Your Favourite Skates? :)

[peachy]

ive worn risports... they were my first pair of real skates (not from canadian tire) and i guess they were fine... nothing special... and now i have jackson elites, and i love them... ive never had a problem with them... they were heat molded, and breaking them in took like one session... but now im getting new skates because ive had them for like two years

[soogar]

Hmm...so, most of you are skating on American boots... Have any of you ever skated on Risport? What is better- Ridell or Risport?

Risports are hard to get in the states. I tried on a pair in the store and loved them, but they had only one pair and in my opinion, while I loved the padding and suede lining of the Risport, I thought the leather was kind of cheap looking (very thin). My skate fitter said that Risports aren't high quaility. Thoguh maybe that's what Risport sells to the states b/c I see top European and Russian figure skaters in Risports. If I'm not mistaken, Carolina wears them as well.

I can only tell you what I've tried on. I thought the Risport was better than the Ridell. Ridell boots are super stiff (tried the Bronze level and absolutely hated it). Plus I really liked the suede lining and padding of the Risport. I wound up getting Graf dance boots. I really don't care for them b/c they don't fit my heel and I had to doctor them by putting heel liners so my skate will stay in place. I'm making do with them and soon I'll purchase a pair of custom skates. My first pair of skates were SP Teris Super Delux or pro delux with suede lining and a lambswool tongue. All the new SP Teris have clarino lining.

I went way too into this topic, but i just want to b!tch about how much I HATE clarino lining. It makes your feet sweat and the boots stink.

[anything_for_skating]

Risports are hard to get in the states. I tried on a pair in the store and loved them, but they had only one pair and in my opinion, while I loved the padding and suede lining of the Risport, I thought the leather was kind of cheap looking (very thin). My skate fitter said that Risports aren't high quaility. Thoguh maybe that's what Risport sells to the states b/c I see top European and Russian figure skaters in Risports. If I'm not mistaken, Carolina wears them as well.

I can only tell you what I've tried on. I thought the Risport was better than the Ridell. Ridell boots are super stiff (tried the Bronze level and absolutely hated it). Plus I really liked the suede lining and padding of the Risport. I wound up getting Graf dance boots. I really don't care for them b/c they don't fit my heel and I had to doctor them by putting heel liners so my skate will stay in place. I'm making do with them and soon I'll purchase a pair of custom skates. My first pair of skates were SP Teris Super Delux or pro delux with suede lining and a lambswool tongue. All the new SP Teris have clarino lining.

I went way too into this topic, but i just want to b!tch about how much I HATE clarino lining. It makes your feet sweat and the boots stink.

Thanks for your opinion...I skated on Risports and on Vifas and Risports were always very good for me...I had no problems with them. Now I am skating on Vifas and I don't really like it....Well, like it - or not- it's like that, so I am skating on them for last...I think 2 sesons. It's time to buy new boots, so I will probably buy Risports. I've never tryed Ridels, but I would love to it...As I said, here's no where to buy boots, so we are buying them in other countries without trying...

I've seen Ridels only once, when I was on the camp in Hungary, and Finish coach skated on them. ...hmm...I guess it's better not to risk, it's better simply to buy Risports



P.S. Carolina is skating on Grafs, only her biggest fan (ME!) can know that ...just joking, but seriously, she is skating on Grafs.

[dancindiva03]

My Jacksons are heat-fitted, too. The skate fitter has a special little oven, but supposedly you can refit them using your home oven (one of my coaches did this, with the fitter talking her through it on the phone.) I'm actually thinking of having mine redone to see if it helps.

I've heard Riedells run narrow--does anyone know if that's true?

Reidell's do run a bit narrow. My feet are on the narrower side of average, but when I got my Silver Stars I had to get the split width, with B for the heel (I have fairly narrow heels) and a D width for the ball of the foot! I thought it was odd because I never need a wide width in any shoes, but Reidell's are quite narrow.

[FauveNik]

custom Harlick's are all i ever wore with pat 99 blade for singles.
Fauve

[#1Kerryfan]

I have Jackson's.

[JFiguresk8]

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[Stars on Ice]

Definetly! I use Riedells currently, they're awesomeness!!

[Rusty Blades]

I'm a re-beginner and not very good yet.

I got Jackson Competitors (10C) because they were highly recommended for wide feet, which I have. They fit perfect in the heel but are tight across the toes. After having them punched out a zillion times, I got measured for custom Jackson Elites (which haven't arrived yet).

I have MK Pro blades which I LOVE! I am big and heavy and like DEEP edges - so far the Pros haven't let go on an edge but I have done a few face-plants because of that MASSIVE first pick! I have resisted the urge to grind it down

[evenstar]

I love my Harlicks!

[Wolfgang]

Don't know how much this is going to help, but here goes:
You're not alone having to buy skates sight unseen....
In this city of 1/2 million people, there are 2 ice rinks, which have shops (open whenever someone gets there with a key...), and they do have some new and used FS's for ladies, but only hockey skates for men.
They can,of course 'custom fit' you ( = $$$$).....
There's 2 other stores, one used sporting goods store, one skate(board) shop, where they have crappy vinyl cheapies (for ladies), not much better than the rink rentals.
One lady I know has skates she bought from one of the rinks, and they are killing her, because the professionals at the store did not factor in her orthotics......
Any European brands are hard to find in most of the US, you would have to buy mail order/internet and hope for the best.
That's one reason why most of us skate on American or Canadian skates.
I upgraded from rink plastics to Dominion 718's (Canadian), the cheapest leather uppers I could find for $ 70 online.
The boots are fine after breaking them in for about a week, the blades are WAY too long (13"), they're also mounted wrong, and I have so far managed to tear 2 of the lace hooks off, which does not make a huge difference, and if I use them at least 35 times (which I definitely will), they will have paid for themselves.
By the way, grinding down the bottom toe pick seems to be the #1 secret wish of every skater I know......
The next upgrade I'm looking at is the Riedell Silver Medaillon with Wilson Jubilee blades (via internet, again) for about $ 300, for men, there's only one easily available skate 'above' that (the Riedell Bronze Star, about $ 600), then, there's this huge gap before you get into the custom skates for 1,000's of $'s......
It is generally said that Jacksons are better for narrow feet, Riedells are easier to get and better for not-so-narrow feet, don't know if this is true.

[dancindiva03]

The next upgrade I'm looking at is the Riedell Silver Medaillon with Wilson Jubilee blades (via internet, again) for about $ 300, for men, there's only one easily available skate 'above' that (the Riedell Bronze Star, about $ 600), then, there's this huge gap before you get into the custom skates for 1,000's of $'s......
It is generally said that Jacksons are better for narrow feet, Riedells are easier to get and better for not-so-narrow feet, don't know if this is true.

Wow, that's quite expensive for those Reidell Silver Medalions! I had Gold Medallions (bought them maybe two years ago?????), and they cost about $250! Unfortunately, they lasted less than a year, and I upgraded to Reidell Silver Stars, which, combined with the Majestic blade cost me about $550. I can't believe how much you have to pay.

I don't know who you've talked to, but in my experience, Reidell's are better for narrow feet. I don't know about Jacksons, as I've never tried them on, but Reidell's do run quite narrow.

If you want my opinion on Reidell's, I hate them. My first pait 1) broke down way to quickly and 2) hurt like the devil. I went to a new fitter, who said that I was having pain because the boots were not sized correctly, my previous fitter had put me in boots that were a half size too short and a width too narrow. So, I figured that it was a combination of poor fit and being broken down that was causing the pain, and went for another pair of Reidells, this time the Silver Stars. Now they fit correctly and we even heat molded them, but they still hurt. I know not every boot is suitable for every foot, so I think its just time to look into a different brand of boots. Since I'm prone to shin splints and tendonitis in the ankles, I'm thinking of trying the Jackson ProFlex boots. I'm not wild about the look, but they are hardly noticible under over-the-boot tights.

[Wolfgang]

Dancindiva - Where did you get your skates for that cheap?
I've done some fairly extensive searching on the web, and that's just about the best price I could find, anything from the rink 'pro shops' is going to cost significantly more still.

Ladies have it easier, there are a lot more options available, and there isn't the huge jump from the $ 600-700 price bracket to the custom boots, Ladies' skates kind of continue to gradually go up in price, for men, there's not much between $ 700 and $several 1,000's.

[Lanie]

Jacksons = evil.

Riedell = evil.

I'm 20, size 3 1/2 feet, and I tried them both. Tooo narrow, but they told me Iwas a B width - I'm D width, in custom HArlicks and they're nice. Narrow ankles, so I have lots of ankle padding in it. It's a bit stiff on the tongue and kinda pushes down on my toes but I think I can break that in. I love them though! I can dance around now knowing I skate without much pain now!

dancindiva, I suggest you check out some other types of boots... I had the saaame problems with my Jacksons and Riedells that you're having and a lot of heat molding/punching them out pretty much killed the $300 boots I bought. :(

[dancindiva03]

Dancindiva - Where did you get your skates for that cheap?
I've done some fairly extensive searching on the web, and that's just about the best price I could find, anything from the rink 'pro shops' is going to cost significantly more still.

Ladies have it easier, there are a lot more options available, and there isn't the huge jump from the $ 600-700 price bracket to the custom boots, Ladies' skates kind of continue to gradually go up in price, for men, there's not much between $ 700 and $several 1,000's.

I got mine from a fitter here in central New York. She owns a pro shop at a rink in my area, though not the rink I skate at. She sells Reidells, and I think is also a fitter for Harlicks.