Switching Holder Sizes---263mm to 254mm

[Ric_Flair 4]

On 11/23/2008 at 5:32 AM, aal said:

Skated for the first time today in 254's, after having skated in 263's for a long time. No problem at all.

Have you skated/ played hockey for a long time?

[Monty22 821]

14 hours ago, Ric_Flair said:

Have you skated/ played hockey for a long time?

Just a heads up, that post was from 13 years ago, and he hasn't logged on since 2011. 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Monty22

[Ric_Flair 4]

4 hours ago, Monty22 said:

Just a heads up, that post was from 13 years ago, and he hasn't logged on since 2011. 

 

4 hours ago, Monty22 said:

Just a heads up, that post was from 13 years ago, and he hasn't logged on since 2011. 

 

4 hours ago, Monty22 said:

Just a heads up, that post was from 13 years ago, and he hasn't logged on since 2011. 

Yea, I noticed that. But figured I'd fish anyway.

 

[Ric_Flair 4]

4 hours ago, Monty22 said:

Just a heads up, that post was from 13 years ago, and he hasn't logged on since 2011. 

Do you have any experience of switching down a size in blade length? 

[Monty22 821]

9 hours ago, Ric_Flair said:

Do you have any experience of switching down a size in blade length? 

Check out the True TF9 /TF7 thread. The stock holders on those are a size down from most other brands. I'm currently going from 288s to 280s but only have a couple of skates in.  

[Ric_Flair 4]

3 minutes ago, Monty22 said:

Check out the True TF9 /TF7 thread. The stock holders on those are a size down from most other brands. I'm currently going from 288s to 280s but only have a couple of skates in.  

How's it thus far?

 

[marka 518]

Howdy,

True TF7 here, coming from Mako's.  Because of the size change, going from 263 to 254 runners.

Felt a little clumsy at first, but after profiling the 254 runners with the same profile I'd been using on the 263's, that went away.  I haven't switched back and forth between them though to know how much of that is me getting used to things and how much is "they feel like the old skates".

YMMV.

Mark

[Ric_Flair 4]

I've switched back n forth between 263 and 254 recently, tho only a few times yet. Hard to discern a big diff. I think the main thing I want to eliminate was the extra space in the toe box of my size 7 skates (now fit into 6s easily enough). I did that with some sponge foam, but still can feel the extra boot length.

I'll continue to experiment with both before I decide to put 263s on my size 6s or not. 

If I skate on an Ellipse 0 on the 263s (which is the recommended ellipse for the 263 size 7-8 skates), when dropping down a blade size to 254 should I go with the Ellipse XS (recommended for the 254, sizes 5-6) or would I be better served going with the Ellipse 0 on them as well; anyone have experience with this? 

Thanks

//Nature Boy

[Lfntn10 0]

Hate to hijack but has anyone put a 254 holder on a boot with a 247 holder?  

[puckpilot 312]

On 9/12/2021 at 11:00 PM, Ric_Flair said:

Do you have any experience of switching down a size in blade length? 

Not sure how much this will apply to you, but last time I bough new skates, I dropped down half a size from 5 to 4.5. And yes, I'm an adult. For me, I found that the shorter runner exasperated some of flaws in my skating. From my understanding, as the blade transitions from your profile up to the toe of the skate, with the shorter runner, that transition is more aggressive. An exaggerated way to illustrate this is think of a a hill that takes you up vertically 10ft over a distance of 1 block vs. a hill that does the same over the distance of 1/2 a block. The incline is steeper, so with a skate blade, as I rocked forward, the drop off was quicker, making it easier, for me at least, to get up onto my toes too much, shortening my stride, in addition to also exasperated stability issues. 

To a certain degree, some of the issues could be address by simply working on my technique more, which I did. But overall, I ended up having to go to a very flat profile to help address my needs, which was fine. Overall, it helped me become a way better skater. For a long while--I've been skating for around 40 years--I'd plateaued with my skating and didn't think I'd be getting much better. But the tighter skate fit allowed me to loosen my laces a lot more, without loss of control, which gave me more ankle mobility, forward and back and side to size, which let me get a more aggressive angle on my inside and outside edge push offs. This also gave me a better feel for my edges. Though, all this didn't just come overnight. I had to work for it, but it was some short term pain for some long term gain. 

Don't know how much this applies to you, but that's my experience.

[Ric_Flair 4]

12 minutes ago, puckpilot said:

Not sure how much this will apply to you, but last time I bough new skates, I dropped down half a size from 5 to 4.5. And yes, I'm an adult. For me, I found that the shorter runner exasperated some of flaws in my skating. From my understanding, as the blade transitions from your profile up to the toe of the skate, with the shorter runner, that transition is more aggressive. An exaggerated way to illustrate this is think of a a hill that takes you up vertically 10ft over a distance of 1 block vs. a hill that does the same over the distance of 1/2 a block. The incline is steeper, so with a skate blade, as I rocked forward, the drop off was quicker, making it easier, for me at least, to get up onto my toes too much, shortening my stride, in addition to also exasperated stability issues. 

To a certain degree, some of the issues could be address by simply working on my technique more, which I did. But overall, I ended up having to go to a very flat profile to help address my needs, which was fine. Overall, it helped me become a way better skater. For a long while--I've been skating for around 40 years--I'd plateaued with my skating and didn't think I'd be getting much better. But the tighter skate fit allowed me to loosen my laces a lot more, without loss of control, which gave me more ankle mobility, forward and back and side to size, which let me get a more aggressive angle on my inside and outside edge push offs. This also gave me a better feel for my edges. Though, all this didn't just come overnight. I had to work for it, but it was some short term pain for some long term gain. 

Don't know how much this applies to you, but that's my experience.

Hi @puckpilotand thanks for weighing in. Certainly makes sense. For me I think I am liking getting up onto my toes quicker (from an acceleration POV) And I haven't found a big diff thus far. I actually starting to think I may have skated on a 254 all those years back and mistakenly bought skates sized with 263 back in the spring.

I know this experimenting is fun, especially hearing other stories from peeps like you. many thanks again.