Pluginator
High School
Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 14
Location: Vancouver
|
 Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:05 am Post subject: Viper BOA Review |
 |
|
As the owner of a set of Viper BOA pads for about a year and half (approx 300-400 icetimes) I'll give you a review of my impressions so far.
Previous pads: Reebok Senior, Nike Bauer Vapor, Brain's Vibe, Vaughn Velocity (bought @ approximately the same time)
Time on ice: I've worn these for one and half seasons of house hockey, a season of 3 on 3 (tier 3 of 7), multiple goalie camps, and the occasional stick and puck. Overall this amounts to about 600-800 hours on the ice with these pads.
Size: I ordered the pads to a length of 38" with an adjustable knee lock where in could change the height of the knee lock from 36+2 to 36.5+1.5 to 37+ 1 to 37.5+.5 to 38. I'm quite happy about getting this mod done as I originally wore them as a 36 +2 and now currently wear them as a 37+1. I have to say James (Owner of Viper) did a awesome job with the knee lock, it combines adjustability and stability very well. My previous pads were 36" Reebok's. Oh, BTW I'm 6'4 and my ATK is 21.5".
Performance: I ordered my pads to be very stiff as I did not want them to break down quickly. With that being said, it took me a fair while to break these pads in to my ideal flexibility. At the moment, I have broken the pads in to a point in which they possess what I believe to be the ideal pad flexibility for myself. I could best compare this to a broken in RBK PS2, the exception being an ever so slightly more flexible boot and ever so slightly stiffer thighrise. They have developed a very nice yet subtle S-curve as well. They have neither become to flexible nor stayed overly stiff. I wear all of the straps extremely loose, including the boot with a fairly loose knee lock as well. With this, the pads rotate effortlessly, I have never to date had them over or under rotate.
Coming from a Reebok pad, the leg channel I was met with was fairly similar to what I was used to. The pads came with 3 jenpro covered, rbk-esque knee stacks but I ended up removing one (just my unlacing it, no cutting required.) as it seemed to inhibit rotation with the way I was wearing the pads. The knee area is very comfy and stable, and the adjustability of it allows my knee to land right the middle of the knee lock the majority of the time. I also got both the knee wing and calf wing to be made with robocop (weave) material rather than jenpro. In my personal experience, this material has definitely allowed me to slide smoother, faster, and farther than I had been able to do so with jenpro.
Like all new age flat faced pads these pads definitely give off large rebounds. With that being said, it is very easy to direct the rebounds where you want them to go with these pads. As these pads are made from stiffer foams, the rebounds have stayed relatively constant in there size and speed.
I also have to add that the new 11" design really aided in my skating and movement. I am now able to move much smoother and easier in these pads than in previous 12" and 13" models.
Durability: This is what impresses me most about these pads. For all the ice times I have used these pads they have shown very little signs of wear. The only wear that I can find is on the toe, as a wear my pads so loose the the toe frequently drags on the ice, and on a little bit on the knee stacks. Either than that, these pads look nearly the same as the day a received them.
Fit and Finish: These pads could best compared in fit to RBK models, although they do contain a multitude of differences. Coming from Reebok Seniors, I can not say that the change was too extreme to any extent. Although the Viper calf and knee set up is very different it shares the same simple open leg channel as RBKs. My personal pads are ideal for a primarily butterfly goalie who enjoys a stiffer pad but with that being said BOA's can be order in soft or medium flex as well.
As much as I like the pads, I found that they were a fair amount of loose ends when I received the pads. There were a lot of places in which it appeared that some excess binding had been neglected to be cut off. I could best describe them as loose ends; none of them affected the construction, they were just visual eyesores. I easily trimmed these loose threads down and there has since been nothing further to report on this issue since.
Another minor issue with the finish I had, was the fact that the graphics had not been stitched on to the very end of the points. This left a small amount of material at the end of the point hang somewhat free. To date, I have had no problems with the graphics pertaining to wear or coming loose; but I kind of hoped that they would have been able to stitch the graphic a little better near the ends of the points .
Cons:
-A few loose threads upon original purchase
-Graphic not stitched on to the very end of the points.
-Were originally very stiff and subsequently took awhile to break in
-I would of preferred the top strap a little lower down.
Pros:
-11" width definitely helped with mobility
-Great durability
-After broken in, great fit and flexibility
-Adjustable Knee Lock helped create a great custom fit for a myself as a grew.
-Graphics, James got my graphic absolutely perfect
-Solid leg channel set up
Customer Service: James was very quick to respond to all my emails and provided me with all the mods I asked for (listed below) as well as kept me up to date with any delay's or problems that occurred.
Here are the mods I requested:
-38" after pre-curve
-11" Wide
-Make as durable as possible
-Adjustable Knee Lock (36+2, 36.5+1.5, 37+ 1, 37.5+.5, 3
-Open leg channel
-Robocop material on the design(the blue) as well as on the calf wrap and knee wing
-Jenpro material everywhere else
-Totally square thigh rise and boot
-Jenpro "covered" knee lifts to prevent wear
-Square outside roll
-All leather straps
-Single boot strap
-Only black material used on the back of the pad (leg channel, etc.)
-I'd like the pad to be stiff
-Sliding toe bridge
-Slight offset toe
-open leg area with restraint
-No logos on the front of the pad
-Pro Knee
-Alternating strap colours (black and blue)
-No thighboards
-Solid Outer Roll
Graphic:
-Colours: Blue robocop (the design)
Black jenpro (background)
-Line up the weave pattern on all the colours
Initial Impressions: 8/10
Functionality: 9.5/10
Looks: 9.5/10
Protection: 10/10
Durability (so far!): 10/10
Customer Service: 10/10
Overall: 47/50
Overall, a great pad for a reasonable price. Automatic butterflies, incredibly well constructed, comfortable, and totally custom. I can definitely see these pads lasting me for years to come.
 |
|
