Bauer Mach Set - Initial Impressions & Long Term Review

[Chenner29]

38 minutes ago, ZeroGravitas said:

I've consulted the Hockey Gods and They have told me that you are to be the one who shows us the Way.

The buddy of mine that borrowed my Machs is now thinking of doing the exact same thing.

There's a thread on here where people are using some 3M tape on the inside edge of their pads - I'm thinking of giving that a try. I skate tomorrow and Thursday. Hope to have it applied by Thursday so I can report back.

I’m not doing this for you, butthole 

[maxtm30]

39 minutes ago, ZeroGravitas said:

I've consulted the Hockey Gods and They have told me that you are to be the one who shows us the Way.

The buddy of mine that borrowed my Machs is now thinking of doing the exact same thing.

There's a thread on here where people are using some 3M tape on the inside edge of their pads - I'm thinking of giving that a try. I skate tomorrow and Thursday. Hope to have it applied by Thursday so I can report back.

[RyanR3KC]

I have Hyperlite. You shouldn’t need 3M tape for sliding edge 

[maxtm30]

I went to pick up my set just now between two meetings, the store is less than 10 mins from my office. Made sure to inspect sliding surface a little, it did feel super slippery, just as slippery as the skin. The blue was also the same color, whereas on my ultrasonic you could see a colour difference between the printed zone and the knee and calf. I will try to compare further once I get home.

 

[RedX]

As I sit and watch the Memorial Cup with both goalies playing in Mach graphics. Both goalies are actually using mis-match of older models with new graphics. 2S blocker, 2X pads, Hyperlite, Ultrasonic  etc. obviously this isn’t uncommon, but I’m a little surprised teenagers are already at the point of “sticking with what works.” 

I’m also glad to know that I’m not alone in thinking the 2X outer leg wrap with the large Velcro option was the best version Bauer has made. 

That said, I have yet to see a goalie at the NHL/AhL/ CHL adopt the new Tune Fit connect strapping on the their pads.

Which makes me ask the users of the pads, how is the new strapping been?

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by RedX

[maxtm30]

As promised : the full set. The ice blue is the light teal of seattle, looks white-ish on pictures though.

First impressions are quite positive on my end. Glove and blocker are an instant improvement over the Ultrasonic comfort wise. The thumb and pinky loops are updated to have a suede like surface, MUCH more comfortable than any other loop! I went with the mach grip print (catch grip +) and I do not regret it one bit! Perfect blend of grip and comfort.

I included my whole Supreme collection, because why not

Edited June 23, 2022 by maxtm30
Added remark about loops in the catcher

[RecoveringGoalie1]

2 hours ago, RedX said:

Which makes me ask the users of the pads, how is the new strapping been?

Personally I'm a big fan of the new strapping. It's a better version of the professor strap imo, and holds the pad a bit higher on your leg without causing you to feel detached from it. It's also the first set of pads I've felt comfortable strapping the knee block to the calf wrap.

 

@maxtm30 beautiful set! Very similar to my 2nd choice design

[tgfoo]

14 hours ago, RedX said:

As I sit and watch the Memorial Cup with both goalies playing in Mach graphics. Both goalies are actually using mis-match of older models with new graphics. 2S blocker, 2X pads, Hyperlite, Ultrasonic  etc. obviously this isn’t uncommon, but I’m a little surprised teenagers are already at the point of “sticking with what works.” 

I’m also glad to know that I’m not alone in thinking the 2X outer leg wrap with the large Velcro option was the best version Bauer has made. 

That said, I have yet to see a goalie at the NHL/AhL/ CHL adopt the new Tune Fit connect strapping on the their pads.

Which makes me ask the users of the pads, how is the new strapping been?

 

I don't own a set of Mach pads, but I did buy the new Tune Fit+ strap and put it on my 3S pads. Even adjusting them as loose as they can go, they're still pretty snug. Normally I don't like this, but it's been working pretty well after a couple adjustments and it's the best strapping I've had for this pad. It also pulls the pad way up, so having come from CCM 34+2 pads I don't feel like I'm missing that additional thigh rise any more.

[ThatCarGuy]

From the sound of it I’m gonna need to buy a hyperlite tune fit strap since I like bauer pads to sit super low usually. 

[ZeroGravitas]

14 hours ago, maxtm30 said:

As promised : the full set. The ice blue is the light teal of seattle, looks white-ish on pictures though.

First impressions are quite positive on my end. Glove and blocker are an instant improvement over the Ultrasonic comfort wise. The thumb and pinky loops are updated to have a suede like surface, MUCH more comfortable than any other loop! I went with the mach grip print (catch grip +) and I do not regret it one bit! Perfect blend of grip and comfort.

I included my whole Supreme collection, because why not

Nice sets. When do you skate with the Mach? Do you notice any difference (to the touch) with the US calf and Mach calf?

I've applied some 3M film to my Mach and I'll see how they slide tonight...

[maxtm30]

Just now, ZeroGravitas said:

Nice sets. When do you skate with the Mach? Do you notice any difference (to the touch) with the US calf and Mach calf?

I've applied some 3M film to my Mach and I'll see how they slide tonight...

It looks like its is a diffrent material, but the mach feels more slippery, I’m thinking of a way to measure it but it still escapes me

[Chenner29]

5 minutes ago, ZeroGravitas said:

Nice sets. When do you skate with the Mach? Do you notice any difference (to the touch) with the US calf and Mach calf?

I've applied some 3M film to my Mach and I'll see how they slide tonight...

Nice I didn't have to work

[ZeroGravitas]

Skated in the Machs with 3M tape on the knee and calf landing. Was getting more slide than my Ultrasonics on fresh ice. IMO, this points to the skin being the difference for sliding.

[David Myers]

8 hours ago, ZeroGravitas said:

Skated in the Machs with 3M tape on the knee and calf landing. Was getting more slide than my Ultrasonics on fresh ice. IMO, this points to the skin being the difference for sliding.

Honestly I feel as though the more I use them, the better the sliding gets. Or maybe it’s just the way in sliding on them that’s getting better. Not really sure. I’ve had 5 skates with them so far. First skate was brutal using them but after the 5th skate sliding feels a lot better. Still adjusting to them though because I came from 2x pros. Wish I could have gone custom with these and chosen a softer boot flex and 100 degree rather than 120 but had to get stock because my 2x were falling apart. Overall pretty happy with them so far. Strapping was weird at first but liking it a lot more now that I got the strapping on them down. 

[ilyazhito]

38 minutes ago, David Myers said:

Honestly I feel as though the more I use them, the better the sliding gets. Or maybe it’s just the way in sliding on them that’s getting better. Not really sure. I’ve had 5 skates with them so far. First skate was brutal using them but after the 5th skate sliding feels a lot better. Still adjusting to them though because I came from 2x pros. Wish I could have gone custom with these and chosen a softer boot flex and 100 degree rather than 120 but had to get stock because my 2x were falling apart. Overall pretty happy with them so far. Strapping was weird at first but liking it a lot more now that I got the strapping on them down. 

What did you do to get the sliding to improve?

[David Myers]

22 minutes ago, ilyazhito said:

What did you do to get the sliding to improve?

Honestly I felt just using them more or even possibly adapting the way my body weight was on the pads may have changed as well to allow them to slide better if that makes sense. Just due to the sliding surface shape being so different I feel as though I had to kinda alter my weight on it and it naturally happened. Not sure how accurate that is but it’s what my current thoughts are. 

[ilyazhito]

1 hour ago, David Myers said:

Honestly I felt just using them more or even possibly adapting the way my body weight was on the pads may have changed as well to allow them to slide better if that makes sense. Just due to the sliding surface shape being so different I feel as though I had to kinda alter my weight on it and it naturally happened. Not sure how accurate that is but it’s what my current thoughts are. 

Do you have video of yourself playing? This will help me better understand your technique. Maybe the Mach pads require different techniques than other pads. 

Edited June 24, 2022 by ilyazhito

[mr_shifty1982]

On 6/22/2022 at 11:08 AM, maxtm30 said:

I went to pick up my set just now between two meetings, the store is less than 10 mins from my office. Made sure to inspect sliding surface a little, it did feel super slippery, just as slippery as the skin. The blue was also the same color, whereas on my ultrasonic you could see a colour difference between the printed zone and the knee and calf. I will try to compare further once I get home.

 

Who are we kidding the real winner here are the McDonald's coupons haha  

[maxtm30]

I promised feedback, here is it:

Honestly the set feels awesome, strapping is perfect without the professor, I’ll still test it with the connect strap next week see the difference.

Now the elephant in the room, sliding. It felt different, 100%. Not sure if it’s a good or bad different though. It "felt" slower, but I didn’t miss anything that I would’ve saved with my Ultrasonic. I feel like the slower pushes were more controlled, it help me having better post integration after sliding VS US. Whenever I needed a hard push I was still flying though the crease as before. Really hard to tell, but there is something going on with this new skin.
 

Rebounds are much better than any pad I had before. The open leg channel feels like the tightest channel possible, thanks to tune fit +.

Glove and Blocker are incredible, comfy and all around upgrades.

Edited July 5, 2022 by maxtm30

[TheGoalNet]

On 6/22/2022 at 7:27 PM, RedX said:

As I sit and watch the Memorial Cup with both goalies playing in Mach graphics. Both goalies are actually using mis-match of older models with new graphics. 2S blocker, 2X pads, Hyperlite, Ultrasonic  etc. obviously this isn’t uncommon, but I’m a little surprised teenagers are already at the point of “sticking with what works.” 

I’m also glad to know that I’m not alone in thinking the 2X outer leg wrap with the large Velcro option was the best version Bauer has made. 

That said, I have yet to see a goalie at the NHL/AhL/ CHL adopt the new Tune Fit connect strapping on the their pads.

Which makes me ask the users of the pads, how is the new strapping been?

 

 

On 6/22/2022 at 10:04 PM, RecoveringGoalie1 said:

Personally I'm a big fan of the new strapping. It's a better version of the professor strap imo, and holds the pad a bit higher on your leg without causing you to feel detached from it. It's also the first set of pads I've felt comfortable strapping the knee block to the calf wrap.

 

@maxtm30 beautiful set! Very similar to my 2nd choice design

I think this is Bauer's best strapping by a mile. This is the best Bauer strappng I have worn once and not felt the need to tinker with.

Pro's generally don't change gear midseason. I would suspect a lot of CHL goalies will move to the knew strapping this summer. Same with switching from US to MACH. If someone likes a Vapor glove, they will probably always have a Vapor glove mixed in with a Supreme set though

[maxtm30]

On 6/24/2022 at 1:59 AM, ZeroGravitas said:

Skated in the Machs with 3M tape on the knee and calf landing. Was getting more slide than my Ultrasonics on fresh ice. IMO, this points to the skin being the difference for sliding.

This was never the question, my main question is: Does a retail pad slide better than a custom one?

[ZeroGravitas]

31 minutes ago, maxtm30 said:

This was never the question, my main question is: Does a retail pad slide better than a custom one?

I think it was a question that needed to be examined and answered. Since US and custom Mach have the same knee and very similar calf plates, the only real difference is the skin. Putting on 3M tape changes up the skin variable and I feel it confirms that the skin is a big reason why it slides differently.

I can say that I have heard (albeit from another employee who spoke to a customer) that his retail Mach slides worse than his US. If my store had a demo program I would have jumped on it long ago to figure this out...

[David Myers]

On 6/24/2022 at 11:31 AM, ilyazhito said:

Do you have video of yourself playing? This will help me better understand your technique. Maybe the Mach pads require different techniques than other pads. 

Sorry, just seeing this! Let me try and get a video of me just sliding. 

[406goalie]

I keep seeing people ask about retail, I have a set of the retail thanks to a Bauer University coupon that are coming next week.  Will get to play in them a few times before the end of September and I am currently in UltraSonic pads.  Will be happy to report how I feel the sliding in with the thicker calf, and different calf shape as well once I play a few times.

[ilyazhito]

1 hour ago, 406goalie said:

I keep seeing people ask about retail, I have a set of the retail thanks to a Bauer University coupon that are coming next week.  Will get to play in them a few times before the end of September and I am currently in UltraSonic pads.  Will be happy to report how I feel the sliding in with the thicker calf, and different calf shape as well once I play a few times.

I can't wait to hear more from you.