RBK 5K Skates

[Ray 0]

I also had to adjust from the tuuk to the Eplus. I found that once I had the blade radius shortened and rockered a little forward I have really come to like my 5k's. Stiff enough, but I would probably have been better of with 7k's.

Thanks for the info Ray. Glad to hear I'm not the only one having problems with the Tuuk to E-pro transition. Just out of curiosity, how did rockering the 5k's forward help you skate better on them? I thought they are already more forward pitched than Tuuks, so wouldn't a neutral or rear rocker help the transition from tuuk to e-pro?

Good question. I just asked for a smaller radius and a defenseman rocker. I skated in the 5K's at least 10 times before having the blades worked on. So maybe part of it was just getting used to the boot pitch and then part of it was having the right feeling of being on the front of the blade a little. I'm sure there is a touch of placebo affect in there as well. In any case, I think having the right/familiar rocker and radius on the blade helped overcome the slight difference in boot/holder pitch. So maybe having the unfamilar rocker on the blade magnifies the feeling of the different boot pitch? You can always get a lift in the front if you want to try to get the boot pitch to feel more like a Tuuk.

[Leafsrule16 5]

I also had to adjust from the tuuk to the Eplus. I found that once I had the blade radius shortened and rockered a little forward I have really come to like my 5k's. Stiff enough, but I would probably have been better of with 7k's.

Thanks for the info Ray. Glad to hear I'm not the only one having problems with the Tuuk to E-pro transition. Just out of curiosity, how did rockering the 5k's forward help you skate better on them? I thought they are already more forward pitched than Tuuks, so wouldn't a neutral or rear rocker help the transition from tuuk to e-pro?

I went from vapor xxx's to 9k's and i had the exact same problem! It got fully better though after about a month, i think its just that your not used to the skates, dont worry it will get better.

[thehomez 0]

I also had to adjust from the tuuk to the Eplus. I found that once I had the blade radius shortened and rockered a little forward I have really come to like my 5k's. Stiff enough, but I would probably have been better of with 7k's.

Thanks for the info Ray. Glad to hear I'm not the only one having problems with the Tuuk to E-pro transition. Just out of curiosity, how did rockering the 5k's forward help you skate better on them? I thought they are already more forward pitched than Tuuks, so wouldn't a neutral or rear rocker help the transition from tuuk to e-pro?

Good question. I just asked for a smaller radius and a defenseman rocker. I skated in the 5K's at least 10 times before having the blades worked on. So maybe part of it was just getting used to the boot pitch and then part of it was having the right feeling of being on the front of the blade a little. I'm sure there is a touch of placebo affect in there as well. In any case, I think having the right/familiar rocker and radius on the blade helped overcome the slight difference in boot/holder pitch. So maybe having the unfamilar rocker on the blade magnifies the feeling of the different boot pitch? You can always get a lift in the front if you want to try to get the boot pitch to feel more like a Tuuk.

Ray thanks again for the reply. I thinking having it rockered would be a good idea but I'ma give it a couple of more shots prior to doing that to see if I can get used to it. Some might have been a placebo affect for you so maybe I should have my friend take it in to be 'rockered' lol. But mainly the fact that you and other had this same problem makes me feel a little more comfortable that its not just me and that at some point I'll get used to it. Appreciate the help :)

I also had to adjust from the tuuk to the Eplus. I found that once I had the blade radius shortened and rockered a little forward I have really come to like my 5k's. Stiff enough, but I would probably have been better of with 7k's.

Thanks for the info Ray. Glad to hear I'm not the only one having problems with the Tuuk to E-pro transition. Just out of curiosity, how did rockering the 5k's forward help you skate better on them? I thought they are already more forward pitched than Tuuks, so wouldn't a neutral or rear rocker help the transition from tuuk to e-pro?

I went from vapor xxx's to 9k's and i had the exact same problem! It got fully better though after about a month, i think its just that your not used to the skates, dont worry it will get better.

And Leafsrule, thanks for your help too. Sounds like I'm not the only one with the problem and its good to hear that you and others eventually got used to the difference in pitch and radius. Gives me confidence to just stick it out and get practice time in until I'm more comfortable. I would think a forward pitch would be better than a heel pitch so hopefully in the end I like the new skates more than the old :D

[IniNew 53]

The Hockey Shop website is now offering White 7K Pump Seconds cheaper than their 5k pumps. Limited sizes though.

[thehomez 0]

The Hockey Shop website is now offering White 7K Pump Seconds cheaper than their 5k pumps. Limited sizes though.

Thats a solid deal if they have your size.

[Ray 0]

thehomez I just took a closer look at the current 5K and noticed they have a composite outsole. Mine are from 07 and they have that cheap, flexible grey plastic stuff. I have a feeling your 5K's are a step above mine. I'm jealous. I might consider new 5K's (for my next roller conversion) if I can get them as cheap as V06's just for the outsole. I feel like at 250 lbs I can feel the flex in my 5K outsole.

[thehomez 0]

thehomez I just took a closer look at the current 5K and noticed they have a composite outsole. Mine are from 07 and they have that cheap, flexible grey plastic stuff. I have a feeling your 5K's are a step above mine. I'm jealous. I might consider new 5K's (for my next roller conversion) if I can get them as cheap as V06's just for the outsole. I feel like at 250 lbs I can feel the flex in my 5K outsole.

Ray, your right, the newer ice 5k's do have the composite outsole. It is nice to have it and it was a feature I was looking for when buying mine. The reason being, for roller, I made a HUGE mistake of buying CCM Vector 4's with a soft plastic outsole. Not only did the boot breakdown in no time (play like 2-3 times/week) but the outsole actually flexed down so much that both of my 2nd wheels have melted the outsole, lol. Yes melted! The wheels have burnt a hole into the outsole even though there is a separation of at least 1cm when I'm not wearing them. Its got to be from my weight being on the balls of my feet and flexing it down to the wheels. The thing that sucks is that the hole is through to the inner sole of the boot, lol. Pretty bad. Never buying a lower end skate like that again.

And if you are in the market for some new roller skates I'd highly recommend the RBK 5k or 7k skates. My friend who plays 3-4 times per week loves his 5k's. He only weights about 150 so the outsole on the 5ks is good enough for him but they are not composite outsoles like the ice hockey 5k's. Given your size, you might want to look into the 7k's. My friend says the 5ks are plenty stiff for him and he plays a lot, so I'm assuming the 7k with the composite outsole and increased stiffness would be a good skate for you at that price point.

Also, strictly for the roller boots, I think the RBK boots are much beefier than their CCM counterparts. Like I said I'm highly dissapointed in my Vector 4 purchase. Should have bought the 6's at the least.

[Ray 0]

yeah a couple of my friends skate on last years roller vector 8's and those are crap boots too. They have the same grey, flexible plastic outsoles. The overall quality is not that impressive. Right now I have a custom graf 707/sprung roller setup. I actually got the boot very cheap and added some padding to the heel to make it fit me better. It's probably a half size too big but works well enough. The boot is good quality, but definitely on the heavy side. I have a brand new aluminum vangaurd chassis and the hummr chassis from my code 1 skates to match up to a boot when I choose one. I might reconsider the 5K if I can get a good deal on it since I know it fits me well. Most places are still selling the 5K's for $250. I think my LHS will give me a deal on whatever they have left at this point. I was going to try the V06's, but if I can get 5K's for a good deal, I might just go that route. My shop will even mount the chassis for me in exchange for the holder and steel if I want to do it that way. Otherwise, I can just do it myself and have an extra holder and steel for my 07 5K's. Thanks for the info.

[Larry54 243]

Are you sure about the composite outsole on the current 5K. I have them and I thought it was just graphics that gave it the look of composite material. The web site doesn't mention composite outsole for the 5K but it does for the 7K.

[Ray 0]

Are you sure about the composite outsole on the current 5K. I have them and I thought it was just graphics that gave it the look of composite material. The web site doesn't mention composite outsole for the 5K but it does for the 7K.

Here is what it says on icewarehouse.com "Low profile composite outsole - Offers a reactive feel on the ice"

On my 07's, I can make the material flex by pushing on it with my thumb. You shouldn't be able to do it with the composite.

[andysly 1]

homez, I picked up the 5k's tonight too. I'm a bigger guy like you (6ft, 215) so it'll be interesting how these things hold up.

[Larry54 243]

Are you sure about the composite outsole on the current 5K. I have them and I thought it was just graphics that gave it the look of composite material. The web site doesn't mention composite outsole for the 5K but it does for the 7K.

Here is what it says on icewarehouse.com "Low profile composite outsole - Offers a reactive feel on the ice"

On my 07's, I can make the material flex by pushing on it with my thumb. You shouldn't be able to do it with the composite.

On the reebockhockey website, it says "The composite low profile outsole offers a reactive feel on the ice." for the 6K and up but it says "The low profile outsole offers a reactive feel on the ice." for the 5K. And here's a picture of the outsole of my 5K where a bit of the silkscreened graphic got scraped off. Can composite look like plain black plastic?

[Ray 0]

Not sure what to make of it. Obviously it isn't carbon fiber and it's made to look like it.

[schrempsky 0]

its just a plastic, if i remember, it takes the 7k to get a composite outsole

[thehomez 0]

homez, I picked up the 5k's tonight too. I'm a bigger guy like you (6ft, 215) so it'll be interesting how these things hold up.

Yea I'm wondering the same thing. Let me know how you like them after you skate on them. From what I can tell they seem like they will hold up pretty well. Just have to get used to the E-pro holder coming from Tuuk's

yeah a couple of my friends skate on last years roller vector 8's and those are crap boots too.

Crazy to hear that the vector 8's were garbage too. I thought it was just because I had the lower model. I'm sure that was a factor but I would have thought the 8's and 10's would have been really solid boots.

And I checked my skates and Larry is right. The outsole is painted to look like plastic. Kinda annoyed about that as I wanted a composite outsole. But I will say that the outsole is pretty hard. 100x's harder than my CCM roller hockey skate's outsole. And though it may not be composite it does still feel responsive and firm when skating on them.

[<TJ> 0]

Hi guys,

I'm bringing this one back to life to see how you all are doing with your 5Ks in terms of durabillity. I had my mind pretty made up on these, but today my coach told me that quite a few of his players had had issues with them. He mainly complained about the upper part of the boot being too fragile and breaking easily. Any of you had this problem??

Bottomline is that he has made me rethink my decision a little bit. How would you compare this against a CCM U+PRO '08, a CCM U+7, and a NBH ONE 55 in terms of quality?? I have flat feet, quite skinny ankles, and a slighlty wider forefoot (due to my lack of arch I think), just in case you wanted to know.

Edit: Double post.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

mine lasted two years which is not bad for $250 IMO

[thehomez 0]

Have mine for a year now and they're holding up pretty well. Normal signs of wear and tear. Boot itself is holding up well in terms of durability. Plus right now their on sale for nearly have the price I paid for them so you can't be too disappointed if they don't last over 2 years...

[jgnp15333 0]

Cross posted from another, but relevent thread:

I've had the Reebok 5k's for about 7 months now and I'm really liking them (Came from Graf 705's). They're plenty stiff for me, fit my wide feet (I wear a 7.5E), and have held up well to the rigors bi-weekly games since August - they still look and smell brand new. On Saturday, I took the hardest shot I've ever felt to the inside of my right skate - it nearly knocked my foot from beneath me; however, no bruising or even soreness.

My only initial *meh* with the skates was regarding the pump. I have never had a problem or heard of anyone else having one 1st hand, but if anything goes, it really seems like the pump would be the first thing. On the sunny side of things, you get a snug ankle fit with mad flex all around - and when you're feeling sloppy in the 3rd, you can give it a few more pumps to tighten things up and make you FEEL a little more secure on the ice.

[Larry54 243]

Hi guys,

I'm bringing this one back to life to see how you all are doing with your 5Ks in terms of durabillity. I had my mind pretty made up on these, but today my coach told me that quite a few of his players had had issues with them. He mainly complained about the upper part of the boot being too fragile and breaking easily. Any of you had this problem??

Bottomline is that he has made me rethink my decision a little bit. How would you compare this against a CCM U+PRO '08, a CCM U+7, and a NBH ONE 55 in terms of quality?? I have flat feet, quite skinny ankles, and a slighlty wider forefoot (due to my lack of arch I think), just in case you wanted to know.

Edit: Double post.

Like I wrote in another thread, the pump on one skate started leaking after around a year and a half. It's totally deflated after 15 minutes. My feet are similar to yours and I've found that Bauer Flexlites fit might feet better than the 5K did. You might want to try them.

[Big Jim 1]

Hey guys. First post here Been reading the forums non stop for the past couple of weeks I think it's been. Anyways... I'm a new player. BRAND NEW. Played a ton of street/roller hockey as a kid(I'm 28 now) but always wanted to play ice. Picked up a pair of RBK 5ks for 209 from my LHS and am going to start my first leage in June. Anyways, so far I love my 5k's. They are my first pair of skates, but the are quite comfortable. Only problem I have is that I noticed one of the lace locks on my left skate was loose a couple days ago. I went to tighten it and ended up either stripping it or something....let me explain. When I tighten this lace lock you can feel something on the INSIDE of the skating turning as you turn the screw. Now I ended up being able to kind of push down on this as I tightened the screw and it worked out pretty well. It's still not as tight as it could be but it's not falling off.. I'll probably end up having to tighten this particular lace lock often, but at least it's not complete broken. It kind of has me worried because whatevers broke is inside, a simple lace lock replacement won't help if I can't put it on.

Anyways, just wanted to see if anyone had any advice and to just say hello.

[<TJ> 0]

Like I wrote in another thread, the pump on one skate started leaking after around a year and a half. It's totally deflated after 15 minutes. My feet are similar to yours and I've found that Bauer Flexlites fit might feet better than the 5K did. You might want to try them.

I really would, except I live in Argentina and we have absolutely no hockey stores in the Country. :(

Do you by any chance know if CCM and RBK sizes match (at least in length).

[thehomez 0]

Hey guys. First post here Been reading the forums non stop for the past couple of weeks I think it's been. Anyways... I'm a new player. BRAND NEW. Played a ton of street/roller hockey as a kid(I'm 28 now) but always wanted to play ice. Picked up a pair of RBK 5ks for 209 from my LHS and am going to start my first leage in June. Anyways, so far I love my 5k's. They are my first pair of skates, but the are quite comfortable. Only problem I have is that I noticed one of the lace locks on my left skate was loose a couple days ago. I went to tighten it and ended up either stripping it or something....let me explain. When I tighten this lace lock you can feel something on the INSIDE of the skating turning as you turn the screw. Now I ended up being able to kind of push down on this as I tightened the screw and it worked out pretty well. It's still not as tight as it could be but it's not falling off.. I'll probably end up having to tighten this particular lace lock often, but at least it's not complete broken. It kind of has me worried because whatevers broke is inside, a simple lace lock replacement won't help if I can't put it on.

Anyways, just wanted to see if anyone had any advice and to just say hello.

Glad to hear you like the skates. You should try some Loctite for screws (should be red or blue) to help keep the screw tight while playing. Also you can actually buy the lace locks seperatly if you think the one you have might be broken you can try replacing. The loctite should do the trick. You can get it at Home Depot or Loews. Make sure you get the one for screws. Good luck!

[Big Jim 1]

Glad to hear you like the skates. You should try some Loctite for screws (should be red or blue) to help keep the screw tight while playing. Also you can actually buy the lace locks seperatly if you think the one you have might be broken you can try replacing. The loctite should do the trick. You can get it at Home Depot or Loews. Make sure you get the one for screws. Good luck!

That won't work man. There's something inside that's broken. Like whenever you turn the screw you can feel whatever it's screwing into, turning as you turn the screw. I wish it was as simple as getting a new lace lock. In any case, I don't think it will really be that big of a deal. I'm able to get it fairly tight by pinching down from the inside of the skate as I turn the screw.