goalieThreeOne

Aren't the stores supposed to let you try them on baked with sample liners?

A prof strap could, in theory, allow you to strap it tight enough for a leg pad to sit higher than it normally would by lifting the boot further off your skate. In that scenario, it would be similar in function to the Lundy Loop. But in practice, there's absolutely no reason you should have to do this. The Lundy Loop was designed to let Lundqvist, who is limited on the maximum size he can wear per NHL rules, wear his pads higher to get extra coverage with the existing thigh rise. Since you are not governed by NHL size rules, this is a completely irrelevant scenario for you. You should buy the pads that allow your knee to land in the stack properly and you should not rely on a Lundy Loop or Prof Strap or any other strapping to change where the pad sits on your leg. If you need it to ride higher, then you would just go up a size provided that your knee still lands on the center of the stack. There are downsides to do doing this as well, because as your thigh rise gets taller, you're more likely to get interference between the thigh rises while you're skating. The true purpose of a prof strap is to hold the upper part of the pad tightly to the calf. This allows the pad to stay close to your leg during the butterfly and may eliminate any slack that elastic straps leave, which in theory pulls the thigh rise closer inward in the butterfly, helping with 5 hole coverage. In addition, it helps make sure that your knee always lands on the knee block. In the old days, this would be accomplished with a knee lock strap, a piece of leather that ties the knee block to the inside outer edge of the pad. Since we don't use leather anymore, those straps don't exist and since strapping is elastic nowadays, you have to really crank down on it to keep your knee on the knee block. I view it as a worthwhile upgrade, but others may not prefer it. But it should have no affect on your pad sizing. Start with manufacturer sizing, try them on, and then go with what feels most comfortable.

If the manufacturer says they can fit, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go try them on yourself to see. This is one of those things where what works for others may not work for you and vice versa. You can only really know if you try them on.

After watching the YT video of the interview with Bauer's goalie skate guy, I went and tracked down all their technology suppliers that he mentioned. Ultralon has been around for decades and had huge success in the ski boot market, but also sells lots of specialized foams for many other uses. The buckles are from Gudo, and you can find them on some of the highest end ski boots on the market. They produce buckles for other manufacturers to brand label as well. For something that's "brand new" and "untested" they sure roped in a lot of the best and most experienced outside engineering and manufacturing.

I'm an 8.25 and 8.5. I just wear 8.75 because I like the extra toe room.

Appreciate the input. I called the store I ordered my 2s Pro Customs from. Spoke to the Senior Assistant Manager and asked about my situation. He said that no one was trained yet, but, to give him a call in a couple weeks before I plan my trip to make sure he's there and he will have done the training himself. This was Pure Hockey Chesterfield, btw. There's nothing difficult about my feet other than my ridiculous sub-C width and small instep. I'm wearing 8.75's now, so switching to size 8 steel will be an adjustment. Regarding the steel, I ordered some Pulse Ti runners to go with them. It infuriates me to no end that Bauer shut down Tydan DLC Edge replacements, because those are the best runners I have ever used. I generally regard Bauer steel as hot garbage, so I hope this Pulse steel surprises me.

For you retail guys, is there a good way of going about finding a retailer that's properly trained and equipped to do proper fittings? The pro shop near me is too small to deal with something like this. So I'm going to have to find a retailer to travel to to get fitted and I don't want to drive 5 hours and find out the shop I'm at doesn't know what they're doing.

Again, they don't refer to them as breaks anymore. It's a profile stiffness, and it refers to the amount of flexibility the pad has along the face/back of the pad.

Edges of the pad in regards to seal and stability will be the same. When we talk about pad flex, we can be talking about two different concepts. The first concept that you're alluding to would be related to torsional flex, that is, the ability to "twist". From that perspective. all recent goalie pads from Bauer should be nearly the same in that they remain very square to the ice and don't offer a lot of twisting. This is one of the factors that contributes to how well they slide. When I mentioned flex in my previous comment, what I was really referring to was the ability for the pad to "fold". In the old days of pads and the early generations of Od1n pads, the defining flex characteristic of Vapor pads was the ability for the pad to flex in two locations, while the Supreme flexed in one location. Think "single break" versus "double break". In recent generations Bauer stops referring to them in terms of breaks and instead just refers to the "folding stiffness" of the entire core. US and Mach lines have become successively stiffer, while the HL has become softer. All this gets more confusing when you're talking about Pro Custom pads, because you can change the flex of the profile to whatever you want no matter what the model is, so you're really only choosing the shape itself. That being said, when referring to the second and third tier goalie lines, what I'm really saying that the 3x will fold easier than the Mach. Both models will have roughly identical seal and identical torsion flex as well as similar rebounds.

3x, in theory, will follow the Vapor design and should have a softer flex profile that's more curved. The glove and blocker will follow the Vapor design as well so the trapper will be closer to a 590 and the blocker will ride a little higher than the Supreme.

We could say this about any new product. At the end of the day, it amounts to how risk-averse you are. I bet the guys that bought the first generation of Od1n pads probably wish they hadn't with all its issues. I certainly don't believe Bauer would flat out lie, but stretching the truth isn't out of the question. My concern wouldn't be whether or not the design holds up, but rather its reparability. Having a removable and replaceable liner could be game changer from that perspective. If the liner wears out or you buy the skates new, just replace the liner and you're golden. Buckles look solid to me since they look like they're lifted right off of ski boots. Boot itself seems fine as long as they're leveraging their experience with previous generation skates. Holders are pretty well known at this point. I would want to know that replacement parts are available and also that the buckles aren't gonna tear themselves out of the boot if I pressure it too much.

I don't see why you couldn't. I don't believe the Edge holder and the Hi-Lo chassis mounting lines up though. At least when I converted my X500 player skates, new holes had to be drilled. Stress and strain on the boot is no different between surfaces. I struggle to see why that couldn't work even if Bauer doesn't officially "bless" it.

When I was scanned by Bauer, they told me I was a sub-C width. Not sure how much narrower a foot can get than mine. Once I get my hardware sorted out, I'll report back.

If you end up liking them, can you share the full specs/part numbers? What you've got there is close to the option I was discussing with the creator

Sorry, I'm referring to the head on the post portion. I'm concerned about the back side. That was my issues looking into binding posts and screw sets. The lowest profile binding post I could find was like 3/8.

Do you think the height of the heads is too much? I'm concerned about both discomfort and possible damage to the tongue.

I have one of the tester kits. I have not installed it because I am concerned about uninstalling it because the back of the binding post has no screwdriver or hex point, so there's really no way to grab the backside of the post if you need to break the threadlocker free or the posts get rusty. I have been working with the designer on a couple alternatives. McMaster-Carr is a great resource, but the kind of hardware that's needed doesn't exist within the constraints of how short the hardware needs to be, how much diameter there is in the eyelet, and the low profile needed on the backside. If anyone here is a wizard with mechanical hardware above and beyond what's in the McMaster-Carr catalog and wants to help me and the creator out, send me a PM, and I'll get you up to speed.

I'm assuming these are like ski boots, where you can twist the strap to shorten or lengthen the silver piston to fine tune the length and therefore the tightness? With them only using two straps, are there any concerns about tightness in the lower foot?

Looks like you got 4 years of use out of them and they're not expensive to replace

Yep. This is a major fundamental concept that I don't think gets enough attention in Beer League. It's called Active Hands. Gloves should be out and up. Elbows in to prevent armpit shots. Your gloves should be actively tracking the shooters angle in three dimensions. It's not enough to just have your gloves out either, they should be "aiming" at the shot to present the post coverage to the puck. If it's in tight and low, gloves should be angled down at the puck and hands should be lower. From the puck's perspective, this cuts a lot of both the top and the underneath angles. If the shot is presenting further out, arms should also be extended out (not to full lock, just more forward) and up. When the shot comes, you should be attempting to "meet" the shot with your glove in the forward (Z) dimension, not passively trying to intercept the puck on the X-Y plane.

Try contacting GoalieParts, who's an Otny dealer. They're usually pretty responsive.

Looks like a reliable source is saying that the newer model fixes a known trouble spot. If you have the budget for the new one, get that one. Better safe than sorry!

What collar height is it?

I just posted the Bauer 2022 Full Line Catalog in the Files section. There's some great information in there about Konekt. There's also another thread about Konekt with some photos and discussion.