Holder Question for the Gurus

[The Dude 1]

Hey guys. There's a lot of smart gear people on here of whom I want to ask a question of. I'm middle-aged and played hockey to a decent level in my formative years (college). I took a 12 year break due to my job and where I was living, but have been playin once again for the past few years. I'm a strong skater. That being said, I'm so comfortable in my current skates --same ones I used in the 90's -- that I've been ridiculously stubborn to get a new pair. They fit like a glove; albeit, one that's pretty thrashed now. I finally caved and ordered a pair of custom Vapors.

Here's my question. My old skates were 10.5 -- they do fit properly -- and use 295 holders. As I've been skating on 295's for 30 years, I wanted to remain on that size. The custom Vapor I ordered is a 9.5, fit 3. The fit 3 as is comes with an up-sized 288 holder (the fit 1 & 2 comes with a 280).  With a custom order, you can upsize one holder size, but I am unable to do that apparently because a fit 3 already comes with an upsized 288. The manager of the shop who fit me for the custom, who has been doing skate fittings for 20 years, told me that even if I could upsize the holder to a 295, it wouldn't be optimum. He also said that the Bauer custom ordering program wouldn't even allow for the 295 to be put on the 9.5. I have been doing a ton of research on here regarding people who have changed holder sizes. Am I correct in understanding that as I am going down a holder size, if I go up from a radius of say 9 to 11, it'll effectively feel the same between steel sizes as I'll have more ice contact? For those of you that have downsized or upsized a holder, how wildly different did it feel? And did you change the radius to compensate? 

Potentially throwing off my feel for skating & the feel of the ice makes me nervous.... But is necessary as my current skates are cooked, and it's about time I took advantage of the new technologies. There's a lot knowledgeable people on here, so I would very much appreciate your input. Thank you! 

[Buzz_LightBeer 969]

People will probably disagree with me but as you said, I’d play around with profiles long before I’d do a holder swap. There isn’t enough difference in size or amount of steel on the ice at any given time to justify it imo. 
a good profiler could look at your current blades, get a general idea of the balance point and ice contact you like and get you something similar to what you’ve been using.

it will likely take longer to adjust to the boots than the blades anyway. 

[mojo122 535]

Sound advice from Buzz.  You didn't mention what skate your old ones are?   If Bauer, back then steel came with a 9' profile and your new ones will come with a 10' profile.  That could translate to a similar feel on the ice even with the holder size change.  Deal with adjusting to the new boots first.

[Westside 232]

I remember when I went down from 280 holders to 272. Felt wobbly and not as stable for a game or two with shorter steel. After that, no issues. Now I feel clunky with longer steel. 
 

As said above, there’s a lot you could do with profiles if you don’t simply adjust to smaller holders