When do you know your skates are done?
What do you look for when trying on new boots?
I think this is the ninth season I've been skating on the same pair of Vapors. They were not high end Vapors either, but truth be told, I think they have been great skates. But now I am starting to wonder if it is time to move on. While I still have steel, I'm starting to have this funny thing where I can't pull them tight enough to feel locked-in side-to-side without restricting my forward lean too much. And the padding in the boot is starting to wear down enough that plastic is pushing through. I've moved to a funky lacing pattern where the pull 'up' on the laces between the last two eyelets tightens the ankle a bit more (wax laces do magical things) but this feels like a stop gap.
So, I think I should move on. I like the feel of the Vapor since I still have relatively narrow feet, but I am wondering if it is time to move on, should I consider a different skate altogether, too. Also, I have weird feet in one respect: my right foot is nearly a half size bigger than my left. Usually, with shoes, I just buy something a bit too tight for my right foot and let it stretch out the leather. Not an option with skates. So I am trying to also decide if I should go tight on my right to the point of a little pain or go loose on the left to the point of it being a slightly bad fit. These current Vapors, in this respect, have been OK, but not stellar. I am wearing a 9.5, but really would rather be in a 9 since I wear a 10.5 shoe. I am am gunning to have the new pair in a 9. Any chance CCMs run a hair longer? If you make the pitch I might be willing to foolishly talk myself into a pair of Trues.
The thing about skates, also, is that I am dreading making a bad purchase and being stuck with them and dreading breaking them in. I am not a heavy enough guy or powerful enough skater to need what I think is on offer in $600-1000 skates, but everything I've looked at below $275 strikes me as pretty sub-par for the level I am playing at which is, admittedly, beer league.