best local sports shops to get skates
 

Hey guys and gals of RS!

I'm wondering what your opinion is regarding which of the local sports shops is the best one to get hockey skates from? By "best" i mean great selection, great service and great prices.

So far, i've been to Sportchek, Sportmart, The Hockey Shop, and Cyclone Taylor's online store. All of these stores are in Surrey so that's a plus. I know CT has a branch in Richmond as well so that's not too bad...

I'm a beginner so a wide selection of high-level skates will do me no good. I'm looking more at the Vector 04's and Vapor X:20 as a good benchmark for beginner skates.

So far I know for a fact that Sportchek carries these level of skates, but I don't think a Sportchek tech will help me with the process of fitting these as well as a guy in a dedicated hockey shop might. I don't want to go home with a $250 foot bondage device.

Thanks for the help people!

Nammerboi gave me the service of service....wonder if he still works there. He sold me my skates.

Cyclone Taylor, Oak and 49

Are you planning to use these for public skating or to play hockey in? Spend as much as you can possibly afford on skates. If you cheap out in the beginning you'll just end up buying a more expensive pair shortly after.

As for the Vectors and X20, see whichever one fits your foot better, the Vectors will be wider. If you decide to go the Vapor route, I'd scrap the X20... pay a little bit more and get at least the X30 and you get the LS2 holder as well.

well, the plan is to use these skates for beginner and power skating lessons and public skating from now until december, then a hockey course by this time next year. by then i expect to have enough skating ability to be able to use higher end skates without hurting my learning. i'm sure whatever mid- to low-end skate i get now will have to be replaced before i do a hockey course anyway.

as of now, Cyclone Taylor seems to be the recommended shop by RayBot it seems...

thanks for the input, guys!

I wouldn't go for any of the lower end skates. When I started playing minor hockey I cheaped out on my first pair and the boot on the lower end models aren't stiff enough to give you sufficient support while you skate. I ended up selling that pair on Craigslist and buying something mid-end after a month of frustration.

As shops go, Cyclones or Hockey Shop are the ones that I frequent most. I'd avoid big box stores like Sportchek unless you already know what you want to buy as most of their employees working in the hockey section have never played hockey themselves. Sportchek does carry some mid-high end skates at their PC location but I'd go to a real hockey store if you want to get fitted right.

thanks for the tip, mickz. i'll keep durability and longevity in mind when i talk to a hockey shop salesman about good beginner skates.

my favourite skates by far are made by Bauer, but you can't go wrong with graf, do you have any foot irregularities, ie flatness or high arches?

is nammerboi by any chance BrianT?

I've been playing hockey for a long time...i would suggest going with a bauer skate over a CCM.
As well as palces to go, i would suggest The hockey shop. they have the best selection with a wide range of skates that will fit in the beginner level.
As well they can do a lot more stuff to help you, unlike SportChek, such as They will heat mold the skate to your foot and as well thy have a lot more expertise.

Not everyone's foot is narrow enough to fit into a Bauer skate and may need the width of a CCM.

I for one, cannot wear a Bauer skate because of the arches.

And there is nothing wrong with CCM skates.

But I do agree that the big box stores do not have an oven to heat hold the skates.

Thats true.....i can't wear bauers cuz i have fat feet like Ed over here.

However, it seems that for flatter feet, RBK skates seems to be the market favorite now. Although, every single RBK i have purchased so far have not satisfied me in the durability department or misc; whether it be sticks, skates or padding....even my helmet.

thanks for those brand recommendation guys!

my roller hockey skates right now are size 8.0 at R width, so already i'm guessing my feet are going to be a tight fit for Bauers at D width... and my feet are really flat as well.

I'm not really concerned about the brand. These companies don't pay me to wear their stuff, so whatever fits is what matters.
But RBKs are not durable? Well that's a minus. I was actually interested in their 5K as well...

If you are not too demanding of a player, the RBK stuff is fine.
I've got a 6K helmet and 5K elbow pads and love them.
I'm using RBK 9K skates and so far they are holding up, but I liked my old school CCM 852 super tacs more. Too bad they are just too old to keep using them.

Best thing is and get fitted for some mid level skates like the 5K's and go and have fun.

What prices would you set at the various levels?

Eg. (random numbers):
low end: Less than $100
Mid-low: $100-200
...
High end: $500+

Less than 200 bucks i would consider low end skates......but yeah, above 500 would be upper end.

You definitely don't want to be spending less than 100 bucks if you intend to play hockey at a weekly pace.