Flat Bottom V for Goalie Skates

[Srsieve]

The last time I got my skates sharpened I decided to try out the Flat Bottom V.   I had researched it on the Goalie Store BB and the consensus seemed to be very positive from most who had tried it.   I found a place that offered it, and decided to go with a 90/50.    When I told the guy what I wanted, he looked at me like I was asking him to shave my head into a mohawk and die it bright orange.   He said "really?, a FBV on a goalie skate??  Ok, if you say so, however, I think you are making a huge mistake and will regret it".    I was glad I stuck to my guns and got them done that way.   I love the feel of this cut.    It has the bite of a 1/2 hollow, but shuffles like a dream.   I also noticed a significant difference in the glide factor.   The skates just feel so much faster on the ice.  It is like the difference between how your pads slide on clean fresh ice, vs sliding with lots of snow in your crease.

When I was doing the research before, I read several posts that said the only downside was that you could no longer use a sweet stick with a FBV cut.    I decided to ignore those comments and when they started to get a little too dull, I used it anyway.   I found that the Sweet-stick worked just as well with the FBV as it did with the normal cut.     After a couple months of use, I finally got to the point where the sweet-stick would no longer give me enough bite, so I had to get them re-sharpened.   I went back to the same place and asked for the same 90/50 FBV that I got the last time.   This time around, there was a different guy doing the sharpening, and he had "goalie specialist" on his name-tag.   He not only gave me the same "are you freaking nuts?" look when I asked for the FBV, he practically refused to cut them that way.    He eventually talked me into trying a conventional 1/2 inch hollow, only cut on a slight angle so that the outside edge was slightly higher (from the ice) than the inside edge.    I haven't used them yet, but I will get a chance this Sunday.   He said that if I didn't like it, I could bring them back and he would do the FBV for no-charge, so I decided to give it a shot.     

I am curious if others have had a similar experience with the FBV.   Do you like it?  Which cut do you use?   Have you had any issues getting shops to actually give it to you when you ask for it, etc?

The original research that I did had threads going back to 2011 or earlier, so you would think that more places would be up to speed on it by now.   Especially here in MI where hockey is so prevalent.   But that does not seem to be the case.    

[bunnyman666]

I use A-Trap, which is a FBV cousin, of sorts, being that Blackstone makes the wheels for that hollow. That changed my life- good bite, great shuffles. 

I want to try that Prosharp Z something. That looks intriguing...

[Srsieve]

Just read some stuff on the A-Trap.  Sounds like the FBV version of the off-set cut that the guy talked me into .    

[Srsieve]

BTW, before going with the FBV, I used to get a 1/2 in ROH cut, but I would typically take my sweet stick or a stone and dull up the outside edge quite a bit, which is effectively the same thing.  It gave me good bite on the inside, and easy shuffling.   The only area it didn't come close to comparing is in the glide.   The glide from the FBV is amazing.   

[bunnyman666]

Yeah- FBV is GREAT on my forward skates. Some people, mainly sharpeners who don't offer it, poo poo it; I think it is nothing short of a miracle, myself.

[TheGoalNet]

I've never used an offset cut, please update us 

 

speaking of sharpening... 

 

my local total hockey has fo click the steel out of my 1S skates to sharpen them! They don't have a jig to hold my skates 

 

amateur hour 

[bunnyman666]

2 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

I've never used an offset cut, please update us 

 

speaking of sharpening... 

 

my local total hockey has fo click the steel out of my 1S skates to sharpen them! They don't have a jig to hold my skates 

 

amateur hour 

'twas even worse for me- you can't pop out VH holders. 

[TheGoalNet]

15 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

'twas even worse for me- you can't pop out VH holders. 

What do they do then?

[bunnyman666]

7 minutes ago, TheGoalNet said:

What do they do then?

They fussed around and got a good edge on; but was told to bring in my tool to remove the runner.

[Srsieve]

I tried my (new to me) Bauer One100 Supremes last night, with the 1/2 in off-set cut.   Boy are they different than my regular skates (CCM 652 Tacks).   I felt so awkward trying to skate in them, and my feet were killing me for the first 15 minutes.   The 1/2 in off-set cut on these skates felt more like a dull 3/4 cut on my other skates.   I don't know if it was due to the 3mm blades, or if there was more to it.    Now I see how guys are able to shuffle with sharper cuts.   With my old skates, a new 1/2 in cut felt like I was on rails and it was almost impossible to shuffle.   With the 1/2 cut on my new skates, I could shuffle without any issue at all, in fact I would prefer to have them feel much sharper.     To summarize:

Comparison of the Bauer Supreme One100s with a 1/2 in off-set cut to my CCM 652s Tacks with a FBV 90/50

Pros of the Bauer's:

• Much lighter
• Super easy to shuffle
• Vertex cowling improved attack angle, easy pushes while down
• Upper boot was very comfortable

Cons of the Bauer's (so far):

• Very different feel made skating feel awkward
• The arches felt too high, which killed my feet (may have to switch in-soles)
• Seemed like they were pitched forward, putting too much weight on my toes (my toes are very sore this morning, which backs this up)
• It felt like the blade was off-set to the inside, which seemed to put too much weight on the outsides of my skates.   They felt like they wanted to roll outward when standing in a neutral position.   (It may have been the off-set cut, so I am going to switch it back to a standard and see if that helps).