Converting Roller to Ice *calling all frankenskate creators”

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

So for awhile my x700 skates have been hurting my feet, even after baking. 
I recently got the idea to try and convert my Tour thor G1’s to ice skates. But I have thought of some problems

1) the Tour skates have cowlings while the Bauer ones do not. Which means the toe cap of my roller skates won’t be able to stop a shot like the Bauer skates if I take off the cowling.

2) if I just swap the chassis and runner I’m worried that the Tour skates will be too high and the vapor skates too low.

3) is it worth it? My roller skates have been the most comfortable skates I’ve worn in a long time. And my current ice skates don’t let me get tight bcs of pain.

unrelated question, does swapping rivets multiple times damage skates?

Does anyone have suggestions what I should do?

do I just swap the runner and chassis of each respective skates with each other? 
do I just buy a new cowling for the roller skates? Or something else.

here are pictures of the skates

[Bmats30]

I'm all for a franken skate! Current setup (left) and previous skates (Right). I've also had the True holders on a player boot that fit my foot well. 

Looking at the pictures of of the heels, by swapping the chassis', it looks like you would actually lower the Tour's by a couple millimeters or so. So, if you just did the swap I don't think the height would be an issue. With the tours you would definitely need some type of cowling, but at the same time I cannot speak to the robustness of the tour cowlings in regard to ice pucks. 

Swapping rivets into the current holes would not damage anything, as they should be replaced anytime they start to show wear. You, or whoever would do the swap, will need to drill new holes to fit the respective chassis as roller and ice are nowhere close to the same position. 

Comfort is worth the experiment. In the end you need to be comfortable, but have proper protection at the same time. If you can accomplish both of those with the swap, go for it. Playing with foot pain will hinder your performance and most of all won't be fun. 

 

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

21 minutes ago, Bmats30 said:

I'm all for a franken skate! Current setup (left) and previous skates (Right). I've also had the True holders on a player boot that fit my foot well. 

Looking at the pictures of of the heels, by swapping the chassis', it looks like you would actually lower the Tour's by a couple millimeters or so. So, if you just did the swap I don't think the height would be an issue. With the tours you would definitely need some type of cowling, but at the same time I cannot speak to the robustness of the tour cowlings in regard to ice pucks. 

Swapping rivets into the current holes would not damage anything, as they should be replaced anytime they start to show wear. You, or whoever would do the swap, will need to drill new holes to fit the respective chassis as roller and ice are nowhere close to the same position. 

Comfort is worth the experiment. In the end you need to be comfortable, but have proper protection at the same time. If you can accomplish both of those with the swap, go for it. Playing with foot pain will hinder your performance and most of all won't be fun. 

 

I really love angle I get with the cowlingless skates, so if I were to buy a Bauer cowling to put over the tour skate I’m worried about losing the edge I can get from the cowlingless. 
I feel combing the two can keep me at the angle I want plus the comfort.

the problem lies with the protection. Do you think I get the angle+ protection by buying Bauer cowlings while cutting the sides? (What trav4oilers did)

[dreadlocked1]

I would get a cowling from goalie monkey's clearance section, one 80 or one 100 series, if they have your size, and try them as is before cutting them if needed.  Only if you're set on modifying your rollers.  It might be worth just trying another brand or series of ice skate.  You could find a good deal on sideline swap and sell again if they don't work out as well as well the ones you don't like now.  As part of this goalie community, I'm sure we'd all rather see a project posted with a ton of photos and results that we'd all enjoy reading about.  But time is precious and experiments can be expensive and can fail.  Either way, keep us posted.

Off-topic but I wanted to mention that your pictures illustrate what forced me to change some of my foot work between skate styles.  I was used to Tour skates for 5-6 years before I got Mission Inhaler skates (much closer to Bauers and ice skates in general).  The Tour cowling goes past the wheel, so you can drag your toes around pointed straight down at the floor, but the Mission's wheel extended past the cowling and that motion was prohibited by the wheel.  That was a rude wakeup call to my subconscious leg movements.  It made transitioning to ice easier though after having gotten used to it.  That was almost a decade ago and I still miss being able to do that to this day.  If there's a goalie ice skate that has that, please let me know.

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

15 hours ago, dreadlocked1 said:

I would get a cowling from goalie monkey's clearance section, one 80 or one 100 series, if they have your size, and try them as is before cutting them if needed.  Only if you're set on modifying your rollers.  It might be worth just trying another brand or series of ice skate.  You could find a good deal on sideline swap and sell again if they don't work out as well as well the ones you don't like now.  As part of this goalie community, I'm sure we'd all rather see a project posted with a ton of photos and results that we'd all enjoy reading about.  But time is precious and experiments can be expensive and can fail.  Either way, keep us posted.

Off-topic but I wanted to mention that your pictures illustrate what forced me to change some of my foot work between skate styles.  I was used to Tour skates for 5-6 years before I got Mission Inhaler skates (much closer to Bauers and ice skates in general).  The Tour cowling goes past the wheel, so you can drag your toes around pointed straight down at the floor, but the Mission's wheel extended past the cowling and that motion was prohibited by the wheel.  That was a rude wakeup call to my subconscious leg movements.  It made transitioning to ice easier though after having gotten used to it.  That was almost a decade ago and I still miss being able to do that to this day.  If there's a goalie ice skate that has that, please let me know.

 

15 hours ago, dreadlocked1 said:

I would get a cowling from goalie monkey's clearance section, one 80 or one 100 series, if they have your size, and try them as is before cutting them if needed.  Only if you're set on modifying your rollers.  It might be worth just trying another brand or series of ice skate.  You could find a good deal on sideline swap and sell again if they don't work out as well as well the ones you don't like now.  As part of this goalie community, I'm sure we'd all rather see a project posted with a ton of photos and results that we'd all enjoy reading about.  But time is precious and experiments can be expensive and can fail.  Either way, keep us posted.

Off-topic but I wanted to mention that your pictures illustrate what forced me to change some of my foot work between skate styles.  I was used to Tour skates for 5-6 years before I got Mission Inhaler skates (much closer to Bauers and ice skates in general).  The Tour cowling goes past the wheel, so you can drag your toes around pointed straight down at the floor, but the Mission's wheel extended past the cowling and that motion was prohibited by the wheel.  That was a rude wakeup call to my subconscious leg movements.  It made transitioning to ice easier though after having gotten used to it.  That was almost a decade ago and I still miss being able to do that to this day.  If there's a goalie ice skate that has that, please let me know.

I was thinking about buying a set of Bauer vertexx cowlings and cutting those. Just came across a recent problem. The boot of the tour skates may be a little too flimsy. I should probably skate around with the tour skates and figure it out.

this option seems a lot cheaper than buying a used pair trying them on and reselling them.

[Bmats30]

On 5/13/2022 at 10:55 AM, Goalieinneed said:

I really love angle I get with the cowlingless skates, so if I were to buy a Bauer cowling to put over the tour skate I’m worried about losing the edge I can get from the cowlingless. 
I feel combing the two can keep me at the angle I want plus the comfort.

the problem lies with the protection. Do you think I get the angle+ protection by buying Bauer cowlings while cutting the sides? (What trav4oilers did)

I think cutting out the Bauer cowlings increases the attack angle of the cowlings, but I don't know for sure if it would be the same as cowlingless. My immediate thought is no, its close, but not quite. You do not have anything you have to trim with the holders, and I could be wrong without having both in front of me, but I believe the holders will sit higher than the cowlings to begin with. So, you would get rid of the cowling that hits the ice first, but the area of your boot that would hit the ice first is still lower to the ice from the start. You would get the protection from the cowling. 

Have you checked out the new Bauer skates with fit 1,2, and 3? They definitely seem to be more accommodating than previous models. Also, I'm probably one of the few left, but check out the grafs if you have a chance. I've always had some kind of discomfort or pressure with most skates, but the DM's feel like carbon fiber slippers on my feet haha. I know Goalies Plus can still get them. 

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

On 5/16/2022 at 7:00 PM, Bmats30 said:

I think cutting out the Bauer cowlings increases the attack angle of the cowlings, but I don't know for sure if it would be the same as cowlingless. My immediate thought is no, its close, but not quite. You do not have anything you have to trim with the holders, and I could be wrong without having both in front of me, but I believe the holders will sit higher than the cowlings to begin with. So, you would get rid of the cowling that hits the ice first, but the area of your boot that would hit the ice first is still lower to the ice from the start. You would get the protection from the cowling. 

Have you checked out the new Bauer skates with fit 1,2, and 3? They definitely seem to be more accommodating than previous models. Also, I'm probably one of the few left, but check out the grafs if you have a chance. I've always had some kind of discomfort or pressure with most skates, but the DM's feel like carbon fiber slippers on my feet haha. I know Goalies Plus can still get them. 

So I settled on buying and cutting cowlings. The Difference is so minute I’m sure I won’t have a problem.

There is one problem with your suggestion of getting new skates. The closest store with more than 5 goalies skates is far far far away. I would love to try on skates but being in a country with a small but growing hockey community I don’t have that option.

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

Also I am having problems finding cowlings at a reasonable price. 
If anyone can find second hand cowlings that would be nice.

also thoughts on the ccm Prolite cowlings?

how about graf? Would shaving down grad cowlings work?

Edited May 17 by Goalieinneed

[SaveByRichter35]

Let me catch up reading this thread.  But, while I do that :cough:  here look :cough:

 

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

44 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

Let me catch up reading this thread.  But, while I do that :cough:  here look :cough:

 

The only thing holding me back from this purchase right now is the worry that the cowling won’t fit.

@Bmats30 what do you think? Will these fit?

Edited May 17 by Goalieinneed

[SaveByRichter35]

OK so to answer a few questions here from personal experience.  I've had several skates that have been riveted and re-riveted a few times over.  My current inline skates, Graf 7500s have had the original cowlings, removed those, drilled and riveted on CCM XSG holders, removed the XSG holders, drilled again to fit the current Labeda Predator chassis.  Still solid.  As it is, I am looking for a smaller sized chassis as the one that is on there is too big.  So that would be another drilling session that would be needed lol.  The bottom of these skates are looking like swiss cheese.  

I've never skated with Tour Thor skates so I cannot comment on the flimsiness of the boot.  But, when I first started playing ice I was in some shitty Bauer Supreme 1000 boots that were flimsy as shit.  Then I moved up to the Bauer Supreme 7000 boot.  As I said I have never held a Tour boot in hand but it looks to have a carbon weave boot so I am sure you'll be fine.  

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

26 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

OK so to answer a few questions here from personal experience.  I've had several skates that have been riveted and re-riveted a few times over.  My current inline skates, Graf 7500s have had the original cowlings, removed those, drilled and riveted on CCM XSG holders, removed the XSG holders, drilled again to fit the current Labeda Predator chassis.  Still solid.  As it is, I am looking for a smaller sized chassis as the one that is on there is too big.  So that would be another drilling session that would be needed lol.  The bottom of these skates are looking like swiss cheese.  

I've never skated with Tour Thor skates so I cannot comment on the flimsiness of the boot.  But, when I first started playing ice I was in some shitty Bauer Supreme 1000 boots that were flimsy as shit.  Then I moved up to the Bauer Supreme 7000 boot.  As I said I have never held a Tour boot in hand but it looks to have a carbon weave boot so I am sure you'll be fine.  

I recently took them in a skate and they seemed completely fine. I guess I was over reacting. 
i just need cowlings now. 
I most likely will take u up on your offer.

[dreadlocked1]

Have you searched sideline swap?  I saw a few sets of cowlings on there.

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

5 minutes ago, dreadlocked1 said:

Have you searched sideline swap?  I saw a few sets of cowlings on there.

I found a pair. just trying to figure out a way to confirm that they will fit on the boot before I pull the trigger on the purchase.

cowling is size 8 boot is size 8 should fit right?

[Bmats30]

16 hours ago, Goalieinneed said:

The only thing holding me back from this purchase right now is the worry that the cowling won’t fit.

@Bmats30 what do you think? Will these fit?

Typically they should be good if they are the same size. The 9035's I converted are a graf size 10, but I pulled a 9-9.5 cowling off them; my DM's which are size 10 wide, I pulled a size 10 off. I would stick with the same size boot and cowling to be on the safe side. In all brands they usually make one size cowling for a whole and half size which means a size 8 and size 8.5 both get an 8 cowling. For what its worth in a previous set of skates I mounted size 9 Bauer supreme 7000's in a size 9 graf cowling with room left over. 7000's were great boots @SaveByRichter35

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

It begins.

but there is a slight problem. If I move the boot to the front of the cowling there is space in the back.

if I move the boot all the way back same problem with the front. What’s the call?
pics down below

[CJ Boiss]

Boot flush to the back. Positive heel lock is more important, plus a little gap at the front is beneficial if you take a rocket off the toes.

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

Great, thanks!

[GoalieInTheDesertYT]

Project was put on hold for a bit, recently resumed. 
cut the cowlings and went to look for someone to put the two together (not the easiest task here in israel)
Found a guy that wanted to charge me 50 usd for the job. is that a normal price?