RBK Pump vs. Vector

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Good skate sharpeners will be able to remove steel to fix the problems

mentioned in the quote. Basically it'll repair the contour of the blade to match what it originally was, or fine tune it for your playing style.

Actually a better word would have been to radius the skates, as that would simply regain the blade's original contour, and involves less work.

Unfortunately a lot of sharpeners sharpen them like player skates and destroy the heel and toes. Nothing we can do about that.

Before RBK came out with replacement steel the only correction would be to swap the cowlings out. It is a tricky job because the cowlings come undrilled.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

So you're saying that replaceable blades ARE important? Also, does Graf have replaceable blades? Someone in my locker room said that, but I never saw it anywhere. All I ever saw were the RBK and the CCMs having them.

[DamnLocust 0]

they aren't essential or necessary, as the issues that arise with damage to steel can be fixed by changing the cowling. They're kind of nice to have, and it's about time someone did it with goal skates.

The Graf goal skates do not have replaceable blades, but if it ever came down to a need for new steel, you could change the entire cowling. An option would be to put a RBK/CCM cowling with replaceable steel on the Graf boot. Still, steel usually doesn't need replacing all that often, especially if the sharpener knows what s/he is doing.

[D aka speck 0]

I know a net-minder that uses Graf skates with RBK cowlings. He goes through more steel than a machine shop :)

Beats them up on the pipes!

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

How do you change the cowlings? Is it simular to how you'd convert ice skate to roller? If my LHS can do that, could it change cowlings?

If that is the case, what boots would you recommend? And is there any difference between the CCM and RBK cowling?

[crazykeeper3317 0]

well if the xxx's are anything at all like the xg lite roller ones then get them my new xg lites are amazing i love them :D

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

Although I have heard some durability concerns about the XXX (anybody want to confirm?). Also some problems about the cowling, but that's not a factor (when I'm looking at the boot only).

*I was going to get teh XG Lite (kinda the only model available....) but now I'm getting the tours!

[TBLfan 25]

I have definitely heard that the cowling on the xxx is an issue, not sure if they fixed it yet because a lot of it came upon release of the skate. The XXs didn't have the issue and a lot of users were switching the cowling on their XXXs to the XXs.

[cook22 0]

i have had nothing wrong with my vapor skates, the only thing is one the cowling where the blade is there looks like there is a crack but it isn't, it is just because it is a clear tuke

[Flames03 0]

CCM is RBK now

go for the pumps.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

my one question is what happens if the pump blows out.

What's the durability on the pump? (the actual "pump" mechanism)

Is the boot still affective/does it feel weird if the pump blows out?

[DamnLocust 0]

when it comes to any RBK skate, you want to make sure the skate itself fits your foot well without inflating the bladder. The bladder is there for additional comfort, not just to make it fit. That way, if the bladder blows out at some point, the skates will still fit your foot.