Boot and blade recommendations - challenge!

[TQice]

I'm hoping to benefit from the expertise here! Daughter 15, 5'3", 140lbs, skating FS4/Excel High Beginner. Has a double loop, working on other doubles, and starting axel. Definitely needs new boots / blades, so here's the challenge -

Backstory - Skated in Jacksons for her first five years with no problems (Mystiques, Elle, ??) She has WIDE feet, especially across the ball, and has always been in at least a Jackson C. As her jumps and spins advanced, coach said she needed stiffer boots. Switched to Riedell 255 Motion last year. Horrible break in period, tons of blisters, but she insisted on keeping the boots. A year later she has dime size heel bumps , quarter size bunions on both big toes, and her big toes are crooked - pushed inward.

We don't have a fitter here, so when I took her to the pro shop they just measured her feet and said she could go into a Riedell 455, or an Edea Chorus 245 D, a Jackson Debut 5.5 or a Jackson Premiere 5.5 wide. Just from lurking here I know each of those options has different benefits. My main concern is getting her into boots that FIT and won't keep aggravating the bunions and toe alignment. She says she doesn't want Jacksons because she doesn't want to adapt again to the heel and they have too much padding. I thought maybe the Jackson semi-customs could meet everyone's concerns ? Clearly we need help.

Any suggestions are welcome - if you know a good fitter in the New Jersey-Pennsylvania-Delaware area, we'd be happy to drive !

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I'm hoping to benefit from the expertise here! Daughter 15, 5'3", 140lbs, skating FS4/Excel High Beginner. Has a double loop, working on other doubles, and starting axel. Definitely needs new boots / blades, so here's the challenge -

Backstory - Skated in Jacksons for her first five years with no problems (Mystiques, Elle, ??) She has WIDE feet, especially across the ball, and has always been in at least a Jackson C. As her jumps and spins advanced, coach said she needed stiffer boots. Switched to Riedell 255 Motion last year. Horrible break in period, tons of blisters, but she insisted on keeping the boots. A year later she has dime size heel bumps , quarter size bunions on both big toes, and her big toes are crooked - pushed inward.

We don't have a fitter here, so when I took her to the pro shop they just measured her feet and said she could go into a Riedell 455, or an Edea Chorus 245 D, a Jackson Debut 5.5 or a Jackson Premiere 5.5 wide. Just from lurking here I know each of those options has different benefits. My main concern is getting her into boots that FIT and won't keep aggravating the bunions and toe alignment. She says she doesn't want Jacksons because she doesn't want to adapt again to the heel and they have too much padding. I thought maybe the Jackson semi-customs could meet everyone's concerns ? Clearly we need help.

Any suggestions are welcome - if you know a good fitter in the New Jersey-Pennsylvania-Delaware area, we'd be happy to drive !

No no no no no! First of all, get her feet checked by a podiatrist esp for the heels. Yes, I know a few darn good fitters in that area and will DM them to you.

Do NOT go to any of those boots suggested, they're not stiff enough or simply not shaped for her foot and needs. This really isn't that hard, lol IDK why others thought it was a challenge to fit your daughter.

So, She should have never been in a Riedell to begin with, too narrow. If her toes are pushed inward, do you mean like they are bent always? If so that means she has hammertoe (I used to have this issue when I was a teen and they had to take it in to account when putting me in skate boots).

Her choices are going to be Custom (poss semi) Jackson so she can change the width, the toe height, and she can do less padding if she prefers, and she may be able to get away with one built off the Elite 5300 wide or even the Supreme 5500 (w the 85 stiffness rating).She'll also want to look at Risport Royal Pro and possibly even the RF1.

I hope this helps and I'll send you that DM with very good fitter suggestions in that area.

Good luck!

 

[TQice]

This is SO helpful! Her big toes are pushed inward almost all the time, the bunions are on the joint on the toe, not where the toe meets the foot. Thank you for the fitter references - we definitely need help!

 

[BunniesSkate]

Some places can also punch out parts of the skate to better mold the boot to the skater's foot. I have a friend with very severe hammer toe and a protruding ankle bone, and she gets them heat molded and punched out every few months.

 

[TQice]

Update ! Thanks to IceRabbit, we found the miraculous boot fitter, and within a 3 hour drive! Then the adventure really began - scheduled an appointment, cancelled due to COVID. Scheduled an appointment, cancelled due to blizzard. In the meantime, my skater's boots are starting to separate from the heels - she was basically wrapping her boots around the instep and heel with tape to keep them together. We found a pair of Jackson Supremes that were in stock, her size, and wider and bought those as a desperation move just to have boots that weren't completely broken down and falling apart.
Then we went to see the "for reals" boot fitter.
He's A - freaking - mazing. He went over every aspect of her boots, her blades, the type of laces, her lacing pattern - everything. He punched out and remolded the Supremes so they're at least functional for now, and he told us each detail of what we needed to order for her next pair. I can't say enough good things about this experience and Jim's attention to detail. We went ahead and ordered the new boots through the Jackson semi-custom program and now get to wait for them to come in. Her skating is already better per her coach, and once the new skates are in she'll be testing her next level.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Update ! Thanks to IceRabbit, we found the miraculous Jim Skibin. Then the adventure really began - scheduled an appointment, cancelled due to COVID. Scheduled an appointment, cancelled due to blizzard. In the meantime, my skater's boots are starting to seperate from the heels - she was basically wrapping her boots around the instep and heel with tape to keep them together. We found a pair of Jackson Supremes that were in stock, her size, and wider and bought those. Then we went to see Jim.
He's A - freaking - mazing. He went over every aspect of her boots, her blades, the type of laces, her lacing pattern - everything. He punched out and remolded the Supremes so they're at least functional for now, and he told us each detail of what we needed to order for her next pair. I can't say enough good things about this experience and Jim's attention to detail. We went ahead and ordered the new boots through the Jackson semi-custom program and now get to wait for them to come in. Her skating is already better per her coach, and once the new skates are in she'll be testing her next level.

That's why the man is an Olympic skate tech/expert! He's worked on the best of the best!

And you're so very welcome!

 

[okay]

No no no no no! First of all, get her feet checked by a podiatrist esp for the heels. Yes, I know a few darn good fitters in that area and will DM them to you.

Do NOT go to any of those boots suggested, they're not stiff enough or simply not shaped for her foot and needs. This really isn't that hard, lol IDK why others thought it was a challenge to fit your daughter.

So, She should have never been in a Riedell to begin with, too narrow. If her toes are pushed inward, do you mean like they are bent always? If so that means she has hammertoe (I used to have this issue when I was a teen and they had to take it in to account when putting me in skate boots).

Her choices are going to be Custom (poss semi) Jackson so she can change the width, the toe height, and she can do less padding if she prefers, and she may be able to get away with one built off the Elite 5300 wide or even the Supreme 5500 (w the 85 stiffness rating).She'll also want to look at Risport Royal Pro and possibly even the RF1.

I hope this helps and I'll send you that DM with very good fitter suggestions in that area.

Good luck!

Hi, this is old but would you mind sending me the list? I'm in the same area with similar problems.