Will the heel padding in my Grafs break in/down?

[Nikwho 2]

Hey all,

I just bought a pair of brand new Graf 735's.  Had them sharpened and baked them (baked at home, 175° for 5 minutes in convection oven). 

They are size 11.5 wide skates.  My CCM regular width size 12 skates were WAY too narrow for my feet.  I was nervous about the width of the 735's, as Grafs are known to be narrow.  But, with the 735's being a wider skate to begin with, and being a Wide width, I am VERY pleased with the sizing of the skate and the width of the fore foot area!  Feels great!  

THOUGH, after my first skate on them at open hockey last night, the soft areas on either side of my Achilles, directly posterior to (behind) my ankle bone was excruciatingly painful!  Thought that my feet were going to be bleeding after an hour and a half session, but were not.  

Baked again today... 210° for 10 minutes. Any cooler/less time didn't seem to soften the boot.  I feel like I could have baked even longer, but didn't want to push it.  Feel like I'm at a point where I have the boot shaped well to my feet.  It's just that the padding on the inside of the boot feels so tight on the back of my ankle!  It's just padding, though!  I'll try to upload a picture.  

So, do you guys think that this Achilles padding will break down enough to get comfy?  I've heard that Graf skates take a while to break in.  Think that it'll just take time?  Or are these skates notoriously narrow in the back of the boot?  If need be, I'll just throw some mole skin or duct tape over the back of my heal while they break in, and get through it.  Beer league season just started, so I want to be able to play hard and stay on the ice as long as I need to.  

 

Thoughts?  

[bl4 39]

6 minutes ago, Nikwho said:

Hey all,

I just bought a pair of brand new Graf 735's.  Had them sharpened and baked them (baked at home, 175° for 5 minutes in convection oven). 

They are size 11.5 wide skates.  My CCM regular width size 12 skates were WAY too narrow for my feet.  I was nervous about the width of the 735's, as Grafs are known to be narrow.  But, with the 735's being a wider skate to begin with, and being a Wide width, I am VERY pleased with the sizing of the skate and the width of the fore foot area!  Feels great!  

THOUGH, after my first skate on them at open hockey last night, the soft areas on either side of my Achilles, directly posterior to (behind) my ankle bone was excruciatingly painful!  Thought that my feet were going to be bleeding after an hour and a half session, but were not.  

Baked again today... 210° for 10 minutes. Any cooler/less time didn't seem to soften the boot.  I feel like I could have baked even longer, but didn't want to push it.  Feel like I'm at a point where I have the boot shaped well to my feet.  It's just that the padding on the inside of the boot feels so tight on the back of my ankle!  It's just padding, though!  I'll try to upload a picture.  

So, do you guys think that this Achilles padding will break down enough to get comfy?  I've heard that Graf skates take a while to break in.  Think that it'll just take time?  Or are these skates notoriously narrow in the back of the boot?  If need be, I'll just throw some mole skin or duct tape over the back of my heal while they break in, and get through it.  Beer league season just started, so I want to be able to play hard and stay on the ice as long as I need to.  

 

Thoughts?  

It's been a long time since I've worn Grafs, but my recollection is that they took a while to break-in.  My last pair were 705s that I got about twenty years ago.  Once they were broken in, they were very comfortable (one of my all-time favorite skates), but it took a while to get there....

[Buzz_LightBeer 969]

When I used to heat Grafs, I would place the Achilles guard on the ground, blade perpendicular to the ground, and a little light pressure on the toe and side panel will open the throat of the skate and allow your heel to sink back deeper in the boot. This should make a noticeable difference in what you’re experiencing. 
a shop with a good boot press can soften the ankle padding as wel with a reheat. 
 

it’s a positive and a negative of those skates, it’ll be a bit of a process to get them broken in but there’s a reason guys still have their Grafs 10/15/20 years later. 

[Miller55 333]

It will open up back there and if that's your only issue they should be pretty comfy. Part of Graf's amazing heel lock is that pocket design, but it does take time to get to that perfect feel

[Nikwho 2]

On 12/30/2021 at 7:57 PM, Miller55 said:

It will open up back there and if that's your only issue they should be pretty comfy. Part of Graf's amazing heel lock is that pocket design, but it does take time to get to that perfect feel

Thanks!  So, after one 'free skate', a 'sticks & pucks' session, an 'open hockey' session, and my first game in them last night, the tight heel went from horrible pain, to only slight discomfort.  That's with about 4 hours of skate time in them. 

Considering how they felt at the end of my beer league game last night, I'm confident that these skates are going to break in very nicely!  The pinching around my Achilles was so bad at first, I didn't think that the material would/could break in enough.  Now, I'm convinced that it will.  

Edited January 3, 2022 by Nikwho