Skate Question

[Beleafer 14]

Disregarding fit, which skate is the best bang for my buck (prices with tax from local shops in my city, shipping from the USA into Canada doesn't work too well).

I am a relatively advanced ice player, trying out inline hockey for the first time.

Bauer Vapor XR2 - $190

Mission Axiom A5 - $140

Mission Axiom T6 - $170

Regarding fit, how do these skates fit? I wear Bauer Supremes on the ice..

[Vet88 674]

T6 out of that line up, the XR2 is a bottom end skate. Axioms will fit similar to supremes.

[hkfury 2]

Bumping the thread here but I have a question about the Bauer XR2. I have these skates for almost a year now and for the last two months (I skate once or twice a week), I have to really crank the laces on the two top eyelets . Otherwise I feel like I don’t have enough ankle support.

The downsides are that I have to constantly relace my skates and that I have some bad lace bite on my feet.

My question is: could this be caused by the fact that the XR2 are not stiff enough for my frame (6’2 , 190 lbs). I don’t skate an overly aggressive way.

Thanks

[Vet88 674]

As the previous poster said, the XR2 is a bottom end skate. After a year I'm not surprised they are starting to break down. Alternatively you could learn to skate without the top 2 eyelets done up.

[hkfury 2]

Thanks for the confirmation. I already tried in the past to skate with one or two of the top eyelets undone but I hated the feeling (wobbly ankles). I will give it a try again.

I will also look at upgrading my skates.

[SBRH1 1]

If they're coming loose then try waxed laces. I would have to agree that the XR2's are cheapish skates. Maybe they're laced up wrong. However, on my college roller team one of the best skaters has been using them for the whole season with no ill effects. The skates aren't falling apart or anything and he is just as good as he was when the season started.

[hkfury 2]

I have to admit I am far from being a good skater... The waxed laces did help for a few weeks but they lost their effect after that. I will put a new pair.

Thanks all for your help

[Vet88 674]

Thanks for the confirmation. I already tried in the past to skate with one or two of the top eyelets undone but I hated the feeling (wobbly ankles). I will give it a try again.

I will also look at upgrading my skates.

It's a case of how good a skater you are. When you watch speed skaters play inline hockey in speed skates and do everything that you do but even better, you begin to realise it ain't the boot.....

[Widdog 1]

I'm no expert BUT IMHO I think you should at least consider the Mission AC 5, AC 6 and AC7 Inhaler skate. Depending on your weight, if your over 200 pounds like me, you would probably be fine with the AC 7. It's true that the AC 5, AC 6 and AC 7 use the same boot and chassis. The difference lies in the wheels. Also a true fact is these skates weigh more than the more expensive Magnesium chassis skates. To me it's kind of like wood stick vs. composite stick. Your going to pay for the lighter weight stick. Like I said i'm just a intermediate level player so it is not really worth the extra money IMHO. One really nice thing about the boot on these skates is they are "Vented" to allow airflow to the toes.

BTW I wear Bauer Supremes ice. fit seems the same to me. The AC 7 is not manufactured in 1/2 sizes. I wear size 11 shoe minus 1 12 = 9.5 I went with the 10 fits great.

[hkfury 2]

When I was looking for a pair of skates a year ago, I wanted something cheap because I did not know if I would continue playing roller hockey.

I stayed away from Mission skates because they only import EE width skates here in France (no D, no E). That's why I choose the Bauer skates. Vet was able to help me well choose the right size for me.

Now that I know that I will continue to play roller hockey (because I love it !), I am ready to upgrade my skates by the end of the year (200 to 300 dollars).

[Widdog 1]

Well last night at the indoor sports court pick up hockey game, I got to try out my new Mission AC7 skates. First I would like to say this is not a good way to try out a new pair of skates. Although the Boots seemed good, they where totally not broken in. Also I was not used to the chassis. Long story short I sucked more than usual. I did get to talk to someone that had a pair of Mission AC5's (Uses the same boot and chassis as the AC7's) He said that after the you get them broke in the skates seemed pretty good.

[hkfury 2]

A quick update : putting on new waxed laces did help a lot. It is still far from being perfect but the difference was big.

[Widdog 1]

I tried the post about leaving the first two laces unlaced. Worked out really well for me.