t'Blades

[Megamandan 0]

Anyone who uses em' I'd like to hear your opinion before i shell out some cash to put em' on my Air's. Will they really increase your preformance significantly? Pros/Cons of them.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Check the review section.

Mojo122 has one.

Bottom line - if you have a competent sharpener in your area, you don't need them :)

[Sniper407 0]

Personally, i love them. ive been skating in them on my G5s for about a month now. i do not have good sharpening around here and that was the reason i became interested in them at first. if you have a good sharpener i would make sure youve got a shop that stockes them because chances are that a store with good sharpenings wont have a full stock or runners and that can get annoying if a blade breaks and you only have older ones or none at all... i havent had that problem yet because a got a box of em for christmas.

as for the performance im not too sure yet.. there is a huge difference between their feel and other blades though. the reason i cant tell you about them now is that i have been wearing my XXs in games because im still tweaking my g5 boots to be perfect. that said i have noticed a difference in my skating that i cant explain... it may just be going from very stiff boots and tuuks to very not-stiff boot and t'blades(anyone got a better adjective?)

as soon as i wear them in a few games and ive gotten totally used to the new skates ill write a review on them.

so in closing, i suggest you give them a try. everyone ive talked to has loved them.

[mojo122 541]

They serve for a purpose for those who can’t get a good sharpening. I skated on them for 3 months, but decided to change them out in the end. JR installed Pitch holders/steel and put a 9’ radius on them for me. I’m skating just as fast with the Pitch holders as I did with t-blades, not to mention that the Pitch steel holds its’ edges longer than the t-blades did for me.

[htrain88 0]

I'm a believer. I opted for them on my Vector 6.0's rather than wait for a replacement holder when the original became twisted. There's a noticeable weight difference--much lighter than the stiff things that came with the Vector's.

The T'Blades flex slightly when you turn--giving you the feeling that they turn quicker. There's less friction too. That helps reduce fatigue in the later stages of a game. They're sharper than regular blades in my opinion. Therefore, I can skate with a broader hollow than I would normally use. People complain about the noise. That's ridiculous--we're hockey players. Who cares what they sound like? A buddy calls the noise, "hard core." Works for me. I don't notice it anymore.

I now have them on two pairs of skates.

[BIG 0]

Samething here B) i ll never go back to regular holders.......

[jimmy 194]

My opinion on t-blades:

- Great if you don't have a good sharpener nearby

- waste of money if you do

- they don't go any faster than a good sharpened regular blade

- they don't hold edges any longer than regular blades

- they will cost more than regular skate sharpening

- if you are rich, get t-blades

- if you are a poor sucker like me, go with regular skates and get them sharpened by a competent sharpener.

[Sniper407 0]

ok. well ive been wearing my G5s with t'blades all this week for practice and i had a game lastnight and wore my XXs with lightspeeds and there was a noticable difference in the skates. the XXs did not feel as fast as the G5s and the t'blades so between the periods i switched skates and felt the G5s to be a little faster skate...

now when i say faster i dont mean i went from not being able to get to a puck to burning their entire team... but i did notice a difference... maybe quick is a better word to use.

in my personal conclusion the t'blades have different feeling than traditional holders and in my experiance i like the feeling so much ive retired my XXs. :D

oh and FYI i saw the clear runner today that they put out as a demo and one of the pieces of steel not connected to the resin runner to show how it works and the steel at the bottoom is not solid. its a hollow piece of metal with teeth that alternate on each side like / \ / \ / \ that stick into the resi part.

(just thought id share ;))

[cobrAA 0]

My opinion on t-blades:

- Great if you don't have a good sharpener nearby

- waste of money if you do

- they don't go any faster than a good sharpened regular blade

- they don't hold edges any longer than regular blades

- they will cost more than regular skate sharpening

- if you are rich, get t-blades

- if you are a poor sucker like me, go with regular skates and get them sharpened by a competent sharpener.

do you said you was a goalie in another theard....since you are....why the hell a goalie is skating with t,blades??

[SnakeEyes29 0]

Whether you have a good sharpener or not, T-Blades are still awesome. My other skates are Vapor XV's with Light Speed and I am sorry, but the T-Blades feel better all around. Also have Graf 705's(Cobra) and old Mission Fly Weights with the old Mission runner. Turthfully liked the Missions better than Cobras, but the Light Speed even better than that. But T-Blade has them all beat....for me anyway.

[jimmy 194]

cobrAA,

Come on, we all know goalies are the best skaters on the team!

SnakeEyes29,

I have no doubt you like the t-blades. However, when you did your comparison, did the XV's, Grafs and Mission skates have the exact same hollow and radius that is on the t-blades, or were you just making a gut comparison.

One reason the t-blades are faster is because the hollow is consistent and the finish is smooth, a really nice feature of the product. But, if you compare them with a regular blade with a consistent hollow and smooth finish, the glide will be the same. If the steel blades you compare them with have a poor sharpenening, the t-blades will be faster for sure.

[delpiero27 0]

ummm by the way. ther's someone that switched to the t-blades with graf 705 techlite? just to know. my brother is thinking that, so... :o

personally i have'nt used t-blades, i still have my razor bladzII on my z-air. does anyone changed even them?

thk. :P

[Dave 1]

ummm by the way. ther's someone that switched to the t-blades with graf 705 techlite? just to know. my brother is thinking that, so... :o

personally i have'nt used t-blades, i still have my razor bladzII on my z-air. does anyone changed even them?

thk. :P

My 705 teclites came with t'blades right out of the box. As I don't have a half-decent sharpener in my area, I am fully satisfied with the t'blades.

[SnakeEyes29 0]

Jimmy -well yes and no. What I mean is I always had my skates sharpened with the same hollow and actually had them countoured by the Tim Mackey guy in Michigan. Got them at a 11' Radius and 1 degree forward pitch. All 3 done to the exact same specs. Dad is an absolute nut about equipment so hemakes sure it always done that way.

But even with that, they all still felt a little different. Could've been boot or holder or steel, not 100% sure, ya know? I then got Tblades with as close to the same set up as best as I can tell. Went with either 15 or 13 hollows and either a M or L. Actually find the 15 with an L to be best. But difference is really slight compared to L 13. M is probably a little better for turning but glide better with L. But it's so close that if you didn't tell me,I probably couldn't tell difference. I either have M-13 or 15 or L-13 or 15. But didn't like the S radius and the 11 and 9 were way to big a hollow for me.

Hope this helps. It is just really hard to try and have exact same set up on regualr holders and Tblades. But I think we had them as absolute close as is possible and the Tblades were always much better FOR ME...no questions asked. If it helps, my coach and others would say I am a light, smooth, fluid skater. Not choppy or hard or heavy.

[LkptTiger 1]

I got G-35s back in November, and I do not have a single major complaint about the T'Blades (the boots, as many of you know, are a different story - the Rep told me he would call the first week of January regarding a replacement pair, which he hasn't done, and he has not bothered to return the phone calls placed to his office...).

I really feel as though I can cut much harder with the T'Blades then I ever could with the Lightspeeds on my numerous pairs of XXs. They just feel to grab the ice a little better than the conventional steel.

I have also found that, in my cases, the "sharpening" lasts quite a bit longer. When I was using the conventional steel I was getting my skates sharpened two, sometimes three times a week. So far I have bought three pairs of runners (didn't use the M-13 runners that came with the skates, so really I have only had to replace the runners due to edge twice).

Bottom-line: I like them. I'm probably going to be getting away from, and staying away from, Graf soon, so I'm looking to buy some XXXs; and slapping T'Blades on them will be the first thing I do.

[troybruins89 0]

I have also found that, in my cases, the "sharpening" lasts quite a bit longer. When I was using the conventional steel I was getting my skates sharpened two, sometimes three times a week. So far I have bought three pairs of runners (didn't use the M-13 runners that came with the skates, so really I have only had to replace the runners due to edge twice).

about how often do you have to put new runners on? (how long do they last?)

[Gnorts 0]

Some people just love to hate things without even trying them. It's seems to me that you either try them and like them OR YOU DON'T TRY THEM AND HATE THEM.

T-blades:

Facts (without talking about faster, better glide etc)

They are light.

They feel really good, probably because they have a perfect sharpen everytime. If you have a perfect sharpen doesn't that just make them better?

Result: They are better by a small percentage with those two things alone.

Advice: If you just got new boots don't worry about it, your boots are great you don't need T-blades. IF you are low on $ and want to try them just spend 130 cdn and get them put on your old boot(I put them on my CCM 7XX's). That is what I did for a year before buying the Vector 120's. When I traded in the old boot I got a good price for them, so you get at least half your money back on trade in.... My old boots were sold less then a week latter....

They say they later 5 times longer than a normal sharpen, I say it is less than that, maybe 3 times longer. But if you walk on old hard floors to the ice they will dull like normal.

[Sniper407 0]

about how often do you have to put new runners on? (how long do they last?)

they lasted me 4 games and 3 practices (about a week and a half) i would have had to get my skates sharpened at least twice if not 3 times in that time period because theyre so bad around here

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Some people just love to hate things without even trying them. It's seems to me that you either try them and like them OR YOU DON'T TRY THEM AND HATE THEM.

T-blades:

Facts (without talking about faster, better glide etc)

They are light.

They feel really good, probably because they have a perfect sharpen everytime. If you have a perfect sharpen doesn't that just make them better?

Result: They are better by a small percentage with those two things alone.

Advice: If you just got new boots don't worry about it, your boots are great you don't need T-blades. IF you are low on $ and want to try them just spend 130 cdn and get them put on your old boot(I put them on my CCM 7XX's). That is what I did for a year before buying the Vector 120's. When I traded in the old boot I got a good price for them, so you get at least half your money back on trade in.... My old boots were sold less then a week latter....

They say they later 5 times longer than a normal sharpen, I say it is less than that, maybe 3 times longer. But if you walk on old hard floors to the ice they will dull like normal.

Gnorts - I DID try them and I did not think they were as good as advertised. I had more bite from my 3/4" sharpening than their 5/8". You just have to know what a perfect sharpening feels like to appreciate it.

[Sniper407 0]

all my sharpenings ive ever had have been sub par...

[Eazy_b97 1]

Gnorts - I DID try them and I did not think they were as good as advertised. I had more bite from my 3/4" sharpening than their 5/8". You just have to know what a perfect sharpening feels like to appreciate it.

Same boat, I also found I was able to have a shallower hollow with conventional sharpenings and not give up any bite.

[Gnorts 0]

all my sharpenings ive ever had have been sub par...

Mine too... I think the thing that was driving me nuts was that sharpening seems more like an art than a science. I need science so I can figure things out faster and worry about other things... I hated sitting on the bench with badly sharpened skates thinking " I can't skate on these things, I'm just wasting my time here today.".

[LkptTiger 1]

about how often do you have to put new runners on? (how long do they last?)

Well, I have had the skates since mid-November, and have used them in every single practice since then. I didn't use them in a game until for about a full month from the time I bought them to the time I decided that they were ready, so they weren't used for 14 games or so.

As I said, I have only gotten rid of two pairs of runners because they had gotten too dull for me (I replaced the very first pair immediately because I didn't like the rocker or the hollow, so I don't count that one...). In the two months I have had them I would have to say that they have probably seen a little over 40 hours of ice-time, so two "sharpenings" in that period of time is really quite amazing when you consider just how crazy I am about keeping my equipment the way I like it. Like I said, I was getting the steel on my Lightspeeds sharpened two and three times every week.

[Keith 0]

I gave them two legitimate chances on different boots. I loved the glide, but I felt they were too flexible. I really dislike feeling holders/runners flexing under me in a turn. Also, it may just be me, but I found that when a runner took damage, it seemed to take far more damage than what a normal steel runner would under the same circumstances. I'd take a good sharpening on a nice, stiff conventional holder anyday.

[slapshot19 0]

I've got 735's with T'blades and theres no way im going back to cenventional steel. P.S. a buddy of mine is getting vapor xxx's with T'blades, ill take some pics.