CCM Tacks feedback 9080 v 9090

[JSand 1]

I have been skating in Tacks forever and the time has come to replace my current ones.  I recently tried on both the 9080 and 9090 models. Both fit as expected in the heeland toe box with one seemingly major difference to me...the tongue. The tongue on the 9080 is thick.  Way thicker than in my current 5052s. I like that it is thicker but it almost felt too thick if that makes sense. The 9090s had a much thinner tongue with some type of insert.  It was more comfortable but I wonder whether the thinner tongue would easily crease and lead to lacebite.  Does anyone have any experience with these two models and thoughts on a thick felt tongue vs a thinner foam type of tongue, particularly as it relates to potential for lacebite and durability?  

Any other meaningful differences between the two models?

Also, while trying them on, I was told that if I can wait until April that CCM is coming out with a bunch of new models with new holders, a split tongue, and other new features. I couldn’t find anything on line about this but they insisted it was coming to the Tacks line.  If anyone has any information about this that they could share please do so as it may be something worth waiting for.

Thanks all.

[puckpilot 312]

40 minutes ago, JSand said:

Does anyone have any experience with these two models and thoughts on a thick felt tongue vs a thinner foam type of tongue, particularly as it relates to potential for lacebite and durability?  

I don't have any experience with these models, but I have some experience with the increased thickness in tongues. I'm in Bauer S190s and one of the features in this model is an extra thick tongue. One of my initial concerns was that the thicker tongue was kind of giving me lace bite. When I talked to the fitter, they said it was a common complaint. Any way, making a long story short, at first, the thick tongue along with the plastic lace bite guard on it was definitely giving me discomfort and bit of lace bite. But after 2-3 months of regular use, the tongue slowly broke in and became less fluffy. Now it's fine. No lace bite.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Jetspeed and Ribcor will be updated; Tacks stays the same. 

[CTB 32]

I have the 9090s, didn’t try on the 9080 but I have no issues with lacebite from the tongues. 

[SabbyP 0]

I have the 9090s and tried on the 9080s. I went with the 9090s because of the full composite outsole. No problem with lacebite for me. 

[Vet88 673]

On 1/20/2019 at 10:14 AM, JSand said:

Does anyone have any experience with these two models and thoughts on a thick felt tongue vs a thinner foam type of tongue, particularly as it relates to potential for lacebite and durability?  

Lace bite isn't caused by the tongue, it's a volume issue. You can have the thickest tongue in the world and as long it plus your foot shape keeps you level with the laces then you will never, ever get lace bite. You need to work it out and the pencil test still remains one of the best, simplest tools to determine your volume in the boot.

[Leif 160]

I don’t have Tacks, but I did move up from Bauer S160 with a thin tongue to a Custom 2S Pro with a humongous tongue. I sometimes got lace bite from the S160, due to pressure hot spots on the top of the foot. The 2S is a slightly smaller size (left foot half size down, right quarter size down), but the giant thick tongue wraps the foot much better, and distributes the pressure much more evenly, so the result is absolutely no discomfort. The Custom tongue is made from fairly thick plastic backed with thick felt, I suspect felt on its own would be nowhere near so good. The only concern I had was that the thick tongue might slow me down, since I am not exactly fast anyway, but it seems not.