Bauer impact 75 Skates – The worst Bauer product I’ll ever give a positive rating
Written: Mar 25 '05 (Updated Mar 25 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very inexpensive, good for the infrequent skater wishing to skip rental skates
Cons: Not for hockey, minimal support
The Bottom Line: One a week or less skaters looking for an alternative to renting might enjoy these
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| puckmugger's Full Review: Bauer Impact 75 Junior Ice Hockey Skates |
A word about Bauer
It’s no secret. I haven’t been too pleased with Bauer lately. If you’ve been reading my reviews, you know it. Heck Bauer probably know they aren’t making the best stuff these days. I imagine that there are a bunch of the old dogs who have been with Bauer for years and are cursing up a storm every time someone mentions the work Nike. Why? Nike bough the company a few years back in an admission that the whole hockey skate thing was a little more difficult than they thought. It was the best thing that ever happened to Nike hockey . . . and the worst that happened to Bauer.
Take a look here if you are confused about buying skates:
A word about the skate
The Impact 75 was around before the acquisition by Nike. There are still a few to be had on the new skate market, although I’m uncertain if Bauer is still making these. For what the Impact line is, they aren’t bad skates at all. If you’re thinking they are a bargain hockey skate, that’s a mistake. They are in fact a recreational skate which looks like a hockey skate.
Now don’t get me wrong. The little players who are learning to skate as well as to play hockey might be alright playing in these. By little I mean maybe up to seven years old. However, keep one thing in mind when you are thinking about putting a kid in a pair of these. The Impact offers very little support in the ankles. If your kid cannot stand up in these without bending his ankles in the store, it won’t do a thing for his or her skating on the ice. Most of the little skaters don’t have enough ankle strength to skate well without a decent skate.
The boot
The Impact 75 is constructed much like the old school hockey skates. The nylon shell is rather flimsy with a minimal amount of stiffener in it. The biggest difference between this and a pair of classic Coopers however is the materials. Whereas a good skate from the seventies used plenty of leather, the Impact is constructed of rather cheap looking synthetic leather . . . I’m going to go ahead and write it – vinyl.
While many skates today use synthetic materials that are superior to leather, vinyl does not fall into that category. In fact vinyl has very poor memory capability, does not rebound well from constant stretching and has quite limited strength. Bottom line, the boot will wear out much more quickly than a more expensive one made from quality materials would.
The outsole on the Impact 75 is plastic. This is the material that one would expect on a boot of this level. The insole is a very thin, non-molded piece of rubber with a bit of material glued to the top. Toe caps on the Impact series are fabric covered which again leads to lowered durability. Fabric covered toe caps are prone to tearing and look funny when they do (imagine a pair of boots with toes sticking out the end and you aren’t too far off).
Blade and Holder
The holder and blade on the Impact series of skates is the TUUK holder. While the newer TUUK plus featured replicable stainless steel runners, the regular TUUK on the Impact skates use carbon steel blades. Carbon steel is much softer and will need to be sharpened more frequently. Further, the blades in the TUUK on the Impact 75 are not replaceable. This means that if for some reason you became hopelessly attached to your Impact 75 skates and wanted to replace the steel when it wore out or broke, you would need to spend about $100 to do so. I’m not one to tell you how to spend your money, but spending $100 to repair a $50 pair of skates seems downright silly to me.
Then why the positive rating?
The Impact 75 is a good skate for what it is. For playing hockey it is a joke. But for someone who skates infrequently and doesn’t want to stick their feet in those horrid rental skates, these are a good choice. For $50 or less you can pick up a light pair of skates that won’t punish your feet during the break in period. The impacts will likely last a once a week casual skater a couple of years or more. Certainly for $50 that’s a pretty good deal.
A side note on fitting kid’s skates
As I mentioned, be careful about putting children in these skates without making sure that they can walk upright in them. Lace them tight to see if their ankles still bend. If they do you will have to spend a bit more money to upgrade. Fitting children can be a difficult task especially if you aren’t getting help from a skate technician or salesperson who knows what to look for. Try your child in a few pair of skates and watch the back of their boots as they walk around. Roll up their pants so you can see the entire back of the skate. Typically they will be tilted inward if they are too big or don’t offer enough support.
Take a look here if you are confused about selecting skates:
Hockey Skate buying demystified
Recommended:
Yes
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