Bauer Supreme 2S Pro vs Vapor 2X Pro

[maxtm30]

Hi The Goal Net forums!

So since I own both Bauer lines as custom sets, I thought it would be nice to make a detailed analysis of both lines. As a sales advisor and goalie fit expert in a retailer, people often ask me how the vapor are different if both lines offer hard as hell rebounds. Most of the time I simply answer that I feel Vapor or Supreme is more a spec than anyother thing. Basically, most of teh ones who prefer a connected feel will be drawn towards the vapors, and those who prefer otherwise the supremes. There are more diffences but we will dive deeper within the "review". Let's start by showing both sets. First up, the older brother, the 2S Pro.

So this was my first custom Bauer set, I won't dive into the lackluster custom options for colorways, I love this graphic and I am pleased of the way it turned out. I went all stock for this one, except for the intermediate fit for the blocker palm. 

Now my 2X Pro, which is a first again for me, being my first dark based set.

So here I went with a lot of custom specs, here is the list;

Square knee block, Powerlite core (single break below the knee) , vapor thin insert (stock option), offset CRS laces (yup, no bungee for me). Intermediate fit for both gloves.

PADS

So the pads are pretty similar all things considered, main diffrence would be the boot break. 

The Vapor has a thinner, flatter boot which is much softer that the Fused boot which is stock on the 2S pro. Furthermore, the pad is much thicker on the boot area in the Supreme. This makes the supreme less connected and makes it sit higher on the leg. This is one of the things that I liked at first but liked less and less as the season went on. 

Now the sliding surface.

As you can see, both a extremely similar except that the calf piece on the vapor is rounder and features an embossed cortech ST logo. The knee block has thankfully gone away from the binding this year, even if the nylon used on the 2x seem to be of better quality. This explains why the sliding is (according to me at least) much much much better on the 2X pros. 

 

However, the thickness is the same on both models on the sliding edge, which brings me to one of the most unique design element of the vapor pad, the tapered core.

As you can see above, the core of the vapor is slightly thicker on the inside edge than the outside edge. This pulled from the 1x, and is to aid rotation while keeping the strapping tight. Speaking of strapping.

The tune-fit (vapor) is much softer and wraps the leg a lot more, the CRS is looser and stiffer. I'm not really picky on strapping, but the vapor is simple and comfortable, both things lacking in the supreme's CRS. The calf wraps on the vapor are longer and hug the skate much more, and have elastic joints at the bottom. On nitpick in the supremes,  the strapping did not have any color option (not even white), but again, the set looked good nontheless. The leg channel in nylon on the supremes and has the quattro material from AX Suede on the knee block. On the vapor, we find the quattro in the leg channel as well. Overall, I love both pads, but the vapor suits more my playstyle, mainly because of the snuggier, tighter fit and the softer boot, while keeping the really hot rebounds. 

Now the catch gloves. I won't talk about the breaks, the vapor is more of a finger oriented closure (similar to a 590 but feels really close to a 580 somehow) and the supreme is more of a full-hand closure, which is a 600 in ccm language. 

Supreme

Vapor

Now that the inevitable (Thanos is inevitable) break question is addressed, let's look at best feature on both gloves; the cuff. Back in november when I saw the gear, i saw that the took insperation from the supreme for the backhand of the 2x catch glove. The cuff is now shorter and feels much more open than on the 1x ans 2s pro, but keep the flexibility that the 2s pro had with the FREE flex cuff. 

Supreme

Vapor

Now a few pictures of the gloves side by side.

They present a somewhat similar shape (big pocket, smaller cuff) but they feel completely diffrent, props to bauer for that, because I always felt more comfortable with supreme type break because of their shape, but never like the feel of the break that much, it's nice to have a glove that just feels like the best of both worlds for me. (2x pro has a great closure out of the box, highly recommend the game ready )

Blockers

The 2X pro blocker feels like a variant of the 2s Pro, it's the weird friend that just looks somewhat alien, but in this case, the design works and looks both futuristic and traditional.

Now the vapor is much lighter, and here is why.

The vapor has a tapered face, which makes it have an optimized thickness both for balance and protection.

Now the sidewall is where the alien thing comes in. The vapor straight up looks weird, but it works just fine. The supreme has however the best finger protection I ever had on a blocker. I'm not worried with the vapor however. The one thing I don't like on the vapor is the stiching on the face, I prefer the seamless edge of the supreme by a landslide, but this is more of a nitpick than anything.

One small diffence is that the supreme has a segmented finger protection and the vapor has traditionnal build.

supreme

vapor

 

So that about wraps it up. so feel free to ask more questions on the gear. 

 

Edit: The 2S pro set was regularly cleaned (once every 6-8 ice times) using a magic eraser and a combination of slight pressure and patience.

Edited August 14, 2019 by maxtm30
typos

[goalieThreeOne]

1 hour ago, maxtm30 said:

Edit: The 2S pro set was regularly cleaned (once every 6-8 ice times) using a magic eraser and a combination of slight pressure and patience.

Excellent write up. Pro tip for you: Use some Lectric Shave with a magic eraser, and puck marks will wipe off like a dry erase marker.

[coopaloop1234]

Great comparison. It's great to break down the small specifics of a brands "soft" and "hard" pads. Especially Bauer's since they share a ton of similarities.

I was questioning how your 2S pads were looking so clean until that last sentence. That coretech skin is notorious for showing puck marks more than any jenpro pad.

[maxtm30]

21 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Great comparison. It's great to break down the small specifics of a brands "soft" and "hard" pads. Especially Bauer's since they share a ton of similarities.

I was questioning how your 2S pads were looking so clean until that last sentence. That coretech skin is notorious for showing puck marks more than any jenpro pad.

It’s not as bad as it seems because you take out at least a third of the marks off by wiping the water droplets that stays on the pad when you leave the rink.

[coopaloop1234]

1 minute ago, maxtm30 said:

It’s not as bad as it seems because you take out at least a third of the marks off by wiping the water droplets that stays on the pad when you leave the rink.

But then how will people know that you're actually able to make saves?

I don't trust goalies with puck mark free pads. Shady bunch I tell ya.

[seagoal]

Thanks so much for sharing these details.  Great gear, great write up. .

[Lucky Pucker]

1 hour ago, coopaloop1234 said:

But then how will people know that you're actually able to make saves?

I don't trust goalies with puck mark free pads. Shady bunch I tell ya.

It's called "resale -value focused" style of goaltending, of which I am a leading practitioner.

[coopaloop1234]

48 minutes ago, Lucky Pucker said:

It's called "resale -value focused" style of goaltending, of which I am a leading practitioner.

Too bad you can't wash out the stink you leave in gear.

[Lucky Pucker]

On 8/14/2019 at 1:52 PM, coopaloop1234 said:

Too bad you can't wash out the stink you leave in gear.

Actually, you'd be surprised at how much the resale-value focused style is also low-effort/energy conserving.

...this does NOT de-legitimize the style or its practitioners though.

[RyanR3KC]

Anyone else have issues seeing the pics?

[coopaloop1234]

31 minutes ago, RyanR3KC said:

Anyone else have issues seeing the pics?

Looks like the links have died. @maxtm30