Marsblade Ice Holder

[YesLanges 127]

Just got notified that delivery has been postponed from July to sometime in October. Not thrilled about that at all.

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

Met with Per yesterday and got spec’d on the holder. 

Looks to have good steel, and doesn’t have any complicated mechanisms in it. It’s certainly interesting. 

[Coldclay 53]

1 hour ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Met with Per yesterday and got spec’d on the holder. 

Looks to have good steel, and doesn’t have any complicated mechanisms in it. It’s certainly interesting. 

Per Marsblade, ice holder will have Tydan steel.

[smcgreg 81]

On 5/18/2018 at 8:51 PM, YesLanges said:

IMO, they're either going to explode if they make a very noticeable difference in skating or die out just like other failed technological "revolutions" if the don't work or if any difference in only marginal. I was already out of the game before composite sticks completely (or nearly completely with the exception of some old-timers) replaced wood sticks, so I didn't witness how long that transition took to filter down and become universal; but that seems like a comparable example. If composite sticks only made a slight difference, there wouldn't have been much of a market for them beyond the most elite levels where players don't pay for anything and where even the slightest advantage is worth paying around 5x to 10x more for each stick. The last time I played before coming back 4 years ago, there were only a few guys on my team even using composite shafts and replaceable wooden blades. How many wooden sticks (or blades) do you see nowadays, even in recreational leagues and pickup? If these things work as advertised, they're a lot cheaper compared with what everybody's skating on now than composite sticks are vs. wood sticks. Of course, if they work but don't hold up under playing conditions, then, they'll probably be used primarily at the elite levels (assuming they're approved for use) where neither cost nor inconvenience is an issue, exactly as suggested by Santos and others.

Huh... we must have gotten out of and back into the sport around the same times.  I remember when Langes got popular.  My best friend as a kid had them, but I stuck with my Bauers.  I too remember when composite sticks came on the scene and laughing that they wouldn't last, because they kept breaking (on tv).  I didn't know anybody that played with them, so, never got a chance to try one and that was about the time I quit playing.  When I came back in about 6 years ago, of course, I tried a composite stick and was blown away.  The difference is incredible and that's why they stuck aside from the price and breakage.  The main issue for me was the skates.  I simply could not skate in new skates.  I tried the new "skiboots" with blades and could barely skate.  I found Makos and they solved the problem for me.  So, I've stocked up on Makos for me and my kids.  My son will grow out of his last pair of Makos some time this year, I presume and it will probably be on to Trues for him.

Anyway, I was first struck by the fact you had a dozen pair of Langes, because I would have assumed they would feel like new Skiboot skates (as confirmed by Jeremy in the video) and as an old timer who left and came back on the same timeline as you, I can't stand new skates.  They just don't fit as well as older skates and as also stated in the video, a properly fitting skate is probably the most important factor in on-ice performance. 

Thanks for the walk down memory lane....

Back on topic, I'm curious about these now.  I'm skeptical they will make the kind of difference a composite stick will make, but might make a difference that is worthwhile to those who have an open mind.  I don't see them becoming mainstream, because of the mainstream product gatekeepers. They could probably still remain viable as a 3rd party alternative and even in partnership with one of the smaller manufactures akin to the Makos.

[YesLanges 127]

22 minutes ago, smcgreg said:

Anyway, I was first struck by the fact you had a dozen pair of Langes, because I would have assumed they would feel like new Skiboot skates (as confirmed by Jeremy in the video) and as an old timer who left and came back on the same timeline as you, I can't stand new skates.  They just don't fit as well as older skates and as also stated in the video, a properly fitting skate is probably the most important factor in on-ice performance. 

I'm not familiar with Skiboot skates at all or with what part of Jeremy's video you're referring to; but the one tremendous advantage to Langes is that there's literally zero break-in time. I can put my holders onto any "new" (meaning newly-purchased) boots and play in them immediately. Within the same model, the liners are interchangeable and can just be swapped out with others if they wear out or if they're still not dry from the last time I used them. I've collected even more liners for these than boots.

I've noticed that there definitely was an issue of quality control in that the ankle-hinge placement is much better on some pairs than on others. You can see that from the amount of space between those four molded lines running down the uppers and along the lower boot: on some of them, the gap is much bigger than on others and it has to do with where the rivet holes were originally drilled. That does make some of them better for me than others; but comfort-wise, even a brand new pair of these skates feels exactly the same as whatever pair you've been using. The new ones are actually more comfortable, because the liners haven't been compressed for hundreds of hours of skating and are a little thicker. More often than not, the ones I've found on eBay weren't used for serious hockey, judging by their overall condition and by the amount of steel left on the original blades: they were probably just used for recreational skating or occasional pickup hockey. You can tell which ones were probably used for organized hockey because they show all the yellow and white paint marks from the boards and because the tongues are pretty beaten up from lace bite.

 

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

4 hours ago, Coldclay said:

Per Marsblade, ice holder will have Tydan steel.

Correct. 

[smcgreg 81]

14 minutes ago, YesLanges said:

I'm not familiar with Skiboot skates at all or with what part of Jeremy's video you're referring to; but the one tremendous advantage to Langes is that there's literally zero break-in time. I can put my holders onto any "new" (meaning newly-purchased) boots and play in them immediately. Within the same model, the liners are interchangeable and can just be swapped out with others if they wear out or if they're still not dry from the last time I used them. I've collected even more liners for these than boots.

 

 

I classify most of the new high end boots from Bauer, CCM etc (not Graf) as Skiboot boots.  When I tried my fist pair on after 20+ years, that's what they felt like.  Jeremy made the analogy of the Langes to skiboots, then indicated they felt like his normal skates.  Hence my reference to skiboot boots. 

The Langes never really appealed to me at the time, but to be honest, I never tried them.  My friend that had them was a fantastic player, but actually had ankle strength issues, which the Langes fixed for him. 

Anyway, that was the reason for my reference to skiboot boots.

[YesLanges 127]

3 hours ago, smcgreg said:

I classify most of the new high end boots from Bauer, CCM etc (not Graf) as Skiboot boots. 

Gotchya. I didn't notice any difference between the feel of the Bauer NXGs and the Grafs, myself. I was amazed at how much better the lateral support was compared to the old Supremes and Tacks, but I just couldn't find a happy medium in those new boots that allowed me enough lateral support without limiting my forward ankle flex. If I tied them tightly enough for lateral support, I couldn't bend my knees; and if I left them looser, I didn't have enough lateral support to stop and cross under confidently.

[Stewie 721]

And here I thought this was the marsblade thread 😉

[Martis 0]

Since the kickstarter for Marsblade is not live any more ... When is there again a chance to get a pair of these holders? ... Also wondering which holder size will fit my size 7 CCM Ultra Tacks (blade length 271 !).

[StinkyPinky 11]

On 6/25/2018 at 2:15 AM, Stewie said:

And here I thought this was the marsblade thread 😉

Posting in the skiboot thread now boys.