Purchasing Used Skates

[ironic_chef 0]

My current Mission skates have lasted a long time but are starting to cause problems. I’ve also snapped the steel in half three times in the last three years. I used to walk in my LHS and have the employee say “Oh, no - not the Missions!”. Recently, the holders were changed to Cobra 3000s, after the shop no longer had the Mission steel in my size.

A pair of used Supra 735s is available from a friend of a friend who lives on the other side of the country, but I am not sure of my size in Grafs. I wear 4.5 in Mission Jrs, 5.5 in Mission women’s, and have worn both size 3 (Composite blue) and 2.5 (Composite 5000 gold) in Bauer.

Is it ethical to hit up my LHS for sizing - letting the salesperson know my purpose, of course?

If I purchase the used skates, my first trip would be to the LHS to have them baked and/or punched and contoured, and of course pay for these services. I bought the Missions there, and would buy Grafs there if I had the disposable income.

My LHS is very good, but these skates are less than 1/3 the cost of new ones. Since I have feet the size of the average 7 year-old, these particular skates are available for a great price given their near-new condition.

I've never had used skates before and I consider this situation to be different from buying online after testing the waters locally. I could be wrong, and I'd like to hear thoughts from the forum members.

[chippa13 1844]

If you've got a good relationship with the shop and are up front about it then there is no harm in asking. Heck, even offer to toss them $10/$20 for the trouble.

[jsmart 0]

+1 for throwing them a few bucks for helping out.

It sounds like if you support them in general and plan to use them for your other services they should be fairly cool with it.

I'm sure they will be bummed about not getting the sale, but maybe if the Grafs won't work you could end up purchasing there...

[ironic_chef 0]

An update, I went into the store and ended up purchasing a pair of Graf 735 in a size 3, they were beautiful.

I've been back to the store to have them punched out in the forefoot. They were again awesome in the store and for the first game back.

Now, 3 weeks and 10 games later, I'm constantly banging my feet back against the boards to get my heel set properly, and my feet are pinched in the forefoot (behind the ball of the feet) - it's like the punching didn't stick past one game.

I've almost given up and resolved to buy new new skates, but am open to any suggestions. The heel lift is the biggest concern as I can get some comfort in the forefoot. I'm glad I have wee feet, so this was a $300 mistake, not a $700 mistake.

Friends who wear Grafs have told me that the break-in time for these skates is long, but... seriously?

[zales17 0]

The thing about graf skates that takes a while to break in is the pre formed tendon padding going down the back of the skate. Until these soften up you will have a hard time getting locked in the heel of the boot. the other thing to keep in mind is that this padding works for some and not for everyone. I skated grafs for years and developed an inflamed bursa on my heel as a result of the inability for my foot to be locked in the heel. With the bursa I was certainly locked in, but at a pretty significant cost. give it a few more skates, but my guess is that you might want to look at something a little more neutral through the heel/tendon area, maybe with a narrow heel.

[Stacey 0]

Break-in and Graf are rarely if ever used in the same sentence. Grafs Supra series are the softest boots on the market and if they fit you right, the break in time is next to none. The padding in the back is meant to lock in your heel and the heat fit supplements that both that and the break-in. If you're 10 skates in and you're still having issues, they will not work for you, chances are they did not fit right from the get go. Your friends also probably fall into this category as well. Graf 703/735 also has the narrowest heel pocket of any skate around BUT they do carry a Narrow width in those models so that may be your other option at this point.

Do they fit you in terms of volume? Try the pencil test. This is Graf's biggest issue regardless of the many fits they offer. I find the vast majority of people skating in Grafs have feet with larger insteps than the Grafs were designed for and is a major contributor to fit issues with Graf.