Graf ultra XI series skates

[caseyjones 26]

Anyone have experience with this line?  I'm guessing they are the follow up version to the ultra series. The Xi have yellow threading which easily distinguishes the look btwn the two series.

Just got some a pair today and they seem well built. Except one of the things Graf is positively known for is their thick felt tongues. The tongue on this skate is terrible. It has half the felt as all other Graf skates I have. It's borderline ridiculous. It's the flimsiest tongue I have seen on a high end model skate. Anyone ever hear anything regarding this change? I can't see any benefit whatsoever and it seems like an awful decision by  the company 

[flip12 717]

I have G35's with yellow stitching like that. Not sure if they're XI's, but they have tech-mesh quarters and flimsy tongues.

I got curious about that difference so I cut the G35 tongues out and replaced them with a pair of beat up but still solid 703 tongues. The 703 tongues were 33% heavier and I thought they'd improve volume issues I had in the G35's, but my first skate out with the 703 tongues instead was weird. I may figure out how to work with them in the G35's, but they're actually too stiff given how stiff the skate is. I'm guessing that's the reasoning behind the flimsy, crappy tongue that came with the G35's.

[caseyjones 26]

Thanks. I guess I'll give them a go on the ice before messing with it. If it does wind up being an issue, would simply gluing some extra felt to the inside of the tongue be a possible solution?  I'd hate to pay $60+ for a new tongue and then extra cash to have it sewn on

[flip12 717]

You could definitely try something like that. I tried adding a little leftovers from an MLX tongue I dissected for more thickness. I tried both inside the tongue and outside, between the tongue and the laces. Both ways the added portion stayed in place just fine. I ended up preferring the tongue without that added bit though. It could be that what I had was a bit too thick and there's a proper Goldilocks solution waiting to be implemented. I don't have a clue about how gluing it in would work though; how well it would hold and so on.