sayers. Even with all the argueable facts aside, I still feel like tblades were right for me because...

1) I dont have a good sharpener close to me.

2) Im a lazy bastard who would doesnt like to take the time to sharpen my skates...

3) I like the idea of being able to change my rocker..

4) I like the idea of if I mess up my edge doing somethings stupid like going skate-first into the goal, I can just unscrew it and toss on a new runner.

5) I will admit it.. I like the attention and people asking about them.. I dont have girls tossing themselves at me, but I have had some good conversations and made a few new friends talking about them.

If I could choose my old holders on my new skates or the tblades on the new skates, I would stick with the tblades. I PERSONALLY feel that I get more bite into the ice (mental or not.. either way, if I feel more confident on the ice, i'm going to play better). That with the 5 reasons above make tblades worth the investment for me.

thanks for reading.. please dont kill this thread, keep it going with your questions/comments/rants etc. Im glad that its being discussed.

[t1tan 19]

Just got my t'blades on wednesday, I'm excited to get them mounted and check them out, probably this upcomming week to keep me busy during spring break so i'll post my impressions with them. right now all i can say is wow i love the weight difference between them and my cobras and they look badass imo.

Pic

[gavin 0]

My experiences in regards to the edge holding out:

The edge lasts longer on a t'blade than on a regular skate blade. I think, so much so that it is about the same cost to maintain t'blades at the same level as traditional blades.

I went to a hockey tournament this weekend and played 6 games of hockey over the weekend (we made it into the finals and won the whole thing). My edge lasted the whole time, and that was with some nicks in the hollow from where I cut through the blade protected while I was walking around my dorm room to break them in.

[mew1838 0]

Can sum1 provide the actual conversion from the mm hollow to the " pls? everywhere I looked they gave me diff info

[BK 0]

On every t-blade Runner you will find a three figures e.g.: M-13-280. The first figure is a letter (S, M or L) and tells you the rocker of the Runner. The second one is a number between 9 and 21 and describes the radius of the hollow. The third one is the length of the Runner in Milimeters.

[mew1838 0]

hockey monkey has 3/8" as 11 but on the chart 3/8" is 9?

[BK 0]

hockey monkey has 3/8" as 11 but on the chart 3/8" is 9?

those pictures were taken directly from the official tblades site.. I would use them and not what some idiot from hockeymonkey would say..

[Bauer_freAK 0]

Just got my t'blades on wednesday, I'm excited to get them mounted and check them out, probably this upcomming week to keep me busy during spring break so i'll post my impressions with them. right now all i can say is wow i love the weight difference between them and my cobras and they look badass imo.

Pic

all black ? wow :D

thats my dream

[Rande 0]

The stabis are missing

[warrior37 0]

they look like black stabilizers to me

[Bauer_freAK 0]

the stabilizers aren't missing...

stabis are also black

[domileafs28 0]

i think i shall try some tblades myself. i don't have a decent sharpener. the ice rink is in a mall and some dude from the fire department comes in to sharpen skates. i recently took my skates to canada to play in a tournament, and the whole hollow think baffled me. turns out i'm skating on a 1 1/2 inch radius. i would like to try a little more bite than that, lol...

[t1tan 19]

the stabilizers aren't missing...

stabis are also black

correct, all black, holders stabilizers and runners, they look great and feel great, so lite and i love the feel i have when i'm skating. i havent had a chance to actually play with them yet but for dodging kids at public skates they work awesome. didnt take any time to get used to them either, 2 minutes to sorta situate myself and imo skated the best i ever have in the near 15 years i've been playing hockey. heres a closeup so you can see that it is all black...

[Joker518 0]

Skated the best you ever have in 15 years?? In your Opinion??? Don't you realize the ONLY reason you feel different is because of your rocker?!!

LOL, sorry... I just wanted to get that in there before someone else did. Oh wait, I have something to add: And now you think you're Bobby Orr or something? Thats just ridiculous!

OK, all better. Your skates look awesome. I need to try the T's simply because I'll try anything lighter. It really helps in the third period. Anyone know if its true that T'Blade runners are only coming in WHITE from here on in? I think I read that somewhere.

[t1tan 19]

It isn't simply the the rocker... and yes that is my personal opinion. There are many other reasons i like them better. The feel of them first of all being lighter, but also the flexability of them. My Cobras were extremely stiff and I never liked them or felt comfortable on them and it has just made skating much more comfortable for me. Of course yes the rocker of the blades is nice, but i've had rockers close to these and they didn't feel the same as these. You have to feel all the factors together for yourself, I'm not the only person that has felt this way after skating on them. I will most likely use t'blades from now on, I wouldn't mind trying the LS2s but I don't feel like paying 8.50 a week for sharpenings, but for now I love these so that will have to wait for another skate someday.

[Larry54 243]

hockey monkey has 3/8" as 11 but on the chart 3/8" is 9?

3/8 (or .375) inches is 9.5mm.

Just use:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm

[Bauer_freAK 0]

Skated the best you ever have in 15 years?? In your Opinion??? Don't you realize the ONLY reason you feel different is because of your rocker?!!

LOL, sorry... I just wanted to get that in there before someone else did. Oh wait, I have something to add: And now you think you're Bobby Orr or something? Thats just ridiculous!

OK, all better. Your skates look awesome. I need to try the T's simply because I'll try anything lighter. It really helps in the third period. Anyone know if its true that T'Blade runners are only coming in WHITE from here on in? I think I read that somewhere.

tblade makes only the white runner since this season...

thats what i heard from my LHS in GER....

[BK 0]

Skated the best you ever have in 15 years?? In your Opinion??? Don't you realize the ONLY reason you feel different is because of your rocker?!!

LOL, sorry... I just wanted to get that in there before someone else did. Oh wait, I have something to add: And now you think you're Bobby Orr or something? Thats just ridiculous!

OK, all better. Your skates look awesome. I need to try the T's simply because I'll try anything lighter. It really helps in the third period. Anyone know if its true that T'Blade runners are only coming in WHITE from here on in? I think I read that somewhere.

tblade makes only the white runner since this season...

thats what i heard from my LHS in GER....

I have looked for the black ones with no luck. I found a few on ebay, but in the wrong size.

[Jason Harris 31]

Don't you realize the ONLY reason you feel different is because of your rocker?!!

I don't believe it's the rocker of the t'blades that is causing the difference we feel. I believe it is the slight flexibility of the blade while turning -- similar to how shaped skis aid in turning.

[kornsined 0]

man my salming f1's are golden. love the t-baldes so far and the F1 boot is way more comfortable IMO then my XX's.

[gavin 0]

My personal experience with t'blades, doesn't have to be yours (hopefully). THEY SUCK.

Nothing to do with the arguements about whether or not they make you skate like Bobby Orr or not, or if they are lighter/better/super or anything. I find that they will break on you. Mine broke. A while ago. My conclusion is not that it was a deffective pair: a THC representative looked at it twice and told me that it was not a defect. So a non-defective t'blade holder broke after a single easy skate only 90 minutes long, the very same day that they came by UPS.

Because of this inordinate amount of suckiness, I have decided to never again buy from CCM again. Which is funny cause I currently have 5 pairs of CCM's in my dorm room: you could say that I bled CCM. Not any more. I have a pair of Kors and I love them. *Disclaimer* Yes I know any other holder could break, including the Pitch3. But not on the very first skate. That's not the way holders are designed to perform. But according to Bill Finneran, the CCM rep, that is the way t'blades were designed to perform.

It goes without say that I will never buy t'blades either. I might use the pair I have now for... reffing or something. Cause I'm not too scared about having the holder break on me while I'm officiating.

So, go ahead and buy t'blades, but I would never ever play on them in a competetive game. I would not be able to go into a corner with a forward on my tail without second guessing the strength of my holders, and that would be horrible for my mental game. Do you want your mental game to suck? Didn't think so.

[mew1838 0]

My personal experience with t'blades, doesn't have to be yours (hopefully). THEY SUCK.

Nothing to do with the arguements about whether or not they make you skate like Bobby Orr or not, or if they are lighter/better/super or anything. I find that they will break on you. Mine broke. A while ago. My conclusion is not that it was a deffective pair: a THC representative looked at it twice and told me that it was not a defect. So a non-defective t'blade holder broke after a single easy skate only 90 minutes long, the very same day that they came by UPS.

Because of this inordinate amount of suckiness, I have decided to never again buy from CCM again. Which is funny cause I currently have 5 pairs of CCM's in my dorm room: you could say that I bled CCM. Not any more. I have a pair of Kors and I love them. *Disclaimer* Yes I know any other holder could break, including the Pitch3. But not on the very first skate. That's not the way holders are designed to perform. But according to Bill Finneran, the CCM rep, that is the way t'blades were designed to perform.

It goes without say that I will never buy t'blades either. I might use the pair I have now for... reffing or something. Cause I'm not too scared about having the holder break on me while I'm officiating.

So, go ahead and buy t'blades, but I would never ever play on them in a competetive game. I would not be able to go into a corner with a forward on my tail without second guessing the strength of my holders, and that would be horrible for my mental game. Do you want your mental game to suck? Didn't think so.

YEAH CCM @!#@#$@#$ !!!!

[Bauer_freAK 0]

In germany Tblade is very popular.

And I heard just one time that the holder broke.

But not after a single skate...he skated one season with them

and after the holder broke he bought directly a new holder.

It's love. :D I love my Tblades. And I have mine since NOV 17th

on my 8090's .... No Problems!

[Jason Harris 31]

My personal experience with t'blades, doesn't have to be yours (hopefully). THEY SUCK.....I find that they will break on you. Mine broke. A while ago. My conclusion is not that it was a deffective pair: a THC representative looked at it twice and told me that it was not a defect. So a non-defective t'blade holder broke after a single easy skate only 90 minutes long, the very same day that they came by UPS.

Based on my experience, the feedback from my customers, and the pictures you posted, your skates quite obviously had a defect -- regardless what the rep from THC told you.

I've had a slash in the stabilizer for my t'blade for over two years now, yet it hasn't grown larger. If the materials that t'blade uses were prone to break, it obviously should have done so months ago. However, manufacturing defects occur, as virtually anyone who has bought a OPS can attest.

The question is how often the manufacturing defects occur, because that becomes an issue of quality control. I can only speak from a subset of about 150 people, but none of them had the problems that you had. It sounds like you had a manufacturing defect but nobody was willing to own up to it.