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My next custom skates


Mroy31

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So I'm likely going to get some new custom skates either around the holidays or beginning of the new year.  Looks like I'll be deciding between another custom set of Bauers, or True/VH.  Talking with Rance at TGC, he is steering me towards the True's, since apparently they haven't really done any custom Bauer or CCM since they started doing True's.  My feet are a half-size different (8 7/8 L, 9 3/8 R), so custom is almost necessary.

The major factor I think will be the upcharge on the Bauers.  It may be significantly more than it was when I got my custom 1S skates.  At that point it was only retail + $100 for all the custom options.  On the Bauer site right now, they have the custom player skates listed at $1299 vs the stock $999 (CAD), so we'll see what Rance finds out.  With the options I would add to a True skate, I'd still be looking at close to $1000 before tax.

I'm really only looking to upgrade because of the liner in the 1S not really locking my foot in to the heel of the skate, which is something it sounds like the 2S solved pretty well.  So similar to why I didn't go Optik when I got my latest full set, even though I know True is a quality full custom product, I'd find it hard to leave something I'm comfortable with for one small reason that will be addressed by the latest model.  One small thing, and a price difference of like $300/400 however, would probably make me switch.  Plus I had my 1S fit by Rod (RIP) at TGC, where after googling a bit I found several examples between GSBB, reddit etc. of people praising the custom skates they got from him, so I would be pretty confident in staying with these specs in a new Bauer skate.

The True/VH Stock thread had a few comments about how the True's may not be for everyone, does anyone else have any custom skate stories/nightmares?

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16 minutes ago, Mroy31 said:

@ZeroGravitas those Bauer prices I think align with the $1299 CAD on the Bauer website, I noticed the pure hockey site doesn't specifically call out goal skates. So we'll see what Rance finds out from his rep. If the custom Bauers are up there in price it's gonna be a tough decision

I don’t think the foot scan Bauer custom skates are available until 2019 

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14 minutes ago, TheGoalNet said:

I don’t think the foot scan Bauer custom skates are available until 2019 

Makes sense they wouldn't be listed then. I'm hoping I can slide in under the old (pricing) model since they already have an excel sheet of my specs, but we'll see. 

Like you've pointed out in another thread, since they're still hand built, there's no guarantee that a scan will yield better results than a skilled eye. I spent about an hour with Rod doing a fitting, and he was very thorough, so I'm not too worried about getting a scanned custom Bauer. 

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Roy

I just went through this process for my son and bought a pair of True skates

Bauer custom $1500

CCM Custom $1300 

True skate inner heal tore upon skate molding had to be returned to get repaired.  Upon receipt of repaired skates - ( my son sleeps at school) I kept getting text messages that he kept falling with his new skates. Upon return to the store we noticed that the holder was crooked on an angle towards the inside of the skate so when he would shuffle he would fall. A new pair of skates are being made should be getting them this week!

If I where to start over I would buy a pair of CCM - I would be surprised that you have ANY issues with either Bauer or CCM custom skates, only draw back is their cost but I would gladly pay extra to avoid the issues I have had!

TAKE MY WORD - their line of so called non custom skates will be a total fiasco out of 4 trainers at his goalie school 50% have had issues with their skates

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@Big2 Yeah, I haven't heard back from Rance yet, but I keep inching myself closer to the Bauers again even if they are pricier.  Means I might wait a bit longer to save up the difference, but that's how life goes.

I'd like to attribute a lot of the negativity I've heard about True's as just the vocal minority, as I'm sure others have had nightmare experiences with big brands too.  It just goes back to the point that, for one tiny feature I'd like an improvement on, it's hard to justify changing brands and styles completely when I know it's addressed by the later version of what I have.

$1000 vs. $1500 is a pretty good justification for switching brands, but we'll see :P 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update. Went to my LHS here over the weekend and asked them about a custom order. Told me to bring my skates in and they would maybe take some pics and send to Bauer for reference to get some info about my last order. When I went in, ended up talking with the store owner and trying on some 2S skates they had in stock. Took my info, said he'd reach out to Bauer today for info, basically everything was up in the air even from his perspective.

He called me today to say they hadn't found my specs yet, but that we will be able to do a custom order for retail plus $200, so $999 CAD. 

Pretty stoked to hear that. Just waiting to hear back about my old specs and whether any of the newest custom stuff will be included in that, but at least ll be able to get the minor updates I wanted anyway. 

This doesn't feel like an easy process on either end, so YMMV, I will keep this updated with new developments 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Deposit is paid, got my specs from the last order, only updates will be the tongue and liner. Just waiting to hear what options there are. It sounded like the LockFit Pro liner might be like Speedskin was where it's only available at retail from the offshore factory, so may end up in a pro clarino liner, but either will be a big upgrade over the 37.5 liner in my 1S.

Hoping to get in before the factory shut down over the holidays. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/24/2018 at 2:46 PM, Snowman30 said:

No no, that was my post I went to put up, i was nothing about yours.

Am looking forward to seeing what you got, I own two pairs of custom Bauers. One my good friend Roddy a TGC spent a great deal of time helping fit me perfectly.

Rod fit me for my skates as well, part of the reason I wanted to match my old specs and didn't care about getting a scan done. He really took the time to figure out what I needed. 

I only met him a couple of times, he was a great guy.

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5 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Can confirm. The Bauer 3D scanned custom skates are not available for goalies until 2019. 

Until then you can still go old school if you can find a dealer willing to do a proper fitting and who has a good enough relationship with their rep to go through the process. Too bad it seems like such a pain that not everyone wants to do it. TGC did get back to me that they can do it as well, I had just found the local shop in the weeks in between. 

I imagine it will get harder/impossible to do anything other than a scan when it becomes available, as well as more expensive. 

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35 minutes ago, Mroy31 said:

Until then you can still go old school if you can find a dealer willing to do a proper fitting and who has a good enough relationship with their rep to go through the process. Too bad it seems like such a pain that not everyone wants to do it. TGC did get back to me that they can do it as well, I had just found the local shop in the weeks in between. 

I imagine it will get harder/impossible to do anything other than a scan when it becomes available, as well as more expensive. 

So are you going Bauer?

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3 hours ago, Mroy31 said:

Oh yeah, they're already waiting for me at the shop, just have to wait for them to open up again on Thursday 

What shop did you get them from if you didn't use TGC ? I wish they would bring out black holders then I may get another pair of custom skates from Bauer. It's not like I need them ether..lol. I checked out the True skates at Pro Hockey Life and there was just some stuff I didn't like. I honestly couldn't sway from Bauer skates. Here is my old thread from the GSBB about my custom skates,

http://goaliestore.com/board/forum/equipment/equipment-reviews/106252-bauer-pro-custom-skates

Originally on my second pair I was going to go with Supreme 7000 boots but Bauer pulled the plug on that boots just before I ordered so I went with the NXG boot.

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11 hours ago, Mroy31 said:

Until then you can still go old school if you can find a dealer willing to do a proper fitting and who has a good enough relationship with their rep to go through the process. Too bad it seems like such a pain that not everyone wants to do it. TGC did get back to me that they can do it as well, I had just found the local shop in the weeks in between. 

I imagine it will get harder/impossible to do anything other than a scan when it becomes available, as well as more expensive. 

Yeah it's funny how many people didn't realize Bauer also did full custom just like VH used to, before scanners were a thing, but that was mostly just a lack of education on the part of the fitters (and therefore the consumers). The challenge there is obviously going to be find somebody who knows they can do it, is willing to do it, and can actually do it correctly. Good luck with that. Kind of a triple-whammy unicorn. I only know one person I'd trust with a custom fitting. Which... is exactly why I went VH in the first place. 

I'd be 99% going with True in the future. It's possible Bauer could sway me with their new custom program, but as a happy VH customer I'm more likely to stick with what I know. 

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@Snowman30 I got them through Sportszone here in Waterloo. They've been around a long time, they have decent stock in goalie stuff, and they have goalies on staff which is nice. I wouldn't consider them a custom goalie shop though. They deal with the local minor league and university teams, so I trust their relationships with their reps, and the owner Vince is a great guy who I worked with to get this order done. I'd trust him to do a custom fitting for skates, but I'm not sure I'd try anything else custom with them unless I knew exactly the specs I wanted. I'd still go to TGC for anything like that.

@IPv6Freely your feeling with the VH sounds about the same as Snowman and me with our Bauers. They're both good, there's just not enough wrong with what we're in to sway us. If I had been in VH before this, I'm not sure I'd be switching either. Plus, since I still have my specs from my original fitting, I'm confident I'm getting the right fit. I'll also definitely be saving these specs somewhere safe in case I ever need them again haha

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43 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

Yeah it's funny how many people didn't realize Bauer also did full custom just like VH used to, before scanners were a thing, but that was mostly just a lack of education on the part of the fitters (and therefore the consumers). The challenge there is obviously going to be find somebody who knows they can do it, is willing to do it, and can actually do it correctly. Good luck with that. Kind of a triple-whammy unicorn. I only know one person I'd trust with a custom fitting. Which... is exactly why I went VH in the first place. 

I'd be 99% going with True in the future. It's possible Bauer could sway me with their new custom program, but as a happy VH customer I'm more likely to stick with what I know. 

Agreed with @Mroy31 on his feeling about this post. Great points about Bauer and custom. It's one of the things that sort of was a head scratcher for me when VH got so popular. I remember seeing all the old custom Bauers from @TGC-Rance  on GSBB and didn't understand why the idea of custom skates seems so revolutionary? The point about education at retail is spot on. 

I would also imagine that large retails like Pro Hockey Like or Pure Goalie have a large inventory of skates and don't want it to sit. They probably were not doing custom because it kept a customer from walking out of the store with an expensive piece of inventory.  This may not been an devious plot by every employee there, but why management probably didn't consciously train people or  push people to learn about it. Compared to TGC which isn't a giant retailer and promoting custom is better for them. They got the skate business and reduced the inventory requirements at the same time.

I think that more and more PRO LEVEL goalie gear will move to the VH / Passau model. It will save people from wasting big bucks on high end gear they are not happy with and wil minimize inventory of high priced items. I have also heard a major goalie brand is considering going direct to consumer too. Like with retail in general, there's lots of things "broken" and people will start looking for new solutions.

The only downside I see to the custom made to order model is that it democratizes retail a bit and minimizes any advantage a big box, like Pro Hockey Life, has. Pro Hockey should have every size of every skate in stock. You walk out with the skate you want same day. However, if you go away from inventory, you will probably go with the shop with the best service and fitting. Smaller shops with long time employees like @thebigm or @TGC-Rance will crush the 16 Jr B defensemen working in the "Big Box" goalie department

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