Easton Synergy Skates: Innovative or Idiotic?
Written: Jan 20 '05 (Updated Feb 01 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Comfortable, should be very durable and protective
Cons: Holder is a little short during hard turns, reports of breakages
The Bottom Line: A good lightweight skate with heavyweight protection for player's feet. However, there are some problems
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| puckmugger's Full Review: Easton Synergy Skates |
My email has been full of requests for reviews of the Bauer Vapor XXX Skates and the Easton Synergy Skates. Yesterday, the axe fell on the Vapor XXX, today we look at the Synergy.
Easton Pushes the Envelope
The Synergy is an odd skate, primarily in the material that it used. I use the word odd in a neutral manner here, meaning it is different not good or bad . . . I will get to the good or bad later. Skate technology is changing at an incredible pace. One of the bards that has to get a lot of credit for pushing it forward is Easton. They were the first brand to dabble with the lightweight skate that no doubt inspired such disasters as Bauer’s Vapor line and successes like CCM’s Vectors.
Easton has long been an innovator in sporting goods in general, and a leader in hockey gear changes. The two-piece stick, the one-piece composite stick and lightweight skate lines were all areas that Easton forayed into before their competition. Perhaps no other company has pushed hockey technology forward as much as Easton.
All the same, Easton made a few mistakes along the way. Such is to be expected in a market that moves at such a breakneck speed. The Z-Air Comp SE was so stiff that many people weren’t happy with them. Their Carbon Fiber holders on the 2000 Air models were near tragic. While their customer service is excellent for the most part, their relations with their retailers are questionable at times, constantly out of stock and more prone to back orders than their industry peers.
Thus, I had to wonder about the Synergy Skate. It is an item so unique that it had to be exceptional. Would it be exceptionally good or exceptionally bad?
What makes this skate so special?
Carbon Fiber and Aramid (the generic term for Dupont’s trademarked Kevlar) aren’t exactly new ingredients in the hockey industry. Goalie helmets, sticks and even skate components have been crafted from these materials for several years now. However in skates the composite materials have generally been confined to the outsoles.
CCM introduced a revolution when they unveiled the Vectors with a material woven from a metallic alloy. Easton one-upped them with the Synergy Skates. Where carbon fiber soles were where composites typically began and ended in most skates, Easton crafted a pair that is more carbon fiber than not.
The Boots
The first thing that you notice about the Synergy is a skate that’s as glabrous and hard on the outside as a shiny new ski boot. Still there is no doubt that this is made for something a little harder than snow. The Synergy appears as a ski boot on steroids. The shining carbon fiber wraps around the bottom of the foot, up the side and is encased in synthetic leather strapping. The eye-stays, ankles, heel wedge and toe cap’s rear edges are trimmed in a more traditional material. Still it is odd to see a skate with such a hard exterior.
They don’t look all that comfortable from the outside.
In fact the Synergy is one of the new soft boot style skates. The padding on the inside breaks in rather than the material on the outside. This is a good thing, because carbon fiber isn’t know for being all that moldable in footwear.
The Synergy requires no heat fit. They are ready to skate in right out of the box. Players have raved about the comfort of this skate. This is a big improvement over the Comp SE - players ranted about how uncomfortable they were.
One downside to the Carbon Fiber of the Synergy boot is that it takes away a fitting option. The Synergy is not a skate that wise dealers will do punch work on. Punching is a process in which a small area of the boot can be reshaped manually. The equipment that does this sort of work will almost certainly damage the carbon fiber of the Synergy Skates.
Coil Technology
Coil technology sounds like another one of those fancy marketing labels that someone came up with. “Let’s stick some labels on our skates, they won’t mean anything, but people will buy more.” Easton is as guilty of this as CCM and Bauer. The Easton skate lines and stick lines have all been tagged with crazy sound bytes, such as Ideal Fit, Padlock, Therma Tec and ESP.
Coil Technology is the new sticker that Easton slapped on the rear bumper of the Synergy Skates. Essentially this is the equivalent of Bauer’s Flex notch. The difference here, is that Easton is claiming more than just forward flex with lateral support. The Synergy, they claim returns energy to the player, rather than absorbing it.
This in theory works much like a spring. The boots flex forward, but the composite materials in the shell (which replace a traditional heel counter) store up a portion of that energy, returning it with each stride.
Typically I am rather dubious of this sort of theoretical jargon. However, there might be something to this. Think of speed skates. Remember Eric Hyden? No? Don’t feel bad, half the people reading this forgot about him too. Hyden won his weight in gold medals as an Olympic speed skater back in the eighties. Then someone came along and tossed a little hinge and spring in the skates and his old records were shattered. He wouldn’t have even qualified with his times compared to the times being set with the new clap skates.
What’s my point? There is definitely room for technology to improve human performance on the ice. We’ve seen it before, and we will see it again. I’m not a physicist, nor have I gotten on the rink with the radar gun to check skaters with Synergys against those with standard skates, but there just might be something to this deal.
Outsole
The outsoles on the Synergy are . . . well, technically there aren’t any. The carbon fiber shell that wraps around the player’s foot is not only the boot, but the outsole as well. This makes the skate a little lighter and a lot more aerodynamic. Do aerodynamics matter in hockey? I don’t think so, but it make the skates look cool, that’s for sure.
Tongue
Easton has had some iffy tongues in a few of their skates. This might be the first negative that the Synergy gets dinged on. The tongue in these skates is still a felt lined standard, run of the mill tongue. Most brands have gone to a foam, or molded gel tongue of some sort in their top end skates. Easton has had some issues and still is going with standard felt, go figure.
The tongue is pretty stiff, but the felt offers minimal padding and mold-ability. Still it isn’t a huge issue. Some players will have problems with lace bite, most will not. The asymmetrical shape of the tongue that has almost become an Easton trademark carries on as well.
Toe Cap
The toe cap is carbon fiber just like most of the rest of the boot. It is uncovered making it both a little lighter and a lot more durable.
Fit
The fit of the Synergy isn’t exactly traditional Easton. Maybe it’s just me, but the skate feels a little narrower. It still is wider than a Bauer skate, but not quite as fat in the middle as Easton’s skates have traditionally fit.
The skate is still in the same range of fit as other Easton skates, but perhaps a tad narrower. I would still call it wider than a Bauer and not quite as wide as a CCM. The heel and toes are certainly narrower than a CCM skate.
Overall the skate feels comfortable to my rather plump dogs. I’ve always worn wider skates and these, while a little tighter than I usually end up in, are not uncomfortably so.
Holders and Steel
The steel in the Synergy is an upgraded version of Easton’s Parabolic steel. Where I was uncertain of the effectiveness of Coil Return technology, I have no doubt that the LPS (Lite Parabolic Steel) actually does what it is supposed to.
Easton was the first company to remove material from their steel. They found a dual benefit in this of weight reduction as well as the creation of a spring action. The skate blades actually flexed and give a spring-like pop to skater’s strides. As unbelievable as this seemed to me, we actually had a number of skaters complain when we swapped their parabolic steel for regular Easton steel after a breakage. They actually felt like they were skating slower.
Like all perforated steel, Easton’s is a little more prone to breakage and bending than standard steel. However, there is more reason to use Easton’s perforated than there is with other brands. Other brands eliminated material simply to reduce weight. Easton on the other hand has improved skating as well.
The new LPS is updated offering a slightly reinforced version of the older parabolic steel and claiming better cornering ability than standard steel. This makes sense as the blade can flex to match the radius needed. It is almost like having a self adjusting rocker on your skates.
However, in actuality this is the second place that the Synergy Skates lose some points. It might be the result of not having a true outsole, the flexibility of the blade design or a minor design flaw in the holder. Nonetheless, the skates “bottom out” too easily. By this I mean that when leaning into a hard turn the boots hit the ice before players expect them to.
This problem eliminates any possible gain that was received from the LPS runners. Fortunately it is a pretty easy fix. Local shops have been placing a 6 millimeter heel lift and a three millimeter to lift on the skates. This effectively raises the skate above the ice as well as putting the skater into a more aggressive pitch position. The reports after this work has been done have been highly positive.
Final Thoughts
Easton has put together a solid product here. There are a few bugs yet to work out, but I have faith that they will. Even as the Synergy currently is, they are an excellent skate with only a couple minor and correctable issues.
I do have questions about the longevity of these skates. One concern is that much like a composite stick, there will be no warning when they give out. Traditional skates lose stiffness over time. This gives players plenty of warning before it’s time to buy a new pair.
While the Synergy seems like it will last a great deal longer than a traditional skate would, there is the question of what happens when defenders take shots off of the foot. Granted, it will be a lot less painful in a skate this hard. But I wonder, will things crack in an invisible manner and one day while skating with a little crunch will the heel counter just completely give out?
It is still too soon to know for certain what type of longevity to expect from the Synergy. If reports do come in, I will certainly update this review.
For now, I give the Synergy Skate four stars and my recommendation goes to competitive skaters at all levels of play.
******Update 2/1/2006
One of my fears about the Synergy Skate has proven to be true in at least some level. I've been getting reports of the skate's shells cracking after extended use. The players reporting this have typically gotten close to a year of play from them before having the shells crack. In most cases they are still able to use them as well.
However, toecaps, quarters and even the heel counter have broken in some of these skates. While a toecap or quarter won't certainly mean the end of the skate, a heel counter breaking is the kiss of death.
Composite materials are too hard to rebound from a hard blow without some damage. Players who block lots of shots with their feet are certainly going to face a double edged sword here. The Synergy has the most protective shell on the market to keep their feet safe, but on the other side each puck is chipping away at the durability of a very expensive pair of skates.
The reports are still somewhat isolated, but the problems are real. I have lowered the rating for the Synergy to 3 stars. I would still feel a little more comfortable recommending this skate than the Vapor line, but would be cautious of either.
Recommended:
No
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