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TRUE Two Piece Skate Review


Chenner29

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I thought I would do a little write-up of the skates I received from TRUE early last week.

First a little background:
I've been in a Graf style boot for most of my time in net.  My skate history in chronological order: Graf 750, Bauer 7000, Graf G50, Bauer One100, Bauer Pro, Graf Ultra 7500.

I started having issues with the Graf product when I hit the G50 line.  I'm not sure what it was, but when I would get set for a shot and lean in on my inner edges, occasionally I would get a shooting pain starting at the ball of my foot going up my leg.  Felt like a pinched nerve or something.  The Bauers alleviated this, BUT I have a higher volume/high instep foot, and never fit quite properly in the One100 or Pro.  I was getting problematic lacebite with the Bauer product so I went back to the 7500.  I loved the stiffness of the Pros, but after a while realized they were probably too stiff as the top of the ankle on the boot was causing some prevalent bruising above my ankle bone.  I went back to a Graf in the 7500, and the fit problems persisted.  I stuck with the stock footbed, then Superfeet, and even bought a pair of Sidas molded footbeds.  The pinched nerve feeling continued.  I endured for a couple years until recently, when I started getting awful pain in the heel that would kick in like clockwork around the end of warmups and persist throughout my games/ice sessions. I re-molded the skates a few times and had the problem areas punched out, but nothing seemed to work, so it was time to try something else.  I tried on the 1S and 1X skates in both regular and wide width, but didn't feel comfortable in them as the toe boxes in these seemed to narrow for my foot. 

Most of my reservations with the VH/True product were because of familiarity.  I could go to a store and try on Grafs and Bauers.  How could I justify the price tag of a VH or True skate without being able to try them on?  I didn't want to be stuck with a $900 paperweight.  In mid-October, I decided enough was enough and bit the bullet.  To help with the purchase, I picked up a new credit card that granted me a $150 statement credit after the first $1000 spent in a 3 month billing period and away we went.

I did the skates at my local HockeyMonkey.  The imprint process is pretty neat.  They have you stand "Captain Morgan" style with your knee flexed 90 degrees on a little sheet of plastic while the shop employee doing the fit rotates around your foot with an iPad.  I paid my deposit and the wait began.  I was quoted 6-8 weeks but got a call from my buddy at the shop in 5. 

I decided on a boot only, thinking my Graf cowling could be mounted.  I was wrong - the cowlings were too small for the boot.  I ended up having to track down the Vertexx holders that are used on the 1S and 1X skate.  After I placed the order, I reached out to Tim, who asked me if I specified on the order form if I would put them on a cowling or go cowlingless - apparently there are actually 3 boot types (one piece cowling, 2 piece, 2 piece cowling).  I didn't know this was an option, and the folks at Monkey didn't know either.  We are still awaiting to see what kind of boot I have.  In the meantime, I have skated a few sessions with my two piece skates because I am incredibly impatient and apparently have no regard for personal safety.

The heat molding process is a little different than with other brands.  I haven't heat molded skates in a long time - I got the Ultra 7500s when they were brand new and haven't been fit for skates since.  I think that makes them 4 years old at this point?  It's a 30 minute mold process with the Trues.  I think they went for 15 minutes in the oven, and I sat with them on for another 15.  The skates get pretty hot and extremely pliable.  I was a little concerned at first because of how mushy they felt.  But they stiffened right back up as they cooled off.

So I've had three skate sessions with these so far, two of them were sticktime/on the pond style sessions, so I got a lot of work and went through a lot of movement.  A few impressions:

  • Instead of a "U" shape boot, the eyelets wrap more over the top of your foot to create a "C" shape.
    • for those that like to tape their ankles, the boot wraps completely around your ankle with much less "dead space" that a stock boot. 
    • I feel very locked into these skates once they're on - very little room for the ankle to move around means more power in your movements going straight down to the steel and ice.
  • I have zero hotspots or pain points in these skates.  The fit is unreal.
  • When set in a deeper stance with your legs angled, there is virtually zero give from the bottom of the boot to the steel.
    • the feel is like having the steel in my skates extend directly from the bottom of my boot to the ice. 
    • compare this to a pair of skates with cowlings; when engaging my inner edges I would feel some degree of flex between the boot and cowling.
  • Power transfer feels really good. 
    • I had No Icing pre-sharpen my steel to 3/8ths; I think my steel got bashed around when the holders were getting installed.  After the session, I ran my fingers over the edges.  Felt like a 7/8ths or inch cut. 
    • Despite this, I still got some really strong pushes and didn't lose my footing once.
  • Once I had them sharpened, oh my.  It's a very strange sensation and hard to describe, almost like you "feel" the ice surface more.
    • I have taken a lot of shots the past week or so, some rapid fire/rebound plays.  While I have not been able to get in front of every puck, I have not bottomed out yet - but this may have more to do with losing the cowling than anything else.
    • I've noticed my legs feel less fatigued after rough skates, it feels like I'm exerting less energy to get the same amount of power into my movement
    • There's a "snappiness" to the boot on deep T pushes that I haven't felt in any kind of skate before. 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer.

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Awesome write up... I'm in the same boat... Bauer guy forever, tried a set of Koho 580 skates, then Graf pro goalers (hated both).  Back into Bauer Reactor 6000's... I have similar foot pain to what you have.  I'm now trying CCM footbeds and the Ben Scrivens lace up technique.

But likely I'm going to dump the cash into a set of True Skates,  What didn't you get the 1 piece?

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7 minutes ago, cwarnar said:

Awesome write up... I'm in the same boat... Bauer guy forever, tried a set of Koho 580 skates, then Graf pro goalers (hated both).  Back into Bauer Reactor 6000's... I have similar foot pain to what you have.  I'm now trying CCM footbeds and the Ben Scrivens lace up technique.

But likely I'm going to dump the cash into a set of True Skates,  What didn't you get the 1 piece?

Mostly fear. LOL

What if the one piece cowling breaks from a shot or usage, do I need to buy a new skate?

What if they stop producing steel for that model?

What if a newer, better two piece holder comes out in 5 years?

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1 hour ago, TheGoalNet said:

Thought it said above that he was waiting for confirmation if his boot is designed to be worn in a cowling or with an exposed toe in a 2 piece?

Correct, still waiting.

Not sure if I should be looking out for anything in the meantime - lack of support? Protection?  Haven't taken a shot off them yet...

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2 minutes ago, Chenner29 said:

Correct, still waiting.

Not sure if I should be looking out for anything in the meantime - lack of support? Protection?  Haven't taken a shot off them yet...

If you didn’t specify during ordering that you were putting a cowling on, I would expect you got a cowlingless boot since that’s the default.

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8 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

I saw it...

I added a cowling to the two piece skate.

I have already made my opinion known on cowling free.

Though I wonder if I was sent a cowling skate... ‘cos that shot hobbled me for a week or so.

I think you need to order another set. Get the 1 piece this time and make sure there is no room for error!!! :giggle::baller:

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I am gonna chime in!  As I am aware when speaking with TRUE the other day (I work at a source store) all true goal skates that are manufactured can be used without a cowling.  There isn't 3 boot options for goalie only 2.  The option is the one piece and the two piece with your option of whatever holder you want cowling or no cowling.

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39 minutes ago, thebigm said:

I am gonna chime in!  As I am aware when speaking with TRUE the other day (I work at a source store) all true goal skates that are manufactured can be used without a cowling.  There isn't 3 boot options for goalie only 2.  The option is the one piece and the two piece with your option of whatever holder you want cowling or no cowling.

You are a gem.  Thank you!

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3 hours ago, Punisher Goalie said:

I’ve said this elsewhere, but just FYI I’ve now taken 2 hard shots to the toe of my True 2-piece (no cowling, just True holder) and felt nothing. Obviously, this doesn’t speak to side protection but I don’t have any concern about the toes.

Thanks.  Looking at how a lot of pros are wearing their pads now with their skates (True or otherwise), I'm not too concerned with the toes.  Price for one wears a decent amount of slack in the toe ties and no boot strap.  I can't think of the last time I took a puck to the inside of my foot, as that seems to be the "problem area" discussed earlier. 

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At the risk of hijacking this thread... but it's relevant to the cowling issue... 

I was in the RVH on the blocker side post. Got a pass out to the bottom of the glove side face off dot and the guy took a 1 T. I slide across faster than my pad and took it directly off the toe. It wasn't OV shooting... but the guy got some mustard on it. No issue with pain at all. I have a feeling @bunnyman666 's experience is definitely a freak occurrence. 

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1 hour ago, TheGoalNet said:

At the risk of hijacking this thread... but it's relevant to the cowling issue... 

I was in the RVH on the blocker side post. Got a pass out to the bottom of the glove side face off dot and the guy took a 1 T. I slide across faster than my pad and took it directly off the toe. It wasn't OV shooting... but the guy got some mustard on it. No issue with pain at all. I have a feeling @bunnyman666 's experience is definitely a freak occurrence. 

May be a freak accident, but I will NEVER trust a cowling-free skate EVER AGAIN!!!! Next time, I could have a broken foot.

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On 2017-11-20 at 7:34 AM, bunnyman666 said:

I saw it...

I added a cowling to the two piece skate.

I have already made my opinion known on cowling free.

Though I wonder if I was sent a cowling skate... ‘cos that shot hobbled me for a week or so.

I tried to look for it in other threads but what happened without the cowling to you? 

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1 minute ago, bunnyman666 said:

A shot tagged me on the ball of the foot. Hobbled but not broken.

How did that happen? I only ask because I wear the VH with Bauer vertexx cowling and if I took a shot to the ball of my foot it would break the inserts along the ball of the foot for sure. 

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3 minutes ago, Imperative said:

How did that happen? I only ask because I wear the VH with Bauer vertexx cowling and if I took a shot to the ball of my foot it would break the inserts along the ball of the foot for sure. 

I was trying to stop a shot. Not a kick save, but it ended up hitting the ball of my foot.

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