VH Footwear/TRUE by Scott Van Horne

[boo10 323]

Nothing special. White accents, embroidered #29. Bauer cowling, step steel.

Palmateer or Potvin? :)

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Palmateer or Potvin? :)

Well, this is my mask. You tell me ;)

[Haggerty 144]

Lets get back on topic here. VH thread, not show it off thread.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Lets get back on topic here. VH thread, not show it off thread.

Nobody was making it into a show it off thread. It was a relevant reply to a relevant question.

[laserrobottime 149]

Well, this is my mask. You tell me ;)

Sick bucket.

[Davetronz 109]

Nothing special. White accents, embroidered #29. Bauer cowling, step steel.

Sick. Same number as me. If you end up not liking them, just ship em up north!

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Sick. Same number as me. If you end up not liking them, just ship em up north!

My only worry is my big toe on my right foot has a bump on it. I have to wear a silicone sleeve on it with my Reactors or it's horrible. No issue in my Makos though. He said they'd build the last around it so it shouldn't be an issue. Can't wait.

[Ps12 11]

No need to worry. When my podiatrist first saw my right foot he said now thats a bunion.

They built my skates with my big bunion wide feet and i love how they fut.

[Davetronz 109]

My only worry is my big toe on my right foot has a bump on it. I have to wear a silicone sleeve on it with my Reactors or it's horrible. No issue in my Makos though. He said they'd build the last around it so it shouldn't be an issue. Can't wait.

I had the same problem. Haven't had to use the sleeves since I've been in VH. They'll accommodate it in the last, and they'll line the inside of the toe-cap with a gel/protectant type material.

Feels great.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I had the same problem. Haven't had to use the sleeves since I've been in VH. They'll accommodate it in the last, and they'll line the inside of the toe-cap with a gel/protectant type material.

Feels great.

Did you ask for the gel/protectant or did they just do it for you?

[Davetronz 109]

Did you ask for the gel/protectant or did they just do it for you?

I believe it is standard.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I believe it is standard.

Okay cool. Maybe I'll still send them a message about it.

I never had a bump there before, and I never noticed that that toe does stick out a bit, until I bought my first adult hockey skates. Easton SE2 or something like that. They had this nice rough area on the inside where the stitching attached the toe cap to the rest of the skate. Since then it hurts almost any time anything touches it. Even in some of my dress shoes I have to wear the silicone sleeve on my toe (the 'cheap' ones... the good shoes have conformed to my feet and are as comfortable or more comfortable than sneakers now).

[Davetronz 109]

Same thing here. I'll send you a PM with a possible "fix" since it's outside the realm of the vh topic.

[jcommeau91 2]

Would I be able to have Alkali chassis put on if I send them to VH? Also would they be able to match the pitch of my Alkalis?

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Would I be able to have Alkali chassis put on if I send them to VH? Also would they be able to match the pitch of my Alkalis?

I would expect the answer to be yes to both questions. Just email them, they respond pretty quickly

[mc88 160]

What the new skates look like via another member from another forum:

Edited June 27, 2015 by mc88

[mc88 160]

Small, short and sweet update from my VH experience:

As much as I loved the fit, I felt the durability was a bit "meh". And as such, I've since decided to move on from my VH skates. I was planning on buying another pair, but decided against it because there are literally no shops around that could fix my current VH skates properly (so no use buying another pair).

Current issues with my older generation VHs... (unfortunately, all of this work will fall outside of the warranty period)

- Rusted eyelets -- talked to a LHS and they said the eyelets on the VHs are smaller than the normal eyelets, and therefore they couldn't replace them

- Rivets coming loose -- had that same LHS replace all the rivets/coppers on both boots about a month ago and I've already had to replace several rivets that became loose

- Tongue degradation -- the Velcro on the top of the tongues is completely shot after a few months, the tongue itself is falling apart due to rubbing (the felt is splitting in two and the black leather accents have almost completely worn off), and the tongues have developed a noticeable crease near the top due to flopping (thankfully no lace bite yet)

- Boot degradation -- the stitching near the toebox has completely come off, where the side pieces are starting to pull away from the boot, pieces of the liner are starting to become unglued near the top ankle edges, and the top part of the boot has gone really soft near the first eyelet (I've always felt that I start to "bend" when I'm leaning forward)

- Tendon guard too stiff -- despite having the tendon guard fixed to be more flexible, I think it's still too stiff. When pressed firmly against, it often leads to some discomfort, as pieces of exposed hard plastic dig into the ankle. On the same note, you'll get the same discomfort because the "comfort edge," is a bit too thin. When taking tight turns and skating backwards, you can feel that comfort edge compress and the hard plastic dig into the outer ankles. Thankfully, not enough to cut or blister, but feels like an uncomfortable pinch.

Hopefully, they've addressed the issues above with this new design. However, after only owning these for just shy of a year and half, I expected them to be more durable over the long haul. As such, I'm moving on to some Vapor 1Xs (retail) and the VHs will become my back ups.

[syinx 139]

What the new skates look like via another member from another forum:

The new skates look slick as shit. I'm so excited.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Hopefully, they've addressed the issues above with this new design. However, after only owning these for just shy of a year and half, I expected them to be more durable over the long haul. As such, I'm moving on to some Vapor 1Xs (retail) and the VHs will become my back ups.

Man I wish that was even an option for me.

[ccarrigan 2]

Small, short and sweet update from my VH experience:

As much as I loved the fit, I felt the durability was a bit "meh". And as such, I've since decided to move on from my VH skates. I was planning on buying another pair, but decided against it because there are literally no shops around that could fix my current VH skates properly (so no use buying another pair).

Current issues with my older generation VHs... (unfortunately, all of this work will fall outside of the warranty period)

- Rusted eyelets -- talked to a LHS and they said the eyelets on the VHs are smaller than the normal eyelets, and therefore they couldn't replace them

- Rivets coming loose -- had that same LHS replace all the rivets/coppers on both boots about a month ago and I've already had to replace several rivets that became loose

- Tongue degradation -- the Velcro on the top of the tongues is completely shot after a few months, the tongue itself is falling apart due to rubbing (the felt is splitting in two and the black leather accents have almost completely worn off), and the tongues have developed a noticeable crease near the top due to flopping (thankfully no lace bite yet)

- Boot degradation -- the stitching near the toebox has completely come off, where the side pieces are starting to pull away from the boot, pieces of the liner are starting to become unglued near the top ankle edges, and the top part of the boot has gone really soft near the first eyelet (I've always felt that I start to "bend" when I'm leaning forward)

- Tendon guard too stiff -- despite having the tendon guard fixed to be more flexible, I think it's still too stiff. When pressed firmly against, it often leads to some discomfort, as pieces of exposed hard plastic dig into the ankle. On the same note, you'll get the same discomfort because the "comfort edge," is a bit too thin. When taking tight turns and skating backwards, you can feel that comfort edge compress and the hard plastic dig into the outer ankles. Thankfully, not enough to cut or blister, but feels like an uncomfortable pinch.

Hopefully, they've addressed the issues above with this new design. However, after only owning these for just shy of a year and half, I expected them to be more durable over the long haul. As such, I'm moving on to some Vapor 1Xs (retail) and the VHs will become my back ups.

Can we get some pics of the issues you've had so we can see if it's tolerable or not?

[Davetronz 109]

Small, short and sweet update from my VH experience:

As much as I loved the fit, I felt the durability was a bit "meh". And as such, I've since decided to move on from my VH skates. I was planning on buying another pair, but decided against it because there are literally no shops around that could fix my current VH skates properly (so no use buying another pair).

Current issues with my older generation VHs... (unfortunately, all of this work will fall outside of the warranty period)

- Rusted eyelets -- talked to a LHS and they said the eyelets on the VHs are smaller than the normal eyelets, and therefore they couldn't replace them

- Rivets coming loose -- had that same LHS replace all the rivets/coppers on both boots about a month ago and I've already had to replace several rivets that became loose

- Tongue degradation -- the Velcro on the top of the tongues is completely shot after a few months, the tongue itself is falling apart due to rubbing (the felt is splitting in two and the black leather accents have almost completely worn off), and the tongues have developed a noticeable crease near the top due to flopping (thankfully no lace bite yet)

- Boot degradation -- the stitching near the toebox has completely come off, where the side pieces are starting to pull away from the boot, pieces of the liner are starting to become unglued near the top ankle edges, and the top part of the boot has gone really soft near the first eyelet (I've always felt that I start to "bend" when I'm leaning forward)

- Tendon guard too stiff -- despite having the tendon guard fixed to be more flexible, I think it's still too stiff. When pressed firmly against, it often leads to some discomfort, as pieces of exposed hard plastic dig into the ankle. On the same note, you'll get the same discomfort because the "comfort edge," is a bit too thin. When taking tight turns and skating backwards, you can feel that comfort edge compress and the hard plastic dig into the outer ankles. Thankfully, not enough to cut or blister, but feels like an uncomfortable pinch.

Hopefully, they've addressed the issues above with this new design. However, after only owning these for just shy of a year and half, I expected them to be more durable over the long haul. As such, I'm moving on to some Vapor 1Xs (retail) and the VHs will become my back ups.

Sorry to hear that you had some problems and have moved on from your jets. Did you speak with VH about any of the issues?

I'm going to comment on some of the issues you reported because I feel many have had very positive experiences. I'm not trying to kick the dust up, just offering a different perspective.

- Re: rusted eyelets. If the LHS couldn't fix the eyelets, you could have asked VH to put in some new ones. I haven't seen rusting on my pair from around the same time you ordered yours.

- Re: rivets coming loose. Rivets can loosen in any skate depending on their quality, how they were installed, the die used, the length, etc. Again, a pretty easy fix. For some players I replace rivets once a year - it all depends.

- Re: tongue. The tongue is replaceable and so is the Velcro. A tongue can break down in any skate with playing style, how it's flopped, pressure, etc. Most skates that I see have some degree of wear to the tongue, regardless of the brand.

- Re: boot degradation. Did VH have a response for this? Stitching and glue are easy to fix, but the softening of the boot is something you should contact them about. All skates will have a certain degree of softening over their lifetime.

- Re: tendon guard too stiff. Odd, this is something I haven't experiencing whatsoever. I'd actually prefer it to be stiffer! I wonder if it's installed at a bit of an angle, or settled at this angle after baking. Also something that could likely have been rectified for you in some way or another.

At the end of the day, I'm not here to argue, but to say that a lot of the above concerns are easy fixes, could be attributed to wear and tear after a year and a half depending on usage, and warrant a discussion with VH for some of your concerns. Definitely post some pictures for us, as suggested above, so we can see the degree and tolerance of the wear. I know that you're in CA, but I'm sure a lot of us here would have gladly worked on your skates for you had you shipped them to us, if not shipping them to VH directly. Again, sorry to hear that you've moved on, but maybe there's still something that can be done for your VH's.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Davetronz

[flyers10 57]

I think mc88 already sent to VH once or twice already and has been a heavy proponent of them. I had some same issues with mine: constant rivet replacing, rusted eyelets, tendon guards both broke early on. My LHS helped with rivets and fixing tendons but ongoing maintenance time and cost like that on a new skate is too much. Shipping to VH constantly could make a $900 skate quickly become a $1300-$1800 skate. I would not be opposed to trying them again as theimprovements made to the newest ones seem to have addressed the main common issues. One just needs to be aware of potential shipping costs and time without your skate for issues in and out of the warranty period.

[flip12 714]

I can't help but think that VH will improve their durability just like almost any other first-generation skate. Look at the one90's heel separation and brutal tongue, the Mako's shredding shell and prickly upper cuff, the Vapor 8 had facing-shredding and rock-hard tendon guard that were addressed with the Vapor 10...

The improvements look like they address the durability issues that have come up, although I'd still like to see some things adjusted a little bit.

mc88, I've had a similar feeling of discomfort in the top edge of my MLX, especially since I'm used to Graf's radiused padding at the top which allows for extreme ankle rotation, but my plan to fix it is to just spot heat that area and remold it with my ankle rotated out the way it normally is for forward strides. It took me a while to think of that versus just rolling the top out some arbitrary amount with my fingers.

What I really think needs to happen is they just need to make the boots even shorter a bit, with an upper pillow similar to what's on their short track boots, and also make the top eyelets more aggressive, like Mission's old Past-Vert eyelets (thanks JR for reminding me about those!), like in Cruikshank's prototype that led to the MLX.

[Supermolla 1]

Here is a picture of my new VH https://instagram.com/p/39fJJNA67W/?taken-by=markusmolin

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Here is a picture of my new VH https://instagram.com/p/39fJJNA67W/?taken-by=markusmolin

Is that the "silver" colour option?