Show It Off

[Bartjo06 37]

 

Scooped some new Supreme S180s today. I had been in Nexus' per a recommendation by a local shop and they just weren't working for my foot shape. I finally found a shop that was willing to spend some time with me and tried a whole bunch of skates out. Landed on these. Ended up with a set of Speed Plates too, here's to hoping they don't crack!

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Fantastic looking skates.

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Fantastic looking skates.

 

[LoneStar77 25]

1 hour ago, Bartjo06 said:

 

Scooped some new Supreme S180s today. I had been in Nexus' per a recommendation by a local shop and they just weren't working for my foot shape. I finally found a shop that was willing to spend some time with me and tried a whole bunch of skates out. Landed on these. Ended up with a set of Speed Plates too, here's to hoping they don't crack!

 

I have a pair of these on order right now, as my local Total Hockey was out of my size (so I bought from their website instead).  I moved from a Vapor X:40 9D (this was the model when the X:60 was the top of the line) to a Supreme S180 8.5EE...I was just slightly in the wrong skate size & shape, which was more my inexperience buying skates than anything else (I was fit by a LHS but I don't think I was able to provide the employee good feedback because I didn't know exactly how it should feel).   I tried on a set of Tacks 4052s in 8.5EE & JetSpeed Max 2.0 in 8.5EE, but the Tacks were far too tight on my right foot & neither locked my heel in place well (they were the only 8.5EEs in stock - I was able to find the Supreme S180s at another big box store where I tried them on).  I can't wait to get them baked, sharpened, & on the ice.  I'm going with Superfeet (yellow) in mine since I can just move them over from my Vapors.

Edited May 10, 2016 by LoneStar77

[Bartjo06 37]

I had mine baked at the store and skated in them this afternoon for the first time. They're phenomenal so far!

[LoneStar77 25]

Just now, Bartjo06 said:

I had mine baked at the store and skated in them this afternoon for the first time. They're phenomenal so far!

 

I wish they had the Comfort Edge (& maybe the fiber composite outsole because that's what my Vapors have), but they offered everything else I wanted & I couldn't justify the extra $200+ for the S190s.  I'll be getting the baked as soon as I can make it to the local TH, but right out of the box they were more comfortable than the vice grip smash I get from my Vapors currently.  I was trying to wait until I could post a pic before talking about them, but I saw your post & got excited all over again.  

[shoeshine boy 242]

I'm very excited to get my Sparx sharpener. I think I'll be in the 2nd or 3rd wave.......

[Hills 712]

16 hours ago, OptimusReim said:

I paid $499 plus shipping. I think retail is $599. First sharpenings seem good, will find out how they are tonight. 

 

The nice thing is that JR was the one who did my goalie skates for me a few weeks ago and they haven't been sharpened since, so I have a good baseline to compare to after 10 or so sharpenings (will check edge evenness, etc). 

 

SUPER easy to use though. Could not be happier with that aspect. Had two pairs done in the first 30 minutes after I opened the box. 

 

$799 now...

[IPv6Freely 2092]

3 hours ago, Hills said:

 

$799 now...

Really? Ouch. That's pretty hard to justify. 

[ANDREWSVPRO 5]

1 minute ago, OptimusReim said:

Really? Ouch. That's pretty hard to justify. 

If each player on a team chipped in to spread the cost not that bad to have in the locker room ?

[Hills 712]

29 minutes ago, ANDREWSVPRO said:

If each player on a team chipped in to spread the cost not that bad to have in the locker room ?

 

But then you need the Grinding Rings which are $50 and last about 40 sharpening...

 

A few of my buddies did the math and we'd never break even with 4 of us and that was at $599.

[flip12 715]

It's like espresso: incredibly expensive and difficult to replicate high quality results at home--even achieving the minimum platform for quality to shine through to the end of the whole process requires significant investments of time and money. It's worth it to take it to the professionals.

[shoeshine boy 242]

that depends on your situation. I bought a Wissota over 10 years ago for somewhere in the $600-$700 range.  here in ATL the rink shops are notorious for doing poor sharpenings.  at that time we only had one non-rink shop in town and it was probably 35 miles from my house and not open on Sundays. if you couldn't get up there on Saturday you were SOL and of course at a 70 mile round trip we couldn't just leave our skates if they were busy so we invested in the Wissota and not only did our own skates but also did skates for teammates and friends at $5 per. the machine has paid for itself several times over just in the $5 charge not to mention the savings in gas and the wear and tear on my car.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

16 hours ago, flip12 said:

It's like espresso: incredibly expensive and difficult to replicate high quality results at home--even achieving the minimum platform for quality to shine through to the end of the whole process requires significant investments of time and money. It's worth it to take it to the professionals.

Though some of the higher end Nespresso machines are pretty decent! :) Certainly not $10,000 machine levels of quality, but good enough for the convenience of it.

 

There's also something to be said for convenience in sharpening, too. For me, if this thing works "pretty well" its likely still better than the pro shop at the rink (they're terrible). That means I'll actually have regular sharpenings because I won't have to go out of my way to go to another city to have them sharpened, and that means I won't have the whole "I haven't sharpened my skates in two months and now that I just did, I'm falling all over the place because I'm not used to it" thing going on. So, in my case, it's not worth it to take it to the professionals if I can get a decent sharpening in my own home with a decent level of consistency.

 

Also worth mentioning that there's no FBV in my area, so I'd been doing mail-order sharpening for my player skates. The sharpening plus round trip shipping was about $15 total every time. $500/15 = 33 sharpenings before the machine pays for itself, even before the first ring is even used up. Then from there the savings become massive. $50 for a new ring is a $550 savings compared to mail-order for 40 sharpenings.. Of course, my time is worth something too (in the case of my goalie skates that I don't send away). 

 

Everyone's situation is different of course :) Like I said, I'm not sure I could justify $800 for this thing, but $500 is a whole other story. For $800 I'd probably just buy an X01 and learn to use it. 

 

[flip12 715]

36 minutes ago, OptimusReim said:

Everyone's situation is different of course :) Like I said, I'm not sure I could justify $800 for this thing, but $500 is a whole other story. For $800 I'd probably just buy an X01 and learn to use it. 

 

I haven't tried the high end Nespresso...I'll be on the look out :)

 

Couldn't agree more, the calculus of what's the best sharpening option includes a lot of factors and in some cases, the professional options available are depressing to say the least...again, just like finding a consistently great espresso supply.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

7 minutes ago, flip12 said:

 

I haven't tried the high end Nespresso...I'll be on the look out :)

 

Couldn't agree more, the calculus of what's the best sharpening option includes a lot of factors and in some cases, the professional options available are depressing to say the least...again, just like finding a consistently great espresso supply.

I have the $500 "LATTISSIMA TOUCH BLACK". It's paid for itself in 6 months in starbucks savings, and is way WAY better than Starbucks (not that that's hard to do). Not as good as what you'll get at a real shop with baristas that actually know what they're doing, but for having a cappuccino whenever I want for $0.70 (plus milk cost) ends up being totally worth it. 

 

I look at the Sparx the same way. To be able to pop in a skate and press play and walk away for $1.25 each time is worth it in both money and time savings, for me personally! 

 

Then again, this is how awesome my local pro shop is at sharpening! 

[mickz 107]

^^ I had to replace the thumb screw on my br100 with the same nylon screw you have there.  The entire thing is pretty robust but the stock screw isn't.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

That's actually a picture of JR holding my skate, so it's his gauge :)

 

I do need to get one though.

[steelnation248 101]

 

 

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

isn't the logo supposed to look like this:

Edited May 16, 2016 by GreatestAmericanBeardo

[flip12 715]

The Flying Blood Oranges.

[LoneStar77 25]

Got the new skates baked & sharpened this weekend, can't wait to use them in a game (had to use my old ones for my last game as these had just been baked like an hour before hand).  I also will switch out the laces for either Elite white or perhaps yellow waxes ones soon too.  From Vapor X:40 9D to Supreme S180 8.5EE.  :)

 

 

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

2 hours ago, flip12 said:

The Flying Blood Oranges.

thats pizza.  bad pizza, its true representative of what you get served at lil caesar.

[GoalForFun 176]

 

My "stick" rack.

Edited May 17, 2016 by GoalForFun

[Mimizk 114]

Bought a pair of my 6th Warrior Franchise gloves. I love these. The best Eagle glove.

Usually I give left hand gloves to someone because almost only top hand gloves would be tone.