VH Footwear/TRUE by Scott Van Horne

[JD17 2]

3 hours ago, flip12 said:

@JD17 I personally like the Graf ones, but I that's the brand I liked the best before trying Scott Van Horne's boots. The other suggestions, like Elite's insole by @Buzz_LightBeer, and SpeedPlates by @Sniper9 are good ones too. The Graf ones are a bit basic, where some of the more recent innovations in insoles are big hits with some users. Plus, @mtn noticed a downgrade in later Graf footbeds...

... so the basic foam ones you might find now might have the same problem, right off the bat.

To begin with, to test if the insoles are the main culprit, bring any old insoles you might have to your next skate and swap them in and out with the stock ones you've been using. If you have something else that eliminates most of the play in your heel lock, you're good to go with a solid alternative until you find something ideal.

I don't have experience with aftermarket outsoles, and just happen to have a massive stash from collecting a crazy amount of skates over the last few years.

I hope this is the right direction to fix your problem. It just sounds similar to what I experienced with the MLX outsoles, and I was amazed at how much of an effect it had on my skating. The same with the stock MLX tongue. Those elements have changed iteratively over the last 10 years, but they still seem to resemble the ones I have in their basic properties and they're properties that don't align with my preferences: insoles too spongey and tongues too stiff. Luckily, they're rather easily changed and the problems solved, if one knows where to look.

Sounds great I will give it a go.  I have the stock footbeds from an old pair of 1xs.  They r pretty stiff and not super thick like superfeet. Keep u posted and thank u for the detailed reply.  I have low volume flat feet, wide instep and skinny heels and ankles and super long toes. Im basically sporting hands for feet. 

[JD17 2]

16 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

This. That's why I like the speedplates. The stock foam insoles were too spongey for me. 

I liked speed plates, didnt know if theyd work w trues and they r pretty thin so dont know if theyd take up enough volume but I love the hard connected feel. 

[VegasHockey 1280]

2 hours ago, JD17 said:

I liked speed plates, didnt know if theyd work w trues and they r pretty thin so dont know if theyd take up enough volume but I love the hard connected feel. 

They work amazing in TRUE skates if you have enough volume for them. V2.0 of them are actually thicker than the standard TRUE insoles. 

[JD17 2]

35 minutes ago, PBH said:

They work amazing in TRUE skates if you have enough volume for them. V2.0 of them are actually thicker than the standard TRUE insoles. 

Id try them, do u use w the red rivet covers or put them directly in?  I found that speed plates are hard to take in and out and would want to remove them after every skate to dry.  Do you have a hard time pulling them out or can you leave them in when u dry your wheels out? 

[Westside 232]

1 hour ago, JD17 said:

I found that speed plates are hard to take in and out and would want to remove them after every skate to dry.  Do you have a hard time pulling them out or can you leave them in when u dry your wheels out? 

A trick I’ve done is to use some hockey tape to make a pull tab. Never tried it when I used Speedplates, but it works great for Superfeet

[Sniper9 530]

1 hour ago, JD17 said:

Id try them, do u use w the red rivet covers or put them directly in?  I found that speed plates are hard to take in and out and would want to remove them after every skate to dry.  Do you have a hard time pulling them out or can you leave them in when u dry your wheels out? 

I personally remove the red footbeds. I don't have a high volume foot but the red insoles added too much bulk and distance between my feet and the bottom. Of the skate. Felt more dialed in and connected to my skates with the reds out. 

[JD17 2]

6 hours ago, Westside said:

A trick I’ve done is to use some hockey tape to make a pull tab. Never tried it when I used Speedplates, but it works great for Superfeet

Pretty nifty

[JD17 2]

6 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

I personally remove the red footbeds. I don't have a high volume foot but the red insoles added too much bulk and distance between my feet and the bottom. Of the skate. Felt more dialed in and connected to my skates with the reds out. 

Cool, thx! 

[VegasHockey 1280]

On 3/15/2021 at 6:29 AM, pgeorgan said:

Second that. I have Gen 1. Are Gen 2 any better? 

Gen 2 are more flexible and pliable. They are a good mix between pure performance with a bit of comfort.

Gen 1 is definitely stiffer and offers greater performance. However this comes at a sacrifice to comfort. 

I think the biggest difference is height. V2 is thicker takes up more volume than V1. If you already have a very tight fitting skate V2 might not be an option. Basically, if a player is using TRUE skates with the factory insole and they use the red insert then V2 should work. If use the factory insole and the red insert adds took much volume then you should consider V1. 

Edited March 21, 2021 by PBH

[Janook 3]

I'm trying on my new True TF9s and have noticed an oddity in the toebox. 

I have both size 7.0 and size 7.5 boots here for comparison.

In the toebox area, the Size 7 boots are fine. The cushion along the bottom of the booth smoothly tapers upwards into the hard plastic of the toebox.
In the size 7.5, the cushion doesn't taper into the plastic, but instead curls upwards and stops abruptly before turning directly into the plastic, resulting in an odd "lip" sticking out halfway down the toebox. Also note that both the left and right Size 7 skates are fine, and BOTH the left and right size 7.5 skates have this issue.

Is this normal?

Here's a picture to illustrate:

[JD17 2]

On 3/15/2021 at 11:00 AM, PBH said:

Gen 2 are more flexible and pliable. They are a good mix between pure performance with a bit of comfort.

Gen 1 is definitely stiffer and offers greater performance. However this comes at a sacrifice to comfort. 

I think the biggest difference is height. V2 is this let and takes up more volume than V1. So if you already have a very tight fitting skate V2 might not be an option. Basically, if a player is using TRUE skates with the factory insole and they use the red insert then V2 should work. If use the factory insole and the red insert adds took much volume then you should consider V1. 

So U say V2 with no red insert will lock in better than the stock bed and red insert because of the stiffness? I also noticed the red inserts vary in thickness. Anyone else notice that? 

[pucks_putts 13]

18 hours ago, JD17 said:

So U say V2 with no red insert will lock in better than the stock bed and red insert because of the stiffness? I also noticed the red inserts vary in thickness. Anyone else notice that? 

My red inserts are different thickness. I thought it was something custom because of my feet but starting to suspect it’s just sloppy workmanship. I love my True skates but build quality leaves much to be desired. 

[Janook 3]

19 hours ago, Janook said:

I'm trying on my new True TF9s and have noticed an oddity in the toebox. 

I have both size 7.0 and size 7.5 boots here for comparison.

In the toebox area, the Size 7 boots are fine. The cushion along the bottom of the booth smoothly tapers upwards into the hard plastic of the toebox.
In the size 7.5, the cushion doesn't taper into the plastic, but instead curls upwards and stops abruptly before turning directly into the plastic, resulting in an odd "lip" sticking out halfway down the toebox. Also note that both the left and right Size 7 skates are fine, and BOTH the left and right size 7.5 skates have this issue.

Is this normal?

Here's a picture to illustrate:

Just a follow-up here; I emailed True about this and here is their response. This difference is expected.

"What you are describing is not a defect, just a little difference in production on the half/full sizes.

Best way to explain it is with the photo below.  This is what our base shell looks like.  This is the one piece shell that is under the toe cap/side panel package.  In the toe box, the shell of the boot is shaped as shown in the photo below.  The plastic toe cap then slides overtop of this piece.  On the full sizes, the comfort foam that is used to cover that “lip” is a little thicker than the half sizes.  You are just feeling that lip of the shell.

 

 

I hope that explains what you are feeling and makes sense."

Kudos to them for responding so quickly with such detail.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Janook

[JD17 2]

38 minutes ago, pucks_putts said:

My red inserts are different thickness. I thought it was something custom because of my feet but starting to suspect it’s just sloppy workmanship. I love my True skates but build quality leaves much to be desired. 

Yea I noticed this..I ordered additional ones just to have fresh ones and they were all different. Some paper thin some thicker. 

[start_today 770]

22 minutes ago, Janook said:

Just a follow-up here; I emailed True about this and here is their response. This difference is expected.

"What you are describing is not a defect, just a little difference in production on the half/full sizes.

Best way to explain it is with the photo below.   

 

Did this photo load for anyone? I just see a blank white rectangle. 

This sorta reads similar to the conversations from a few months ago about the 1/2 sizes and full sizes being being almost the same and they pad out one of them. 

[Janook 3]

3 minutes ago, start_today said:

Did this photo load for anyone? I just see a blank white rectangle. 

This sorta reads similar to the conversations from a few months ago about the 1/2 sizes and full sizes being being almost the same and they pad out one of them. 

Whoops I used the wrong img link; fixed.

Yeah it seems like the boot is a size 8 and they pad it to bring it down to a 7.5 or something.

[mojo122 535]

2 hours ago, start_today said:

Did this photo load for anyone? I just see a blank white rectangle. 

This sorta reads similar to the conversations from a few months ago about the 1/2 sizes and full sizes being being almost the same and they pad out one of them. 

 

2 hours ago, Janook said:

Whoops I used the wrong img link; fixed.

Yeah it seems like the boot is a size 8 and they pad it to bring it down to a 7.5 or something.

If CCM and Bauer decided to cut down production costs by not doing 1/2 size lasts for retail skates folks here would be crucifying them....

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

4 hours ago, Janook said:

Whoops I used the wrong img link; fixed.

Yeah it seems like the boot is a size 8 and they pad it to bring it down to a 7.5 or something.

Sounds like what the ski boot companies do.  Half size mondo boot shells "technically" don't exist, as the boot liner is just thicker in the half size than in the even size.

[Sniper9 530]

5 hours ago, pucks_putts said:

My red inserts are different thickness. I thought it was something custom because of my feet but starting to suspect it’s just sloppy workmanship. I love my True skates but build quality leaves much to be desired. 

They offer different thicknesses of red insoles. Some double etc instead of having to stack two if you required a thicker red insoles. 

[hockeydad3 51]

@ Janook

Did you measure the outside length of the boots?

Edited March 20, 2021 by hockeydad3

[althoma1 575]

20 hours ago, Janook said:

Whoops I used the wrong img link; fixed.

Yeah it seems like the boot is a size 8 and they pad it to bring it down to a 7.5 or something.

Actually, it seems like the 7.5 might use the same last as the 7 boot, but with thinner padding. If I'm reading it correctly, the full sizes get the thicker padding and the half sizes get thinner padding. Similar concept; it's just the size below the half size is the same boot, but with different padding rather than the size above. An 8 would be using the same last as an 8.5, but the 8 would have thicker padding. 

If that's the case, it'd explain why @PBH had size 7 TF9s that felt like the right size at first, but felt a bit big after break in. If the 7 is really a 7.5 boot, but with thicker padding then it'd feel closer to a 7.5 in length after the padding starts to compress. 

[start_today 770]

20 hours ago, mojo122 said:

 

If CCM and Bauer decided to cut down production costs by not doing 1/2 size lasts for retail skates folks here would be crucifying them....

Kinda worried that if True gets away with it, these two will pick it up as a cost saving measure. I feel like average consumers are so half-assed about fitting their skates correctly as is, if companies make it so 1/2 boots fit a little sloppy, not enough people are going to notice to make it an issue in sales numbers. (I am also pessimistic “sky is falling” about any changes to equipment haha)

[Janook 3]

50 minutes ago, start_today said:

Kinda worried that if True gets away with it, these two will pick it up as a cost saving measure. I feel like average consumers are so half-assed about fitting their skates correctly as is, if companies make it so 1/2 boots fit a little sloppy, not enough people are going to notice to make it an issue in sales numbers. (I am also pessimistic “sky is falling” about any changes to equipment haha)

We shouldn't jump the gun on this assumption. How can we test?

[althoma1 575]

10 minutes ago, Janook said:

We shouldn't jump the gun on this assumption. How can we test?

Well, you have a 7 and 7.5, right? Measuring the inside won't help since the foam is a different thickness, but maybe measuring the length of the bottom of the boots?

Lining them up side by side with their heels against the wall to see how the eyelets line up may be helpful as well. 

@oldtrainerguy28 already measured the size 7 and 7.5 skates back in September and said the 7.5 was definitely longer, but I'm not sure if that was inside or outside the boot:

 

[Janook 3]

Just did a measurement. Hard to tell of course but seems like the 7.5 is longer than the 7.

Also, after today's 2 hour skate, the excess foam/padding ridge in the 7.5 is totally unnoticeable.