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Alternative Lacing Styles

beth

beth

Registered User
Sep 10, 2010
544
1
Bellevue, WA
I've recently discovered that I have lace bite bumps and they are starting to cause me pain. Not really bad, but I know if I don't do anything about it, then it is just going to get worse. I can't afford new skates, and I really like my skates, so I sat down with them to see if I could figure out a solution.

And I came up with a crazy way to tie them that locked my heel down better than ever before, took the pressure off my bumps and still allowed for some forward flex. I skated a game with them tied this way last night, and it was amazing. I won't ever skate with normally tied laces again!

I am including a pic! Hopefully you can figure out what is going on here. I'm creating a heel lock at the 3rd and 4th eyelet, then skip the 2nd and instead come up through the top eyelet. From there I go back down and put the ends through the heel locks, crank it tight and then tie. Skipping the 2nd eyelet creates a deeper "V" in the laces for more flex. It sounds like a pain in the butt to tie, but once you have it, it's actually pretty easy to loosen and get your skates on/off.

Just thought I'd share! If anyone else laces their skates weird, tell us what you do!

I went to this site for inspiration:
http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/lacing.htm

Edits: Not all skates will work with skipping the second eyelet. Basically, you want to put the heel lock right at the transition where the leg meets the foot, so just put it there. So it could be at the 2-3 eyelets, rather than the 3-4 eyelets (or maybe even at the 4-5 eyelets if you have big skates?)
Also, it's a little weird to have the bow tie lower down, and you'll end up with a lot of extra lace. I just put the extra lace in a loose triple knot and tuck them under my hockey socks, since I wear them over my tongue anyway.
 
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Very cool! Are you using waxed or regular laces? I had no idea there was a whole website dedicated to shoelaces! lol..

I tried the floating knot method and leave the top eyelet undone and it has helped me alot with my skates, especially since I traded my CCM U+12's for Graf Supra 735! lol.. I might have to try your method on Friday, that looks good!
 
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I dunno, probably just making excuses for being mediocre this summer.

I skipped 1-2 eyelets on my Vapors but never felt right in Grafs.

I think a lock might work well on these since the bottom of the foot seems fine but there's a bit too much "play" around the ankle.
 
Jarick said:
I dunno, probably just making excuses for being mediocre this summer.

I skipped 1-2 eyelets on my Vapors but never felt right in Grafs.

I think a lock might work well on these since the bottom of the foot seems fine but there's a bit too much "play" around the ankle.
Click to expand...

I think some of us get a bit paranoid about skate movement! :P I used to be paranoid because I could force my heel out of place.
 
Clayman, I use regular laces.

I tried skipping the top eyelet once, but it was too unstable for me. Skipping the second eyelet this way seems to keep the side-to-side stability, but lets me flex my foot and not have the tongue dig in so much.

I dont imagine this would work for everybody, the point is to not be afraid to experiment. :)
 
So...I tried this in my living room and it was fairly easy. I liked the way it locks my heel in. Got a game on Sunday morning so I'm gonna give it a try. Initially I didn't skip any eyelets but it works better if you set it up as beth did.
 
Jarick said:
Wow, you are skipping eyelets on Grafs?

I might have to play around with some lacing as I've been struggling with my skating lately.
Click to expand...

I found that the Grafs are alot like the skates I grew up using, the Bauer Special Pro 99's... Pretty high tech back in the day! lol.. With the sliding knot it seems like I can adjust around the areas I need more flex and still keep them plenty snug for support. The lacing has definitely helped!
 
nwharris74 said:
So...I tried this in my living room and it was fairly easy. I liked the way it locks my heel in. Got a game on Sunday morning so I'm gonna give it a try. Initially I didn't skip any eyelets but it works better if you set it up as beth did.
Click to expand...

Oh sweet! Let me know how it goes!

It was most noticeable for me on my outside edges, I'd never felt so sure on them before. I just felt more connected to my skates. And of course, no lace bite pinching.
 
epo said:
Derp!

So what's special about Grafs?
Click to expand...

At least to me the Grafs have alot more flex to them, more of an old school feel to the boot. All the new skate feel more like a solid ski boot to me, but I started playing hockey in 1973 so the skates were all leather then. I had CCMU+12's and never come to terms with them, but the Grafs are very comfortable right out of the box.
 
beth said:
Clayman, I use regular laces.

I tried skipping the top eyelet once, but it was too unstable for me. Skipping the second eyelet this way seems to keep the side-to-side stability, but lets me flex my foot and not have the tongue dig in so much.

I dont imagine this would work for everybody, the point is to not be afraid to experiment. :)
Click to expand...

I have waxed in mine now but I'm thinking about trying regular laces out tomorrow. I think with the different tying method that they should work better... At least it sounds like a good idea! We'll see.. lol..
 
Vapors have a sharp angle to the eyelets as they go up the ankle whereas the Grafs have a smooth, shallow curve to them:

vapor-x60.jpg


GrafG5U.jpg


I honestly think the Vapors are made to have eyelets skipped, at least one, unless you like a lot of stiffness around the top of the boot (more lateral power at the expense of ankle mobility). Grafs give you ankle mobility laced all the way up. That's why I was surprised he was skipping eyelets...
 
Jarick said:
Vapors have a sharp angle to the eyelets as they go up the ankle whereas the Grafs have a smooth, shallow curve to them:

vapor-x60.jpg


GrafG5U.jpg


I honestly think the Vapors are made to have eyelets skipped, at least one, unless you like a lot of stiffness around the top of the boot (more lateral power at the expense of ankle mobility). Grafs give you ankle mobility laced all the way up. That's why I was surprised he was skipping eyelets...
Click to expand...

It's a personal preference thing... Kind of like how I didn't like the CCM's, and love the Grafs. :D

Jarick- which Grafs model do you have?
 
I had really bad lace bite when I first started playing. I ended up getting some surgical rubber (not sure of the exact term) from my LHS and wore that until the bite went away!
 
beth said:
I've recently discovered that I have lace bite bumps and they are starting to cause me pain. Not really bad, but I know if I don't do anything about it, then it is just going to get worse. I can't afford new skates, and I really like my skates, so I sat down with them to see if I could figure out a solution.

And I came up with a crazy way to tie them that locked my heel down better than ever before, took the pressure off my bumps and still allowed for some forward flex. I skated a game with them tied this way last night, and it was amazing. I won't ever skate with normally tied laces again!

I am including a pic! Hopefully you can figure out what is going on here. I'm creating a heel lock at the 3rd and 4th eyelet, then skip the 2nd and instead come up through the top eyelet. From there I go back down and put the ends through the heel locks, crank it tight and then tie. Skipping the 2nd eyelet creates a deeper "V" in the laces for more flex. It sounds like a pain in the butt to tie, but once you have it, it's actually pretty easy to loosen and get your skates on/off.

Just thought I'd share! If anyone else laces their skates weird, tell us what you do!

I went to this site for inspiration:
http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/lacing.htm
Click to expand...

So after seeing your picture, and looking over the lacing methods, I relaced my skates a couple of times to see if anything felt more comfortable than what I am going with now. What I ended up with was a combo of the "zipper" method and your skipped second eyelet method. I ran the zipper up to the fifth eyelet down and then just continued with what you did. I find it keeps the bottom portion of my skate the tightest and most comfortable while still providing stability through the heel lock.it's weird to me that I found a decorative lacing to be more comfortable.
 
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