Appropriate skate blade height? Are my blades too short?

[burr14 17]

I bought these bauer one.7 skates about 5-6 months ago and have been using them fairly consistently. I actually bought them used as well and they had fairly short blades but I stuck with them anyways. They seem like they are pretty short now so I'm curious if I should get new blades now. Also if I should get new blades, what would you recommend? By the way I measured them in the middle and they are about 1 cm (about 4/10ths of an inch), maybe barely under 1 cm...

[Tyler Roy 86]

How do you feel when skating?

[cbhockey22 5]

Do it! I just put new Step Steel on my X:60s when my old ones were at 3/8" and over-rockered and it's like getting a brand new pair of skates for me, but for only ~$100.

[SCOMPL 14]

You should replace your steel when your holder starts making contact with the ice on sharp turns, causing you to "bottom out".

Step Steel seems to be the fan favorite around these boards.

[burr14 17]

I'm not sure how it's effecting my skating. I feel like I could definitely be skating better, and it's not like I'm a beginner or anything, been playing since I was 5. I'm just curious if others who have made the change could feel a decent improvement in skating/turns etc.

Also is it hard to get used to when switching to taller blades?

[mapleleafs13 2]

Scompl is right the bottoming out on the skate, i would do it according to that rule.

As far as getting used to taller blades. When i switched from my initial bauer fusion blades to step steel i noticed the difference right away, but you're body gets used to it after a few sessions. I loved my step steel and wouldn't trade it for anything. But now i have apx2's so i'm stuck with fusion's for now, but i bought a pair of ls3 for replacement.

P.S. Don't buy Fusion replacements, waste of money, i've broke two and they're just garbage.

[Stryker 37]

Scompl is right the bottoming out on the skate, i would do it according to that rule.

As far as getting used to taller blades. When i switched from my initial bauer fusion blades to step steel i noticed the difference right away, but you're body gets used to it after a few sessions. I loved my step steel and wouldn't trade it for anything. But now i have apx2's so i'm stuck with fusion's for now, but i bought a pair of ls3 for replacement.

P.S. Don't buy Fusion replacements, waste of money, i've broke two and they're just garbage.

I'd say making sure to profile the new blades would help to reduce the adjustment time.

Haven't had any issues with fusion through 2 pairs of skates, personally, but everyone seems to complain about them

[SCOMPL 14]

Also is it hard to get used to when switching to taller blades?

I replaced my Tuuk Lightspeed II holder & Fusion runners with Tuuk Lightspeed Edge & Lightspeed 3 Edge runners. I gained +3mm from the holder, and +3mm from the taller steel (1/4").

It felt a bit different for the first 30 minutes or so on the ice, but I quickly got used to it. Perhaps the fact that my LHS profiled the new steel to match my old helped with the quick adjustment. Perhaps the blade profiling or boot-pitch is different than you are used to?

I also quickly learned to appreciate the greater angle-of-attack that allows me to make tighter turns without bottoming out. I have EE skate width, so needed the extra height!

[mapleleafs13 2]

I'd say making sure to profile the new blades would help to reduce the adjustment time.

Haven't had any issues with fusion through 2 pairs of skates, personally, but everyone seems to complain about them

They aren't durable and are expensive to replace, they say it shaves like 10% weight off the steel because it's aluminum and stainless that are bonded together. But a few grams isn't worth the purchase for me for that extra 60$.

I took one minor shot off the side of the Turk and the blade broke. I don't know how the second broke. I have a lot of friends who work for shops and they even tell me that the fusions are garbage

Step steel is pretty much what a lot of nhlers use because it's that good. I find that my sharpenings last twice as long as they did from when I had the fusion blades. Probably because it's a harder steel

[flip12 699]

They aren't durable and are expensive to replace, they say it shaves like 10% weight off the steel because it's aluminum and stainless that are bonded together. But a few grams isn't worth the purchase for me for that extra 60$.

I think Fusion Runners are such a smart move by Bauer: they give their top end skates the impression of being "EVEN LIGHTER!!!" off the shelf; when it comes to it, not many people seriously use them because of their inferior durability. Even that decreased durability is defensible, from the (marketing) perspective of, "it's a reduced weight performance product, so one area where it isn't as competitive is in durability."

[Stryker 37]

I think of those runners as the same idea as buying the 300$ sticks. Not exactly the most durable, but you're getting the best performance out of them while they last.

I believe it to be over 25% of weight savings, which is actually quite a large difference, when you put that weight on the end of an extremity. And of course, that 25% is in relation to normal LS2 steel, not the oversized Step or LS3 weight.

I've seen many come through the major store i work at, some broken and some bent. Was just mentioning that through 3 years of junior hockey I never broke the two pairs of fusion I was using.

That being said I've now switched to Step Steel for the added lifetime, as well as the cheaper cost as I don't need the max performance for my hockey now.