Superfeet? The good and bad. Looking for feedback from others

[VegasHockey 1280]

My GF got me a pair of SuperFeet Carbon and two sets of LS4 steel as a gift. I have always used the factory footbeds in my Bauer skates, though my skates are still very new and breaking in. Looking at the SuperFeet vs the Bauer footbeds they seem to be the same size and such, just a bit taller to cup the heel and seem to change your stance a little putting you more on your toes. The LS4 blades were set with my usual custom 8/12' combo radius and FBV 100/50 sharpen. 

Here is my question, sorry for the long introduction.

The first time I skated with them my ankles hurt like you cannot even imagine. After the game and taking off my skates my ankles were both bruised! I am wondering the cause of this and have some speculation. Was hoping someone could provide me some insight.

Since I baked my skates with the Bauer footbeds and skated in them for a bit, the skate adjusted to my ankle and the specifics. Introducing the SuperFeet changed the way my ankle was previously sitting or positioned and my feet fell out of "the pocket" and the skate is "punishing me" for the change. 

Do I need to bake the skate skates again? I don't think I can since after a couple times I have been told it wears down the skate boot tremendously, even catastrophically. Is it possible that with the volume in my skate, being so snug, that the SuperFeet just arent a good fit for me?

I can't really tell if I skate better with them or without as the entire time all I could think about was my feet hurting so badly between shifts. It's been two days and my ankles are still red lightly bruised. I have never seen anything like this before. I have a game tomorrow so I am going to skate without them for fear of them hurting me, though I guess I could always bring both pairs of insoles and try them again. 

Lastly, and this is a "long shot" but do you think switching steel could have caused any of this? I went from LS2 steel to the LS4 which is a dramatic change, but I kept the same radius so technically other than the steel being taller the lie of the steel on the ice should be the same.

Right?  

 

[Bakum 25]

Are Superfeet designed to be heat molded like the Bauer Speedplate? If so, maybe have the LHS heat them up for you and try that. I'm not speaking from experience with them but it's just a thought.

Sorta off-topic I suppose; but I had a little trouble adjusting to the CCM insoles compared to my Bauer insoles but after a few skates, they broke in and there is no longer any discomfort.

[Kgbeast 195]

Bruised ankles could be due to no heel lock. Have you checked for that?

[Vet88 674]

Superfeet do take up a little bit more volume and if your ankle was marginal in the ankle bone pocket then the added lift may well have pushed your ankle bone onto the edge of the pocket. It's easy enough to check, get some lipstick and put a dot on the top of your ankle bone, foot into the boot and then press it against the boot, now you can see where your ankle bone sits in the boot relative to the pocket.

Rebaking depends a lot on the model (you don't say what boot you have) but a catastrophic failure from a rebake is most unlikely. 2 or 3 rebakes is fine if done according to manufacturers specs. In the earlier models when they were getting thermomoldability right there were issues with the glues breaking down but this is pretty much fixed these days. If the rest of your foot was comfortable then you don't have to rebake for the superfeet, get the ankle pocket punched out. It's easy to do and most LHS's should be able to do it or you can do it yourself at home for about $20 worth of tools. pm me if you want to know more. 

And if you kept the same profile then the change in blade height shouldn't be the factor behind your sore ankles.

[jgold47 12]

Superfeet by all accounts cannot be baked.  I would however suggest baking your skates without them in, then putting them in before putting them on your feet.  I really like my superfeet carbons (upgraded from the regular yellows).  You didnt mention what kind of skates you're on now, but you may find that it helps to rebake them.  Also, A) make sure you got the correct size superfeet and B) make sure you've trimmed the right and they are sitting in the boot flat.  

[Shogun 19]

The Carbon Pro Hockey Superfeet are great. I like them better than the Yellow's. Does anyone else notice that the Carbon Pro's take up a bit more volume than the Yellow's?

[jgold47 12]

13 minutes ago, Shogun said:

The Carbon Pro Hockey Superfeet are great. I like them better than the Yellow's. Does anyone else notice that the Carbon Pro's take up a bit more volume than the Yellow's?

I'm not sure they are 'thicker'  They are a little more plush feeling which may create a perception they are thicker, but I dont (havent) felt it in my boot and I'm very depth sensitive. 

[Shogun 19]

52 minutes ago, jgold47 said:

I'm not sure they are 'thicker'  They are a little more plush feeling which may create a perception they are thicker, but I dont (havent) felt it in my boot and I'm very depth sensitive. 

I think the heel cup on the Carbon Pro's are a bit higher than the Yellow's. Could be me, though.

[Shogun 19]

Does anyone know if the Bauer Speed Plate are lower volume, and how much, than the Carbon Pro and Yellow Superfeet? I don't pass the pencil test in the 1X skates that I might buy, and I was told to try the Speed Plate's. I love the Carbon Pro's, though.

 

Edit: I didn't pass the pencil test with the Carbon Pro's in the 1X skates. I failed (by 2-3mm) at the 4th and 5th eyelets from the top of the boot.

[Kgbeast 195]

20 minutes ago, Shogun said:

Does anyone know if the Bauer Speed Plate are lower volume, and how much, than the Carbon Pro and Yellow Superfeet? I don't pass the pencil test in the 1X skates that I might buy, and I was told to try the Speed Plate's. I love the Carbon Pro's, though.

 

Edit: I didn't pass the pencil test with the Carbon Pro's in the 1X skates. I failed (by 2-3mm) at the 4th and 5th eyelets from the top of the boot.

If you are talking about hole 4 from the top, Bauer, uses deep-v heel pocket, so you need actively push into it. If you have not done that, you'd probably find that you pass it if you do. If you pass the test on 4th without pushing into the deep-v, you might end up with lesser heel-lock. Now if it is 4th from the toebox, you need to try different skates, although 3mm on one side fail is considered to be normal by some although, I like to have at least 1/8th of air between pencil and foot in the 4th hole from the toebox. 

[mojo122 535]

58 minutes ago, Shogun said:

Edit: I didn't pass the pencil test with the Carbon Pro's in the 1X skates. I failed (by 2-3mm) at the 4th and 5th eyelets from the top of the boot.

That doesn't mean you will have issues skating in that boot.  I failed in my previous MX3's and now in my current 1S skates and haven't had any problems.  My advice would be to skate using the SpeedPlates first and give them a try before switching to the Carbon Pro's.

[Vet88 674]

Or if you really like the skates and want to use them but not worry about lace bite then use some eyelet extenders.

[GloriousLeader 31]

On 19/09/2016 at 3:23 PM, Nicholas G said:

My GF got me a pair of SuperFeet Carbon and two sets of LS4 steel as a gift.

She's a keeper.

[VegasHockey 1280]

So I used a heat gun to gently warm the ankle pockets and wore my skate for a good 30 minutes while watching tv. The pain is gone. So it seems since they sit differently they pushed my ankles up and forward a bit. Everything seems to be good now. It seems if you need to just mold up a specific part of your skate that a heat gun works really well as long as you are careful with it and use it on its lowest settings. Always remember to be patient and don't try to heat the skate too fast or you run the risk of ruining it. 

[salibandy 21]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but, anyone know if I should buy the Superfeet Carbon Pros based off my shoe size or skate size?

[Stryker 37]

2 hours ago, salibandy said:

Sorry to hijack this thread, but, anyone know if I should buy the Superfeet Carbon Pros based off my shoe size or skate size?

None of the above. They're supposed to go by heel size, which requires trying them on to get sized up. For example, some people are only a 6 length, but have very wide heels (and feet) and have to get Superfeet in a size "normally" for something like a size 9.

 

If that isn't an option, go with the skate size and then trim them to fit, if necessary