Vaughn GX-2 Skate Fit?

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

Anybody have opinions on these. Want to get into Goalie and these skates have some good deals. I'm normally in a Jetspeed Player skate since my heel is on the narrower side and have about a normal/wide forefoot.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I wouldn’t go anywhere near them, personally. 

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

19 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

I wouldn’t go anywhere near them, personally. 

Any reason why? Can't find anything comparable at the $150 range.

[bunnyman666 445]

I have experience with them.

You will read why @IPv6Freely would not touch them.

Mr. Freely is no fan of Vaughn anything, which is why he’d never touch them. But there are other very good reasons why you should proceed with caution.

Mike Vaughn wanted to somewhat recreate a ‘90s Bauer goalie skate, right down to putting the non-funtional stitching on the quarter package to mimic the Supreme boot’s stitching (which was functional). The cowl is a nearly DIRECT copy of an old ICM cowl that was on Bauer skates from the 80s through the late 90s and reminiscent of of the last Tuuk cowl that Bauer used. More on the cowl later... To say this skate was everywhere in concept is a VAST understatement, as you will read on...

They have a very wide forefoot, the cowling is very old school, though you can cut the cowl down. I had the original skate, and I loved it except the boot blew up. Vaughn sent me a GX-2 under warranty. I never could get used to the new boot (GX-2), but my time on ice was significantly reduced by that time. To be fair- they may have never fully broken in despite being heat fitted. The heel lock was sloppy after while. They fit about 1/4 to 1/2 size larger than a comparable boot, 1/2 size smaller than a Graf (8 in a Graf=7.5 in a Vaughn). Boot is made by Graf’s China factory, so decent quality. The foams allow two heat-fittings. 

The last word on the cowling: there are only two sizes: size 8 and size 11 or 12 (can’t remember). The stock steel is CRAP. It is concave, much like the steel on the cowling it mimics. I paid $30 to get it flattened out! Step does make a replacement in three flavours (regular, player radius and extreme), though availability is suspect and limited. The cowling has a traditional blade height, so you either want Step Extreme steel or Overdrive blades to play the modern butterfly game. This was originally slated as a cowling-free skate, and uses the Graf toe cap, and also has a composite outsole, a pre-requisite for a cowling-free skate. Mike Vaughn got cold feet and at the last minute, gave it a cowling in only two sizes (?!?). Why he did not rebrand some Graf cowls and use those, I will never understand.  You may be able to use a Vertexx holder, but I would use a Bauer cowling, which was a very popular mod. These skates use the Graf method of attaching the cowling (screws instead of rivets), which you can save the labour of your local shop of removing the cowl if you get Bauer cowlings to be installed. I can’t verify how clad the quarter package is on this boot, which is why I would not go cowling-free on this boot. If your boot is the same size as the cowl, you’ll be happy; if you are under the size, you’ll feel like you’re skating on skis. Player radius Step steel was designed for people on the smaller end of the cowling as the runner is quite short, Extreme is for the pure butterfly goalie. But if you read between the lines, the skate suffered from a lack of solid R&D and had bizarre last-minute changes.

I actually use the Vaughn cowling only because when I took a shot to the foot in my VH/Trues, I thought my foot was broken and it was literally the only cowling I owned at the time. I bought a life of the boot supply of steel for my cowls, but am engineering a new cowl for use with the new holders and hope to have a working prototype by the time I run out of steel. I wear a 7.5 boot, so the small Vaughn cowling works perfectly on my VH/True boot. I was going to build a composite Vaughn cowl, but quickly determined that it was a fool’s errand and decided to build a flat bottom, universal cowl for use with the new holders instead. I only have four sets of steel and I sharpen regularly. 

I doubt there is any manufacturer support for these, which is most likely why they are being blown out. This was a $600 skate, after all. Vaughn blew this opportunity, and though I loved the boot, the execution of the skate as a whole in concept was amongst the worst, especially with only two sizes of cowling. 

$150 is not a terrible gamble, but you may spend more to make this a skate for the modern game. If you are playing traditional style or will be using Overdrive blades, the cowl will be fine. 

I hope I have answered your questions. 

Edited March 18, 2019 by bunnyman666

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

On 3/16/2019 at 4:50 PM, bunnyman666 said:

I have experience with them.

You will read why @IPv6Freely would not touch them.

Mr. Freely is no fan of Vaughn anything, which is why he’d never touch them. But there are other very good reasons why you should proceed with caution.

Mike Vaughn wanted to somewhat recreate a ‘90s Bauer goalie skate, right down to putting the non-funtional stitching on the quarter package to mimic the Supreme boot’s stitching (which was functional). The cowl is a nearly DIRECT copy of an old ICM cowl that was on Bauer skates from the 80s through the late 90s and reminiscent of of the last Tuuk cowl that Bauer used. More on the cowl later... To say this skate was everywhere in concept is a VAST understatement, as you will read on...

They have a very wide forefoot, the cowling is very old school, though you can cut the cowl down. I had the original skate, and I loved it except the boot blew up. Vaughn sent me a GX-2 under warranty. I never could get used to the new boot (GX-2), but my time on ice was significantly reduced by that time. To be fair- they may have never fully broken in despite being heat fitted. The heel lock was sloppy after while. They fit about 1/4 to 1/2 size larger than a comparable boot, 1/2 size smaller than a Graf (8 in a Graf=7.5 in a Vaughn). Boot is made by Graf’s China factory, so decent quality. The foams allow two heat-fittings. 

The last word on the cowling: there are only two sizes: size 8 and size 11 or 12 (can’t remember). The stock steel is CRAP. It is concave, much like the steel on the cowling it mimics. I paid $30 to get it flattened out! Step does make a replacement in three flavours (regular, player radius and extreme), though availability is suspect and limited. The cowling has a traditional blade height, so you either want Step Extreme steel or Overdrive blades to play the modern butterfly game. This was originally slated as a cowling-free skate, and uses the Graf toe cap, and also has a composite outsole, a pre-requisite for a cowling-free skate. Mike Vaughn got cold feet and at the last minute, gave it a cowling in only two sizes (?!?). Why he did not rebrand some Graf cowls and use those, I will never understand.  You may be able to use a Vertexx holder, but I would use a Bauer cowling, which was a very popular mod. These skates use the Graf method of attaching the cowling (screws instead of rivets), which you can save the labour of your local shop of removing the cowl if you get Bauer cowlings to be installed. I can’t verify how clad the quarter package is on this boot, which is why I would not go cowling-free on this boot. If your boot is the same size as the cowl, you’ll be happy; if you are under the size, you’ll feel like you’re skating on skis. Player radius Step steel was designed for people on the smaller end of the cowling as the runner is quite short, Extreme is for the pure butterfly goalie. But if you read between the lines, the skate suffered from a lack of solid R&D and had bizarre last-minute changes.

I actually use the Vaughn cowling only because when I took a shot to the foot in my VH/Trues, I thought my foot was broken and it was literally the only cowling I owned at the time. I bought a life of the boot supply of steel for my cowls, but am engineering a new cowl for use with the new holders and hope to have a working prototype by the time I run out of steel. I wear a 7.5 boot, so the small Vaughn cowling works perfectly on my VH/True boot. I was going to build a composite Vaughn cowl, but quickly determined that it was a fool’s errand and decided to build a flat bottom, universal cowl for use with the new holders instead. I only have four sets of steel and I sharpen regularly. 

I doubt there is any manufacturer support for these, which is most likely why they are being blown out. This was a $600 skate, after all. Vaughn blew this opportunity, and though I loved the boot, the execution of the skate as a whole in concept was amongst the worst, especially with only two sizes of cowling. 

$150 is not a terrible gamble, but you may spend more to make this a skate for the modern game. If you are playing traditional style or will be using Overdrive blades, the cowl will be fine. 

I hope I have answered your questions. 

That was extremely informative. Thank you!

[bunnyman666 445]

6 minutes ago, Mister_NoDangles said:

That was extremely informative. Thank you!

Glad I could help!

These are the most misunderstood skates, even amongst Vaughn staffers LOL!

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

3 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

Glad I could help!

These are the most misunderstood skates, even amongst Vaughn staffers LOL!

Seems so. I do wear size 8 typically so it might have a chance of working for me, but definitely a bit of hesitation on my part now.

[bunnyman666 445]

2 minutes ago, Mister_NoDangles said:

Seems so. I do wear size 8 typically so it might have a chance of working for me, but definitely a bit of hesitation on my part now.

It’s a good boot, but you will spend some money to make it work.

[bunnyman666 445]

On 3/15/2019 at 3:38 PM, Mister_NoDangles said:

Anybody have opinions on these. Want to get into Goalie and these skates have some good deals. I'm normally in a Jetspeed Player skate since my heel is on the narrower side and have about a normal/wide forefoot.

Do you have a pair of boots that aren’t quite ready to die but you no longer use them regularly? You could cut off the tendon guard and have a cowling installed. Just an idea.

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

30 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

Do you have a pair of boots that aren’t quite ready to die but you no longer use them regularly? You could cut off the tendon guard and have a cowling installed. Just an idea.

Unfortunately not, sold of my last pair recently.

[bunnyman666 445]

1 hour ago, Mister_NoDangles said:

Unfortunately not, sold of my last pair recently.

Bummer. That’s how I got my first pair of goal skates was adding a cowl to player skates.

Edited March 18, 2019 by bunnyman666

[psulion22 402]

I have two pairs of used size 8EE Bauer’s for less than $150 if you wanted one - one with a composite boot, one without.  They’re used, but will be better in the long run than those Vaughns. There’s a reason they’re only $150. 

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

On 3/18/2019 at 10:08 AM, bunnyman666 said:

It’s a good boot, but you will spend some money to make it work.

Ended up buying them because they dropped further in price to $99. Figured it's worth the gamble to get my feet wet.

[bunnyman666 445]

7 minutes ago, Mister_NoDangles said:

Ended up buying them because they dropped further in price to $99. Figured it's worth the gamble to get my feet wet.

At that price, you can’t lose!

Where did you find them? I’d love another set of cowlings.

Edited April 11, 2019 by bunnyman666

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

1 hour ago, bunnyman666 said:

At that price, you can’t lose!

Where did you find them? I’d love another set of cowlings.

prostockhockey.com of all places. They had tons of sizes.

[bunnyman666 445]

1 hour ago, Mister_NoDangles said:

prostockhockey.com of all places. They had tons of sizes.

Cool! Thank you!

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

On 4/11/2019 at 11:39 AM, bunnyman666 said:

Cool! Thank you!

Finally got them end. Haven't baked them yet but fit feels good with some niggles around the ankle. Have no idea where to get replacement steel though.

[bunnyman666 445]

1 minute ago, Mister_NoDangles said:

Finally got them end. Haven't baked them yet but fit feels good with some niggles around the ankle. Have no idea where to get replacement steel though.

What size skate?

[Mister_NoDangles 7]

1 minute ago, bunnyman666 said:

What size skate?

Size 8.

[bunnyman666 445]

1 minute ago, Mister_NoDangles said:

Size 8.

Check your DMs