I've heard a couple people in here talking about the disappearance of RBK or them leaving the hockey market? Where is this coming from? Where are people hearing this?
Where is RBK going?
Started by kalechip, Mar 10 2013 12:07 AM
18 replies to this topic
#2
Posted 10 March 2013 - 12:30 AM
Every couple months the story seems to change. I guess it's back to "for sale" and we'll get a hard answer when something actually happens.
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#3
Posted 10 March 2013 - 01:50 AM
Well I don't know how much the manager at Hockey Giant knows but during a fitting he mentioned that Reebok rep told them they are done after 2013 and CCM will be the only hockey companies that Adidas goes forward with.
According to his conversation with the rep.. Bauer has such a strong hold that it was difficult for Adidas to profit with two companies in the biz.
#4
Posted 10 March 2013 - 04:02 AM
Reebok's business plan was to outfit all of the major North American sports. They had 3 of 4 leagues until they lost the NFL contract to Nike and risk losing their NHL deal to Bauer/Inaria or Nike in 2016.
Reebok has been a failure in the hockey market. It started with the new Edge uniform systems that the players hated and had to revert back to Air Knit. Reebok forced many teams to fit their cookie cutter moulds. Even teams that only had two colors (ex. Toronto, Detroit) had to pick a third color to go with Reebok's merchandising recipe. Terrible re-branding, all of the cheap equipment was "Reebok" and the expensive gear was "RBK" before they labeled all gear as "Reebok." Actually that's pretty good branding since it all looks so cheap now.
They didn't learn after the first O-Stick, but it took them two tries to realize gimmicky holes in a hockey stick won't work. They scrapped CCM Tacks and Jofa, two of the most established brands in recent memory.
The lone bright spot for Reebok right now is their Premier Series goal line.
If your bag has wheels, you don't.
#5
Posted 10 March 2013 - 08:20 AM
And Even the Premier Series in goal equipment is full of question mark...
Lots of great goalie equipment out there better then the RBK P4 as Vaughn, Bauer supreme, Warrior (Messiah and Ritual models are both, inmy opinion, better vs RBK)
RBK is, by far, the most common goalie pads you'll see on the market, but they don't worth it...
#6
Posted 10 March 2013 - 09:47 AM
And Even the Premier Series in goal equipment is full of question mark...
Lots of great goalie equipment out there better then the RBK P4 as Vaughn, Bauer supreme, Warrior (Messiah and Ritual models are both, inmy opinion, better vs RBK)
RBK is, by far, the most common goalie pads you'll see on the market, but they don't worth it...
Being in the hockey business...I would COMPLETELY disagree with this statement and it is all opinion based
#7
Posted 10 March 2013 - 10:20 AM
I tried them all, and, in my opinion, RBK's are the ones i would not consider buying. I've always been a BIG Koho/Lefebvre fan befor RBK bought them. They dispointed me with the P1's, gave them a second chance with the P2's and was still disapointed.
I think that Reebok as an excellent mrketing system that helps them sell pads in NA and great faces to sell their products (Pricelast year, Luongo-Fleury-Miller) But i do think there are way better other products that just don't have that marketing system backing them (Warrior and Vaughn)
Don't get me wrong, RBK's are pro level goalie pads, but they took a step back vs other models in my mind when speaking about flexibility, confort and desing!
#8
Posted 10 March 2013 - 11:24 AM
Again, im not sure on you background but not knowing how they are made or waht they are made of
You opinoion is completely bias to what you like to wear....trust me I am a goalie myself for 18yrs and played college as well, so I have my own bias on comfort, durability, ect but to say "And Even the Premier Series in goal equipment is full of question mark...Lots of great goalie equipment out there better then the RBK P4 as Vaughn, Bauer supreme, Warrior" is not a true statement
What question marks are there about the Premier series equipemnt....its one of the most well built and successful lines of goalie stuff out there and is the best design for a full bfly goaltender.....im not sure why your implying the line was a flop
Also we would have to take into account what pads we are talking about,..Pro level, Sr level, Entry level?? the 18k pads for 779$ are THE best made, and functional pads on the market BY FAR
Ps I wear Vaughn btw
#9
Posted 10 March 2013 - 11:50 AM
No i'm talking about the Pro level pads.
I only think that the reputation of RBK in term of goalie equipment is overhyped. Don't get me wrong they are excellent pads. But, if we go back in time 10years ago, KOHO/Lefebvre were THE goalie pads to have hands down.
I just think that other goalie pads, such as Vaughn are better, but don't get the same marketing exposure.
I can't talk about Sr Level pads cause I only use Pro level goalie Pads. But, Played with both the P2 and the Vaughn 7600, and the Vaughn 7600 are WAY better pads than P2's. I know that they are not suited for the same goalie type, but in termes of durability, padding, confort and fleibility, Vaughn's are a step higher vs RBK'S int he Pro models (I'M a Hybrid goalie so i'm also bias by the type of goalie i am)
#10
Posted 10 March 2013 - 02:46 PM
The Premier Series has the most market share when it comes to flat faced butterfly style pads. No other brand can touch them in this category. Reebok gave the average customer a lot more choice when it came to knee breaks and cuff options.
Vaughn remains the leader in hybrid style pads but it will be interesting to see what innovations they come up with to fight off the Bauer Reactor and CCM Extreme Flex. When it comes to butterfly style pads though, Vaughn is just unable to find something that majority of goalies are willing to switch over from Reebok for. You look at the Vision line and it was essentially just a blatant ripoff of the Bauer Supremes. The sliding knee in the ONE100 pad is a pretty solid feature, especially for those parents wanting a pad that can grow a bit with their kid.
If your bag has wheels, you don't.
#11
Posted 10 March 2013 - 05:39 PM
rebranding jofa as rbk/jofa and then losing jofa altogether was something i never understood. the jofa swedish made player protective gear is - imo - better than anything else made, why lose that name? lots of the rbk protective gear is still pretty good and rbk seems to have a large market share, i don't understand why that brand would disappear. but the branding with rbk/jofa/ccm is confusing as sh*t, there are tons of protective items, pants, shells etc that could be made or branded as any of those three and in fact all be made in one factory. the rbk soft goods - sweaters, socks etc, the stuff that's made in canada - they are very nicely made, hope that they don't go away.
#12
Posted 10 March 2013 - 07:06 PM
If ccm takes over I hope they keep the Jofa shin elbows shoulder and pants I can't imagine playing with out them.
#13
Posted 10 March 2013 - 08:43 PM
If ccm takes over I hope they keep the Jofa shin elbows shoulder and pants I can't imagine playing with out them.
Hopefully Jofa inspired gear will stick around but with CCM starting to stray away from hard plastic caps in favor of U Foam and Reebok slowly following suit (no plastic inserts in the 2013 20K line) the hard plastic caps Jofa was once known for will be a thing of the past.
rebranding
jofa as rbk/jofa and then losing jofa altogether was something i never
understood. the jofa swedish made player protective gear is - imo -
better than anything else made, why lose that name? lots of the rbk
protective gear is still pretty good and rbk seems to have a large
market share, i don't understand why that brand would disappear. but the
branding with rbk/jofa/ccm is confusing as sh*t, there are tons of
protective items, pants, shells etc that could be made or branded as any
of those three and in fact all be made in one factory. the rbk soft
goods - sweaters, socks etc, the stuff that's made in canada - they are
very nicely made, hope that they don't go away.
But how long will Reebok continue to produce in Canada for? They've already moved production of the Authentic NHL jerseys ($300 price point) to Indonesia. As a jersey collector I am not going to buy an inferior product with that hefty of a price tag. The average fan can't even buy a true authentic anymore. If I'm buying a jersey that's labeled as "On Ice Authentic" it better be exactly what the players are wearing on the ice.
I really hope Nike takes over in 2016. Compare the quality of a IIHF Nike Replica jersey with a NHL Reebok Premier and the quality is no contest. Don't even get started about the on-ice player jerseys!
If your bag has wheels, you don't.
#14
Posted 10 March 2013 - 11:17 PM
on the jofa protective it wasn't so much the exact details of how the gear was made that made it great, to me it's always been the way it fits and the overall design. the jofa elbows always just fit your arm a whole lot better than anything else seemed to, for me at least. if the materials change the design and fit can still be excellent as has been the case.
i do hope reebok continues to produce in canada. it would be a shame to lose that manufacturing. one of my shinny buddies has a brother who works at reebok/ccm, i am going to ask him what he knows about this topic, might have some inside info, you never know.
#15
Posted 11 March 2013 - 08:31 AM
Like a lot of folks here I like the Jofa equipment, I've been using 11k elbows/shins myself this year. Last week I had a chance to try out some of the crazy light stuff from CCM and what they're doing is unreal. I bought the shoulders right on the spot and probably will switch to the elbows when I get the cash..the 11k shins are still staying. A friend of mine who is regularly in the Hawks locker says there's 6 guys on the team that are using the retail version of the crazy light pads and thinks these type of pads are the future in the NHL. I've also noticed a couple guys with the CCM elbow pads, I thought they were the CL's as well but have been told they're the U+ 12's wrapped in material to make them look like the crazy lights. I think if you're Addidas and you see one of your brands taking off (again) it only makes sense to eliminate the competition even if it's your own. CCM has pretty big penetration in the junior leagues and lower leagues and it seems like they're slowly getting back to the NHL level.
#16
Posted 11 March 2013 - 09:49 AM
Like a lot of folks here I like the Jofa equipment, I've been using 11k elbows/shins myself this year. Last week I had a chance to try out some of the crazy light stuff from CCM and what they're doing is unreal. I bought the shoulders right on the spot and probably will switch to the elbows when I get the cash..the 11k shins are still staying. A friend of mine who is regularly in the Hawks locker says there's 6 guys on the team that are using the retail version of the crazy light pads and thinks these type of pads are the future in the NHL. I've also noticed a couple guys with the CCM elbow pads, I thought they were the CL's as well but have been told they're the U+ 12's wrapped in material to make them look like the crazy lights. I think if you're Addidas and you see one of your brands taking off (again) it only makes sense to eliminate the competition even if it's your own. CCM has pretty big penetration in the junior leagues and lower leagues and it seems like they're slowly getting back to the NHL level.
The U+/v10 shoulder pads are taking off. A lot of guys are using them including stamkos and malkin. The new U+CL shoulder pad if I recall didn't the nhl ask ccm to make these with the U foam material. the new foams that are now being used is the future do to the league going away from using hard plastics in the equipment.
#17
Posted 11 March 2013 - 09:52 AM
http://feeds2.yourst...r-v10ove-sr.jpg
http://www.hockeyemp...log/9421_01.jpg
http://demonxtreme.c...CL_shoulder.jpg
the vector 10 evolved into the CL pro which in turn evolved into the U+CL.
all of these are an evolution of each
#18
Posted 11 March 2013 - 11:27 AM
The U+/v10 shoulder pads are taking off. A lot of guys are using them including stamkos and malkin. The new U+CL shoulder pad if I recall didn't the nhl ask ccm to make these with the U foam material. the new foams that are now being used is the future do to the league going away from using hard plastics in the equipment.
U+ Pro's are pretty common, I know Sharp & Toews use em as a many others on the Hawks.
#19
Posted 11 March 2013 - 02:35 PM
I noticed a huge difference between my RBK branded 9K girdle and my Reebok branded 9K girdle... the RBK seemed to have more beefed up plastic the back padding.
Terrible re-branding, all of the cheap equipment was "Reebok" and the expensive gear was "RBK" before they labeled all gear as "Reebok." Actually that's pretty good branding since it all looks so cheap now.
