Graf PK Question

[2nhockey 21]

Graf skates are very hard for me to get. I am only aware of one hockey shop within a 6 hour driving radius from my house, and they don't carry Graf skates anymore, so we'll likely order from HM.

My daughter loves her Graf 535's. She spent all spring and summer in some Mako 2's, getting them set up with profiling, baking, and insoles just to go back to her Grafs.

I'm not finding a whole lot of information on the new Peakspeed 7700's. I'm looking for fit information on the PK's in relation to the 535. 

I know Graf may or may not be around so understand warranty, if needed, could be bad. But, I think we can risk it.

Would the PK's represent an upgrade to her current skate? Will the fit be close enough to the 535 fit? Is there another skate we should look at? The 535 fits her very well out of the box (never baked them), even with her low arches (we expended a lot of time and effort making the Mako's fit right).

Thanks for the help!

[Kgbeast 195]

You can read my post about PK3300 (just search forum for it). Short answer, they fit pretty much exactly the same as 535S. Same instep depth, same length, same heel-width, forefoot is a little more comfortable for me (but that would be shape of the foot thing).  PKs are lighter and better designed and use different material through-out. Definitely an upgrade from  535S. I think the closest match to 535S would be PK2200, but I would go with at least PK3300 for you.

[Kgbeast 195]

...yes forgot to mention. PK7700 come with UL5000 runners, PK4400 come with NT3000. PK3300 say they come with Seven 97 Attack holders, but mine came with NT3000 as well. 535S come with Seven 97 Attack holders. This might be a point of adjustment for your daughter. Seven 97 and Easton CXN holders are similar in geometry, Cobra holders NT3000 and UL5000 are a little straighter. I am expecting your daughter to spend a couple of hours to find the edges. Once she does, I expect her to love PeakSpeed be they 7700 or 3300.

If you get Cobra NT3000 holders, you might want to do a fix to the runner retainer nut. My favorite method is to replace the upper lock washer with 0.28x0.06 o-ring you can get from Lowes where they sell faucet parts. The o-ring goes tight on the brass nut first , then one of the lockwasher that the skates come with so it cradles the o-ring (leave the other lockwasher for spares). Tighten the nur snug until you fill that nut kind of springs back as you tightening it. I do this on all graf holders and never had it come loose.

[2nhockey 21]

Thanks for the feedback. So her Attack holders have more of a pitch than the new UL holders? If that's the case, what will have to happen to her profile? She has her Eastons and current Grafs steel ground with a forward lie - pitched on her toes more than the factory profiles. We spent a lot of time testing different grinds to come up with what she's on now. Assume we'd have to grind a more aggressive forward pitch on the runners to make up for holder pitch?

Interesting you mention the holders coming loose. That is exactly what happened at the state tournament in her 535's. It resulted in her skates getting loctited. Never thought of the o-ring solution, but am willing to try it. Thanks again!

[Kgbeast 195]

1 hour ago, 2nhockey said:

Thanks for the feedback. So her Attack holders have more of a pitch than the new UL holders? If that's the case, what will have to happen to her profile? She has her Eastons and current Grafs steel ground with a forward lie - pitched on her toes more than the factory profiles. We spent a lot of time testing different grinds to come up with what she's on now. Assume we'd have to grind a more aggressive forward pitch on the runners to make up for holder pitch?

Interesting you mention the holders coming loose. That is exactly what happened at the state tournament in her 535's. It resulted in her skates getting loctited. Never thought of the o-ring solution, but am willing to try it. Thanks again!

No, I do not think that forward pitch is different. If anything, Cobra might be a little bit more forward pitched. When I was saying "straighter" I was more referring to runner is being perfectly parallel to the outsole in PK and in 545 it feels like leaning a little.. Even that I can not be sure of. It is just feels a little different. My PK3300 also appears to have 9' if not 8' profile, which I kind of like by now. If you go with peakspeeds, there should be no boot fit problems and minor holder/runner differences are not big enough to worry. You can actually put the 535 runner in them although I think the middle hook on the 535 runner impedes a little in Cobra, but it does feel solid in there as well. You can put the two together and see that they are identical besides the middle hook.