VH Footwear/TRUE by Scott Van Horne

[stick9 890]

4 hours ago, Leif said:

That just seems odd, if that really is your impression then fair enough. I can't imagine ordering a custom product in the hope that it does not fit. 

More so, why would someone pluck down the cash for something they don't like or don't believe in.... 

As to the point about adjustments. When you buy skates that are sold to you as being custom made to your feet. Dosn't that come with the impression or a certian level of confidence they will fit perfectly, if not, shouldn't it? I mean, what's the point of buying them if they have to be "adjusted", "tweaked" or "dialed in"? If they do require work afterwards, are you really getting what you paid for? Isnt it fair to question that?

This is the problem with offering something like this to the masses. How many people actually need custom made skates opposed to those who want them simply because it's unique...

[Sniper9 530]

5 hours ago, Leif said:

Perhaps they need it clearly explaining to them (in big letters) that the skates require adjustments, they might be used to skates that either fit out of the box, or do so after a simple bake. People sometimes don't hear something they are told, I've done it myself. 

However, my comment was in response to this: 

That just seems odd, if that really is your impression then fair enough. I can't imagine ordering a custom product in the hope that it does not fit. 

I would imagine most people who go with true skates are ones that have issues with skates NOT fitting properly out of box... Otherwise they wouldn't spend all the money on custom skates. 

[Paddy 11]

7 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

Second pair of True skates that came in today with the fabric liners. 

http://imgur.com/gallery/od8yhIn

 

I'm not a fan, first impression reminds me of my old $200 first skates. Pictures can be deceiving though.

[Paddy 11]

7 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

Second pair of True skates that came in today with the fabric liners. 

http://imgur.com/gallery/od8yhIn

 

I'm not a fan, first impression reminds me of my old $200 first skates. Pictures can be deceiving though.

[Giltis 116]

55 minutes ago, stick9 said:

More so, why would someone pluck down the cash for something they don't like or don't believe in.... 

You'd be surprised at how people waste time and money, I've had people pay tremendous money just so that they can say that they've tried it and "gave it a fair shot".

[smu 29]

You got to be kidding, perhaps a devious competitor even that's hard to believe, but for for someone to say they just tried it!?

 

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

4 hours ago, stick9 said:

More so, why would someone pluck down the cash for something they don't like or don't believe in.... 

As to the point about adjustments. When you buy skates that are sold to you as being custom made to your feet. Dosn't that come with the impression or a certian level of confidence they will fit perfectly, if not, shouldn't it? I mean, what's the point of buying them if they have to be "adjusted", "tweaked" or "dialed in"? If they do require work afterwards, are you really getting what you paid for? Isnt it fair to question that?

This is the problem with offering something like this to the masses. How many people actually need custom made skates opposed to those who want them simply because it's unique...

There are plenty of people in this world with disposable income that waste money on products in order to have their "I told you so" moment.  It sounds so illogical, but you'd be surprised how often this happens.

As for custom anything, in my experience (as with my Trues), just because it's custom doesn't mean you don't have to tweak it to final spec. In my case, when I got my Trues: I had to play around with the footbeds, take out one of the toe cap inserts they put in, change out the steel (totally out of preference), and change the laces.  However, if I didn't go custom, my usual process with off the shelf retail was: trying on different sizes until I got the right length, stretching the forefoot width of the boots, punching out the spot for my pinky toes, THEN play with footbeds, change out laces, etc...etc...  Not to mention, I would have to wear Bunga pads for the first 6-8 hours of skating in order to break the skates in and relieve hot spot areas, which I didn't have to do at all with my Trues.

Trues are not for everyone.  Not everyone needs a custom skate.  But for me, having one foot that's about 3/4 bigger than the other, they have been great, along with the perks of not having to deal with so many mods and the painful break in process.

And as I said previously, IMHO you won't need to have to make many mods at all if you have a good True fitter.

[Giltis 116]

55 minutes ago, smu said:

You got to be kidding, perhaps a devious competitor even that's hard to believe, but for for someone to say they just tried it!?

 

I wish I was kidding, I should specify that my experience is from the Car Restoration world, so it's even worse (but this type of behaviour is everywhere).

[smu 29]

I came from the insurance claims management world, never heard of this.

Slipped on a banana though!

[IPv6Freely 2092]

 

[Sniper9 530]

2 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

 

Wonder if that toe cap is specifically for the inline version. And whether the boot itself is lighter and less protection as it's for roller. 

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Roller boots require the same or more material/stiffness than an ice boot. Inline frames put more stress on a sole than an ice holder. 

[Stewie 721]

It’s not clear from the photo, but I wonder if they’ve considered wear on the sides of the front of the skate, where most manufacturers put wear patches. The sides of the skate can take a beating in roller and I don’t see anything to mitigate that here

[IPv6Freely 2092]

2 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

Wonder if that toe cap is specifically for the inline version. And whether the boot itself is lighter and less protection as it's for roller. 

I didn't notice until you said something. Is that just molded or are those... vents? 

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

As much as I love my Trues and really just care about performance...  True could use some help in their design aesthetics.  That chassis is pretty clunky looking.

[yychockey 3]

I was scanned for a pair of True skates yesterday. I’m a bit nervous after reading the majority of this thread but am hoping that what I’ve read are the outliers in terms of fit and quality rather than the majority. I’ll post back once they arrive. 

[smu 29]

I would have your LHS send your foot tracings in as well, even after they sent the scan and their assessment.

Make sure that the LHS gave them your present skate size and width plus the blade length and normal shoe sizing just so there are no mistakes made.

For width, you should be fine if you have a skate size larger than 5.5! Or you get a D width only!

[yychockey 3]

1 hour ago, smu said:

I would have your LHS send your foot tracings in as well, even after they sent the scan and their assessment.

Make sure that the LHS gave them your present skate size and width plus the blade length and normal shoe sizing just so there are no mistakes made.

For width, you should be fine if you have a skate size larger than 5.5! Or you get a D width only!

I don`t have particularly abnormal feet. I'm typically an 8.5D. I have a narrow heel with a wider forefoot and a high arch. I'm buying them more because I'm interested in trying something very different from what I've done in the past, and also as a Canadian I like that the skates are made in Winnipeg.

[VegasHockey 1280]

21 hours ago, Stewie said:

It’s not clear from the photo, but I wonder if they’ve considered wear on the sides of the front of the skate, where most manufacturers put wear patches. The sides of the skate can take a beating in roller and I don’t see anything to mitigate that here

If you mean wear patches on the sides of the toe cap area don't think they are needed. Unlike most skates, since the True toe cap is one unit and is highly durable and oversized I don't think wear patches would be necessary. 

[VegasHockey 1280]

20 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

I didn't notice until you said something. Is that just molded or are those... vents? 

I have a friend who is using a pair of Trues for roller and he drilled small holes in the top of the boot to allow his feet to breathe better. I'll try and snag a photo next time I see him. The way he did it is not noticable at all and he claims it works wonders. 

[nummer55 10]

It’s a ventilated toe cap...

[Sniper9 530]

2 hours ago, yychockey said:

I don`t have particularly abnormal feet. I'm typically an 8.5D. I have a narrow heel with a wider forefoot and a high arch. I'm buying them more because I'm interested in trying something very different from what I've done in the past, and also as a Canadian I like that the skates are made in Winnipeg.

Pretty much the reason I got mine. And the fact it's the same price as any top end retail skate. 

[Superjet 6]

On 1/5/2019 at 5:22 PM, Sk8Stk said:

Please elaborate on what you think i'm saying is incorrect. 

Also, everyone that has allowed me to adjust their skates further has been satisfied. There have been one or two customers that do not want to make adjustments (normally, these are customers who are against the brand from the starting point and want the skates to not fit when they arrive) and those are the only issues I have had. I spent a large portion of time with Rob last summer analyzing all of the aspects of your remade pair to ensure everything was made according to my specifications. You came in for the bake, and never reached out again, outside of on here. As I have said months ago to you on this forum, I am always available to work with clients to ensure the skates are made exactly to customer specifications. If there was an additional issue, let me solve it. 

One important note as well, "pro - fit" is not a box to be checked during the fitting to request that less materials be used for a tighter fit. They are simply taking the materials and removing excess negative space - at the beer league / recreational level, this is often not as comfortable. However, I can easily accomplish this fit by myself in store during a tightening appointment. Other shops may not have this capability, so this is a helpful bit of information to know, but it does not necessarily carry as much weight as what has been alluded to here. 

At the end of the day, you are open to your opinion, but the skates are custom made entirely to the skaters foot using Scott's patented lasting system. There will be information coming out in the next few weeks that will further reinforce this. 

Seems like you are directing this towards me which is ridiculous.  I found your shop after searching for the closest VH dealer (at the time) and decided it was worth the 300 mile round trip to get a pair of custom fit skates.  I've been to your shop 5 or 6 times (at over $100 a trip in gas and tolls) to make "adjustments" to the first pair of skates.  Spending over $500 on return trips showed my effort to work with these things.  I had also asked you prior to making the second pair to take manual measurements (other than the brannock) to supplement the scan, to which you said were un-necessary and refused to take.

When I picked up the second pair of skates we did more than a bake.  I was there for over 4 hours as you tried to tighten the heel over multiple adjustments.  They didn't feel much different, but I figured the supposedly reduced volume may have helped.  Skated on them the next day and the on ice feel was no different.  Heel lift and lateral heel movement.  Skates that are too small are workable, but skates that are too large are not fixable. 

I didn't buy a custom pair of skates so that I could have a 12 month podiatry science experiment, I bought them so they would fit my foot shape (narrow heel, slightly wider forefoot) better than retail.  I don't think I'm out of line for expecting this, especially with how the skates are marketed and the cost associated with them.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

If you guys want to fight back and forth can you take it to private messages? Thank you.

[yychockey 3]

Anyone that's had a pair made recently know what the approximate production time is currently?