Lightspeed blades breaking

[Speed Demon 0]

I am posting for a friend who does not have a computer. He has a problem with his brand new Vapor XXs. They are custom made for him and he is 6'5 and 220 lbs. The blades that he is using are the non-perf steel blades in his light speeds. The non-perf blades have broken 4 times within a time span of approximately 10 ice times. After the third pair of blades broken, he thought surely that it was just that the new non-perf blades were cheap or something and so, he took the light speeds along with non-perf steel blades off of his other custom made Bauer Classic Golds that had managed a year without any problems and they fit perfectly onto his Vapor XXs (Note: All this is being done at a proshop), yet on their very first ice time, they also broke. These blades are not breaking upon receiving slap shots, nor are they breaking upon running into boards, they are collapsing underneath him. My friend and I are wondering if perhaps the boot may be warped or perhaps the position of the holes in which the light speed holder is to be placed could be off, therefore causing too much stress on the blade and causing it to break? Thanks

[marek svatos 0]

while we are on the topic of blades, which blade in your experiences have had the best durability as well as all around quality (ie: weight and feel). thx

[Eazy_b97 1]

while we are on the topic of blades, which blade in your experiences have had the best durability as well as all around quality (ie: weight and feel). thx

Which Holder?

[bulletproof_funk 0]

My friend and I are wondering if perhaps the boot may be warped or perhaps the position of the holes in which the light speed holder is to be placed could be off, therefore causing too much stress on the blade and causing it to break? Thanks

I'd imagine your friend wears a pretty big skate. The bigger the skate, the more precise the rivet holes would have to be to keep the holders straight, as to not place any stress to warp the holder/blade. It's also possible that the outsole isn't rigid/thick enough for his boot size and strength to support the force he puts on them. Or the longer Tuuks are giving as he skates. It's analogous to stick flex: the longer, the flexier. Another possibility is if his holders are on an angle relative to the boot (like what BisketandBasket had experienced in another thread) could stress the blades as well.

What size are his holders? Is it only one foot that the holder is breaking on, or both? Where did the blades break, middle? If it hasn't been done yet, check if the steel runners are straight and not twisted or bent. Then remove the runners and see if they are still straight. This should give some idea whether the steel is stressed by the holders or not. If the steel is straight in both cases, it's not likely the holder warping the steel. And check holder alignment from the back, and again when he stands while wearing them. Otherwise, he maybe flexing his boots more than he realizes.

[Chadd 916]

There have been rumours of exceptionally bad steel being shipped from Bauer recently. It all depends on what supplier they used.

[bulletproof_funk 0]

he took the light speeds along with non-perf steel blades off of his other custom made Bauer Classic Golds that had managed a year without any problems and they fit perfectly onto his Vapor XXs (Note: All this is being done at a proshop), yet on their very first ice time, they also broke.

If the year-old steel was fine in the Classic Golds but broke in the XX's, something tells me it's the XX and not necessarily the steel in this case.

[mickz 107]

This happened to my last year coach's XX's too.

[Speed Demon 0]

My friend wears a size 15 skate. We call him Sasquatch (I believe that is the correct spelling for the proper name of "Big Foot"). Also Funk, the blade is being broken in the middle, I believe. My friend can no longer check on the straightness of the steel because he has the holders and skates in a proshop, I think. I think right now I will just suggest that he calls the proshop and get them to analyze the location of the rivets/how the holder is mounted.

My friend also is questionning whether or not T'Blades or Custom Plus would fix the problem but in a situation like this where his blades are breaking, it won't really matter. However, if new holes had to be drilled for the T'Blades (Which I am not sure if that would have to be done and probably he couldn't get a size 15 in T'blades around here) it may fix the problem.

There is also another issue that I have thought of: The bottom of the boot where you drill the holes is the same as Vapor 10s. These Vapor 10 bottoms are of course not the traditional bottoms that would go on a Vapor XX and another thing is the fact that they have had "extra" holes drilled into them so the sweat/water can drip out.

[Chadd 916]

If you replace steel and it keeps breaking in the same spot, perhaps there is a spot on the holder that is creating excess pressure on the steel. Replacing the holders may be a solution.

[ktang 34]

There is also another issue that I have thought of: The bottom of the boot where you drill the holes is the same as Vapor 10s. These Vapor 10 bottoms are of course not the traditional bottoms that would go on a Vapor XX and another thing is the fact that they have had "extra" holes drilled into them so the sweat/water can drip out.

Your friend is a big, heavy guy with big skates. Also, he has extra drainage holes in the soles, and he is using the Lightspeed holders.

There is something else to consider; perhaps all of the torque he generates when he starts, stops, and turns (anything that uses the toe of the blades a lot) is twisting the soles and the holders. The extra drainage holes would let the soles flex even more, and Lightspeed holders look like they would flex easily with all those holes in the middle.

If this is happening, all the strain would go to the steel.

A really interesting problem. His experiment with switching the steel from the old skates, which I am assuming do not have extra holes in their soles, was a good one. It points to something about the skate boot or how the holders are mounted.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

The extra drainage holes would let the soles flex even more, and Lightspeed holders look like they would flex easily with all those holes in the middle.

Eric Lindros's skate soles have a ton of holes in them so I don't know about that theory...

Improper mounts and brittle steel is most likely the problem.

[Gongshow11 1]

maybe he should try icm blades as they are stiffer

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

Our rep says taht it was bad steel. Apparantly they got a batch of really bad steel, and thus they are having a shit storm of cracked steel come back to them.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

It is. We R/A'd 10 sets three wks ago.

[Speed Demon 0]

If you replace steel and it keeps breaking in the same spot, perhaps there is a spot on the holder that is creating excess pressure on the steel. Replacing the holders may be a solution.

My friend took the Light Speed Holders, including the non-perf steel, off of his Bauer Classic Gold skates that were the same size as his Vapor XXs and placed them onto the Vapor XXs. The light speed holders and non-perf steel from his Bauer Classic Gold skates had managed a year without any problems. It can be concluded that there is a problem with the boot of the Vapor XX or perhaps the precision in which the holes were drilled.

[bulletproof_funk 0]

This maybe obvious, but when looking at the skates from the side with the holders unriveted from the boot, check that the toe of the boot is 1) not too high or low compared to the heel, 2) not curling up so much as to stress the front of the front tower when the holder's riveted. Heel/toe height differences can be fixed by lifts, curling by shims/wedges where there are gaps. Just some other details to also consider.