True 1 Piece Skates Review

[Urabus33]

I know there is another review out there on this forum, but I felt I wanted to give my own experience on these skates as well as I believe the more opinions and information the better. I will check back periodically to answer any questions you may have. 

I previously owned the Generation 2 VH skates, with "old school" Vertexx cowlings. While they were a solid skate for just about 18 months, but the wear was becoming noticeable and I felt an upgrade was in order.

I can say that these Generation 3 skates ("TRUE" branded ones) have some vast improvements on the old ones, at least from an aesthetic/finish point of view. I worked closely with our True rep in order to avoid some of the "issues" I had from the last pair. 

MODS:

I went all stock as far as colors and embroidery in order to save some cash, but I did make one special request: a stiffer eyelet package. My last pair was in dire need of stiffness after 12ish months and as a bigger guy who played about 200 (likely more) games on them, they had a fair bit of wear. Essentially from my understanding it is a double serving of thermoplastic in the eyelet cuff, which made the skates considerably stiffer than standard but was a necessity for me. I have a very deep, wide, fat and flat foot (I wont bore you with a picture, think of a rectangle with toes) so I also asked them to slightly move the eyelets closer to the edge of the skate as well to alleviate depth issues.

Below is a picture of my old White VH skates when tied to demonstrate the issue.

 

Here they are the day I picked them up, it took 11 DAYS from order to delivery.

WEIGHT:

I was very curious to put a hard number to the weight of these can tossed them onto our UPS scanner at the shop. These are approximately size 10 skates. Honestly they feel a little heavy in hand compared to a 2S, but on your feet I can't say I feel it at all. Besides, a little weight for comfort? Thats a trade I'd make every day.

FIT:

The fit on these was spot on. No punch or stretch needed whatsoever. Obviously you CANNOT wear them before they are baked. Don't even try it. Also, PLEASE have them heated at a shop who knows what they are doing, and please use a shoe horn. If not, you will likely ruin your $1000 investment.

They did need to be slightly adjusted after my initial bake but I laced them too tight when molding and the eyelets, with the additional stiffness made it near impossible to slip them on and off in a reasonable timeframe. With about 10 minutes and a heat gun, problem solved. I straightened the eyelet cuff out a bit and now they are a breeze.

INITIAL IMPRESSION:

My initial skate was not without gripes. Chief of which, these skates are INSANELY stiff. You feel EVERY single little move on the ice. I was used to skating on 1/2" and when I stepped on the ice with these (sharpened to 3/4", mind you) I was having some difficulty for sure. I was digging in so much I could not shuffle at all.

They also had a real bad habit of howling/screeching when getting into stance and stopping. Im still searching for a fix to that to be honest.

The next thing I noticed was how much tighter the ankle and heel wrap especially are. In my old skates, I got maybe 1/2 inch of heel wiggle. These skates were baked so tightly to my foot that the heel was rock solid in there. I could feel the skate grabbing just near my Achilles, unlike anything else I've tried before. Evry move I made was translated into the ice with ease, and butterfly pushes took much less effort.

EXTENDED REVIEW/DURABILITY:

I moved my sharpening down to 7/8" which helped but was not quite right, still too much bite. I am now skating on a full 1", which is good but Im afraid if I go any lower i will be struggling for grip. Perhaps a profiling could help the screeching noise.

Now, I knew these wouldn't stay pristine forever, and while I have some scuffs and nicks, the skates are still very solid. The damage on the heel was from my other skate, I smacked my heels in desperation to stop a squeaker from going in. Plenty of shots of the toes with no pain. Although, In my first skate, I did take a shot of the pinky toe area (right above the "E" on the toe cap) that did sting for a few minutes, very surprising. 

I have attached some pictures so you can see how they are holding up after about 30-40 skates.

[Bgums13]

I’m cut at 1/2” with the SAM profile my first skate I felt it was to sharp after my second I was able to adapt and make it work, as far as the howl I don’t think it’s going away due to the design aspect. I believe with how stiff the holder section is the steel takes all the brunt of the movements so that howl is here to stay, I heard helles skates doing it in the Vegas Jets series. I love mine my crease movements are way faster and on demand you don’t realize how much give there is in a plastic holder until you go to these skates 

[bunnyman666]

Interesting that one needs to go shallower with these skates.

[goalie]

Are you guys ordering direct or through retailers?

And is the price/wait times different direct/retailer?

[Chenner29]

5 hours ago, Bgums13 said:

I’m cut at 1/2” with the SAM profile my first skate I felt it was to sharp after my second I was able to adapt and make it work, as far as the howl I don’t think it’s going away due to the design aspect. I believe with how stiff the holder section is the steel takes all the brunt of the movements so that howl is here to stay, I heard helles skates doing it in the Vegas Jets series. I love mine my crease movements are way faster and on demand you don’t realize how much give there is in a plastic holder until you go to these skates 

I believe True recommends a 7/8 ROH to mitigate the screeching. 

2 hours ago, goalie said:

Are you guys ordering direct or through retailers?

And is the price/wait times different direct/retailer?

AFAIK True no longer processes orders direct. You will have to go through a retailer. 

I was quoted 5 weeks, got them in 4. There are some folks here who have received theirs in a much shorter timeframe. 

[Urabus33]

2 hours ago, goalie said:

Are you guys ordering direct or through retailers?

And is the price/wait times different direct/retailer?

I ordered them through the store I work at.

 as stated you must order through an authorized retailer listed on their site.

wait times differ on time of year, usually it’s 4-6 weeks.

[Bgums13]

Mine came 3 weeks to the day

[Punisher Goalie]

I was quote 3 weeks but it took 4. I went thru a retailer which I highly recommend because of the 3D scan. My first pair of 2pc was done from tracings and while the fit was still better than any retail skate, my 1pc is perfect. 

[JF Levesque]

I get howling to as you can hear in the video.  I tried sharpening from my initial 1/2 to 7/8 wich helped but was not sharp enough for me.  I went back to 5/8 with more howling and a great feel.  I always felt loose in the ankles but these skate are a great fit.

[Urabus33]

So I am still having issues with the screeching.

i even ordered a second set of steel and tried putting some tape on the steel top, no dice.

tried 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 and 1” sharpening with marginal difference in screeching.

has anyone had success with getting it to stop? 

I cant imagine pro guys are ok with this and while I’m by no means a pro, I feel stupid having to explain why my skates are so noisy during routine game situations. They almost tend to “vibrate” my foot inside the boot which is quite bothersome.

[Chenner29]

2 hours ago, Urabus33 said:

So I am still having issues with the screeching.

i even ordered a second set of steel and tried putting some tape on the steel top, no dice.

tried 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 and 1” sharpening with marginal difference in screeching.

has anyone had success with getting it to stop? 

I cant imagine pro guys are ok with this and while I’m by no means a pro, I feel stupid having to explain why my skates are so noisy during routine game situations. They almost tend to “vibrate” my foot inside the boot which is quite bothersome. 

You mentioned it in an earlier post, but did you ever try profiling and dialing the radius of the steel down to a shorter setting?

While I have the two piece and don't experience this issue, some have found that with longer steel they get a vibrating feeling in the boot because there is more steel contacting the ice than their body is used to.

If you still have your old steel, take a flat edge and see how round your old steel is and try the same on your new skates.  I suspect you will see a big difference.

[Punisher Goalie]

13 hours ago, Urabus33 said:

So I am still having issues with the screeching.

i even ordered a second set of steel and tried putting some tape on the steel top, no dice.

tried 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 and 1” sharpening with marginal difference in screeching.

has anyone had success with getting it to stop? 

I cant imagine pro guys are ok with this and while I’m by no means a pro, I feel stupid having to explain why my skates are so noisy during routine game situations. They almost tend to “vibrate” my foot inside the boot which is quite bothersome.

Have you checked whether your steel is bent at all? I would guess not if you have tried two sets but who knows.

[Urabus33]

8 hours ago, Punisher Goalie said:

Have you checked whether your steel is bent at all? I would guess not if you have tried two sets but who knows.

Not bent (to the naked eye at least).

thinking of finding a place to have them profiled properly. 

Ive been told the noise is normal because the skate is so stiff but it drives me nuts.

[SaveByRichter35]

On 6/22/2018 at 11:23 PM, Urabus33 said:

Not bent (to the naked eye at least).

thinking of finding a place to have them profiled properly. 

Ive been told the noise is normal because the skate is so stiff but it drives me nuts.

Where are you located?

[Bgums13]

On 6/22/2018 at 1:06 AM, Urabus33 said:

So I am still having issues with the screeching.

i even ordered a second set of steel and tried putting some tape on the steel top, no dice.

tried 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 and 1” sharpening with marginal difference in screeching.

has anyone had success with getting it to stop? 

I cant imagine pro guys are ok with this and while I’m by no means a pro, I feel stupid having to explain why my skates are so noisy during routine game situations. They almost tend to “vibrate” my foot inside the boot which is quite bothersome.

You aren’t going to eliminate that, listen to pros in practice you’ll hear theirs howling. I remember hearing hellys screaming during a Vegas Winnipeg game. I explain it like this with the design of the 1pc having zero give and flex that vibration was absorbed by the holder on the 2pc or cowling, well the 1pc doesn’t give so there’s no where for that vibration to go so the steel has to take it which causes it to scream. I stayed at 1/2” with the SAM profile mine make noise to but for the performance I can live with it and I don’t even notice it now after like 20 skates 

[dstew29]

Any 1-piece users find any new methods to reduce / eliminate the screeching? Took mine out for the first time last night and it was pretty loud. I didn't get a chance to have the runners profiled yet so was wondering if any specific profiles have helped with the noise. Sounds crazy but the fact your brain is processing the sound they make is just taking some small amount of focus away from the play.

Maybe it eventually becomes white noise but definitely strange to experience for the first time.

Aside from the howling, the fit and performance of these things is like nothing I've tried before. I'll look to get a good number of skates in before writing a full review but so far so good.

Also, I'm usually 1/2" ROH but used 5/8" last night given what I've read about the extra bite. Probably will go flatter hollow my next sharpening as these were very grippy and felt sharper than my 1/2" on my prior skates. I think I'll try 7/8" next time.

[Jonathon v]

Someone please quote me on this... I have heard with the steel on these skates and if you buy and extra steel you need to have it sharpened when the steel is not in the skate or it won’t Sharpen correctly is this true 

[Jonathon v]

On 5/21/2018 at 11:32 PM, Urabus33 said:

I know there is another review out there on this forum, but I felt I wanted to give my own experience on these skates as well as I believe the more opinions and information the better. I will check back periodically to answer any questions you may have. 

I previously owned the Generation 2 VH skates, with "old school" Vertexx cowlings. While they were a solid skate for just about 18 months, but the wear was becoming noticeable and I felt an upgrade was in order.

I can say that these Generation 3 skates ("TRUE" branded ones) have some vast improvements on the old ones, at least from an aesthetic/finish point of view. I worked closely with our True rep in order to avoid some of the "issues" I had from the last pair. 

MODS:

I went all stock as far as colors and embroidery in order to save some cash, but I did make one special request: a stiffer eyelet package. My last pair was in dire need of stiffness after 12ish months and as a bigger guy who played about 200 (likely more) games on them, they had a fair bit of wear. Essentially from my understanding it is a double serving of thermoplastic in the eyelet cuff, which made the skates considerably stiffer than standard but was a necessity for me. I have a very deep, wide, fat and flat foot (I wont bore you with a picture, think of a rectangle with toes) so I also asked them to slightly move the eyelets closer to the edge of the skate as well to alleviate depth issues.

Below is a picture of my old White VH skates when tied to demonstrate the issue.

 

Here they are the day I picked them up, it took 11 DAYS from order to delivery.

WEIGHT:

I was very curious to put a hard number to the weight of these can tossed them onto our UPS scanner at the shop. These are approximately size 10 skates. Honestly they feel a little heavy in hand compared to a 2S, but on your feet I can't say I feel it at all. Besides, a little weight for comfort? Thats a trade I'd make every day.

FIT:

The fit on these was spot on. No punch or stretch needed whatsoever. Obviously you CANNOT wear them before they are baked. Don't even try it. Also, PLEASE have them heated at a shop who knows what they are doing, and please use a shoe horn. If not, you will likely ruin your $1000 investment.

They did need to be slightly adjusted after my initial bake but I laced them too tight when molding and the eyelets, with the additional stiffness made it near impossible to slip them on and off in a reasonable timeframe. With about 10 minutes and a heat gun, problem solved. I straightened the eyelet cuff out a bit and now they are a breeze.

INITIAL IMPRESSION:

My initial skate was not without gripes. Chief of which, these skates are INSANELY stiff. You feel EVERY single little move on the ice. I was used to skating on 1/2" and when I stepped on the ice with these (sharpened to 3/4", mind you) I was having some difficulty for sure. I was digging in so much I could not shuffle at all.

They also had a real bad habit of howling/screeching when getting into stance and stopping. Im still searching for a fix to that to be honest.

The next thing I noticed was how much tighter the ankle and heel wrap especially are. In my old skates, I got maybe 1/2 inch of heel wiggle. These skates were baked so tightly to my foot that the heel was rock solid in there. I could feel the skate grabbing just near my Achilles, unlike anything else I've tried before. Evry move I made was translated into the ice with ease, and butterfly pushes took much less effort.

EXTENDED REVIEW/DURABILITY:

I moved my sharpening down to 7/8" which helped but was not quite right, still too much bite. I am now skating on a full 1", which is good but Im afraid if I go any lower i will be struggling for grip. Perhaps a profiling could help the screeching noise.

Now, I knew these wouldn't stay pristine forever, and while I have some scuffs and nicks, the skates are still very solid. The damage on the heel was from my other skate, I smacked my heels in desperation to stop a squeaker from going in. Plenty of shots of the toes with no pain. Although, In my first skate, I did take a shot of the pinky toe area (right above the "E" on the toe cap) that did sting for a few minutes, very surprising. 

I have attached some pictures so you can see how they are holding up after about 30-40 skates.

Do you think that a stiffer eyelet package ordered on my true skates will help with energy transfer? I honestly have no idea what that is but the stiffer the better energy transfer. Also even though I’m 15 and about 145 pounds it will help because it is stiffer, yes?

[Urabus33]

1 minute ago, Jonathon v said:

Someone please quote me on this... I have heard with the steel on these skates and if you buy and extra steel you need to have it sharpened when the steel is not in the skate or it won’t Sharpen correctly is this true 

Not necessarily. The skates don’t fit in most sharpening jigs, I have zero issue sharpening when they are not in my skates.

[MikeyO]

I just picked up my True 1 Piece skates yesterday. Baked them in the morning and then played two beer league games at night. My feet were a little sore by the end but I was blown away by how much better my mobility was. They also got the sharpening perfect at 7/8. No howling. I couldn't be happier with them, so much better than the 1S skates I was wearing that were 1/2 size too big to fit my wide foot. Also much easier on my old hips. 

[Teezle]

1 hour ago, MikeyO said:

I just picked up my True 1 Piece skates yesterday. Baked them in the morning and then played two beer league games at night. My feet were a little sore by the end but I was blown away by how much better my mobility was. They also got the sharpening perfect at 7/8. No howling. I couldn't be happier with them, so much better than the 1S skates I was wearing that were 1/2 size too big to fit my wide foot. Also much easier on my old hips. 

You played on them the same day? I was told when I picked up and baked mine on Saturday afternoon to wait 5 days before using them on the ice. I wonder if I can play on them tonight - will be 3 days after baking. It is hard to be patient!

[Jonathon v]

On 4/27/2019 at 6:00 PM, Urabus33 said:

Not necessarily. The skates don’t fit in most sharpening jigs, I have zero issue sharpening when they are not in my skates.

So what do you mean wear a shoe horn also what do you mean don’t tie them tight or at an angle when you bake them? If I don’t tie it tight won’t the fit be off on my foot? And should I have all of it loose or just near the top 

[bunnyman666]

On 6/22/2018 at 10:23 PM, Urabus33 said:

Not bent (to the naked eye at least).

thinking of finding a place to have them profiled properly. 

Ive been told the noise is normal because the skate is so stiff but it drives me nuts.

You do have to remember that a cowling or holder is plastic, which is more flexible than composite. The holder is bonded to the outsole, which, in turn is going to be transmitting EVERYTHING to the ice. The holder is not going to flex from the rivets on a cowl. 

[ThatCarGuy]

57 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

The holder is not going to flex from the rivets on a cowl. 

So that's why all the rivets are bent on my Graf skates?

[bunnyman666]

2 minutes ago, ThatCarGuy said:

So that's why all the rivets are bent on my Graf skates?

Can be a possibility. Your Graf have rivets and not screws? Or did you have aftermarket cowls installed?