Skate problems- any suggestions??

[whalercane]

Hey guys- I just posted this on the goaliestore.com website so if any of you have already seen the thread over there, just disregard this one.

However, for the rest of you, I was wondering if anyone might have any suggestions for the following problem:

I've had my Tour Redlines now for about 8 months and aside of the stock Labeda wheels chunking up on me in the blink of an eye, I'd been having zero problems with the actual skates themselves- until recently. For the first six months I owned these skates, they were the best hockey investment I'd made in some time- no pain, no issues, good protection, stability, etc.

However, over the course of the last 2 months or so, I've developed a couple of problems. The first is a terribly nagging "turf toe" type of problem that's aggrivated when I B-fly. The big toe on my left foot feels like it's being bent sideways and becomes tender very quickly and the more times I B-fly, the more uncomfortable the feeling gets, obviously. However, I've gotten into the habit of taping the toe prior to lacing up my skates which seems to have 90% solved that problem. The other problem that's developed though has gone without a solution which is a seriously painful bruise on the inside of my right ankle (yes, both skates have become a problem).

While I've been able to manage the toe problem it still makes no sense that this has just begun to occurr after months of no problems and nothing I've done has proven an effective fix for the ankle issue (which, again, also just came out of nowhere). I tried getting the skates baked and also applying that mole-skin stuff to the bruise area as well as gauzing and taping and nothing has worked. Is it possible that the skates might just be internally breaking down already???

Does anyone have any ideas before I'm forced to sell the skates that I once was very happy with??

Thanks,
Ryan

[hockkid13]

I have actually heard from several people, including the place where I recently purchased my Tour Cobalts is that heating any Tour skate is a bad idea, and it will significantly increase the chances of them breakng down... After hearing this, I realized that the previous pair of Tours I had, which I heated, only lasted me 6 months before I had ankle issues... Now keep in mind these are player skates, not goalie skates so there may be a difference.