Holder Misalignment

[mc88 160]

Stepped on the ice the other day and felt something was off on my right skate. I took them off and noticed that the holder on the right skate was mounted too far toward the instep (left skate felt perfectly centered). My question would be: Is it worth having it fixed at a LHS (redrilling new holes and remounting) or should I just submit a claim to Bauer/retail shop?

[Larry54 243]

1. Your LHS and Bauer would probably say it's within spec. I've had much worse holder alignment that every LHS I consulted said was normal.

2. You have to look at whether the holder is centered to the boot, and not to the outsole. If the outsole is 1mm off-center to the right and the holder is 1mm to the left of the outsole, then the holder can be centered to the boot. The same applies to fore and aft positioning of the holder and outsole.

You have nothing to lose in consulting Bauer, but an LHS once told me that the only sure way of not ending up with misaligned holders, is to check the skates at the moment of purchase and ask for a different pair if they look misaligned. That's another reason why buying skates online is not always a good idea.

[Mimizk 114]

This is one of the common problems but north american shop don't accept its repair?

We adjust holder alignment to get better skating for each one's body or skating not only it's not on the center. We can feel easily 1mm change of holder. This holder place is too bad. Often I replace holders when I got new skates.

[mc88 160]

Good news! Bauer is willing to warranty it. Downside is that it'll take about 2-3 weeks to get replacements. Oh well, better than nothing!

[caseyjones 26]

I didnt want to start a new topic thread for my question so I'll place it here.  If i wanted to switch from Cobra holders to Tuuks....would i be safe if i used the blades that are currently attached to make markings for where the new blades would line up and then just swap them out myself?  My thought process would be to mark the toe box and the heel of the skate based on where the Cobra runners line up and then line up the blades of the Tuuks with those markings, drill new holes and re-use the graf RMS screw system to secure them.  I've recently come across pictures of pro's skating in Graf's who've have had Tuuk holders put on their skates while still using the 4 nut RMS Graf screws (Sergei Samsonov and Claude Lapointe).  I have done roller hockey skate conversions in the past with no issues, but i wonder about Ice needing to be extremely accurate. 

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Not really. 

The hole patterns are not the same. Back then, Cobra didn't exist so those NHLers would get Tuuk Plus installed from the factory. 

Usually either the front lines up, or the rear.  But never both.

 

[caseyjones 26]

1 hour ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Not really. 

The hole patterns are not the same. Back then, Cobra didn't exist so those NHLers would get Tuuk Plus installed from the factory. 

Usually either the front lines up, or the rear.  But never both.

 

Thanks for the reply. However, I'm not sure if you are interpreting my question to mean "will the original holes of the cobra line up with tuuk". 

Im wondering if I can use the cobra blade to determine the plane in which I could use to center the Tuuks. So theoretically, I'd mark the toe cap where the center of the steel sits and mark the heel where the center of the steel sits and then drill new holes for the tuuk. If you did interpret my question correctly, then I apologize

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Got it. 

Yes, assuming the factory mount is true, that would be how to do it. 

[caseyjones 26]

Cool, thanks. I'm so nervous to do  this swap myself.  But if I already have holders, hardware and a drill I'm very tempted to just save myself the money. It looks like the OP had skates that seemed off, but we're still "within spec"? Any idea what an acceptable margin of error would be?

[Anjin-san 29]

On 11/18/2016 at 7:53 PM, caseyjones said:

Cool, thanks. I'm so nervous to do  this swap myself.  But if I already have holders, hardware and a drill I'm very tempted to just save myself the money. It looks like the OP had skates that seemed off, but we're still "within spec"? Any idea what an acceptable margin of error would be?

Out of curiosity are you planning on drilling new holes (as needed) in the boots or in the Tuuk holders? 

[caseyjones 26]

2 hours ago, Anjin-san said:

Out of curiosity are you planning on drilling new holes (as needed) in the boots or in the Tuuk holders? 

I was going to drill new holes into the boot

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

The issue with drilling holes in the boot is that with Graf RMS, it is a hole with two notches.  Similar to something like this:

-O-

It's meant that way so that the anchor doesn't spin freely in the boot.  The problem is trying to make new holes.

I've experimented with leaving the RMS anchors intact and drilling the holes in the Tuuk towers.  Sometimes it lines up, most times it doesn't.

[caseyjones 26]

Yea I did notice that with the rms nuts. Would it be recommended to drill through the holder then? I personally have no issues either way. I'm sure I can close up the unused holes on the holder with epoxy or something for a little extra reinforcement. 

I actually have a few pairs I want to do this with. Some have the older white plastic sole and the others are the newer ultra g series outsole. 

[caseyjones 26]

I'd have to double check to see if the original holes will line up under a part of the holder that I would be able to drill through 

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

You don't need to worry about the other holes, no epoxy needed.