Bauer Vertexx

On the good side: As I have mentioned many times on this site, narrowing the boot at the toe allows you to roll the skate lower to the ice for more push (see the Graf install page for all relevant info). With the Vertexx (the 1-100 or the 1-80), Bauer has narrowed the boot a bit by creating a cutout at the toe. This is the opposite of what Graf did with the Cobra, and that's good, but the cutout does not increase your 'angle of attack' by 28%, as Bauer claims. They are just having fun with figures. Most goalie skates bootout at about 45 degrees. With the cutout making the boot a few mils narrower, it may boot out at 42, maybe even 40 degrees. They dreamed up their 28% improvement. If you want a better 'angle of attack', I highly recommend an RBK or CCM shell with the Step blade (photo of my skates on the Graf install page). The RBK style shell is narrow enough and the Step blade is higher - a nice combination and it works really well. I'm never going back.

On the bad side: I hear it's a good boot, though some guys I know have tried them and didn't like them - you hear this with all skates. Ask around and try them on. Hopefully that cutout will stay in place because it is a high impact area and I would not want the ball of my foot taking a puck because the cutout loosened.

On the really bad side: That cutout makes it difficult to install Overdrive. These guys are too much. They completely redesign a shell, add carbon fibre, and for what? A teeny-weeny improvement, maybe. Shells are very, very expensive to design and to make. Bauer spent a ton of money when they could have just bought Overdrive for some real 'angle of attack'. I sent them a package on the blade; they knew all about it, and this is what they come up with after all that money? There is still a lot of room for improvement on goalie skates, but these guys are fashion designers. Somebody at Bauer had better get on the ice.

Overdrive can still fit on the Vertexx, but there is not much room to drill for the bottom hole. The photos were kindly provided by James Owen. As you can see, his installer used only the top and bottom holes. I recommend using all three, and I also recommend using a heavier hardware, which I will provide, no charge, but don't forget to ask for it.

Front-to-back positioning for the blade is the same as always. The front of the blade goes near the front of the main blade holder.

Another beauty shot. From this angle, it looks like the blade sits forward of the main blade, but it's the same skate as above.

This installer used a black plastic spacer against the cutout. I don't recommended this because the spacer isn't likely to stay put. BK Sports in Ottawa has installed on quite a few Vertexx and doesn't use a spacer. The problem is that when the foot rolls over and engages Overdrive, the blade won't be backed by boot or a spacer. Large parts of the blade will be backed by air (green arrow below). All of the weight put on the blade will go on to the screws, which is why I recommend the heavier hardware. But with the screws properly tightened to the t-nuts, the weight will be spread across the front of the boot. There will likely be some bending of the blade, which is no biggie, as this happened on the old CCM boot, which is quite curved.

In-out positioning with the Vertexx is actually easier than with the old Bauer shell. Just butt Overdrive up against the main blade holder (red arrow above).

Above, we can see the problem with installing on the Vertexx. The top two holes (green arrows) have plenty of boot to drill into, but the bottom hole sits close to the edge of the cutout (red arrows). Since the t-nuts brace the blade from inside the boot, there's no danger to the cutout, but you want to be careful drilling. For this reason, it's a good idea to attach the blade by the top two holes first, then drill the bottom hole and attach that t-nut last.

Here's another angle showing how close that bottom hole comes to the edge of the cutout. Again, when the t-nuts are tightened, they hold very well, and the blade effectively becomes a part of the boot. As a side note, I don't know how durable that cutout will be, but with Overdrive on, the blade will take the impact from pucks instead of the cutout.

Finally, if you're worried about the blade not lying flat against the boot, no skate is flat underneath and Overdrive always sits above the boot somewhere. To the right is a shot of my old CCMs that I used for 3 years. The red arrow shows the gap between the blade and the boot, which was much greater, because the boot was quite curved and the camera angle didn't catch it. Below is a shot of the same skate, with X marking the area where the blade was off the boot the most.

So Bauer, like Graf, decided to do something about the toe area of the boot, but again, their efforts were poor. The only answer to the problem that part of the boot presents is Overdrive.