Skates and stride

[orelayer 4]

I have just recently switched from using Grafs (5 years) to the new CCM Jetspeed 280's I skated on the new CCM's for the first time in my regular pick up game last night. There were 4-5 people that came up to me after and told me my stride looked much longer and that I was faster and looked more solid skating. I have been playing over 25 years and have never had this big of an improvement by just changing equipment. Everything was equal with my runners but the pitch. My Grafs were neutral and the CCM's are medium forward. I am not sure how skates could make that big a difference technically in a stride unless they fit badly. My Grafs fit great. Anyone else have a big improvement in skating after changing skates?

[Ps12 11]

I think you said it when you said grafs are neutral and the ccm is medium forward. A more forward pitch will force you to bend your knees more.

A good knee bend will allow for better skating mechanics.

You should get your grafs profiled with the same pitch and see if your friends notice an improvement.

[IPv6Freely 2083]

My skating changed drastically when I got into Makos. Amazing what skating without pain can do for you.

[orelayer 4]

I think you said it when you said grafs are neutral and the ccm is medium forward. A more forward pitch will force you to bend your knees more.

A good knee bend will allow for better skating mechanics.

You should get your grafs profiled with the same pitch and see if your friends notice an improvement.

The reason the Graf runners were neutral is because Graf boots/holders already have a forward pitch to them. Putting a forward pitch on the CCM's made them equal to the Grafs. In other words: CCM forward pitch/Graf neutral pitch = close to same feeling on ice. All of my sharpening is done at No Icing Sports

[Ps12 11]

Interesting. So essentially theyre the same. I forgot cobras are pitched forward more.

So to answer your original question yes i and my friends noticed an improvement in my skating when i switched to vh skates. As optimus pointed out pain free skating can make a difference. I was also using longer runners as well i had shifted from razorbladez 2 holders to longer cxn.

It is an interesting question. How much can gear factor in performance.

[Davetronz 109]

Massive performance and comfort gain using VH here. Brought me back to the feeling I had on skates growing up playing, only much better!

[OrrSmith 4]

Massive performance and comfort gain using VH here. Brought me back to the feeling I had on skates growing up playing, only much better!

Massive performance and comfort gain using VH here. Brought me back to the feeling I had on skates growing up playing, only much better!

I sent you a message about VH skates. Did you get it?

[Davetronz 109]

I sent you a message about VH skates. Did you get it?

Didn't get a notification or email, but it was in my inbox. Weird! Replied!

[mjpisat 36]

What made you choose the 280's vs 290's or 300's? I'm debating between 300 or 290. Haven't looked at the 280

[flip12 699]

I have just recently switched from using Grafs (5 years) to the new CCM Jetspeed 280's I skated on the new CCM's for the first time in my regular pick up game last night. There were 4-5 people that came up to me after and told me my stride looked much longer and that I was faster and looked more solid skating. I have been playing over 25 years and have never had this big of an improvement by just changing equipment. Everything was equal with my runners but the pitch. My Grafs were neutral and the CCM's are medium forward. I am not sure how skates could make that big a difference technically in a stride unless they fit badly. My Grafs fit great. Anyone else have a big improvement in skating after changing skates?

What kind of outsole do your Grafs have? Going from PU (white) outsole Grafs to MLX, I noticed a huge increase in glide between strides.

The first day I skated on the MLX, my teammates mentioned how fast I looked. From my perspective, I knew I was able to cover more ground but I was also actually not skating as hard. Being able to account for the glide in where I wanted to go made it so I could go just as fast with fewer strides or with a lower strides-per-second ratio.

I was also on FBV which helped quite a bit, but I think it was maybe 85% boot, 15% FBV that contributed to the boost.

[EJB 488]

My son experienced the same comments when he jumped from Graf G5's(+\- 5 years) to Bauer One100's. Can't remember if he felt a big jump in his skating, but did in the overall boot stiffness. He's still in Supreme boots.

[orelayer 4]

What made you choose the 280's vs 290's or 300's? I'm debating between 300 or 290. Haven't looked at the 280

There were several factors. Compared to the Grafs the 280's were very stiff. I did not want to go too stiff. The guy (Steve) that was fitting me at Hockey Giant in Anaheim had a good knowledge of skates. He pointed out several manufacturing details between the 280 and 290 and preferred the 280's. The 300's seemed to be way too stiff for me at least for now.