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BenBreeg

Buying Youth Skates

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So my 7 Year old has been skating for about 2+ years and did the Little Pens in the winter and a spring ADM after that.  He has been in CCM 2092 for the whole time and they were good enough to start but are starting to split at the tendon guard so I am planning on getting him a new pair for the next season.  He has two years of ADM left.  He wanted to get measured because the machine looked cool and the Bauer machine put him in a 13/13.5, so we will still end up in a youth skate.

My question is, how do I evaluate this level of skate?  He doesn’t need the top end for sure, something middle of the road will be an upgrade and match his skill level.  But it seems that a skate in the youth isn’t the same actual specs as the same in the Jr or Sr skate.  So a CCM 50k youth isn’t the same as a Sr. 50k (I know, old model but a specific example I came across). 

So just looking for some general advice buying this level of skate.  Thanks!

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Howdy,

What I did for my son was go to various Play it Again stores.  Most around here have a very good selection of youth skates.  Then just fitted him normally.  I think the most I paid for any of his skates was $40?  And all of them were higher end $200+ stuff when new that were in good usable shape.

Generally speaking we got a single season out of a pair of skates.  And because they were cheap, I never felt like I had to "give him room to grow".

YMMV.  My son was just screwing around in a rec league on the weekends.  If he was skating a ton more and there was a reason, I'd have maybe been more inclined to shop new / higher prices.

Mark

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Well, most of those have moved out of Pittsburgh, the closest is Greensburg.  I am also planning on buying the right size as needed vs. the room to grow approach.  I actually just auto deduct $10/month into a savings bucket for his skates.  With that plus selling his used skate each iteration won't be too bad money-wise.  Plus I have so much lightly used hand-me-down elbows, shins, pants, etc. I don't have to pay for much other than skates for the next 2-3 years so that is a nice luxury.  The used skate route is good but honestly I don't know that I have the time to track down the appropriate skates.

It's just difficult to buy the right skates for someone other than yourself, especially a kid who doesn't really know how to describe what it going on inside the skate, may confuse the fact that the skate is stiff for not fitting, etc.

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Yeah, not an expert, but there is a significant difference in stiffness. When my nephew was ready for new skates last year my brother got him a pair of Supreme 180s in Junior.  My nephew's old skates were yth Supreme 190s. 

With the yth skates, I could pinch the sides of the cuff together with one hand. I couldn't do that with the juniors. I'm not sure how much of the advanced features make it into a yth skate. From the feel, not much, but it's not like it's going to make a difference at this stage  

In addition the juniors gave my nephew a weird pain right in the middle of foot, and he ended up using his old skates for another year while we tried to diagnose the issue and get it fixed.

Tried all the various foot beds, rebaking, various lacing methods, and talked to the people at the LHS and even went to a pediatrist, who told my brother to just wrap his arches until he got stronger, which was no help. No one had a clue of what was going on. Finally, I just pulled the footbed out and had him skate in the naked boot. The pain went away. This told me it was a width issue. Had the sides stretched out a little and problem was finally solved.

It took us literally the whole season to troubleshoot this. 

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The “youth” lines from most companies are a bit mystifying. Most sticks/skates do not have the same technology that the junior and senior equipment has. 

Until he’s in a junior skate, the only thing you need to take into consideration is finding the right boot for his foot - which both Bauer and CCM scanners can do, they will even recommend a specific skate or two. 

If he seemed to do well on the CCM’s he had, wasn’t complaining of any pain, just go out and buy the same skate, or a step up from it. The guys at the LHS will be able to show you what’s what. 

Not entirely sure about buying used skates... most of them are baked to someone else’s foot. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Healthyscratch

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I'm not sure about youth skates but in the junior sizes both CCM and Bauer are now the same construction as their senior skates. The scanner is a good start but remember that the scanner is fitting him to the largest dimension it has measured, for example his forefoot could be a nexus width but his heel might be a vapour width yet the scanner will recommend a nexus. You can help him by learning how a skate should fit, how the different model ranges fit and what type of foot shape he has. Forefoot width, heel width, pencil test for length and volume, look at his foot on a footbed for an overall shape, put the boot on his foot without any laces in and see how the length and heel lock is as he lifts his foot up in the air and shakes it around. If you are satisfied with all of these and you buy a pair, make sure you examine his feet after the first few skates, you are looking for any excessive red marks that will show pressure points on his foot, a punch should fix these. Just about every kid I have met has no idea how a skate should fit and don't know what to tell you when you ask them if it fits ok, to them if it doesn't hurt then its a good fit.... Teach them, once they know what to look for they can give you good feedback.

As to the level of skate, everyone will have an opinion about this but here is my 2 cents for what its worth. Sticking kids in stiff skates is one of the biggest crimes that is going on today. They need to learn how to skate properly and use their ankles to balance with over the skate blade, not have the boot hide poor skating technique. Until he can skate balanced over the blades, the softer the better. And if he thinks he can skate, undo his laces and then send him out for a skate, until he can do this easily then he has everything to learn yet. It may set him back for the next couple of years but he will thank you for it in later life if he sticks with the sport. 

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I have found the youth skate stiffness is the same throughout the range. You get a bit better steel, nicer liner etc. in the higher end skate but that is about it. Junior skates are a different story.

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Regarding skate stiffness, I agree with vet88.  I don't think stiff skates are beneficial to young skaters, especially a 7 year old.  Most kids don't weigh enough to see any benefit, and they will outgrow them before they wear out/break down.  My kid wore skates one model up from entry level through Squirts.  (Vapor x 300, Supreme 150, etc.) 

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I am thinking just let him skate in these until he sizes out of them.  Just got back from public skate and he was moving pretty good.  Had them profiled, his knee bend was better.  I think just having the time off for the last month or so was good.  The only issue he says is digging in around the top of the skate when he is on either edge.  Could experiment with some moleskin to help with that.

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With youth skates there are 3 basic types of skate.  There is the low end, much like the 2052 he has, there is a middle of the road (something like the 4092, decent skate, probably best for your son) that runs close to $100, and a high end (Ultra Tacks) that goes for about $180.  With the high end skate, I usually don't put the kids in it unless they are on the ice almost every day.

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@BenBreeg, I'm dealing with the exact same thing, except with a 6 year old. So here's what I did...

I wanted a skate that was going to fit properly and one that wasn't super stiff, something that wouldn't hurt his feet, something that he could just wear down, which, most kids this age don't.

What I found was that the CCM skate in the youth segment is built far better than the Bauer.  My son fits best into CCM, so, we started with these:

https://www.hockeymonkey.com/equipment/hockey-skates/ice-hockey-skates-youth/ccm-hockey-skates-tacks-2092-yth.html

My kid is 46" tall and 52lbs soaking wet. See that price?  Three US Thanksgiving's ago, they were 25% off. I bought sizes 8 and 9 and 10. This skate has been amazing!

Two US Thanksgiving's ago, they were also 25% off. I bought sizes 10-13.

Last year, he chose to play soccer in the fall, so, he didn't get a chance to wear the 12s.  For Christmas, Santa bought him FT1s in a 12.5 to play spring league, and since he's going to summer camps and choose soccer over hockey for the fall, I'm getting rid of the 12s and 13s. I'll buy new skates if and when he decides to play again.

I'm a harsh critic of CCM, however, I've been thrilled with their youth skates fit and construction!

All the best in your hunt!

Edited by JunkyardAthletic

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Honestly I prefer used skates for young kids. New lower to mid end good too. Anything stiff is a waste anyway. 

I have 2nd young skater at home and had zero complains regarding used skates. 

Older plays competetive and he got good skates. Upgraded blades and insoles. 

Still. Skates are neccessary element. Important. But more expensive skates will not make kid skate better. 🙂

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