652 Tacks - blister problem

[pittu 15]

I tried to search for a thread about this, but it must be too unusual a problem or just a plain dumb question :)

I bought a really nice used pair of 652's a while back as a backup pair of skates. They fit like a glove but I immediately put in a thin piece of old insole (about 3 mm)under the heel to get a little more on my toes.

After skating in them about 4-5 times, one night out of the blue I got huge nasty blisters on both heels. I figured it had to do with the fact that I was skating in wool socks that night (duh).

Well after it happened the second time, I felt inside the back of the heel on the skates and there is a hard horizontal bump/ridge that lines up with the blisters. It seems really out of place and I've never felt that in any pair of skates before. The bump feels hard, not like bunched up fabric under the liner or anything like that.

Is this part of the "heel lock" on these skates? Did adding 3 mm of lift under the insoles lift my heel enough to cause this?...that doesnt seem to make sense to me as I've added a bit of a lift to lots of skates I've owned over the years...

I guess to sum up my question. Is this an manufactured bump or a defect?

[flyers10 57]

Raising your foot that 3mm may have moved it slightly out of the heel pocket and could be cause of your blisters. If the skate was not causing your any heel issues before your insole modification, then I would remove your insole lift and look into placing a 3mm lift between the holder and the boot's sole.

[pittu 15]

Yea, thats what I dont understand about it. I put the insole lift in immediately when I got the skates so they were like that all along, but just started causing blisters all of a sudden. I am assuming that the wool socks (thickness) caused the initial blistering, but these bumps in the heel confuse me...

thanks for the reply, I will probably just skate on them without the insole lift and if no blisters, then put in a true heel lift...

[pittu 15]

Just a followup to something thats been bugging the crap out of me. I pulled the insole heel lifts out of these skates and skated in them again. I ended up with a nasty blister within 1/2 hour of stick time skating. Crap!

So I stopped at play it again sports and felt the back of the heel inside of every pair of CCM tacks they had.

Every pair of 652's or "lesser" skates had that "bump" in the back of the heel. The 852's and "better" didnt seem to have it(???)

My assumption is that I was not getting good enough heel lock and my heel is sliding up and down causeing the blister. I think these skates would be perfect if that heel locking "bump" was not there...anyhow...just wanted to follow up. I know these are only mid level (obsolete) skates, but they are (were) my outdoor rink beaters and I hate getting blisters!!!!

[Chadd 916]

You could put a piece of mole skin in the heel pocket to cover the bump and make it smooth. My guess is the real issue is that your heel isn't locking in and it took a few skates for the padding to loosen up a bit.

[pittu 15]

Good idea, I'll try that.... thanks Chadd.