Advice on skates

[LunchBox0311 1]

45 miles would be nice, lol. The place that I emailed which is apparently closing is 3 hours away. The closest "big name" hockey place is 317.4 miles away in north Dallas. Its been hard to try and find smaller shops, which I'm sure must exist, but aren't very google friendly. The place that's closing out their hockey inventory is in Kansas City, I'm also within reasonable driving distance (3 hours +-) of Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Both are large-ish cities, but i haven't been able to google up any results from there. I think it may make more sense to go north into Nebraska. Perhaps Omaha, that's really the only sizable city in Nebraska, I think? At this point it might be easier to sell the house and find new jobs and a home for the wife and I in a northern city, lol. The kids will adapt to that just fine I'm sure. That seems reasonable..... I would think that Wichita would have at least something here besides the rink "pro shop" that stocked 8 pairs of skates, 6 of which were youth/jrs, its a city of 400,000 people with a mildly successful minor league team, the Thunder. I really wish I could afford to buy several pairs at once to try, without getting in trouble that is, haha.

[marka 526]

Howdy,

Don't think of it as buying... Think of it as a loan. Just start the process early in the credit card billing cycle... :-)

I think your wife and kids would love a long weekend away in Denver. Then you can be surprised at how there are four Total Hockey stores there. What a fortunate coincidence!

:-)

edit: In terms of finding shops, I'd be tempted to call ice rinks in those bigger cities around and ask them where you can buy hockey gear locally. Presumably they'd know about the local shops without much online presence?

Mark

[vinprun71 61]

It looks like you could use more depth. The middle of the boot looks as if it's spreading wider than the rest of the skate. It looks from the pictures that a deeper boot could be necessary. As some have said, I'd try Nexus or Tacks in a D. That should be the next starting point and going from there. If that still doesn't fit, EE in one of those would be next before trying the custom route with VH.

[LunchBox0311 1]

That's what I was thinking. Any difference fit wise between Tacks and Nexus? I'm thinking Nexus 6000 or Tacks 3052.

[vinprun71 61]

That's what I was thinking. Any difference fit wise between Tacks and Nexus? I'm thinking Nexus 6000 or Tacks 3052.

I've tried both on. Both felt wide, but the Nexus felt a little wider to me if I can remember correctly. They will be similar though. I'd simply compare the features at the price point you're looking at and see what has the best bang.

[LunchBox0311 1]

To be honest, it seems like the best bang for the buck is the 4052 Tacks. Jumping from the 3052 to 4052, the only thing the same is the holder and blade. Everything else is shared with the high mid level skates in the line. Whereas the Nexus 6000 has much more in common with the lower end of the Bauer line. Now the waiting game, until my return processes.

[vinprun71 61]

Sounds like you've made a good choice. Let us know how it goes.

[LunchBox0311 1]

Hopefully it will go well, although I'll rethink my choice a million times in the next week and a half.