Vapor X7.0 to replace my ancient Bauer Impact 100's?

[MThockeydad 469]

I skated for years (8-10x a season) on an old pair of Impact 100's. Since my kids started playing, I am now spending 4-5 days a week on the ice and the old skates are starting to feel soft...and heavy.

I wear a 13.5A street shoe, and those old Impacts are a perfect fit in 12.0D for width, volume, and length.

No local hockey shops to hit for close-outs, either, so an online search turned up a screamin' deal on some X7.0's online.

Anyone used to wear those old skates? How did they fit compared to the Vapors?

I did try on some x30's at a store a few towns over a month or two ago and they fit pretty well, but I didn't want to spend the coin on another set of recreation skates. Are Vapors pretty consistent through the years/across the range?

[MThockeydad 469]

156 views and no input?!

I pulled the trigger on the X 7.0's. They should be here early next week. Hopefully my "old Bauer feet" are also "new Vapor feet". I'll update this thread when they arrive.

[Kessel'sOversizedSuit 18]

that's risky business. Good luck.

If they fit, you'll love those x7.0s. I almost got a pair myself but was more comfortable in the supreme line. My foot is such that I can get away with either vapour or supreme, although the supremes edge out in terms of overall comfort.

Hopefully you have the same flexibility.

[MThockeydad 469]

Such is the risk with having enormous feet and no local hockey shop!

Purehockey had them for $149 on clearance, so 75% off was a risk worth taking. I'm sure I can eBay them and maybe even come out ahead if they don't fit.

My understanding is that the Supreme line is more of an "average foot width" line?
Any funny tight spots in the Vapors?

[Kessel'sOversizedSuit 18]

For me the toe box in the vapors wasn't as accommodating. Also I personally found the heel lock on the supremes just slightly better. Those two factors edged out the supremes for me.

$150 for x7.0 is a ridiculously good deal. you should have bought 3.

[MThockeydad 469]

Haha.

I have really narrow feet, toes are long, but not wide, so the toe box isn't as much of a concern as the heel. Thank you.

I've heard that about the heel. We'll see.
If they fit well, I'll hope they still have another pair of 12.0D's! :)

[boo10 323]

The only issue I am aware of with the 7.0 is the tongue. Some people have issues with the edge of the tongue cutting into their ankles.

[mickz 107]

Assuming both skates fit you, you're going to notice a big jump in stiffness coming from an Impact 100 to a X7.0.

[MThockeydad 469]

Brown Santa came to visit last night, pencil test passed, got them baked and sharpened and on the ice within the hour.

Wow what a great fit! Newer Vapors ARE very similar in fit to old Bauers. I don't have huge ankles so the ankle fit is great.

I'm excited about how stiff they are. I didn't necessarily feel the old skates flexing, but I felt a lot more connection to the ice and control of my edges with these.

Dumb question: should I hang onto the old skates for pond hockey of will I now hate them?

[th6252 25]

Brown Santa came to visit last night, pencil test passed, got them baked and sharpened and on the ice within the hour.

Wow what a great fit! Newer Vapors ARE very similar in fit to old Bauers. I don't have huge ankles so the ankle fit is great.

I'm excited about how stiff they are. I didn't necessarily feel the old skates flexing, but I felt a lot more connection to the ice and control of my edges with these.

Dumb question: should I hang onto the old skates for pond hockey of will I now hate them?

uh, congrats, but you might have ruined your new skates.

[Kessel'sOversizedSuit 18]

uh, congrats, but you might have ruined your new skates.

The manufacturers do say that you're supposed to wait a full 24 hours before skating on them after baking...

I'd keep your old skates, but you will definitely be ruined/spoiled now that you've experienced modern tech, high end skates.

[MThockeydad 469]

If I messed them up, I'll cop to it and post up so others can learn from it.

I did haul them in the back of my truck and they were cold before I put them on.

If its just the foams/thermoplastics cooling, they should be ok. If there are epoxies or some other kind of thermoset, I could understand it would have been a bad short term decision.

[IDontPretendImGoodAtHockey 2]

Brown Santa came to visit last night, pencil test passed, got them baked and sharpened and on the ice within the hour.

Wow what a great fit! Newer Vapors ARE very similar in fit to old Bauers. I don't have huge ankles so the ankle fit is great.

I'm excited about how stiff they are. I didn't necessarily feel the old skates flexing, but I felt a lot more connection to the ice and control of my edges with these.

Dumb question: should I hang onto the old skates for pond hockey of will I now hate them?

I thought I'd keep my old skates for the pond too. Guess what, I never once put on my old skates again after getting new ones. I felt bad even thinking about not using my new skates.

[McDugan 89]

I thought I'd keep my old skates for the pond too. Guess what, I never once put on my old skates again after getting new ones. I felt bad even thinking about not using my new skates.

yeah, if anything, just have spare steel for pond use (esp. if you can find it cheap from someone dumping a beat up pair of skates) and swap it out.

[MThockeydad 469]

Freakin' love the skates, hate the tongue edges. Searching around, it looks like I'm not the first one to dislike the hard corded tongue edge binding.
I've skated a half dozen times in them and they hurt after about an hour, and hurt BAD after 1.5hrs. Sunday night at drop-in, I skated the new skates for an hour and actually put the old ones on for the next hour. I immediately noticed they weren't as stiff, but the old felt tongue sure felt great!!

My inside ankle bone sits a bit farther forward and is higher than the relief cut in the X7.0 tongue.

The edge of the tongue hits right in the middle of my ankle bone.

I'm going to try picking the stitches out of the edge binding and cut away the cord (if any) to let the felt relax and spread out over my ankle bone.
If that doesn't work, I'm going to try to cut/taper the felt.
If that doesn't work, I'm going to add a layer of felt behind the tongue to give me some more felt to conform to my ankle.

...and if that doesn't work, looks like I'll go with custom tongues.

[boo10 323]

Freakin' love the skates, hate the tongue edges. Searching around, it looks like I'm not the first one to dislike the hard corded tongue edge binding.

I've skated a half dozen times in them and they hurt after about an hour, and hurt BAD after 1.5hrs. Sunday night at drop-in, I skated the new skates for an hour and actually put the old ones on for the next hour. I immediately noticed they weren't as stiff, but the old felt tongue sure felt great!!

My inside ankle bone sits a bit farther forward and is higher than the relief cut in the X7.0 tongue.

The edge of the tongue hits right in the middle of my ankle bone.

I'm going to try picking the stitches out of the edge binding and cut away the cord (if any) to let the felt relax and spread out over my ankle bone.

If that doesn't work, I'm going to try to cut/taper the felt.

If that doesn't work, I'm going to add a layer of felt behind the tongue to give me some more felt to conform to my ankle.

...and if that doesn't work, looks like I'll go with custom tongues.

The only issue I am aware of with the 7.0 is the tongue. Some people have issues with the edge of the tongue cutting into their ankles.

Told ya. ;) They are great skates, but those tongues are absolute garbage. Pretty evident why Bauer scrapped them on the latest Vapor line.

[MThockeydad 469]

You told me! :)

I have a trade pending with another forum member for some tongues with thick felt....and I scored some LS3 steel on eBay for $30/pair shipped!

[t6lock 24]

if you search around, there's a few threads on the x7.0's and the tongue problems. i think some of the common solutions were either to cut it, or undo the top eyelet

[MThockeydad 469]

...and I scored some LS3 steel on eBay for $30/pair shipped!

Dang it! LS3 turned out to be LS3 Edge steel. I didn't read the description closely enough. Off to search for moar 306mm blades.