VH Footwear/TRUE by Scott Van Horne

[IPv6Freely 2092]

2 hours ago, dasuchin said:

Mine randomly came in so I’m sitting here at Pure Hockey getting them baked. They didn’t do the shrink wrap method, just baked them for 15 minutes and letting them cool on my feet after lacing them up.  I read things about how they don’t feel like skates and they feel like a sock, that’s really the best way to put it. There’s zero negative space. Let’s hope they fix my issues. 

I always describe it like a well fitting hiking boot. Nice even pressure and support converting your entire foot and ankle. 

[Sniper9 530]

2 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

I always describe it like a well fitting hiking boot. Nice even pressure and support converting your entire foot and ankle. 

Ya it actually does feel very similar to my hanwag boots In that they are very supportive and comfortable. Stiffer obviously but good comparison. 

[dasuchin 20]

I feel like I have a very stupid question. Got the Trues home and now I'm trying to put them on. I have to drop 3 eyelets to even get my foot in them, but then how the hell am I supposed to lace them back up? It wraps around my foot so tightly that there's no room to feed the lace into the eyelet.

[boo10 323]

7 hours ago, dasuchin said:

I feel like I have a very stupid question. Got the Trues home and now I'm trying to put them on. I have to drop 3 eyelets to even get my foot in them, but then how the hell am I supposed to lace them back up? It wraps around my foot so tightly that there's no room to feed the lace into the eyelet.

You need to take a heat gun to the eyelet cuff and roll it out.  There is a video on the True website that shows how to make this adjustment.

[xyphox 6]

9 hours ago, dasuchin said:

I feel like I have a very stupid question. Got the Trues home and now I'm trying to put them on. I have to drop 3 eyelets to even get my foot in them, but then how the hell am I supposed to lace them back up? It wraps around my foot so tightly that there's no room to feed the lace into the eyelet.

I pull the tongue forward, and put the lace through the eyelet behind the tongue. Then tuck the tongue back under the eyelets after I've got all the laces through.

[CigarScott 132]

Flair out your eyelet cuff as stated above with a heat gun and I also use the next size up on laces so I can get in and out of my skates without having to fool with that. So if you you usually use 105" laces, get some 120".

[Sniper9 530]

9 minutes ago, xyphox said:

I pull the tongue forward, and put the lace through the eyelet behind the tongue. Then tuck the tongue back under the eyelets after I've got all the laces through.

I'd do this over heating the eyelets. Personally, I don't like the idea if messing with the great wrap by flaring the eyelets. 

Alternatively you can also get even longer laces so there's enough slack created without having them out of that many eyelets. I'm one of the few that only need the top eyelet undone. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Definitely spot heat and flare out the top a bit. I heated mine, and stuck a softball into the top and tossed them in the freezer. Worked great. Made it way easier to get on, and didn’t affect the wrap at all.

[dasuchin 20]

Ok first skate and I think I'm sold. Zero pain where I normally have it.

I did have some heel slippage, but I think I can just use a lace tightener to crank it down a little more around my ankle and get rid of it.

 

Anyone else use wax laces and have the wax coming off everywhere all over the skate? Since the wrap is so extreme around your foot, it's like the wax flakes off as you lace them up and tighten them.

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

I use wax laces with no problem on my Trues.

If you have minor heel slippage, contact True for some of the toe cap inserts that they sometimes use.  Also, using Powerfeet can help.  You may want to mess around with insole combo too - using red and blue, etc.

[dasuchin 20]

1 minute ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

I use wax laces with no problem on my Trues.

If you have minor heel slippage, contact True for some of the toe cap inserts that they sometimes use.  Also, using Powerfeet can help.  You may want to mess around with insole combo too - using red and blue, etc.

Yeah I'm using both insoles right now. I'm kind of wondering if part of it is because I wore thicker socks than I usually play in when I got them baked. Thought about putting them on with the socks I usually wear and just spot molding them with a heat gun, then wrapping it up to tighten it.

[puckstopper 16]

2 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Definitely spot heat and flare out the top a bit. I heated mine, and stuck a softball into the top and tossed them in the freezer. Worked great. Made it way easier to get on, and didn’t affect the wrap at all.

Agreed.  Mine were actually more comfortable AND functioned better after relieving a little of the wrap on the eyelet cuff.

[Sniper9 530]

You should always wear the same socks, or thinner than what u normally do. I actually found with the red footbed removed it felt better overall and better heel lock. You never should have to "crank" on ur skates. Skate on it for a few more ice times then if you think you need to, rebake them with your normal socks and without the red insole (if you concluded it fits better without". 

Also once the liner packs In a bit, it'll also feel more locked in and less spongey. 

[dasuchin 20]

15 minutes ago, Sniper9 said:

You should always wear the same socks, or thinner than what u normally do. I actually found with the red footbed removed it felt better overall and better heel lock. You never should have to "crank" on ur skates. Skate on it for a few more ice times then if you think you need to, rebake them with your normal socks and without the red insole (if you concluded it fits better without". 

Also once the liner packs In a bit, it'll also feel more locked in and less spongey. 

Yeah I just didn't know they were coming in until they called when I was already in town. The store is 3 hours away, I was just going up there for something unrelated. Didn't have the socks I skate in on me.

I'll definitely skate in them a few times before I mess with anything else.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

48 minutes ago, Sniper9 said:

You should always wear the same socks, or thinner than what u normally do. I actually found with the red footbed removed it felt better overall and better heel lock. You never should have to "crank" on ur skates. Skate on it for a few more ice times then if you think you need to, rebake them with your normal socks and without the red insole (if you concluded it fits better without". 

Also once the liner packs In a bit, it'll also feel more locked in and less spongey. 

One thing I definitely think gets overlooked with these is just like you said, you really don’t need to tie these tightly because of how good the wrap is. I see guys in the locker room absolutely cranking their skates while I just basically eliminate slack and tie a bow.

I actually played half my pickup on Tuesday with my right skate undone. It came undone and it wasn’t worth the effort to get everyone to stop to tie my skate back up. It wasn’t a problem at all so I didn’t say anything.

[dasuchin 20]

12 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

One thing I definitely think gets overlooked with these is just like you said, you really don’t need to tie these tightly because of how good the wrap is. I see guys in the locker room absolutely cranking their skates while I just basically eliminate slack and tie a bow.

I actually played half my pickup on Tuesday with my right skate undone. It came undone and it wasn’t worth the effort to get everyone to stop to tie my skate back up. It wasn’t a problem at all so I didn’t say anything.

I can see that for sure. But I do get a little heel slippage if I don't tighten them on 3rd and 4th eyelet. I'll skate on them a few more times and maybe do a rebake at home with a heat gun and wrapping it up.

[VegasHockey 1280]

28 minutes ago, dasuchin said:

I can see that for sure. But I do get a little heel slippage if I don't tighten them on 3rd and 4th eyelet. I'll skate on them a few more times and maybe do a rebake at home with a heat gun and wrapping it up.

I would bake them again and do the proper method of saran wrap. There is a significant difference in fit between that and the standard "bake and lace" method. In fact, we do the saran wrap method on ALL skates we sell regardless of brand. If you still cannot get the ideal heel lock, look into using ratchet clamps. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Is Saran Wrap strong enough? I would have thought most are using something above kitchen grade stretch wrap.

[CigarScott 132]

12 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

Is Saran Wrap strong enough? I would have thought most are using something above kitchen grade stretch wrap.

No, you want to get the shrink wrap stuff on a handle that you can find at any home Depot or moving supply joint.

[CigarScott 132]

17 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

Is Saran Wrap strong enough? I would have thought most are using something above kitchen grade stretch wrap.

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pratt-Retail-Specialties-5-in-x-1000-ft-Stretch-Wrap-5005001/202029371

[dasuchin 20]

1 hour ago, SkateWorksPNW said:

I would bake them again and do the proper method of saran wrap. There is a significant difference in fit between that and the standard "bake and lace" method. In fact, we do the saran wrap method on ALL skates we sell regardless of brand. If you still cannot get the ideal heel lock, look into using ratchet clamps. 

Could I put them on and take a heat gun to the sides and then wrap it? Or do I really need to bake the whole skate? I have a gas oven, which I'm sure is a problem, and I don't trust the stores here to do it right. The store I got them from is 3 hours away.

[Sniper9 530]

Forgot you didn't do the stretch wrap method. Totally do this. It'll ensure every bit of neg space around the ankle etc is eliminated. Sounds like they didn't even do the method on the old true vids which is tie up all the way to 70% and use your hands to really work in the boots so it forms your foot all over.  The stretch wrap method was night and day for me even vs the above method. 

The heel slippage feeling could also be due to the heel pocket being deeper on the Trues vs other brands. I explained this in previous posts, but if you've rebaked with the stretch wrap method etc and still believe or feel some heel gap, give it a couple months. As @z1ggy realized recently, a lot had to do with the fact the trues just feel a lot diff than CCM or Bauer, where your heel is basically jammed into the heel pocket even when you're not in the skating stance.

With trues, they are made to cup ur heel as u bend forward, therefore causing a bit more gap when you're walking or standing up straight. Hope that makes sense.  When I dropped the top eyelet, it allowed more knee bend and ankle flexion and I felt the heel space pretty much eliminate vs when I was tying up all the way to the top. Having more flexion allowed my heel to fully fit into the pocket as well. I have very skinny ankles and bc of the wrap on the Trues,  tying my them all the way to the top really inhibited forward flexion. 

And again, the fact that the lining packs in a bit also def helps make the skate fit better and less squishy. When my trues were brand new they almost felt "too" comfortable and squishy. After about ten skates they should pack a bit and feel more secure. That's what I noticed at least. 

So in a nutshell, give it about a mth and see how things are. But def should rebake with the stretch wrap method as soon as you can. 

 

PS.  I still use waxed laces and although I don't crank on my laces I do still give them a small tug especially on the 3 eyelet from the top, and I tie my right skate a bit tighter than my left but thats due to my pronation on my right foot. 

[Sniper9 530]

13 minutes ago, dasuchin said:

Could I put them on and take a heat gun to the sides and then wrap it? Or do I really need to bake the whole skate? I have a gas oven, which I'm sure is a problem, and I don't trust the stores here to do it right. The store I got them from is 3 hours away.

I used a gas oven. Mine is gas and I used the convection option. No issues at all. Preheat to 200 and made sure it didn't go over checking every CPL mins. One skate at a time. I baked each skate 5-6 mins on one side and flipped it. Near the 5 min mark on the second side I checked to see how soft they were and gauged how much extra time I'd leave them in for after that. 

Amazon also has the stretch wrap for cheap and check your local dollar store too. 

Id only use a heat gun to spot heat a very specific area like maybe the inner ankle only, not the entire ankle area on both sides and the cuff

Edited December 13, 2019 by Sniper9

[dasuchin 20]

16 minutes ago, Sniper9 said:

I used a gas oven. Mine is gas and I used the convection option. No issues at all. Preheat to 200 and made sure it didn't go over checking every CPL mins. One skate at a time. I baked each skate 5-6 mins on one side and flipped it. Near the 5 min mark on the second side I checked to see how soft they were and gauged how much extra time I'd leave them in for after that. 

Amazon also has the stretch wrap for cheap and check your local dollar store too. 

Id only use a heat gun to spot heat a very specific area like maybe the inner ankle only, not the entire ankle area on both sides and the cuff

Yeah I'll probably try it myself at home after a few games so I can get a feel for them first. Kinda disappointed they didn't do it this way at the store, but it's not worth driving 3 hours to get it done.

[Sniper9 530]

30 minutes ago, dasuchin said:

Yeah I'll probably try it myself at home after a few games so I can get a feel for them first. Kinda disappointed they didn't do it this way at the store, but it's not worth driving 3 hours to get it done.

Ya. I'm always surprised when I see ig posts of ppl getting them baked and the method isn't used. Not sure if it's an issue with true not updating all their fitters or the fitters are just lazy. When I got my skates the guy that deals with all the true orders wasn't there and the person who baked my skates threw them in there for only a few mins like you would for Bauer or CCM. They were barely even warm. I didn't say anything bc I knew I would rebake them myself anyways bc I'm pretty particular with how they are done and I knew even with the actual true guy there , that they don't use the stretch wrap method.