PITCH holder on Bauer 8090's

[Accord 0]

Has anyone here put a PITCH holder on a pair of 8090's and if so, how did it work out? Do you like it? I'm considering making the switch on my 8090's, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[jimmy 194]

Why spend more than $100 to make a holder/blade switch when you can spend $15-30 and have a custom rocker radius done on your current steel, and have the pitch changed too

While the Mission "pitch" design is a good one, changing the tilt of the blade is not the best way to achieve the pitch and maintain it. Here's why... assuming you take your skates to a bad sharpener, even once, that sharpener can alter the pitch on the STEEL. So even though your Holder's "pitch" cam says 1 degree down, the blade could in fact be 2 degrees down or 1 degree back. You never really know what pitch is on the skate, you may think you are 1 degree but not really. If you have a sharpener who is very, verygood, then you won't have major problems. However, besides being altered in one swipe by a bad sharpener, the steel's rocker is altered over time with normal sharpenings, even by the best of the best sharpeners out there. I recommend refreshing the rocker with a radius at least once a season.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Understood, but PITCH is great for experimentation without having to re-radius.

Accord, if you do decide to do PITCH, I suggest you come see me. There is nobody more qualified in Florida to do that job unless you work for the Lightning or Panthers. And I'll laugh my ass off after some hack in Coral Springs does the swap...I've seen it before... :)

[Accord 0]

Understood, but PITCH is great for experimentation without having to re-radius.

Accord, if you do decide to do PITCH, I suggest you come see me. There is nobody more qualified in Florida to do that job unless you work for the Lightning or Panthers. And I'll laugh my ass off after some hack in Coral Springs does the swap...I've seen it before... :)

I definitely will JR, i've already had bad experiences getting simple things fixed locally.

I was looking on Missions website and it said that the -1 setting is not recommended for most people, and I usually fall under the 'most people' category so i'm probably a N or +1. Jimmy, you've got me worried though, because the people that do sharpenings at my rink are absolutely terrible, they're teenagers that don't know what they're doing and most of the time they're just lucky if both edges are even and half of them weren't even aware you could specify a different hollow.

But still, even if a sharpener does alter the steel and I end up having +1 turned into +2, wouldn't that have a rippel effect on the entire blade causing N to become +1 and -1 to become N?

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Yes

[Justin 1933 134]

I am a -1...What a surprise....

[GekigangarIII 0]

I am a -1...What a surprise....

Me too... but it may be because my pitch were on pro stock pureflys and man those things seemed to be WAY forward pitched (just the skate) with the pitch on n or +1 it felt like I was going to fall on my face... but I'm a lazy no-kneebend kinda guy. :)

[Justin 1933 134]

And I am just a roller daddy (expect for goalie)..lol

[Bauer_freAK 0]

Jimmy, you've got me worried though, because the people that do sharpenings at my rink are absolutely terrible, they're teenagers that don't know what they're doing and most of the time they're just lucky if both edges are even and half of them weren't even aware you could specify a different hollow.

that's like in germany... i think no one can sharpen your skates here...

perhaps on the pro teams..but for those people who want an exact radius

on there hollow -> T'blades

[jimmy 194]

JR,

That's a very expensive expirement, especially for just 3 choices in pitch and only one radius. I suspose if you need new holders and steels, it would be OK, but I wouldn't recommend spending the money if one has perfectly good holders on their skates. A custom radius done by an experienced sharpener is much cheaper and can be tailored to skater's position and other skating factors.

[Chadd 916]

JR,

That's a very expensive expirement, especially for just 3 choices in pitch and only one radius. I suspose if you need new holders and steels, it would be OK, but I wouldn't recommend spending the money if one has perfectly good holders on their skates. A custom radius done by an experienced sharpener is much cheaper and can be tailored to skater's position and other skating factors.

We charge $30 a shot and after a couple of changes the steel can be worn down quite a bit.

[jimmy 194]

Chadd,

You must be using an old-style crossgrind/template grinder for your radius's. The newer computer machines barely take of any metal and gring the radius at the same hollow as regular sharpening. Very little steel is ground away. I only charge $16.99 for a radius and that INCLUDES one free adjustment if needed. From my experiance, at most one or two adjustments would ever be needed. You have to properly evaluate the skater to get ballpark. I usually get it right first try. :-) Still, even if I did 4 or five adjustments, you would never be able to see a change in the steel visually with your eye. Crossgrind radius machines suck. I use to use one.

I guess the big point I was trying to make is that changing to Pitch holders is unnecessary, because in the long run the steel will have to be shaped anyway.

[LkptTiger 1]

...One of my buddies got PITCH holders slapped on his 8090s and he really seems to like them. He's tinkered around for awhile now and seems to have settled on +1.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

I am too. Using a Blademaster Custom Radius. I charge $25 - it's a lot of back-grinding work!

What I mean by experimentation is that the user can try something that they probably wouldn't have. Most of my clients do not know/understand what a custom radius does for you and skate all of their lives with a stock radius. I probably do about 2 grinds a month for my clients. PITCH allows them to try it out and correct it immediately if they do not like it. PLUS - PITCH smokes every holder out on the market currently IMO.

[Accord 0]

How much do the PITCH holders cost by themselves (no including labor costs or anything)?

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

$45 each.

[Chadd 916]

I've never seen a good job from the computer controlled machines and I use a brand new Blackstone. I speak from experience trying to "fix" factory pitch problems. Most of the people I get just know it doesn't feel right and they have no idea what's wrong.

Honestly, I've had three guys dump their brand new skates (1 Easton, 2 CCM) after trying on a Mission skate. Part of the selling point was the Pitch and part was the boot. I slapped a spare pair of Pitches on the Eastons and even at +1 he thought he was back on his heels. Not much I can do to fix a skate that's tilted 6 degrees backwards.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Actually the CAG ONE does a good job of radiusing skates. The sharpening quality leaves a lot to be desired however...

[jimmy 194]

All radius machines do a good job at putting in a rocker, but the big advantage of the computer assisted machines is that you can grind the rocker in at the current hollow. No extra steel is taken off and the skate will only need a couple of passes on a finishing wheel to smooth out the finish. Crossgrinding a radius on the other hand, whether using a Blackstone, Custom Radius, whatever model, removes the hollow. It then has to be put back on, removing more steel. So, if one is experimenting, a crossgrind radius may not be a wise choice.

I've used the CAG, the Dupliskate, and the Erickson (Pro-Sharp) computer assisted machines, as well as template crossgrinders. I'll take a computer one any day. I can do an 8.75 radius, or a 6.23, many more options than just the few templates. Just my preference. Lot of less work too!

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Crossgrinding a radius on the other hand, whether using a Blackstone, Custom Radius, whatever model, removes the hollow.  It then has to be put back on, removing more steel.  So, if one is experimenting, a crossgrind radius may not be a wise choice.

See what I mean about PITCH? :)

I do not have enough custom radius business to justify buying a CAG. It would be cool...it'd save my back - all you gotta do is set it and forget it.

[Chadd 916]

Crossgrinding a radius on the other hand, whether using a Blackstone, Custom Radius, whatever model, removes the hollow.  It then has to be put back on, removing more steel.  So, if one is experimenting, a crossgrind radius may not be a wise choice.

See what I mean about PITCH? :)

I do not have enough custom radius business to justify buying a CAG. It would be cool...it'd save my back - all you gotta do is set it and forget it.

Agreed. The amount of custom radius work needed to justify one of those is a bit higher than most shops will ever have.