skates: best bang for your buck?

[cause4alarm 7]

My brother, who's considering playing hockey again after like 15 years off, and his friend who is new to hockey are looking for skates. Not sure how serious they are, so I'm going to assume they're looking for a conservative price tag while at the same time willing to get something noticeably better than a rental skate.

That said, I'm also curious to hear opinions on what the best buy skate is out there even without any price constraint.

Thanks!

[Kanya 3]

My brother, who's considering playing hockey again after like 15 years off, and his friend who is new to hockey are looking for skates. Not sure how serious they are, so I'm going to assume they're looking for a conservative price tag while at the same time willing to get something noticeably better than a rental skate.

That said, I'm also curious to hear opinions on what the best buy skate is out there even without any price constraint.

Thanks!

Personally, I'm a Nike/Bauer gear whore so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend thir kit, it's always held up pretty well for me.

They'd be better spending a bit of cash on the skates: If they like it, they have a decent skate that will last, and if they don't...the skates still retain a value and would sell on eBay etc.

I'd tell them to go mid to higher range just for that reason - people rarely want mid to low skates off eBay for a decent price (ie making money back on the purchase)

They don't have to stick to this year's models either - can get high level skates on closeouts from last year's ranges for great prices.

As for no cash constraints, I'd say the One100, the TotalOne or a lot of guys are raving about the MLX skates.

Again, this is my own opinion, so hopefully you get different views too before giving them advice as you will have seen differing options.

[IniNew 53]

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php?/topic/55792-best-skates-for-300-400/

If you search for other Best Skate for threads you'll notice a common dominator. The skate that fits the best is the best bang for the buck. Regardless of price, if the skate doesn't fit your foot you wont get out of it what you put in.

[CannonBall 0]

The skate that fits the best is the best bang for the buck.

Truer words never spoken.

[17D1998 1]

Truer words never spoken.

Yet people still start threads asking for the same questions over and over again. It would be a good idea to put one of those in the Pinned topics, no?

[cause4alarm 7]

Thanks for the reminder on fit guys.

But what about once a certain product line has been chosen?

For instance, let's say he knows he likes the last on the Bauer ONE line. Then which amongst those?

I can see there being a big step up from going with the ONE60 over the ONE20. However, I can't imagine there being such a pronounced marginal benefit of the TOTALONE over the ONE80.

It seems he's looking for something around $200, but if you can think of any skates between $201-$300 that are worth the bump up in price point, please let me know.

By the way, historically he's been a Bauer guy, but he has slightly wide feet. I suggested CCMs for their wider fit and also for the fact that they seem to be WAY more likely to be heavily discounted. Opinions on this?

I also suggested Grafs because I've liked how they fit myself. Neither of us have any familiarity with Easton skates.

Thanks again!

[billygoat 0]

I went through this myself recently. Having been out of hockey for a long time and expecting the supremes to fit as they always did, imagine my surprise when I found that reeboks fit me absolutely perfectly. The bottom line is that you have to try them all on without predjudice and pick the pair that fits best.

[mug25 2]

IF they fit, a good bang for your buck right now is the Reebok 9K's. If I'm not mistaken, they were at the time of their release Reebok's top of the line skate. I've been skating with mine for about a year now and they're pretty durable, lightweight skates. You can get them (and some other 2009 model skates) for a really good price now. The Easton S17's have really dropped in price, as have the CCM U+ skates. Again, if they fit — good bang for your buck.

http://www.hockeymonkey.com/easton-hockey-skates-stealth-s17-sr.html

http://www.hockeymonkey.com/rbk-hockey-skates-9k-pump-sr-08.html

http://www.hockeymonkey.com/ccm-hockey-skates-vector-uplus-recharged-sr.html

As you can see, they were all 600+ when they first came out. He'd save almost 1/2 off in some cases and get a top of the line skate. The only issue with this is, most local hockey stores probably dont have these skates in stock anymore so trying them on might be tough.

[Chadd 916]

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php?/topic/55792-best-skates-for-300-400/

If you search for other Best Skate for threads you'll notice a common dominator. The skate that fits the best is the best bang for the buck. Regardless of price, if the skate doesn't fit your foot you wont get out of it what you put in.

Thank you