Question about holders on my 1500's

[willy0314 0]

So I'm putting on my skates the other night and I look down at the holder and I realize that the steel is making contact with the plastic at the center of the holder where there is supposed to be about a 1/4" gap. Same situation on the other skate as well. So I went up to the proshop, asked the guy what he thought, turns out he's an idiot.

How the holder is supposed to look. Arrow points to the gap I'm talking about.

Pic of the holder on one of my skates...no more gap between steel and plastic.

The skates feel fine on the ice. If I hadn't noticed the holder, I wouldn't have known anything was wrong with them. Just wondering if you guys have any input on why the skates are no longer the way they should be, and I should do anything to fix the problem...

[trevor13478 1]

do they still (or have they ever, i know every pair of easton's i've had has) click when you walk from the steel moving around? if they did and now don't the steel is probably just lodged up their how it should be now. i don't really know though, just a thought.

[duch 0]

I see what your saying, the blade is sunken too far into the holder. More of a space should be showing at the middle of the holder. I'm thinking the blade could be damaged where it meets the mounting screw inside the holder and it's not seating properly and the blade is sinking in more. It may be just resting on the upper lip of the holder inside. That kind of destroys the whole concept of the blade bending slightly for sharper turns.

As long as the blade is in the holder tight and it's not coming loose I believe the skates will perform alright. My only concern would be that the mounting screw is tightened a bit more than it should be because the blade isn't seated into it and it might crack the holder either side of the skate blade in time due to the stresses of use.

My suggestion is to go to your LHS and compare your skate to a similar Easton skate with the same blade. I'm thinking the repair shop person isn't understanding what you trying to convey to him and showing him first hand may prove beneficial.

[swede 52]

looks to me like both holder and steel is bent..

And dude!, what's up with the rivets? Don't you wipe off the water/snow after skating?

[willy0314 0]

I don't think that the holder is bent because if you bent the holder you'd have to bend the entire boot and that hasn't happend. as for the steel being bent, you can look at the side profile and tell that it isn't.

I actually dry my skates off with a towel after I skate with them, and let them sit for about 15 minutes while I take a shower, before I put them away. I've Had the skates for over a year now and just figured that was normal wear, just like every other skate I've ever had. The fucking eyelets on the boot started coroding and falling apart after like 5 months.

Thinking about it, The steel must be pushed up farther into the holder then it is supposed to. But that isn't supposed to happen, So do I leave it, or take out the steel and try to pull it down and risk killing the skate completely?

[icedevil82 0]

You won't kill the skate by removing the steel. My first instinct would be to take the steel off and see if you can tighten it back onto the holder the way its supposed to sit. If it keeps sliding up like that, then there's something wrong with either the steel (easily replaceable), the bolts (easily replaceable), or the holder itself, which is also replaceable.

[Chadd 916]

Place the skate on a flat surface (table, desk, etc..) and see if the steel lies flat. If it does lie flat, then you know the steel isn't bent up in the middle. I'm guessing that isn't your problem, as you probably would feel that when skating, but it never hurts to be sure.

[willy0314 0]

no, the steel is shapped the way it is supposed to be, my only real concern is that the steel or the holder is damaged to the point where the steel has worked itself "deeper" into the holder, and If I take the steel out, I might make the damage worse.

I'd be fine with new holders, except the 60 minute drive to greatskate, and needing my skates every other day makes it kind of hard to get to doing that.

[trevor13478 1]

i wouldn't do anything because as you said, you didn't notice any problems while skating.

[DamnLocust 0]

has the steel been replaced? If so, maybe you didn't get the parabolic steel.

[kovalchuk71 212]

He got parabolic steel. It still has the notches in it. The Non-parabolic is completly solid (Think C+ like)

[skooled 0]

It has just sunk into the holder. From the photo you provided, it kinda looks like the bolts aren't centred in the holders either (that could just be shadow though)

I would pull it down, and see if if stays. check the steel when you take it out to look for wear marks at the bottom of the bolt holes, and you could just resin the gap in the holder and replace the steel, this would stop any sinking whatsoever.

[philcaz 0]

It could be the plastic that is bent, and not the steel...they both share the stress from your skating stride and the steel is more resilient. Check to see if the plastic is still straight.

[JR Boucicaut 3806]

It's the holder. Keep in mind that there is nothing there that is really supporting it. The Easton holders, over time, give in the center and sink. It won't affect anything, but if you are that concerned, buy a set of "standard" Easton steel (non-parabolic) and you won't have a problem.