Bauer One100 Cowling Advantages & Technical Challenges

[Law Goalie 147]

A few weeks ago, we had a really good discussion of possible issues with the quite radical Bauer One100 cowling in Netminder32's thread, Bauer ONE## goalie skate problems? I stress the One100 cowling part, because the consensus was, more or less, that the 3mm blade which is unique to the One100 in the Bauer line was part of the issue. (High-end Reeboks also have a thinner 'Thrust' blade, but this is only thinner at the bottom, whereas the One100 is 3mm all the way up.) The extreme departure of the Bauer One100 Vertexx design from prior goalie cowlings seemed to make some goalies have varying degrees of foot paint: a combination of standing on a 1mm thinner blade for an hour or more at a time (no shifts on the bench), increased height of the outsole from the ice, and the Vertexx cut-outs all contributed to the exposure of feet and legs used to a much less aggressive set of angles being exposed to a brand new range of motion. I mean, imagine if you suddenly grew the better part of an inch overnight and cut 1/4" of the width off your feet: until you got used to it, you'd probably be tripping a fair bit - and those are just shoes, not rigid boots propped up on knives. It's a question of how much you're willing or able to adapt and/or compromise to make use of any new technology or technique.

What I kept stressing in that discussion is that the One100 cowlings (in particular, but the rest of the One80/60 lines as well, literally to lesser degrees) don't suffer form design problems per se, so much as radical design changes with huge potential advantages for all goalies, and some potential drawbacks for some goalies. Recently, someone on GSBB did exactly that, putting together a fairly thorough, illustrated and calculated review of what the Vertexx cowling (in all its versions) has to offer.

(Just to be clear, the One100 Vertexx cowling has 3mm steel and a cut-out in the cowling plastic in the medial forefoot, at the first metatarsal (between the big toe and the instep) with a carbon-composite insert covering the cut-out; the One80 Vertexx has 4mm steel and the same cut-out; the One60 has 4mm steel and no cut-out in the forefoot.)

While I don't generally like to repost content from other sites, in this case, for the critical purpose of revising and extending the argument, I'm going to do just that, bringing in other material as well:

The heights from ice to underside of the cowlings are as follows:

Under the heels: Bauer: 2.75 in - Graf: 2.25 in

Under the toes: Bauer: 2 in - Graf: 1.625 in (1 5/8 in)

Illustrative images from another thread (NB that the CCM steel is extremely low and banana'ed):

Even with the full blade on the ice, having 9° of extra angle of attack (ed. note: from the horizontal plane, eg. the ice, 37 Bauer to 46 Graf) can mean that your blade stays on the ice for several more inches of leg extension in your push offs.

Assuming your hip stays the same height off the ice at 22" (my hip is 20" off the floor in bare knees), then simple trigonometry means that you can extend the Graf cowling only 21.25" laterally away from under your hip, or in other words, extend your leg to 30.6", until it hits 46° and slips out.

However, with the Bauers you can extend your skate 29.1" laterally away from under your hip, or extend your leg to 36.6" (that's pretty much the entire length of my leg), before it hits 37° and slips out.

Let's say that again.

With the Bauer's sharper angle of attack, you can get an extra 8" of push along the ice before it slips out.

[...]

Both cowlings are size 9.

The lengths of the two blades are as follows:

Bauer: 12.5in

Graf: 12.25in

[...]

The Graf cowling has had about a dozen sharpenings. This minor change in height will affect the angles and whatnot, but not by very much.

http://www.isthisyou...uer-Cowling.jpg

Just for fun, here's what some other lunatic achieved in angle-of-attack using Step Steel 'Extreme' blades with his One100 Vertexx cowlings (and MLX boots!):

I've added a couple pictures below which illustrate this effect against a real goalie. I tried to have the top point of the triangle about where the goalie's hip socket would be, but even if it's off by a bit, the relative sizes would still be the same. Whatever the "h" of the triangle is (however high off the ice your hip is), you will get only 95.6% of that distance as lateral push in the Grafs, but 132.4% of that distance in push with the Bauers. (ed. note: These percentages seem a little wonky; it's not clear what they're expressing, though the underlying concept is clear.)

Of course, that's the extra push you get with your hip at 22" off the ice (about where mine is when I'm in a very good, tall butterfly). But what's really interesting is that, as the animation below shows, when the Bauers roll onto the toe, their angle of attack is way, *way* sharper than the Grafs.

Here's another illustrative shot of the difference in toe profile between a CCM/RBK Customlite cowling (left) and a Bauer One100 Vertexx cowling (right):

This has to do with how the toe of the blade disengages from the ice, rolling onto the toe of the cowling as your leg rotates behind the pad in driving your knees down into butterfly, half-butterfly, or half-split save-movements.

Now, in the spirit of the prior thread, it's important to see all of this in terms of advantages and compromises. Another GSBB poster put it in succinctly, if hysterically:

palla61]

The increased attack angle of 28% of the Vertexx cutout seems good for wide stances and quicker recovery when you are getting back up since the blade catches the ice earlier. BUT when going the other way' date=' i.e. standing and then wanting to slide your leg to the side, wouldn't you have to angle your leg/knee much more until the blade looses contact with the ice and you can slide with your cowling along the ice? Seems like this could strain your knee more and if you don't angle it down far enough, there would be a risk of the blade getting caught (because of the attack angle) on the ice causing you to abrubtly stop in your sliding motion (seriously injuring your knee/ankle?!) while going down and across....or am I wrong ?

[/quote']

It's important to note that this poster is confusing a lot of related but nonetheless distinct issues. While the Vertexx does allow a wider stance (as the other poster's diagrams show), this is not universally a good thing; a narrow stance gives much more lateral power, since the hip is loaded over the heel. The major advantage of the Vertexx is not in "getting back up," it's in butterfly movement (that is, sliding movements rather than save-movements) while still down, since you can engage the edge of the blade at a much lower angle to the ice; this means that you don't have to lift your backside knee as far off off the ice, from its position in the butterfly, in order to get edge contact and push off. In fact, the Vertexx cowling should make full recoveries from stance to butterfly a little *harder*: by forcing the goalie to raise the backside knee hat 0.5" higher (in total height 'h') from the ice, the hip is forced to flex more, and effectively put in a slightly deeper split-squat squat position. It's a minor thing, but it could cause some trip-ups until you adapt to the difference in height.

However, the poster is absolutely not wrong to suggest (though definitely overblown in presentation) that in transitioning from stance to butterfly slide (lowing the frontside knee, pushing with the backside leg) the Vertexx demands much crisper technique. While it is rarely if ever a good idea to "slide with your cowling along the ice" (since that means the frontside knee is not on the ice in the butterfly, which is a recipe for getting burned by squeakers), he is absolutely correct in observing that because of the more radical angle-of-attack provided by the Vertexx cowling, you'll need to lower your frontside knee further before the inside edge will disengage from the ice surface. Now, in an ideal world of technical proficiency, the frontside knee should already be on the ice before the backside leg pushes off, since the process of lowering the frontside knee effectively loads the backside leg AND presents a full 11"a wall on the frontside approaching the puck/scoring threat. That said, I have felt myself slide on my cowlings a little from time to time, especially when I get lazy or just plain sloppy. And, when I first switched from my old SLM cowlings to the lower-profile, taller CCM Customlites, I did accidentally catch my blades on the ice a couple of times, exactly as the poster describes.

The point is that this is a matter of technical adjustment and adaptation rather than a 'design flaw.' Butterfly movements are, as any goalie coach will tell you, inherently counter-intuitive to the human brain, and inherently stressful on the body. You can train yourself (aka reprogram your brain) to perform those movements consistently, like teaching yourself to juggle or recite long poems on cue, but they're still really tricky. The Vertexx cowling offers goalies the chance to take this technical evolution even further, and in so doing, it demands even more of them.

For my part, I'm looking for a pair of One60 cowlings precisely because I'm worried about my lazy/sloppy tendency to slide on my cowlings from time to time. I'm confident I'll be able to adjust to the change in actual angle-of-attack, blade to ice, since I shaved/whittled down my CCM cowlings with a skill-knife a few weeks ago, yielding a roughly 6-degree increase in AOA, and had nothing but enjoyment in my few skates since (3 coaching, only 1 game). What concerns me about the One100/80 Vertexx is that cut-out in the forefoot. It's not a smooth plastic surface, and some very knowledgeable and experienced (and, like me, slightly antiquated) goalies have experienced the edges of plastic around the cut-out catching on the ice. Since that seems like something I might not be as able to adapt to quickly, I'm opting to sacrifice a degree or two or AOA for a little peace of mind, deferring for now that extra of performance which would demand that extra adjustment on my part.

[OmegaGoalie 9]

I've had my ONE100 skates for 2 years, I average about 12 hours of ice a week and they were and still are the best and most comfortable skate I've ever used. They are simply a masterpiece for modern goaltenders plain an simple. Also my Vertexx cut outs are still there and in excellent shape as I don't put my cowling into the ice when I move/push and frankly neither should anyone else. It's not Bauers fault goaltenders are destroying the cut out area, they aren't using the skate correctly.

[Law Goalie 147]

Great testimonial, and I completely agree about that technical issue. The whole point of the Vertexx cowling, and the cut-outs in particular, is to prevent slip-outs; slip-outs are by definition what happens when you put your cowling against the ice and push -- the skate slips out from under your weight, and you get all those lovely ankle, knee and hip injuries. Bauer's design is expressly to reduce the frequency and severity of these injuries and increase performance, and goalies absolutely should not put their cowlings on the ice, period.

I have, however, noticed that when I get tired or lazy or just plain sloppy, I do sometimes *drag* my backside foot on the medial edge of the cowling, both in skating and butterfly movements. I've only noticed it since I shaved down my CCM cowlings and started paying attention to angle-of-attack in my skating drills. It's a really bad habit, but it's something a few other guys have noticed as well, and I've caught it a few times on NHL netcams; not as bad as some of my kids dragging their blades, but not good. My concern about the One100/80 Vertexx is mainly that I might catch the edge of the cutting while dragging in a moment when my skating isn't especially crisp.

I acknowledge that I'm trading one risk for another: more likelihood of slip-outs due to slightly lesser available AOA with the One60, or my temporary shaved CCMs, while not risking the kind of 'catch' on the cut-out described above. Since I've never actually experienced a full-on slip-out, but I have noticed myself dragging my cowling from time to time, I'd *personally* take the former over the latter.

I do think the Vertexx design, though utterly brilliant, could be improved. Carbon composites don't generally have fantastic abrasion resistance, and not all goalies have sound or consistent technique, especially when fatigue sets in. Something as simple as a different insert material would do away with all of the 'complaints' about the cut-out wearing through, even though such wear is, as you rightly point out, properly understood as user error rather than design flaw.

I've also heard that Graf has a new cowling design coming out in April/March of 2012, and that Reebok is working on a new version of theirs. Exciting times.

[OmegaGoalie 9]

Of course Graf and Reebok are working on newer cowlings, they have to attempt to compete with Bauers master work lol. I can't wait for the Bauer Pro skate to be available! I only wish the accent color on the boot wasn't orange...makes me think of the Flyers lol

I agree the material on the cut out could be more durable but in the quest to be the lightest everything I suppose that was Bauers go to material lol

[Law Goalie 147]

No new cowling for Reebok in the 2012 catalogue, but some information has surfaced on the new Graf cowling, coming out of Switzerland, and it's much less of a departure from the prior Cobra design than some had suggested. The cowling is supposedly much stiffer, and carries the boot a little higher off the ice. The blade is now replaceable using the same bolt system in the heel as on Cobra player holders, and there are 'drainage' or vent holes drilled in the bottom of the cowling. Most of the plastic on the inside of the ankle and instep has been removed, as has the pointless old plastic extension in the medial forefoot, aka the plastic OverDrive, aka the slip-out machine, which most guys had been slicing off or grinding down anyway -- but that's is really more removing a detrimental design addition than a huge improvement. Supposedly, Graf intends this to compete with the Bauer Vertexx and claims to have achieved the same angle-of-attack, but from the pictures, this seems extremely unlikely. Both cowlings are shown with the Graf G50 boot installed.

Medial (inside) Profile:

While the outsole of the new Graf cowling does appear to be slightly higher off the ice than the prior design, it still looks to be at least 1/4" lower than the One100 Vertex cowling. Notice also the classic Graf goalie blade, significantly shorter in actual length and *much* shorter in profile (~22').

Angle-of-Attack:

(NOTE: pictures taken from skewed perspective, ie. not directly along the blade)

Now, if you mentally correct for the fact that these pictures were not only taken from an unhelpful perspective, but from slightly *different* perspectives, you can see that the Graf cowling, despite being an improvement on the old design, is actually nowhere near the attack-angle of the One100, or even the One60 cowling. Yet the above picture illustrates the only thing really keeping the Graf design from being at least in the same ballpark as the One100: that one little lip or ridge bumping out from the cowling along the medial forefoot, that's resting on the desk. Take a look at the underside of the cowling for reference:

It's subtle, but you can see exactly the spot that's resting on the desk, just above (relative to the framing of the picture) the first bolt in the forefoot. (This shot also shows off the rather half-hearted vent holes, but more importantly, how little hardware you need to anchor a cowling to a boot, though you can see where the cowling has lines of tiny holes in place for rivets or more bolts). All Graf needs to do to have a viable cowling is to get rid of that bump and the lip/ridge along the medial forefoot, making sure that the cowling's structural integrity isn't compromised; that would be enough to compete. They might need to through one some sort of gimmicky branding to draw attention to that spot - "The Cobra Fang Cut-Out: More Bite for your Blades! Rarrrr!" (or would that be "Hissss..."?) - but the above changes would take care of the performance aspect.

[SEagle30 0]

Is there any way that you could put the one100 cowling on a Graf boot?

[Gummer12 134]

Look at the first picture in the post above yours Mick.

[Law Goalie 147]

In short, what wex said: yes.

The slightly longer answer is that it seems to have been relatively easy to mate Graf goalie boots with Bauer cowlings, including the One100. Little to no shimming is required, and the cut of the Graf ankle combined with the relatively low side protection of the Vertexx cowling makes for an easy match -- in contrast to, say, the relatively vertical side coverage of a Reebok/CCM cowling and a boot with more pronounced ankles.

[Law Goalie 147]

As a follow-up, here are a couple of pictures that show relative blade lengths:

Bauer One100 vs. Graf pre-2012 Cobra cowling:

Pretty comparable; the Bauer blade is maybe 1cm longer in the same size. Note also that the Graf blade, though a bit banana'ed from sharpening, really is that much shorter in profile: around 22' to Bauer's 30'.

Bauer One100 vs. CCM/RBK Customlite:

A more pronounced difference: the CCM/RBK blade is about an inch longer. Supposedly, these are still the same size of cowling; it's the angle of the picture and the relative placement of the boot that makes the CCM cowling itself look longer.

[Axxion89 32]

To add to Law Goalie's quality posts, I recently purchased the One100 goal skates as I needed a new pair to fit my feet better. Here is a comparison of the steel length vs my 5.5 Rbk 6k (One 100's are size 6 so both cowlings are size 6)

As LG said, about an inch of steel difference and its taking some time to get used to as well as the 3mm steel vs the 4mm on most other goal skates. With the same cut, it feels as if I can move easier in the 3mm steel than the 4mm with skating and shuffles with no change on bite for pushes. The vertexx cowling adds a lot more angle of attack that I was imagining compared to the RBK skates. In my 2 current games, I have yet to have a slip out whereas with the Reebok I would get one maybe 1 out of every 4 times in the butterfly. One more thing to note is that the angle of the skate (I don't know how to explain this, the heel vs toes slope angle?) is greater than the CCMs and Reebks I have used in the past.

When I get much more use from these skates, I will throw up a review. I figure I would add the above to share some of my observations.

[jconc1941 0]

great info!

[jimmy 194]

Graf Lovers, no need to bother with the bauer cowlings anymore, the new Graf cowling is streamlined, light with finally a stainless replaceable runner. I took a pic of just the holder will try to get it up later.

[Law Goalie 147]

Is it the same as the prototype I linked to a few posts above, or have they changed the design since then?

[jimmy 194]

Yes it's very similar to the one posted above. What I notice is that the sides are very contoured which allows a great angle of tilt before cowling contacts ice. I didn't get to keep it so couldn't measure exact but this cowling is big improvement over the older model. The replaceable/stainless option now is huge.

[Law Goalie 147]

Agreed: that was a good move. Have you sharpened and/or skated on the new steel yet? Probably too early for a really sound opinion, but a first impression? If you had a minute to mimic the first set of pictures to give an idea of the AOA, that'd be brilliant. Like I said above, all they'd need to do is contour the forefoot a *tiny* bit more from the prototype, and they'd be in One60 territory: it's that close.

Man would I love to demo a pair of these for a month or two...

[jimmy 194]

I use RBKs so prob wont be able to try it but have a good customer lined up to get a pair the minute they come in.

GSBB dribble aside, I don't think the AOA of the bauers vs the RBK/CCM people are posting is accurate. For the graf yes, but for the others no. I have a pair of Bauer and RBKs in same size here (I was going to put on my skates) both with unsharpened stock virgin steel that I've done some measuring. First off, the Bauer forefoot is actually wider than the RBK at the vertex center point, cowling is 2" wide for the Bauer vs 1 7/8" for the RBK (measured from center of runner. Bauer runner is 3.0mm, Rbk is 3.2mm.) The contact point where the cowlings touch the ice however is identical on the RBK and Bauer, both touch at approx the 1 3/4" width on the cowlings. AOA is virtually identical. For the Bauers though this contact point is on cowling above the vertex cutout, so the when angled over with stock steel the vertex area does not touch the ice. If the blades were taller they would, but as the blades are sharpened the cowling would be lowevered even more which would decrease AOA. Taller blades on both the bauers and RBKs would help with AOA for sure, more so with the Bauers as now the vertex cut out would come into play.

[Law Goalie 147]

Very interesting... I'd always wanted to ask for your thoughts on this, but I figured you'd get around to it when you had time. Those measurements are probably worth more than everything else in this thread so far.

So the primary difference is actually the height of the outsole (well, underside of the cowling) from the ice, rather than the profile of the forefoot? That makes a good deal of sense, given the skates I've seen with Step Extreme steel on them.

I guess the primary advantage of the Vertexx cut-out is that Bauer can make a wider cowling (wider at the contact point than Reebok's) 'play' at the same width (1 3/4"). What I find really interesting about that is that Bauer changed the way they size the Vertexx cowlings: they used to size up on the half-size (eg. 7 skate -> 7 cowling, 7.5 skate -> 8 cowling), but now they're sizing down (eg. 7.5 -> 7 cowling), and they claim to be using the same size of cowlings on D as on EE boots. at least per p.39 of the 2012 goal catalogue.

[lukejameslarson 5]

I know that this isn't adding anything productive to the conversation, but I'd love to see the 2012 Bauer Goalie catalogue.

[Law Goalie 147]

Ask JR: if he wants to post it, I'm sure it would get reviewed.

[Gummer12 134]

We are waiting on the Green Light from Bauer, because there are certain items that have yet to be 'released' to the public... But some of those were just unveiled at the Minnesota State High School event and such, so hopefully it'll be SOON. Stay Tuned!

[lukejameslarson 5]

Understood. The couple of things that I've seen just a candid snapshot of (skates, c/a, One100 line) look interesting, and are what make me want to see it.

Patience is no fun. Thanks for the update, though!

[jimmy 194]

Very interesting... I'd always wanted to ask for your thoughts on this, but I figured you'd get around to it when you had time. Those measurements are probably worth more than everything else in this thread so far.

So the primary difference is actually the height of the outsole (well, underside of the cowling) from the ice, rather than the profile of the forefoot? That makes a good deal of sense, given the skates I've seen with Step Extreme steel on them.

I guess the primary advantage of the Vertexx cut-out is that Bauer can make a wider cowling (wider at the contact point than Reebok's) 'play' at the same width (1 3/4"). What I find really interesting about that is that Bauer changed the way they size the Vertexx cowlings: they used to size up on the half-size (eg. 7 skate -> 7 cowling, 7.5 skate -> 8 cowling), but now they're sizing down (eg. 7.5 -> 7 cowling), and they claim to be using the same size of cowlings on D as on EE boots. at least per p.39 of the 2012 goal catalogue.

After initally hearing all the hype about the bauers, I grabbed and put a pair aside for me with intent to compare and make the switch to the Bauers when my Thrust steel got low. However, a concussion (steamrolled over by guy on breakaway) put the squawsh on my hockey and I've been out for nearly 5 months, so I never got around to comparing the Bauer vs RBK just until just recently. I've been examining every Bauer goal skate when they come in for sharpening, and while the vertex area on some is worn thru, on most that area doesn't even have a scratch. Odd. There is definately a variable/unknown factor that's missing from this equasion.

[Law Goalie 147]

Yikes... I hope all's well in the brainbox.

I think the wear on the Vertexx area is exactly what Omega (whose Vertexxes are spotless) theorised: that goalies who have historically dragged their backside foot on the cowling or actually slid on the cowling of their frontside (lead) foot in the butterfly -- which, as he said, poor technique, but quite common -- the little composite insert gets annihilated. I catch myself doing this sometimes, especially when I'm tired, and I can easily imagine that with the cut-out, that's exactly the angle lazy that a frontside leg will select, since it feels 'rested' on the cut-out. It may also have to do with where and how much pressure the goalie is exerting in releasing the blade from the ice in moving to the butterfly.

[jimmy 194]

Yea, the brain is a little F'd up at times, getting better slowly. Concussions are serious damage.

Taller steel is the answer. I always love the feel of new steel, it's the height!

[Axxion89 32]

Ok rather than make a new thread I am going to post this in here. I have One100's and I have noticed an issue with the steel that other goalies have mentioned to me as well. Seems to be that the stock One100 steel does not hold an edge very well at all and as other goalies have mentioned to me, they say the steel is "soft". While I cannot comment on the soft comment, I can definitely say that the steel does not hold its edges/sharpening anywhere close to my previous skates, Reebok 6K. I use the same sharpener and get the same cut, play the same way and yet, my One100's lose their bite/edge after 2 3 skates whereas my 6k's lost their edge after 8-10 skates for me. Before I take further action on this, I wanted to hear if anyone can confirm these reviews and comments I have heard and currently experience.