I am sure that you heard about STEP steel runners - "the best steel for ice skates"! In fact, it is not the case - the STEP runners can rust. Yes, they rust and become damaged! 

When in 2021, I bought Graf ice hockey skates, I wanted badly to have STEP runners for my Graf skates. I've bought the Graf Step runners on eBay in Canada. Here is some text of the advertisement from the seller:

"Handcrafted in Canada with the highest grade of Swedish Stainless Steel, the Step Steel hockey skate runners are the premier Graf Cobra and Graf Ultra runners in the game today. Designed and engineered with precision to reach maximum performances, the Step Steel goes through an exhaustive list of quality control test to meet athletes and trainers' severe standards." - Sounds great!

Here are the pictures of the actual runners which I've bought:
  
In the second picture, you can see that the runners are made by the company "STEP SKATING BLADES" located at 2555 Avenue Watt, suite 11, Quebec City QC, G1P 3T2 Canada. The web-site of the company was www.stepskates.com  which existed until this week, now the link redirects to CCM web-site.

In 2020, the STEP steel was acquired by CCM (Sport Maska Inc.). My runners were made before CCM has acquired the STEP steel. Obviously, after the CCM acquisition, STEP ice hockey runners are made exclusively for CCM skates. You can't buy anymore STEP runners for Bauer and Graf skates. After STEP became a part of CCM, the company "STEP SKATING BLADES" became a part of CCM too.

I've skated a couple of times on my STEP blades, just to try. Then, I decided to make one of the Prosharp profiles for the runners. In 2022, after my STEP runners were profiled and sharpened, I didn't skate for a few months (because of unforeseen circumstances). Thus, the runners were not used after profiling and sharpening. The skates were in a bag at home, i.e all the time inside. After a few months, I decided to check my ice hockey gear and skates. To my surprise, I've found that one of the STEP runners (left skate) was rusty in a few spots. The second runner was free of rust. I've immediately cleaned up the rust with the abrasive part of a kitchen sponge.

I've contacted the company "STEP SKATING BLADES", asking if they can replace one runner. I've gotten a reply not from the company, but from CCM. They answered that they don't produce anymore Graf runners, and I should contact Graf for help. I knew that they do not produce anymore the Graf runners, I hoped that they might have some on a shell. To contact Graf for help, it is useless. They have nothing to do with STEP steel. In the best case, if Graf would reply, they would simply advise to buy new Graf skate runners. That's all. So, I decided to write this article, to let the world know about the quality of STEP steel, informing CCM about it.

Below are the pictures of my Graf STEP runner damaged by rust. One picture still shows the presence of rust. I regret that I didn't make pictures with the initial rust - the runner looked awful. The pictures show serious damage to the STEP runner, done by the rust. The pictures are accompanied by comments.

Think twice before buying STEP steel runners! Since STEP steel is now a part of CCM, the warning should sound like - think twice before buying CCM skates! There is no guarantee that your CCM skates will not have damaged STEP runners!

Finally, in the past, I had Bauer and CCM skates. I never witnessed rust on Bauer and old CCM steel runners. The STEP steel is the first which rusts.
For comparison, the image shows a good part of the bottom of the STEP steel runner for Graf skates. The hollow radius is 1/2". The runners were not used after sharpening.
The image shows a bad part of the bottom of the STEP steel runner, damaged by rust. The black spots are holes. The rust is removed. Two images bellow show other damaged parts of the bottom of the runner.  
The edge of the STEP steel runner, damaged by rust. Some rust is still visible. 
The same part of the STEP runner as above, snown from a side of the runner.
A side of the STEP steel runner. After 2-3 sharpenings, the runner edge will come to the black hole. In the place of the hole, the edge will be totally absent. The small holes above will do the same in the future.
28 September 2024
The story doesn't end here. There is more to it. A week after writing the article, I decided to check the second STEP steel runner which was apparently free from rust. To my surprise, I've found rust at the bottom of the second STEP runner! The damage to the second runner is not as bad as to the first runner, but the rust is clearly visible.

It is important to underline that the skate with the second runner was in the bag at home all the time. The runner was covered with a CCM absorbent skate guard. Knowing the condition of the first runner, a very large sachet with silicagel was placed inside the skate guard (silicagel soaks water from air, i.e. It reduces humidity). Nevertheless, the second STEP steel runner became rusty too. The rust appeared only at the bottom of the runner. The sides of the runner do not have rust - I should stress, apparently do not have rust.

When one STEP runner becomes rusty, you may say, it is just something went wrong at the manufacturing facility, a freak accident. No worry. However, when both STEP steel runners rust, it means that something is fundamentally wrong with the steel itself. It is not stainless.

Below are the pictures of the bottom of the second STEP steel runner.
5 October 2024
Finally, I noticed that the STEP steel runners have an identification number. It is probably the batch number. As you can see on the picture below, the number is  P-0825-05.