Is it always necessary to bake a new pair of skates?

[Leithel 0]

Is it always necessary to bake a new pair of skates? I just purchased a new pair of what I feel are a perfect fitting "out of the box" skates. I never bake my new ski boot liners; I feel like it breaks them down prematurely. These are not "Flexlites" they are a much stiffer skate. I have unlimited time to break these skates in; but am I wasting that time? I'm just curious about what other have found out about this process.

[Reaper 0]

What kind of skates are they? Certain skates require baking to get the correct "wrap" that can never be achieved by simply wearing them due to the fact that your feet will never reach 175 degrees farenheight.

[AIREAYE 248]

Like Reaper said, it depends on the kind of skate. The very low end skates will experience very little change from baking due to the newer materials and skates such as the CCM U+CL are almost bake-necessary to get the correct wrap on them.

[Leithel 0]

Thanks for the replies. That was exactly what I was worried about. They are actually new old stock Easton EQ5's. At the price, (Thanks Hockeymonkey!) I couldn't resist. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed; but I'm very impressed with these skates!

[AIREAYE 248]

Baking simply shortens the amount of break-in time. If you do not have access to a skate oven, it's just a lengthier matter of breaking them in the old-fashioned way.

[nyr386 0]

You dont have to bake them, no problem with breaking them in naturally. Ive been wearing the new Graf G75 for a few weeks now and didnt bake them. Never any pain or discomfort, and now they're perfectly matched to my feet, only took a few skates.

[Chappie 0]

Baking simply shortens the amount of break-in time. If you do not have access to a skate oven, it's just a lengthier matter of breaking them in the old-fashioned way.

Not true of many new skates, CCM being the prime example of this.

[AIREAYE 248]

Not true of many new skates, CCM being the prime example of this.

That's exactly what I said in my first post...

[romdj 26]

getting back to eq5, if they feel right out of the box, you can not bake them, if there are places where you would like more/less volume, baking them will only improve the overall fit. so it really is up to you.

[Leithel 0]

Thanks all!

[Chappie 0]

That's exactly what I said in my first post...

Sorry, didn't see it.

[icewalker_bg 126]

for me, i needed to bake the skates that were painful in the beginning. some easton skates that ive had i didnt bake them because i didnt have any hot spots. i always skate once first and see how they feel before baking, like that i know what to adjust if baking is needed.

[B-Nads 0]

for me, i needed to bake the skates that were painful in the beginning. some easton skates that ive had i didnt bake them because i didnt have any hot spots. i always skate once first and see how they feel before baking, like that i know what to adjust if baking is needed.

Same here. My 709's are the only skates I've owned that I haven't baked - they seem spot on, but all my other skates got used a few times to find the hot spots before baking them.

[Leithel 0]

Great advice. Thanks again!