Blackstone Flat-Bottom V Thread

[bantamseadogs13 0]

My steel cracked last night in my game and since I'm off now for a little while and I have some extra steel laying around my room so I finally got around to sending an e-mail to no icing sports. I can't wait to try out the FBV. :)

What skates do you use, if you don't mind my asking. Just a guess, but are they Bauer supremes by any chance? :-)

[dalebert 8]

My steel cracked last night in my game and since I'm off now for a little while and I have some extra steel laying around my room so I finally got around to sending an e-mail to no icing sports. I can't wait to try out the FBV. :)

What skates do you use, if you don't mind my asking. Just a guess, but are they Bauer supremes by any chance? :-)

Ding Ding! :lol:

[AnthonyJTa 0]

With consistency issues since my local shop closed... I finally decided I too, would go wth No Icing Sports and as an added bonus, try out the FBV sharpening. I got way too eager and made the drive up to No Icing from Quincy, MA (a straight-shot, nice drive).. Bob was amazing. He went over my Skater Profile with me, and explained every single recommendation in detail. So we went with an 8ft/13ft compound radius, and my usual 9/16, only in the FBV variety. I got to skate tonight, and like everyone else... wow. The glide was unreal, and like a few others have mentioned- my turns really, really "crunch"... the only issue is I had a hard time stopping... just way too much bite for me. I'm going to give them a little more time on Thursday... but I think I'd have to go a tad shallower if I'm sticking with the FBV sharpenings... The compound radius made such a difference, I've noticed a lot less soreness in my bad knee and lower back.

Are any of you other guys having issues stopping with the extra bite the FBV offers? Or do I moan that bad?! haha..

Edited January 20, 2009 by AnthonyJTa

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

First 1/2", now 9/16"?

[AnthonyJTa 0]

The guy I went to locally set me up on 9/16, and I liked it a lot... but when Odie closed up shop- my last resort was a place that rhymed with Shmure Sockey... and my skates felt different every single time - it was brutal, so I just gave up and told them 1/2 inch (which is their "standard"). I dealt, but it wasn't as comfortable as the 9/16... so that's why I figured I'd hop back on the 9/16 when I went up to No Icing.

Edited January 20, 2009 by AnthonyJTa

[Chadd 916]

The guy I went to locally set me up on 9/16, and I liked it a lot... but when Odie closed up shop- my last resort was a place that rhymed with Shmure Sockey... and my skates felt different every single time - it was brutal, so I just gave up and told them 1/2 inch. I dealt, but it wasn't as comfortable as the 9/16... so that's why I figured I'd hop back on the 9/16 when I went up to No Icing.

I think JR's point is that the FBV has been described to us all along as being 3/8 and 5/8, yet we're seeing it called 1/2 and 9/16. For something as exact as sharpening, we're seeing a lot of fudging with numbers by some people with the FBV.

[bantamseadogs13 0]

My steel cracked last night in my game and since I'm off now for a little while and I have some extra steel laying around my room so I finally got around to sending an e-mail to no icing sports. I can't wait to try out the FBV. :)

What skates do you use, if you don't mind my asking. Just a guess, but are they Bauer supremes by any chance? :-)

Ding Ding! :lol:

You are the 7th person in just the last 6 months that I know of this has happened to, and only the supremes, none were vapors. My son wears Missions, so unsure about if bauer uses different steel on the 2 models?? Just an FYI. :-)

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Tell your sharpener to not overheat your steel, I had ONE90 and ONE95 before any person on this board ever did and I NEVER experienced steel breakage.

[dalebert 8]

I am my sharpener :lol: I've only been sharpening for 2 years so I don't call myself an expert by any means I don't notice any burn marks and the steel isn't hot to the touch when I finish them [who knows I may still be doing something wrong] but I think the slapshot I got hit with from about 10 feet out may have helped the steel crack too. <_<

[larrivee 3]

My first FBV skate was sunday. I did not notice any overt improvement in glide. I did feel like I was powering out of turns faster, and possibly coming up to speed faster. I am a big guy, which could be affecting the glide issue.

As I discussed with JR, I may have been more efficient cruising around the zone, maybe less effort to be in patrol speed. I skate again thursday.

There was zero adjustment time for me- I was really nervous about that, but the only thing that got my attention was my speed on crossovers.

So far I am happy, a few noticeable improvements without the loss of anything (as far as I can tell).

[pmspaul 0]

Are any of you other guys having issues stopping with the extra bite the FBV offers? Or do I moan that bad?! haha..

I too just got runners from No-Icing. I asked for their '1/2" FBV' which Bob confirmed for me is the 100/75. I normally skated on 1/2" ROH, and I found the 100/75 to have a little extra bite over my old 1/2". I got some chatter from my left outside edge when stopping hard, but that's always been my weaker side. I plan to try the 90/75 in the near future and see which I like better.

IMHO, at this point everyone is trying to assign an equivalent ROH "feel" to the new FBV's, but it is just a feel and a starting point. My feel was that the 100/75 felt more like a 7/16" - 3/8" than a 1/2" ROH. Except the glide was much better.

Hope this helps,

-Paul

[jimmy 194]

First 1/2", now 9/16"?

Yes, the 100/50 fits in between the 100/75 and the 90/75 in terms of bite. He got the 100/50.

[squashguy 0]

Tell your sharpener to not overheat your steel, I had ONE90 and ONE95 before any person on this board ever did and I NEVER experienced steel breakage.

No way will a sharpener temper the steel enough to cause it to break. First of all, poor sharpening might overheat a very small portion of the blade localized to the hollow. This might reduce the amount of time the blade will stay sharp, but not the overall strength of the blade.

A blade breaking means it's too brittle. Brittleness is good for sharp, long-lasting edges (think ceramic knife), but a brittle material will crack when struck hard. Tempering due to overheating increases toughness, making the metal more bendable, but reduces the brittle strength that keeps a blade sharp (think steel knife that you have to keep resharpening). Could be a bad batch of blades that weren't heat treated properly.

Edited January 21, 2009 by squashguy

[pantherfan 0]

Are you sure it doesn't work the other way?

[Chadd 916]

You are the 7th person in just the last 6 months that I know of this has happened to, and only the supremes, none were vapors. My son wears Missions, so unsure about if bauer uses different steel on the 2 models?? Just an FYI. :-)

Bauer sells more skates, therefore more Bauer steel breaks. It's really that simple.

[mnpucker 33]

In 2007 the Labrador retreiver bit more people in the USA than any other dog. FACT - the Lab is also the most popular dog. Labs might be the most friendly dog (debatable and I am generalizing) so would people believe that they bite people? No, there are just so many more that statistics play a huge part.

Good point on the volume of Bauer's sold Chadd.

Edited January 20, 2009 by mnpucker

[bantamseadogs13 0]

You are the 7th person in just the last 6 months that I know of this has happened to, and only the supremes, none were vapors. My son wears Missions, so unsure about if bauer uses different steel on the 2 models?? Just an FYI. :-)

Bauer sells more skates, therefore more Bauer steel breaks. It's really that simple.

In 2007 the Labrador retreiver bit more people in the USA than any other dog. FACT - the Lab is also the most popular dog. Labs might be the most friendly dog (debatable and I am generalizing) so would people believe that they bite people? No, there are just so many more that statistics play a huge part.

Good point on the volume of Bauer's sold Chadd.

I don't disagree with either of you, I was just making an observation that I have only seen Supremes with the blade issues. That in no way means that other products aren't having the same problems, just that I myself haven't seen it, that's all. And like JR pointed out, it very well could be from poor sharpenings and heat related, not necessarily the product itself.

[larrivee 3]

I broke 3 runners in my first 6 months with my first pair of 8090's.

Havent had problems with LS2 steel.

[Ivan 1]

I broke 3 runners in my first 6 months with my first pair of 8090's.

Havent had problems with LS2 steel.

Runners on 8090s was a known issue. Bauer was replacing them, no questions asked

[larrivee 3]

They wanted me to send mine in, et al. I didn't bother. Too much hassle.

[Ivan 1]

With consistency issues since my local shop closed... I finally decided I too, would go wth No Icing Sports and as an added bonus, try out the FBV sharpening. I got way too eager and made the drive up to No Icing from Quincy, MA (a straight-shot, nice drive).. Bob was amazing. He went over my Skater Profile with me, and explained every single recommendation in detail. So we went with an 8ft/13ft compound radius, and my usual 9/16, only in the FBV variety. I got to skate tonight, and like everyone else... wow. The glide was unreal, and like a few others have mentioned- my turns really, really "crunch"... the only issue is I had a hard time stopping... just way too much bite for me. I'm going to give them a little more time on Thursday... but I think I'd have to go a tad shallower if I'm sticking with the FBV sharpenings... The compound radius made such a difference, I've noticed a lot less soreness in my bad knee and lower back.

Are any of you other guys having issues stopping with the extra bite the FBV offers? Or do I moan that bad?! haha..

I did on 100/75. Will try to go 90/75, or even 80/75 (I think I have that dresser) next time.

Edited January 21, 2009 by Ivan

[jcp2 2]

Anybody using the FBV for short track speed skaters or is it illegal? I would think the added advantage in the corners would outweigh any slight decrease in glide. You could roller derby yourself into position to make a break for the finish line at the last moment.

[tdjb 0]

Ok, so did anyone not notice anything? I just recently had my skates done with the 1/2" FBV (coming from a standard 7/16" cut) and used them on the ice today for the first time. Although I didn't feel any less grip in tight turns, I didn't notice any extra "glide" at all. In fact, if I didn't know they had been sharpened with this new method, I would have just thought I was skating on my standard 7/16" sharpening. I plan on talking with the sharpener about this, but I thought I'd see if anyone else was in the same boat.

So it turns out I didn't notice anything because nothing had been done :)

There was an error at the sharpener and the skates were done without the FBV. I'll be having them re-done and can't wait to actually try them out.

[DEATHTRON 19]

Tried them out.....legs arent as tired now. Thats about all I can really say, didnt notice myself any faster.

Zach

[JoeQ 0]

So what I am hearing from you guys is....I should have more of my stores with the FBV sharpening?? Who is on the GTA or Ontario???

I can do

London

Barrie

Brampton

Markham (has it already)

Concord (has it already)

Oakville (has it already)

Mississauga (Dundas Location)

Cambridge (coming in Feb)

Whitby (coming in Feb)

And possibly more next year....

I was in to my LHS in Scarborough last night and they now offer the FB-V. The store is called Hockey Experts (Kennedy Commons) Kennedy Rd and hwy 401.