Tour bonelite 750 vs Mission ac:3

[Souldriver 64]

So Ive only been able to fit into a 9D bone line skate and it fit pretty comfy, even for someone with a wider foot (coming from reebok E size though i was told that im no longer a wide width foot somehow? back to the topic) but i cant fit comfortably into a D width mission and there is no where around here with an E width or will get one without having me put a deposit down on it.

So is there really a huge difference in these skates performance wise? im not talking about the wheels or bearings or differences between all 80s and hi-lo. i already know those and those are going to be changed no matter what. im talking about stiffness, boot breakdown etc. the guy at the proshop told me that tour boots havnt changed in the past 6 years, even with their new fish bonelite designs. he was also on the mission and bauer teams so he may be slightly biased. the missions did seem like a well put together skate but without a wide width available around here thats a tough $400 cliff to jump off.

and input on this would be welcome.

[mik3 1]

No experience with the current Tour line but if the consensus is that Tour boot construction hasn't changed then I would avoid them. If you like a stiff skate then you'll be upset after a month or so of regular use.

I got stuck having to use two years ago's tour boot when my sprungs broke. I used the skate for about 6 weeks playing 4 times a week and the thing was pretty much wrecked by the time I was done.

[Souldriver 64]

That's good to know. I feel long gone are the days of "i had these skates for years!" And people are now making the (costly) investment in skates annually.

There is one more spot that may have a wide mission and I'm calling them today and crossing my fingers. None of the local shops are restocking until September too. :sigh:

[Souldriver 64]

No missions in wide width anywhere around here and all local stores said they would order it but want a 10% deposit and for em to buy them. thats a big no no for me.
I decided on the Tour Fish Bonelite pros. despite having a pretty aweful looking fish design, while the 750 and 725 have a much nicer look, i feel the much stiffer boot and extra weight reduction was worth it after mulling it all over, though now it looks like ill have to do a couple more weekend shifts at work but im hoping its worth it. because i wanted the black and not the oh-so-easily-marred white, ill have to wait till thursday but that is fine with me.
thursday its a quick bake and fitting, as well as finding a way to black out as much of that horrible fish design as i can, then friday open skate if all goes to plan. Hoping these are the skates for me when its all said and done, there is very little that i despise more in hockey than new skate shopping.
I will also do my best to put up a review bc this site is lacking in roller skate reviews.

[Jamie_tnt 6]

Tours are comfy, but as others have said, they lose stiffness really quick, that said they are good skates.

[Souldriver 64]

Tours are comfy, but as others have said, they lose stiffness really quick, that said they are good skates.

Yes they are. That being said iI hope going with their top skate helps them hold up and/or I can at least get through a game where I get off the rink and not have my feet mad at me.

Sweet avatar btw. iI heard tour is using more space age materials, they borrowed it from naysa

[Kyle Friedman 9]

I had tour ex1's (last years top of the line skate) I found them to be heavy and they lost their stiffness completely within 4 months of use. After 6-7months they were un usable and I had to purchase new skates. I am now on Mission ac1s and they are the best skate Iv ever skated on.

If you fit comfortably into Missions, I would steer towards them and away from Tour.

[Souldriver 64]

To be honest I picked tour bc I know they fit my foot. With missions I would need an e width and no one. I mean no one had them locally. They wanted me to pay 10% deposit to try them.I've been stuck with bad fitting skates before and I can't do that again. Even if I did something where I went to IW with free return shipping on skates I know from the extreme stiffness of the missions that I would need to bake them and therefor couldnt return them.

If there was a local store with an e width mission this may have been a different story, but I did also need them for the weekend.

There is also the fact I'm used to all 80s and that's what all my wheels are so I wouldn't need to buy new ones as well as a free pack of addictions that I will probably list to cover costs.

Really the factors for me choosing tour this time is that they are known to fit me and LHSs lacking ANY wide width mission skate to try.

Either way I'll be putting up a 3 month review of them and either I'll love them or I'll be regretting my purchase. Lets hope it's the former.

Either way I'll put up a review of the skates, maybe I'll love them or maybe I'll be regretting my choice again though I hope it's the former.

[mik3 1]

Yeah, Tours don't fit everyone, so if they fit you then it's worth checking out. And yeah, there is a bit of value in staying with the straight 80s.

Tour does do a really good job with their top of the line skates. It's the lower levels where, in my opinion, mission and alkali do a much better job.

[Souldriver 64]

Well the bonelight pros are coming in today so I'll strap them on and see how they feel. I checked one of the stores again and they said they're getting more e width missions in maybe as soon as tomorrow. meanwhile a day earlier they wanted to charge me to get them in to try :MAJOR eye roll:

I'll hold off playing in the tours till I try the missions. I'll look at the ac2. They're $50 or so cheaper than the pros so maybe that'll go to wheels.

[Souldriver 64]

Also you guys saying the skate was ruined can you be more specific?

Did it just go soft? Eyelets popping out? Chassis ruined? Bottom if the foot separation?

Thanks

[mik3 1]

Absolutely zero stiffness in not a lot of time at all. My two year old X60s are still more stiff than those tours after using them for less than two months.

I'm pretty sure Tour makes their skates quite well now otherwise.

[Souldriver 64]

Good to know. The pros are in my hand and the quarters are pretty stiff right now, around the toe a little less but that doesn't tell if it will be over time.

In other news, I tried mission EE width and they were ....... Good! Real good! The little bit of discomfort I had on the outside of my right foot most likely could have been heated out. I ordered a pair of AC2 missions and they should be here next Wednesday, I'll try them both on and stand and roll around on both and make a decision. I think I'm leaning for the ac2 skates bc I havnt heard ANYTHING bad about them and they felt less bulky on my foot. The tours have the sweet all 80s and the recessed front wheels but time will tell.

[Souldriver 64]

Going with the mission ac2 size 9ee.

Explaination soon.

[Kyle Friedman 9]

I think that is a smart choice. You will be very happy with the skates, I love my AC1s.

[Souldriver 64]

Reasons why I went mission this time come down to a couple of factors.
A) Fit:

(preword: if trying a model with the indy foam in the ankle, give it 5 minutes on your foot or so to let it conform to yourankle first before judging it)

It really surprised me when any mission boot fit my foot. they never did before and havnt any time i tried but that was, to be honest, some years ago when i was a kid. im really glad my LHS got in wide widths on their own and didnt try to charge me to try. both tour and mission wides in 9 fit well but the missions had a little bit more anatomical fit to it. the tours seemed to be the same width all of the way back straight back, i thought this would fit my foot better but it didnt really. wasnt bad but wasnt great or as good as the missions. the same goes for the tours footbed contour. the footbed/outsole on the tour did seam stronger but the shape was flat and i would def need my super feet with them. the missions have an arch to them, these may end up being too big of an arch when i actually go play on them but they did support and cuddle the bottom of my foot and left no negative space on the bottom of the boot. this is a first for me and i hope that helps and doesnt actually hurt my foot.
With my laces loose and foot in the boot everything was snug and it was almost hard to pull off, but nothing hurt or was tight. i did notice right behind the toebox on the pinky toe side there was pressure but when i tied the skate tight that seemed to be relieved a little, and past experiences tell me some baking will take care of that. the tours seemed too stiff? but really only at the ankles sides, it felt like L brackets holding everything up, not sure if i liked this or not.

B) Finish:

Though I dont like either boots look that much the looks department gives the missions a slight edge, they do look better in person but for fudges sake can roller get with it? an all white boot that will be easily marred and stained and look beat after the first game, looks arnt a huge concern but i just want a non flashy black boot. the tour 750s and 725s look nice but the pros have a fish on it? why!?
Ok but onto the real stuff, the only flaw i found on the missions were it seemed one chassis was mounted about 1mm more towards the inside of the foot than the other. the whole chassis was moved so it wasnt a crooked mounting thank god and i dont see it affecting anything, but it is worth noting. there were also threads at the end of stitches that were cut a little long and were hanging but minutes with a scissor solves that easily.
The tours were different. non of the skid pads were put on in the same alignment or spot, the ends of things like the liner around the ankle seemed to flap up a little and seem like they would easily wear, the glue for the outsole was everywhere, there was one sharp edged rivet that i got cut on, but the biggest thing was the outsole itself. It looked like it was de-laminating from itself to be honest. one boot in particular had little spots that looked like popped bubbles where the outside shiny finish/lamination which gave way to the carbon weave underneath, as well as hazy spots around the lip of the sole that looks like the top finish was de-laming there too and was about to crack off. This is a top end $550 boot and this shouldnt be. I spoke to one of the tour reps for a while when deciding on tour and i think ill give him a call to tell him my findings, it may be a one in a million thing but i feel like he should know.

C)Price:
Neither was inexpensive but mission was about $50 less. Yes now i need to get some 76mm wheels but they arnt that expensive. (for my weight and size the XX grip hot shots work great, perfect grip and no chunking. this was recommended by rink rat themselves as they told me the hornet splits may have too much m-tech for my weight and may wear prematurely. its nice seeing they didnt try to up-sell me) But i feel like im getting more, the skate is lighter. swiss bearings are better, laces, tongue, inner foams are nicer etc etc. Tours come with a free set of labeda addictions that i would have sold off but now they all used "abec 9 gold" bearings which are just fancy 9s, didnt they used to give you swiss bearings? I have to go to hornets and i have my bones super swiss 6 im going to pop in, which imho are better than other skate manufacturers swiss bearings by far but thats a different discussion.

I really hope these pan out and i can join the seemingly endless ranks of those in love with these skates, to be honest i havnt seen one bad thing said about these, and to be really honest im tired of dropping money on skates and the whole fitting and break in run around to get them feeling just right.

[Jamie_tnt 6]

Tours are comfy, but as others have said, they lose stiffness really quick, that said they are good skates.

Yes they are. That being said iI hope going with their top skate helps them hold up and/or I can at least get through a game where I get off the rink and not have my feet mad at me.

Sweet avatar btw. iI heard tour is using more space age materials, they borrowed it from naysa

Yeah, NAYSA are going to be a major player in the hockey game :-P

[Chad Seibel 2]

No experience with the current Tour line but if the consensus is that Tour boot construction hasn't changed then I would avoid them. If you like a stiff skate then you'll be upset after a month or so of regular use.

I got stuck having to use two years ago's tour boot when my sprungs broke. I used the skate for about 6 weeks playing 4 times a week and the thing was pretty much wrecked by the time I was done.

What Tour skate did you use that this happened to?

[mik3 1]

No experience with the current Tour line but if the consensus is that Tour boot construction hasn't changed then I would avoid them. If you like a stiff skate then you'll be upset after a month or so of regular use.

I got stuck having to use two years ago's tour boot when my sprungs broke. I used the skate for about 6 weeks playing 4 times a week and the thing was pretty much wrecked by the time I was done.

What Tour skate did you use that this happened to?

EX1, I'm 6' 215lbs, play 4-5 times a week and they just went soft in no time. The hardware all held up fine but I was disappointed otherwise. I actually was looking to go away from my Bauers on Sprungs but had to go back.

[Chad Seibel 2]

OK, good to know. I have been on my EX1's for a little while and they have held up well. I am 6' 220, but I only skate a couple times a week. I have had them for a year.

I am now in the new FishBone Pro's and with the improvements we made on them they are turning out to be one of the best models we have made to date. Maybe some time in the future we could get you to try us again. Roller hockey is our game and we are committed to delivering quality skates with quality components.

Thanks,

Chad

[jazz4all 9]

OK, good to know. I have been on my EX1's for a little while and they have held up well. I am 6' 220, but I only skate a couple times a week. I have had them for a year.

I am now in the new FishBone Pro's and with the improvements we made on them they are turning out to be one of the best models we have made to date. Maybe some time in the future we could get you to try us again. Roller hockey is our game and we are committed to delivering quality skates with quality components.

Thanks,

Chad

what's the difference between bonelite pro and 750? and how's the stiffness compared to EX1?