Custom ankle padding and skate fit

[caseyjones 26]

Just curious for some thoughts here. I cruised around quickly, but didnt find any in depth conversation about my question. Im looking to add padding to the inside of my graf ultra g7's. They fit really nice and are ridiculously comfortable, but i just feel like i want a more snug fit. Maybe they arent as deep as the Bauer's that im used to or maybe its just the forward pitch that is making me feel like my heel is higher than it should be. I dont necessarily have my heel lifting....maybe its more of a mindset/comfort issue.

I tried the Stable 26 socks and the ankle booties but i just dont like the feel of them. I dont like that the padding in the Stable 26 socks is so mushy. Does anybody know what the actual ankle padding of skates is made of? Has anyone had custom padding added to their ankle area? I slip my foot into my old Mega Air 90's and there's so much padding around the ankle area that it gives a comforting feeling that my foot isnt going to go anywhere. I was actually thinking of cutting the ankle padding out of an old pair of skates and gluing it to the inside of my grafs Just for a more conformed fit.

I also recently bought a pair of size 6.5 Ultra G3's and to my surprise they fit. My Ultra G7's are a size 7 and my toes do brush the cap, but the 6.5 are more snug which gives me a more secure feeling. I like for my skates to feel like they are molded around my feet. When i wear my G7's around the house they actually feel more comfortable than the smaller skates, but i have this mental issue where i think the G7's are too big now, but my toes do brush the top cap when sitting. In the G3's my toes are up against the top cap unless i am in a skating position, but they arent so far up where they are being squished. The 6.5 also comes with a smaller holder which i dont like. Is this all just in my head or should i be wearing a smaller skate? I've never fit into a 6.5 in any other skate.

Pretty stupid questions to be honest, but im always interested in hearing the opinions of others. In my case, ive tried both on and still am unsure. Has anyone gotten this feeling when switching from grafs to bauers? Interesting note...when i used my converted Graf's for roller hockey and even skating in ice my quads got sore at first. I then switched back to my bauers and the day after my game my glutes were sore. So clearly Graf's are focusing much more on your quads for your power and the Bauer's activate your glutes more. They say you should skates on the balls of your feet, but your glutes are possibly the most powerful muscle in your body.

[Davetronz 109]

Quite a few questions here.

If you've already tried the Stable26 and the Ezeefit booties, you could take your skates to a good repair shop and see if they could re-line and beef up the ankle padding in your skate. Definitely doable. I wouldn't recommend gluing padding from one skate into your G7's, this won't likely be a good result. It needs to be lined or it's going to fall right off.

Regarding the sizing, Graf sizing, IMO, is a bit of a toss up. Sometimes a 6.5 fits like a 7, sometimes it's the other way around. It can be a bit of a gamble. Two pairs of the same size/model don't always fit exact. That's just my personal observation though.

Should you be in a 6.5 or a 7? I don't know. I'd get professionally measured and see where you fall in. If you aren't having discomfort in the 6.5's AND they feel good on your foot, perhaps you're a 6.5 in that particular Graf skate.

The G3 and G7 are different fit profiles. This is why one fits snugger than the other (aside from the length size difference).

Yes, the Bauer will put you more into a neutral stance on your foot (hence activating more glutes) and the Grafs will put you more on your toes (hence activating your quads). This is the design of the holders.

[stick9 896]

I tried the Stable 26 socks and the ankle booties but i just dont like the feel of them. I dont like that the padding in the Stable 26 socks is so mushy. Does anybody know what the actual ankle padding of skates is made of? Has anyone had custom padding added to their ankle area? I slip my foot into my old Mega Air 90's and there's so much padding around the ankle area that it gives a comforting feeling that my foot isnt going to go anywhere. I was actually thinking of cutting the ankle padding out of an old pair of skates and gluing it to the inside of my grafs Just for a more conformed fit.

TSR in NH added custom padding added to my Nexus 8000's to help improve heel lock. I bought the skates there and tried a variety of things before deciding to build up the interior of the skate. It's worked out well and kept me from having to order custom skates. I don't really notice a difference in comfort, pretty much the same as it was before. All it did was reduce the negative space in the heel pocket.

It's a sizable job, I would make sure you completely trust the shop doing the work.

[caseyjones 26]

Thanks for the replies guys. I figured it was a weird/stupid question to begin with. I experimented the other day with Bauer supremes, my G7s and my G3s. It's funny bc I've skated in Bauers my whole life thinking they were the best fit for me. I wanted to test the difference between stiffness of the bauers and my g7s so I didn't lace the top 3 eyelets on each skate. Funny enough, my heel stayed in place in my G7s and it lifted right up in the bauers.

What I did (basically to fill empty space) opposed to prevent my heel from lifting since it wasn't really doing that was I just taped layers of hcokey tape on the inside of the boot where the empty space was...essentially just using the tape as a method of filling empty space which resulted in a more snug feeling and actually provided a little bit of grip as well from the texture of the tape. Of course this is tedious and would have to be done each time before skating, but it was interesting to experiment with. Perhaps the uneasy feeling in my head is just getting used to the independent ankle of the g7s. The support is nowhere near that of other skates so it gives me a false sense of stability that the skate will move around on my foot, but in reality that's not what it's doing