New True Catalyst Skates

[Doug Bierleaguer 4]

Agreed, size 8 probably would have been good.

[stevo8791 1]

I noticed these newly built Cat Pros shared on the interwebs have a new carbon shell. I pinged the retailer and they suggested that the shell has been changed for the new release year. I assume it is only on Cat Pro Customs. It looks much more like the SVH Custom shell and excludes the extra graphic decals. I think it gives a very nice simple stealthy look. 

[Sniper9 529]

3 hours ago, stevo8791 said:

I noticed these newly built Cat Pros shared on the interwebs have a new carbon shell. I pinged the retailer and they suggested that the shell has been changed for the new release year. I assume it is only on Cat Pro Customs. It looks much more like the SVH Custom shell and excludes the extra graphic decals. I think it gives a very nice simple stealthy look. 

Don't be fooled. They literally are just slapping a layer of carbon fiber over the original shells to mitigate premature cracking of the shell that has been documented with the cat and tf retail skates. This seems to be a decent overlay job, but there are ones that look like this 

https://sidelineswap.com/gear/hockey/skates/6518477-true-new-catalyst-pro-hockey-skates-size-7

Reminds me of the one piece goal skate where the carbon weaves layer finish is very poorly executed 

[Doug Bierleaguer 4]

My Cat5's are very comfy, light and good support.  After a month still look fine, more than happy with them. Cheers.  When I go to hockey, I pass by my poor old Graf G5's in the garage though, poor guys... 

[salibandy 21]

Hi guys, I wonder if someone would be able to advise on the sizing for the Hzrdus skates, if they'd be similar to the Catalyst. 

I currently wear an AS-V in 4R which feel bigger than my AS3 in 4 (only got the size 4 as I assumed the stiffness of the 3.5 in Jr sizing would be reduced). Previously wore Easton Mako IIs and other Bauer skates in 3.5D. 

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[VegasHockey 1280]

6 hours ago, salibandy said:

Hi guys, I wonder if someone would be able to advise on the sizing for the Hzrdus skates, if they'd be similar to the Catalyst. 

I currently wear an AS-V in 4R which feel bigger than my AS3 in 4 (only got the size 4 as I assumed the stiffness of the 3.5 in Jr sizing would be reduced). Previously wore Easton Mako IIs and other Bauer skates in 3.5D. 

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Catalyst and Hzrdus now fit the same. 

[Doug Bierleaguer 4]

I tried the Hzrdus skates size 8R in Dallas two weeks ago - same as my Cat5 size 8R, same as my CCM size 8R.  They were same length, a bit narrower around the arch.  I could wear them for sure.

[jeremyp 3]

I've been following True skates and the threads here on MSH for a while now and finally picked up a pair of Catalyst 7s from my local Hockey Monkey store yesterday. I finally found a store close to me that had them in stock to try and I'm glad I did. These fit amazingly well on my feel and feel almost exactly like my Makos, the best skates I have ever worn. These were so comfortable right out of the box, I could have skated in them without baking.

This has been a long journey for me...

I have a weird ankle with pronounced inner ankle bones that sit pretty far forward and on most stock skates, it touches or comes close to the end of the padding and some even touch the eyelets. Even then, I almost always have to have them punched out as well. This has always made it extremely difficult to find skates that didn't kill my ankles but still give me proper support. When the Makos came out I finally found the Holy Grail of skates for my feet. I have a pair of the original Makos and also picked up the Mako 2s when they came out as well... I was in heaven. And then Bauer bought them and we all know what happened after that.

I kept skating on my Makos for a few years and then actually stopped playing hockey for the past several years and just played lacrosse all year round. During that time I sold off all of my old skates except the original Makos but now that I'm back into playing again, I had made up my mind that it was time for new ones. I started looking into the Catalyst last summer and figured that I'd try them on in one of my local stores when I had the chance. Well, the Makos started giving me trouble as my ankle bone finally worked its way through the padding and was causing sharp pain. Pain I'm all too familiar with from prior skates. I went to try some on and couldn't find any in my size anywhere. Ultimately, I had a local shop repair my Makos with new ankle padding and bought me more time with them. Then yesterday I walked into Monkey Sports and they had them in my size... tried on a couple pairs of Catalyst 7s and a couple HZRDUS 7s. The Cats fit me absolutely perfect... I couldn't believe how well they fit. The toe box, width, ankle...all of it fit my foot perfectly.

My ankle bones lined up nicely on the size 9 but were a little too close to the edge on the 8.5s. My toes touched the toe caps, just resting against them. They offered to bake them to make sure and the 9s still fit perfectly and after baking the toes now feather the cap. I was kind of surprised my foot didn't slide back even further. I kicked my heel in pretty good and they did the shrink wrap method to bake them. Regardless, I'm totally psyched to have a pair of skates that fit my feet so amazingly well... I had to come here and make this post. 

JP

[Doug Bierleaguer 4]

For me the Catalyst fit my feet out of the box much better than the Hzrdus.  Nice to hear another Cats story.  At this point I just tighten my cats up and go.  Perfect skate for me.

[crispy92 14]

So after buying power foot inserts and the extra red food bed for my tf9’s I ve got them to a decent place fit wise. However with the cat9’s being on sale, I’m looking to test them out. Would it be fair to say they are a slightly narrower, lower volume skate compared to the tf9.
 

Also if I’m a size 7 tf9 should I shoot for 7.5? Can’t try them in locally. I have tried on 7.5 hzrdus’ which seemed like it could work but I remember my tf9 pre bake was almost impossible to get on and that wasn’t quite the case with hzrdus. 
 

(p.s for what it’s worth. I went down 3.5 sizes to get a tf9 that fit right and any other skate I’ve tried on never dropped below an 8 hence why idk where I land on the cat’s

Edited November 26, 2023 by crispy92

[VegasHockey 1280]

14 hours ago, crispy92 said:

So after buying power foot inserts and the extra red food bed for my tf9’s I ve got them to a decent place fit wise. However with the cat9’s being on sale, I’m looking to test them out. Would it be fair to say they are a slightly narrower, lower volume skate compared to the tf9.

Also if I’m a size 7 tf9 should I shoot for 7.5? Can’t try them in locally. I have tried on 7.5 hzrdus’ which seemed like it could work but I remember my tf9 pre bake was almost impossible to get on and that wasn’t quite the case with hzrdus. 

(p.s for what it’s worth. I went down 3.5 sizes to get a tf9 that fit right and any other skate I’ve tried on never dropped below an 8 hence why idk where I land on the cat’s

The boot last is almost the same with the Catalyst and the TF9. I would order the same size and width as your TF9 if you are going to try the Catalyst. 

[flip12 712]

2 hours ago, VegasHockey said:

The boot last is almost the same with the Catalyst and the TF9. I would order the same size and width as your TF9 if you are going to try the Catalyst. 

Did they change the sizing from TF to Catalyst, or did the new toe cap just make the fit feel smaller?

[Westside 232]

Yeah, you’ll want to order your same Bauer/CCM size which is likely 1/2 size larger than the TF9. I made the mistake going to same size in the Cat 9 as I had with the TF9 and they are way too snug. Half size up fit perfect 

[VegasHockey 1280]

18 hours ago, flip12 said:

Did they change the sizing from TF to Catalyst, or did the new toe cap just make the fit feel smaller?

The new toe cap piece makes it feel smaller 

[crispy92 14]

On 11/26/2023 at 9:55 PM, Westside said:

Yeah, you’ll want to order your same Bauer/CCM size which is likely 1/2 size larger than the TF9. I made the mistake going to same size in the Cat 9 as I had with the TF9 and they are way too snug. Half size up fit perfect 

This is what I ordered. We shall see if it works. Worse case they just get returned. There’s some conflicting info and I’m wondering if you guys are both right. I’m guessing true may have the same last but at the same time maybe they added more padding to make it seem like it fits smaller then usual plus the toe cap is a little tighter.

[Hills 712]

On 11/26/2023 at 4:47 PM, flip12 said:

Did they change the sizing from TF to Catalyst, or did the new toe cap just make the fit feel smaller?

Cat9s fit like normal skates did. While the TF fit way bigger.

[flip12 712]

11 hours ago, Hills said:

Cat9s fit like normal skates did. While the TF fit way bigger.

That’s what I thought. My guess was they stuck with the same last but just slid the scale till the volume was a better match for the general standard. The toe cap certainly would have an effect. I was just surprised by @VegasHockey’s take because he’s a lot more familiar with the nuances of current skates than I am.

[VegasHockey 1280]

4 hours ago, flip12 said:

That’s what I thought. My guess was they stuck with the same last but just slid the scale till the volume was a better match for the general standard. The toe cap certainly would have an effect. I was just surprised by @VegasHockey’s take because he’s a lot more familiar with the nuances of current skates than I am.

Apologies, I read your post too quickly, and after having too many drinks, assumed you meant the HZRDUS skate compared with the Catalyst. 

The TF fit bigger than the HZRDUS and the Catalyst. 

[flip12 712]

5 hours ago, VegasHockey said:

Apologies, I read your post too quickly, and after having too many drinks, assumed you meant the HZRDUS skate compared with the Catalyst. 

The TF fit bigger than the HZRDUS and the Catalyst. 

As they say, what happens in Vegas…

…can become a viral sensation on the internet!

[acura9927 4]

Very comfortable fit even without baking. However they are not a nimble skate and it takes more confidence to go fast in them and especially forward to backwards moves. They wrapped around your ankle so high and snug along with the tall blade holder which for me take a LONG time to get adjusted to. A very unique skate. It's like a ski boot. Totally opposite of my Graf PK4700. 

[flip12 712]

On 2/20/2024 at 12:56 AM, acura9927 said:

Very comfortable fit even without baking. However they are not a nimble skate and it takes more confidence to go fast in them and especially forward to backwards moves. They wrapped around your ankle so high and snug along with the tall blade holder which for me take a LONG time to get adjusted to. A very unique skate. It's like a ski boot. Totally opposite of my Graf PK4700. 

The thing with Trues is, you don't have to bake them snug around the ankle. You can flare the top out if that's what you're after. The customizability of the boots can make them tricky to dial in.

[acura9927 4]

Just not for me, I returned them.  Perhaps its just me, not giving it enough time but I just don't have the patience to get adjusted to it. Doesn't help that public skating near me is 16.50 to 18 bucks a session now. 

 

[Sniper9 529]

2 hours ago, acura9927 said:

Just not for me, I returned them.  Perhaps its just me, not giving it enough time but I just don't have the patience to get adjusted to it. Doesn't help that public skating near me is 16.50 to 18 bucks a session now. 

 

They're definitely not for everyone.  For me I didn't feel like I had to adjust really at all. 

[Westside 232]

26 minutes ago, Sniper9 said:

They're definitely not for everyone.  For me I didn't feel like I had to adjust really at all. 

Same. I still remember my first skate on TF9s. Was blown away by how great they felt from the first stride 

[Leif 161]

8 hours ago, Westside said:

Same. I still remember my first skate on TF9s. Was blown away by how great they felt from the first stride 

It took me a few hours to adjust, mainly because I had to go down from 5/8” to 1”, the grip is insane. Best skates I’ve ever owned.