Finally, some skates that fit and perform
The fit is perfect. I'm glad I bought the 10.5 wide. My width ratio is 2.66 and the width of the toe-cap area couldn't be any thinner or I would be hurting. My issue has always been finding skates with a wide enough toe cap with a narrow enough heel. I skated in a pair of Graf 705's for years (30+) and they were great skates but my heel would was never snug. When the second pair of 705's finally turned to jelly I tried Hyperlite's, both the original for two seasons (they were custom but were too short and were ruining my big toe) and so I bought a pro stock Hyperlite 2's and skated in them for one season. After a season in the 2's the ankle areas on both sides and both skates started destroying my ankles, even with some bakes, and for awhile I tried a few lacing methods to alleviate it, but nothing worked. A fit 1 was too narrow and a fit 2 had heel snugness issues. I'd always been interested in True but a salesman at a local hockey shop talked me out of them and convinced me to do the custom Hyperlites. I wish I'd never listened to that guy. The Catalyst 9X4's have been perfect. The fit, the engineering, the quality of material, the armored standard tongue, the steel, even the stock radius. I thought I'd want a new radius profile but there is no need—these baby's cut and maneuver so naturally. What a pleasure to have this much precision and comfort. WoW! I've been skating in them for 4 months now and as you can tell I am more than pleased. Totally recommended.