Not going to bake my skates

[caveman27 208]

This is my first pair of bake-able hockey skates. I'm ancient.

Anyway, I don't want to accidentally ruin them in anyway. They are kind of nice, CCM Jetspeed, last year's top-of-the-line Jetspeed models. I heard baking only accelerates the break-in process, but you can still break them in with just skating in them, like the old-fashioned way. I'm wearing them now, in my house. My feet are sweating.

 

Anyway, anyone else not bake their skates?

[IPv6Freely 2092]

44 minutes ago, caveman27 said:

This is my first pair of bake-able hockey skates. I'm ancient.

Anyway, I don't want to accidentally ruin them in anyway. They are kind of nice, CCM Jetspeed, last year's top-of-the-line Jetspeed models. I heard baking only accelerates the break-in process, but you can still break them in with just skating in them, like the old-fashioned way. I'm wearing them now, in my house. My feet are sweating.

 

Anyway, anyone else not bake their skates?

At one point the "only accelerates the break-in process" was correct, but not anymore. I don't know where you heard that from but consulting with somebody from this millennium would be wise! Those skates are specifically made with thermo-moldable materials. There is no reason to not bake your skates.

[adams2001 54]

Agreed, the big seller on new age and especially high end skates is the wrap your foot gets after baking them. This makes the skates fit your foot better and I believe you would be cheating yourself by not baking them. 

[stick9 888]

@caveman27 do as you see fit. Just keep in mind that no amount of skating will mold that outer shell to your foot. Unlike older style skates where the outer portion of the boot breaks in over time, these wont. On the performance side of things, you are seriously short changing yourself by not baking them.

The skate was designed to be baked, so no need to worry about ruining them, as long as its done correctly. 

[chippa13 1844]

Baking is a must with today's high end skates. Best bet is to find a reputable shop to have it done.

[clarkiestooth 235]

Absolutely need to bake them. 170 degrees for 7 or 8 minutes. When putting them on be sure to pull laces out (not up) to tighten. If you reside in the South, avoid the urge to deep fry skates.

[nutters 218]

21 hours ago, caveman27 said:

This is my first pair of bake-able hockey skates. I'm ancient.

Anyway, I don't want to accidentally ruin them in anyway. They are kind of nice, CCM Jetspeed, last year's top-of-the-line Jetspeed models. I heard baking only accelerates the break-in process, but you can still break them in with just skating in them, like the old-fashioned way. I'm wearing them now, in my house. My feet are sweating.

 

Anyway, anyone else not bake their skates?

didn't bake my jetspeeds. they broke in rather fast (2-3 games) and they fit me perfectly. though that's not the case for everyone.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

56 minutes ago, nutters said:

didn't bake my jetspeeds. they broke in rather fast (2-3 games) and they fit me perfectly. though that's not the case for everyone.

There is absolutely no reason to not bake them.

[Kgbeast 195]

On 12/8/2017 at 10:56 AM, IPv6Freely said:

At one point the "only accelerates the break-in process" was correct, but not anymore. I don't know where you heard that from but consulting with somebody from this millennium would be wise! Those skates are specifically made with thermo-moldable materials. There is no reason to not bake your skates.

CCM support still says that for (I think) everything except SuperTacks. That said, there certainly no harm in baking, but most likely a gain.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

1 hour ago, Kgbeast said:

CCM support still says that for (I think) everything except SuperTacks. That said, there certainly no harm in baking, but most likely a gain.

Source? Because I don’t see why they wouldn’t recommend heat molding skates that were designed to be heat molded.

[Playmakersedge 58]

On 12/8/2017 at 1:10 PM, caveman27 said:

This is my first pair of bake-able hockey skates. I'm ancient.

Anyway, I don't want to accidentally ruin them in anyway. They are kind of nice, CCM Jetspeed, last year's top-of-the-line Jetspeed models. I heard baking only accelerates the break-in process, but you can still break them in with just skating in them, like the old-fashioned way. I'm wearing them now, in my house. My feet are sweating.

 

Anyway, anyone else not bake their skates?

My new used rbx top of the line ,have been baked, I haven't done so for myself .  How to Hockey has a very informative video.  Done @ Sharply sport's guy was a pro player. They went threw the entire process.  They started with a skate oven that was cold, put the skates in and set the heat to 175º . Let them stay in there a couple minutes @ set temp. Then the pro put the skate on Jeremy's foot ,and did so a fast pace . The pro made a point several times to say pull out to the side on the laces because pulling towards you can stretch the eyelet holes out.    He had Jeremy sit on the bench flat footed but knee over the toe for 15 minutes and then removed the skates.  

    When I did my tacks from the learning experience.  I grabbed a 2×4 cut two slots . Took the racks out of the oven.  Then heated to 200º to compensate for opening the door.  Once at temp I put the skates in using the piece of wood to hold them upright and let them sit in there 10 minutes then put them on.      The entire time I was thinking that putting a vacuum bag over the skate and hooking the vacuum cleaner to it would do a killer job of molding it . 

[Kgbeast 195]

37 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

Source? Because I don’t see why they wouldn’t recommend heat molding skates that were designed to be heat molded.

I have emailed the CCM about some skates and answer was that baking is not always necessary for proper break-in. Also the baking speeding up break in process is often mentioned on retailer websites and marketing info. That said though, they do not not recommending it, but rather just saying that you do not need to bake if you do not want to. Probably because if you'd do it in a home oven you can ruin them (at least cosmetically) and it is safer to just do it and way? This obviously not applicable to something like VH or Maco as these really have to be baked according to their instructions.

[Vet88 674]

It all depends on your foot shape. Boots are made on a generic last that fit the widest possible range of foot shapes in that configuration. They don't guess what it should be like, it's designed to a generic foot shape. So for those players out there whose feet fall within these parameters then no, you don't need to bake your skates. Put them on, do them up and skate. Zero pain from day one. But, due to the wonderful nature of genetic diversity, a lot of us have feet that don't conform to these "ideal" shapes and baking allows us to adapt the boot to our foot. So to the OP, if they fit well and don't hurt, you don't need to bake. 

[Playmakersedge 58]

2 hours ago, Kgbeast said:

I have emailed the CCM about some skates and answer was that baking is not always necessary for proper break-in. Also the baking speeding up break in process is often mentioned on retailer websites and marketing info. That said though, they do not not recommending it, but rather just saying that you do not need to bake if you do not want to. Probably because if you'd do it in a home oven you can ruin them (at least cosmetically) and it is safer to just do it and way? This obviously not applicable to something like VH or Maco as these really have to be baked according to their instructions.

I was surprised that there was no literature with the CCM skates I bought.  I thought it was because they were blemished product.  But it sounds like the jet speed goalie skates didn't either  . I'm 50 but the Bauer skates I wore out came with literature even a card with a plastic tie in an eyelet.  

[matix218 11]

Related to this topic, I also have a question for people who know a lot about Bauer curv boots.  I just got a pair of vapor x100 LE's that were lightly used (maybe 10 or so games by previous owner, excellent condition).  My question is should I bake them?  The previous owner obviously had them baked when he got them.  Would it be important for me to get them baked for my foot, IE does the curv actually shape to your foot or does baking on the x100's only lead to faster break in time (like OP was asking about)?  They feel fairly comfortable as is but if they would mold to my feet even better with a bake i will do it.  Also i know baking too much is bad for the boot too and these were already baked at least once  (could even be twice by original owner, i dont know).  Any recommendations or suggestions??

This is my first curv boot (was a tech mesh vapor guy before this) so I really dont know much about the material. 

[Kgbeast 195]

9 minutes ago, matix218 said:

Related to this topic, I also have a question for people who know a lot about Bauer curv boots.  I just got a pair of vapor x100 LE's that were lightly used (maybe 10 or so games by previous owner, excellent condition).  My question is should I bake them?  The previous owner obviously had them baked when he got them.  Would it be important for me to get them baked for my foot, IE does the curv actually shape to your foot or does baking on the x100's only lead to faster break in time (like OP was asking about)?  They feel fairly comfortable as is but if they would mold to my feet even better with a bake i will do it.  Also i know baking too much is bad for the boot too and these were already baked at least once  (could even be twice by original owner, i dont know).  Any recommendations or suggestions??

This is my first curv boot (was a tech mesh vapor guy before this) so I really dont know much about the material. 

Curv is basically a plastic with high toughness characteristics. This was first utilized by a premium and toughest luggage by Samsonite. Curv is a sort of alternative to carbon fiber, perhaps a bit more suitable for hockey skates as it is plenty strong in impact, but also plenty strong around the edges and sharp corners. It is light, but not as light as carbon fiber. I would think that baking of it is more important than in case with techmesh, but should follow the same guidelines. There is a Baking thread here which might list the curv boots in it.

[gosinger 122]

I've re-baked both the APX and the 1X a second time without any problem, so I'd say go right ahead. I was always unable to get proper heel-lock until I baked the skates.

[matix218 11]

7 hours ago, gosinger said:

I've re-baked both the APX and the 1X a second time without any problem, so I'd say go right ahead. I was always unable to get proper heel-lock until I baked the skates.

Thanks!  I will go ahead and bake them.

[asgoodasdead 74]

i've baked my last 2 pair of skates myself in my oven at home with great results. baked both pairs multiple times too.

like others have said, the skates will "break in" but you'll never get as close to as good of a fit and wrap without baking. trust me, i wore my last pair twice a week for over 2 years without baking and thought they fit great. then i baked them and it was like a completely different boot after

[IPv6Freely 2092]

3 minutes ago, asgoodasdead said:

i've baked my last 2 pair of skates myself in my oven at home with great results. baked both pairs multiple times too.

like others have said, the skates will "break in" but you'll never get as close to as good of a fit and wrap without baking. trust me, i wore my last pair twice a week for over 2 years without baking and thought they fit great. then i baked them and it was like a completely different boot after

Indeed. There’s also a big difference between “broken in” and “molded to your foot” that it seems some people might be overlooking.

[Playmakersedge 58]

Any opinions on if the vacuum bag rig idea ? Think it would be worth while?  I have a vacuum pump that I can pull two atmospheres with.

[Vet88 674]

If you can get enough pressure in it to move the boot material, it would be a great idea. I've considered something like 2 airbags each side of a closed space like a box and your foot in between the 2. Pump them up and it compresses the boot inwards around the sides of your foot. You can easily generate a lot more pressure with a pump as opposed to a vacuum.

[gosinger 122]

@Vet88 what you are describing is essentially the CCM F.I.T. (or the older versions by various vendors) system, see here. I'd agree that you probably can't get enough force on a vacuum bag with a regular shop vac.

[Dizzyg12 27]

No amount of sweating or walking around will ever get a carbon fiber quarter to mold to your foot.  Bake them.  It’s what they are designed for.   You don’t have to, but you’ll never get as snug and comfortable fit if you don’t and IMO you would lose performance by not molding them.

[caveman27 208]

I ended up baking them in an oven. There were directions inside the skate box.

They felt okay, but not any different before I baked them.

Then, my first time on the ice, my feet were in some pain. I tightened up the laces. My feet still hurt a bit. After skating around for over half an hour, the pain started going away. These feel much lighter than any other skate I've had. I got them profiled at no icing sports, they did my other blades on my Bauers. I don't get any heel pain like in my Bauers. The heel lock is great (2017 CCM JetSpeed).

The odd thing is that the toe cap is plastic and I don't get any grip on the ice like fabric covered toe cap on my old skates.

So, I went to a recreational skate just to break them in more. Again, they feel tight after I lace them up. But, I can't lace them loosely. Again, they feel fine when I'm skating hard but uncomfortable when not skating.