Comfort Issue w/ Skate Tongue (CCM, Bauer)

[toddmanley 0]

Over the past couple months I've been playing around with using two different pairs of skates: 1) CCM U+07, 2) Bauer Vapor X:60. The CCM's were my original skates and worked well as I was learning how to skate. They fit great but the tongue was never very comfortable. Fast forward a few months and I find myself with an opportunity to buy the X:60's. In the LHS they fit great and the tongue was way more comfortable than the CCM's.

However, the honeymoon with the Bauer's only lasted about 2 months. The skate eventually cause my right foot to develop a Haglund's bump which turned out to be pretty painful while skating. I went to the closet and pulled out the CCM's just to see how they would feel...upon my first skate back on them the pain was gone and I was happy to be skating again.

But, I did fall in love with the improved comfort of the tongue's on the X:60's. The comfort from the X:60's were better in the ankle too, but due to the issue with the heel it's just not viable for me to stick with a skate that causes this kind of pain.

So here where I need advice...should I look to upgrade the CCM's with a different tongue? A buddy of mine said I should just take the tongues out of the X:60's and put them in the CCM's (not sure I really like this idea). Also, if the fit of the more expensive CCM's models is the same (can somebody confirm?), then are they more comfortable too?

-Thanks, Todd

[Fisticuffs 0]

The only problem I see with using your X60 tongues in your CCMs is that you're wrecking the Bauers for a part of the skate that is fairly inexpensive. Better to sell the X60s and buy new tongues (Graf tongues are popular).

That said, I'm skating the CCM U+ Pro Reloaded after skating on the previous model U+ Pro. The Reloaded has a much more comfortable ankle (seems like much more padding, despite a very stiff boot) and a felt tongue instead of the nylon thing they used in the previous model. It is by far the most comfortable skate I've ever had.

[Chadd 916]

Is the problem really with the tongue or with the depth of the CCM? If only the tongue, it's easy to find replacements, even if they come from used skates at your local play it again sports.

[toddmanley 0]

Is the problem really with the tongue or with the depth of the CCM? If only the tongue, it's easy to find replacements, even if they come from used skates at your local play it again sports.

I haven't thought about the difference in the depth of the boot. I should probably compare the two and see what's the difference. Would my assumption be incorrect if I said the Bauer's would be more comfortable if they were deeper? I'm not too educated on how the boot depth relates to comfort.

[toddmanley 0]

Quick update to my situation. I ended up spending nearly 3 hours at the local shop trying on different skates and ended up with the Graf G35x's. These skates were able to fix the issues I had with the lace bite on the CCM's and the heel pain from the Bauer's. Thankfully I can now skate pain free!

[toddmanley 0]

Good, now that you fixed your fit issues, we should schedule an appointment for you in the "I'm having pitch problems" thread, where most people who switched to a more aggressive boot want to go back being on their heels. I’m probably jumping the gun here, but do a search with a word "pitch"

Cheers

Funny you mention that because this was something I was worried about. However, after the first 15 minutes on the Graf's I felt way more comfortable that I thought I would. I was expecting to feel like I was falling forward. On the contrary, I felt like the aggressive angle of the boot put me into a better position without me having to think about bending my knees and being in an athletic hockey position. So far everything has been better, so I won't be chiming in on the pitch discussion.

I also thought that going back to a 9' radius would have caused me some issues, but that hasn't been a problem either. Perhaps the more aggressive position is making me feel more stable on this radius compared to my old 11' radius on the CCM's.

[jsykes 35]

Graf also uses an 11' radius.

[toddmanley 0]

Now wonder these felt solid under my feet. Either way I'm not complaining.