New England area LHS- shims/blade alignment

[nicemuck 2]

Can anybody recommend a good pro shop within New England, that has experience working with people to find what shims and or blade alignment is needed for their skates?

 

Seems like the few shops around me do not have much experience diagnosing or providing this type of service.

Thanks

[chippa13 1844]

 

[nicemuck 2]

I know of a bunch of "quality" hockey shops and I am not looking for that. I have three within 10-15 minutes from my location. I am looking for a shop that has professional experience in blade alignment and shim work. Most of the shops around me could do shims and blade alignment but do not seem to have the knowledge of whats needed.

 

 I have gone to a sports podiatrist but they mentioned they do not do work with skates..

 

 

Any recomendations would be great

[chippa13 1844]

I know what you're looking for and the linked thread has, among other things, comments about places for having skate work done. I'd appreciate it if you spent more than 2 minutes here before assuming that I'm a complete moron. Look around for a while and find your proof first, its out there.

[nicemuck 2]

I have been using this site for over 8 years and have spent alot more than 2 minutes researching various topics and products!

 

 I am not assuming or implying you are a moron by any means, but I read through that thread post and there was no mention of blade alignment or shim work done.

 

I am just looking for people who have actually used specific shops in the area that they could recommend with some detail.

Thanks

[chippa13 1844]

"These go to 11."

[nicemuck 2]

15 minutes ago, chippa13 said:

"These go to 11."

???

[jimmy 194]

Did your Sports Podiatrist tell you the exact amount of correction?  Not many shops have Sports Podiatrists on their staff, just sounding like you know what you are doing is not enough.

[nicemuck 2]

The podiatrist didn't provide me any numbers or measurements. Just mentioned that I have bowed ankles which causes supination. More so on the left skate. He added some felt under the left and right side on both superfeet. 

 

That however didn't quite do the trick. Thats why I was wondering about shim/alignment work. 

 

I know that no shop has a podiatrist on staff, but with such a strong pro and college player presence in NE  I'd have to imagine there are some "qualified" technicians who've done some of these skate mods. 

 

If I went back and asked he might be able to provide me with measurements. 

[Bbd94 26]

2 hours ago, nicemuck said:

The podiatrist didn't provide me any numbers or measurements. Just mentioned that I have bowed ankles which causes supination. More so on the left skate. He added some felt under the left and right side on both superfeet. 

 

That however didn't quite do the trick. Thats why I was wondering about shim/alignment work. 

 

I know that no shop has a podiatrist on staff, but with such a strong pro and college player presence in NE  I'd have to imagine there are some "qualified" technicians who've done some of these skate mods. 

 

If I went back and asked he might be able to provide me with measurements. 

It's really not that hard to put shims in, it just takes time. You just have to have a LHS employee that's willing to work with you and has the materials. I've read a lot about the topic (I have overpronation) and re-aligning the blade is a more difficult task. There, you have a point in asking if there are any "professionals" in your area but there likely aren't any. I live near DC and the only solid answer I got on here regarding blade alignment was KCI (Caps practice rink) and it's still a difficult task because you can ruin the integrity of the outsole. They could technically do it, but from my understanding would rather shim.  It's much easier to do on speed skates because you can adjust until the customer is comfortable before "permanently" attaching it. If you have any questions regarding that, feel free to hit him up under ABodie or read my thread a couple pages back.

I'm trying shims for my overpronation now and am at 1/16". I'm going to skate on them again tomorrow and if it's still not working for me, I'll bump that up to a 1/8". I would try calling those shops and asking if they have the materials needed to shim, at least one of them should. For subpination, the shim goes on the inside edge of the skate. 

[nicemuck 2]

52 minutes ago, Bbd94 said:

It's really not that hard to put shims in, it just takes time. You just have to have a LHS employee that's willing to work with you and has the materials. I've read a lot about the topic (I have overpronation) and re-aligning the blade is a more difficult task. There, you have a point in asking if there are any "professionals" in your area but there likely aren't any. I live near DC and the only solid answer I got on here regarding blade alignment was KCI (Caps practice rink) and it's still a difficult task because you can ruin the integrity of the outsole. They could technically do it, but from my understanding would rather shim.  It's much easier to do on speed skates because you can adjust until the customer is comfortable before "permanently" attaching it. If you have any questions regarding that, feel free to hit him up under ABodie or read my thread a couple pages back.

I'm trying shims for my overpronation now and am at 1/16". I'm going to skate on them again tomorrow and if it's still not working for me, I'll bump that up to a 1/8". I would try calling those shops and asking if they have the materials needed to shim, at least one of them should. For subpination, the shim goes on the inside edge of the skate. 

Good info. Did you shim just under the heal or the front tower as well? 

[the_game 452]

TSR or Zwickers, I'd try to go early on a weekday morning when the store is slow so they can work with you.

[Bbd94 26]

14 hours ago, nicemuck said:

Good info. Did you shim just under the heal or the front tower as well? 

From what I've seen you shim both, which is what I had done. I think it's important to start small, but if you have severe pronation (or subpination) don't be surprised if you barely notice a difference with a 1/16".  Still, it's very difficult to judge the severity of someone's problem, even for foot specialists, which is why I say start small.   I have heard going up to 1/4" for shims. PM me if you have any questions 

[stick9 896]

On 4/4/2016 at 11:26 AM, nicemuck said:

Can anybody recommend a good pro shop within New England, that has experience working with people to find what shims and or blade alignment is needed for their skates?

 

Seems like the few shops around me do not have much experience diagnosing or providing this type of service.

Thanks

 

Go to TSR in Salem NH, ask for Brendan. Great guy, knows his shit. He's done shims and more on my skates. Wouldn't hurt to mention you were recommended by members here.

[nicemuck 2]

Thanks guys for the help, i'll try some of your solutions

[mojo122 538]

I'll add Cooke's in Wilmington to the list of Zwickers and TSR.  I've seen  number of skates from them that have either external shims or internal shims fitted to the innersole.  I would call those 3 places first and see how they would address your issue.