A simple lace bite cure

[Vet88 674]

If you want to fix lace bite then here is a solution. Anyone should be able to do this and you can experiment with different designs and heights. The theory is simple - if you can extend the height of the facing so your laces aren't putting pressure on your tendon then you should be able to lace all the way up, TIGHTLY ...... AND skate lace bite free.

This isn't a new idea, just using an old idea (eg the Flex 55 solution) and concepts in a different way.

See the photos in the link below. I made the extensions from 4mm thick belt leather. The holes match the eyelets on the boot, the smallest extension gets fitted first and is just wide enough to wrap over the top of the facing by around 4mm. Each subsequent extension is 4mm wider so that they always wrap over the top of the facing. I created a small hook curve shape on the bottom of the extension, this helps to hold the first lace over in place on the extension. I used football laces to tie the extensions onto the boot, starting at the bottom eyelet, threading outside in and then going up thru each eyelet (see 1st pass photo) and then threading back thru the eyelets so that there are now 3 places to lace thru (see 2nd pass photo, you lose one lacing place compared to the boot) and you can now tie off (make sure the lace is flat inside the boot) at the bottom. I thread my skate laces thru before tying off, just makes it easier.

Material needed - thick enough leather, suitable scissors to cut the leather, a drill to drill the holes, pair of laces cut in half. Admittedly I used a laser machine to cut my leather but simple basic tools will also work.

To make the template I suggest you take a photo of your boot then import the photo into a drawing package (I used Corel Draw but a free package like Gimp would do the job). On your boot, measure the distance from the top eyelet to the 4th eyelet. In the drawing package, size the image so the measurement is the same. Now overlay round circles where the eyelets are and then draw an outline of your template. To make additional templates, copy this and then extend the copy by 4mm (or whatever is necessary depending on the thickness of your leather) and repeat until you have the number of extensions you want to make. Print them out and now you have a template/s to make your extensions.

Is it worth it? The wrap is just amazing, it's as good as any boot I have tried including custom Trues. The extension creates pressure on the top of the facing and pulls the top of the facing around your leg. Maybe it shouldn't work with AS3 pros but it does and it works well, no abrasions at all. As to lace bite and forward flexion, 2 months in and I'm still lace bite free and skating every day. I only use the bottom 2 slots to lace thru, I don't need the top one and have never tried it. Even with the boot wrap the forward flexion is amazing, admittedly this will be based on the number of extensions you have fitted. In the pics I have 5 extensions fitted each side, this was me trying an extreme scenario that gave me 2cm's of lace lift above the facing on each side, even at this height it still works fine. I actually use 2 extensions each side.

If you want to have a lace lock scenario, go outside in with your skate laces. The lace lock works really well but loosening wet cold laces is harder.

Pros - NO lace bite, fantastic wrap, variable height above your ankle so can fit all shapes of foot, great ankle support with amazing forward flexion, there is no additional pressure on the eyelets so no damage to the boot, there is no pressure on the extension (other than the downward pressure from the laces) so they will last a long time, cheap to make, easy to fit, easy to remove, long lasting, can be made to fit ANY boot you may own now and in the future, you can do it yourself.

Cons - Maintenance, over time the lace I use to fit the extension to the boot and lace thru might (most probably will) break, you should carry spares and do regular maintenance. My inner ankle bone never fitted in the ankle bone pocket in the first place but it never bothered me as I didn't lace up the top 5 eyelets, with the wrap I was forced to punch the boot so the inner ankle bone had a pocket to fit in otherwise I could not have used the extensions, the pain on the ankle bone was brutal (took me 2 punches to get right). It's a mod, you may get some comments, I couldn't give a rat's arse, after 5+ years of skating with the top 5 eyelets unlaced, I'm now laced up and lace bite free!

Any questions, just ask. I hope this will help someone somewhere someday to deal with lace bite yet still be able to lace up and take advantage of all the technology that the boot offers. 

https://imgur.com/a/C3zVFiC

Update:-  

after 4 months of every day solid use, still lacing up and still lace bite free, and have now helped a number of other players fit them to their boots.

I doubt anyone needs any more than one extender on each side, this is what I now use and have fitted to everyone else. The answer is really simple, by doing this you are raising the height of the lace above the ankle where it causes damaging pressure on the tendon. And this primarily happens because the lacing pattern is effectively an "outside outside" pattern. Forget that inside outside lacing bs, you have to get all of the lacing pattern to the outside of the facing. So this is what this enables, each leather piece gives you another 4mm or so of elevation (if it overlaps the top edge of facing) but the main reason this works is because of the "outside outside" lacing pattern. So for most skaters out there with lace bite, you could probably use any shaped template as long as you can tie it to the boot and use the slots to lace thru. You may even not need a template, just use laces to create the lace thru points. For the sake of couple of dollars and an easy do at home solution, you could be lace bite free. I've also stopped threading the boot lace "outside in" thru the slots, it's just too hard to undo once the laces get wet and start to freeze when it's really cold.

Maintenance - other than checking the tie off laces for wear, none.

Wear to extender - none.

Wear to boot - none.

Edited March 2 by Vet88