Why Are Edeas Designed to be Loose Around the Ankle?

[macy]

after doing some research today i had no idea Edeas were designed to be looser at the ankle. After replying to someone having similar issues here i looked into it as I have the same problem. Ive been in Ice Flys for a year and have been so confused why they come loose after 20 mins of skating no matter how tight i tie them or if i use lace tensioners.

The fact they are actually designed to be this way is baffling to me- why would they purposely make a skate to support you less around your ankle? what is the science and reasoning behind it? is there some sort of advantage to it?

I also have no clue how i'm going to get used to this now that i know i shouldn't be tying them as tight. of course i don't want to break my boots down faster and i've been afraid of this happening, but now i'm also afraid of injury with less support. any advice on this is appreciated too.

 

[gliese]

They're designed like that for ankle bend. Being able to bend more actually can reduce the injury risk from repetitive impact. However there is a tradeoff with stability muscle overuse.

 

[Arwen17]

Is your heel locked into the back of the skate? Make sure you're tying them properly. This is my video about tying them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-n5B_LsFw

As long as you've got them tied correctly, the heel should be locked and not slide during jumps or anything.

When I first switched to Edea, it took about a month or so for my ankles to get strong enough. At first, I felt like I would twist an ankle just holding a one-foot edge, but I kept skating every day and I slowly got stronger. Work on 3turns and one foot glides and simple stuff to strengthen your ankles. Eventually, you'll work up to more advanced stuff and still feel safe.

I've never had an injury in Edea and I've been skating in them for 4 years now. Once my ankles got strong enough, I really loved them. It really SUCKED at first, but once the ankles are strong enough, it's awesome to have that extra bending room.

Because you've been tying them incorrectly, that's probably why your ankle hasn't been able to strengthen. I did that when I first got them too, and it didn't improve until I bit the bullet and just tied them correctly and learned to live with it until my ankles got stronger.

 

[gliese]

I'd like to add to my first post, if you're feeling unstable side to side (not just front to back) then Edea probably isn't the brand for you.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

As long as you've got them tied correctly, the heel should be locked and not slide during jumps or anything.
...

Because you've been tying them incorrectly, that's probably why your ankle hasn't been able to strengthen. I did that when I first got them too, and it didn't improve until I bit the bullet and just tied them correctly and learned to live with it until my ankles got stronger.

We can't assume either of these things are true without knowing the foot type and skill level of the poster.

If their heel or ankle is too narrow for the boot it won't lock regardless of how you lace it.

Plenty of elite skaters don't use Edea because it doesn't fit their feet well. This includes ice dancers who skate in low-cut boots, and singles skaters who like leaving the top of their boots loose, so it's obviously not an issue of ankle strength for them.

 

[macy]

my heel does lock so that's not an issue, it's just the loosening around the ankle that i have issues with. i will note i have been tying them the edea way, apparently just too tight.

if skills matter, i'm not really jumping at all. i usually skate once a week for exercise and just do edge drills, turns and a lot of spins. every now and then i'll do a couple single jumps, but i have arthritis in my knees so can't do much more than that currently.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Is your heel locked into the back of the skate? Make sure you're tying them properly. This is my video about tying them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-n5B_LsFw

As long as you've got them tied correctly, the heel should be locked and not slide during jumps or anything.

When I first switched to Edea, it took about a month or so for my ankles to get strong enough. At first, I felt like I would twist an ankle just holding a one-foot edge, but I kept skating every day and I slowly got stronger. Work on 3turns and one foot glides and simple stuff to strengthen your ankles. Eventually, you'll work up to more advanced stuff and still feel safe.

I've never had an injury in Edea and I've been skating in them for 4 years now. Once my ankles got strong enough, I really loved them. It really SUCKED at first, but once the ankles are strong enough, it's awesome to have that extra bending room.

Because you've been tying them incorrectly, that's probably why your ankle hasn't been able to strengthen. I did that when I first got them too, and it didn't improve until I bit the bullet and just tied them correctly and learned to live with it until my ankles got stronger.

No.

 

[macy]

No.

care to elaborate?

 

[Arwen17]

i usually skate once a week for exercise

I was skating every day and it still took over a month for me to gain the enough strength.

And for people saying they felt unstable side-to-side, that's exactly what I felt. There was so much room around the entire ankle in Edea, back-to-front, side-to-side, that it felt like I had no support. I gave it time, my ankles got stronger, and it's totally fine now.
I'm not saying there aren't feet that just don't fit, but instability from side-to-side doesn't mean anything since the boots are loose around the entire ankle. They had to punch out space for my ankle bones, but it still felt like there was tons of space around the tops of my ankle, which meant no support compared to what I had in old leather skates that are tight around the entire ankle to the very top.

Even though they had to make extra space for my ankle bones, it still felt like I had no side-to-side support at first until I got stronger. My ankle bones just stick out a lot. It doesn't mean the Edea skate is actually hugging my ankle like it would in an old leather skate.

 

[tstop4me]

Ive been in Ice Flys for a year and have been so confused why they come loose after 20 mins of skating no matter how tight i tie them or if i use lace tensioners.

We're missing a key piece of information here. If I understand you right, the boots are fine for 20 min or so, but then they become too loose. Is that correct? What happens if you re-tie the laces at that point? Are they then fine for another 20 min or so? If they are, then your solution may simply be swapping out the Edea OEM laces for different laces that stay tied much longer (I can refer you to one if that's the case. I ran a field trial for new laces several years ago. One worked well for skaters with Edeas.)

 

[macy]

We're missing a key piece of information here. If I understand you right, the boots are fine for 20 min or so, but then they become too loose. Is that correct? What happens if you re-tie the laces at that point? Are they then fine for another 20 min or so? If they are, then your solution may simply be swapping out the Edea OEM laces for different laces that stay tied much longer (I can refer you to one if that's the case. I ran a field trial for new laces several years ago. One worked well for skaters with Edeas.)

yes thats correct, after i re tie them they get loose again. the tensioners have somewhat helped, but they still don't stay as tight as i want them.

however from what i've read here, it sounds like i shouldn't be tying them tightly like this at all and i need to get used to them naturally being looser around the ankle. i am concerned about breaking the boot down incorrectly/faster and i guess i don't know if using a different pair of laces would affect that.

 

[Arwen17]

yes thats correct, after i re tie them they get loose again. the tensioners have somewhat helped, but they still don't stay as tight as i want them.

however from what i've read here, it sounds like i shouldn't be tying them tightly like this at all and i need to get used to them naturally being looser around the ankle. i am concerned about breaking the boot down incorrectly/faster and i guess i don't know if using a different pair of laces would affect that.

In my tying video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-n5B_LsFw), I show how loose they are around the ankle and how many fingers I can fit in the front-to-back and side-to-side areas. If your looseness is like that, then yeah, you're probably just going to have to force yourself to tie them correctly and skate more to build up the strength.
I still retie mine after an hour or so of skating (but only for jumps. Because the heel starts sliding and isn't locked into place anymore on jump landings.) But you shouldn't have to re-tie them every 20min, especially if you're not doing jumps and the heel isn't sliding. If the heel is locked into place during jumps and everything else, then it really is just building up enough ankle strength. I can skate with them even looser when I'm only doing spins and MIF and no jumps because the heel doesn't slide so easily on non-jump elements.

I replace my laces every 3-4 months, 5-6 months if I really push it. I can tell when they need it because I do have to start tying more frequently than one hour. So you might need to replace the laces. I use the standard Edea laces and that's what's always recommended.

 

[MCsAngel2]

yes thats correct, after i re tie them they get loose again. the tensioners have somewhat helped, but they still don't stay as tight as i want them.

however from what i've read here, it sounds like i shouldn't be tying them tightly like this at all and i need to get used to them naturally being looser around the ankle. i am concerned about breaking the boot down incorrectly/faster and i guess i don't know if using a different pair of laces would affect that.

You've had these for about a year? Have you ever replaced the laces? Edeas are a little different in a few ways, and the laces are meant to be replaced every few months, unlike other brands.

 

[macy]

You've had these for about a year? Have you ever replaced the laces? Edeas are a little different in a few ways, and the laces are meant to be replaced every few months, unlike other brands.

i haven't, but i only skate once a week and was off for a few months not long after i got them due to injury. so i'll say once a week last april-may and once a week (sometimes skipping some weeks) last fall through now. but i've had this issue since i first got them.

 

[tstop4me]

I use the standard Edea laces and that's what's always recommended.

Ah, the classic agentless passive voice dodge. Always recommended by whom? By Edea reps? By skaters or coaches who have never tried any other laces? Or by skaters who have performed direct A-B comparisons with other laces?

For that matter, I can confidently state that Ultima blades are always recommended [by Jackson reps, that is ] .

But since the OP is content with his or her current approach, I shall not pursue this matter any further.

 

[gliese]

You've had these for about a year? Have you ever replaced the laces? Edeas are a little different in a few ways, and the laces are meant to be replaced every few months, unlike other brands.

All laces should be replaced every few months. It's not a unique Edea thing.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

All laces should be replaced every few months. It's not a unique Edea thing.

I went pro in 1997. I replace my laces when I feel they need replacing. I usually replace the whole boot before needing new laces! Brilliant marketing strategy, though. Much like "you can't overboot in Edea"...

OP, please consider that you may well be in the wrong boot. They don't appear to be supporting you ankle to the degree that you need to feel comfortable, and if you're not doing much jumping - and singles at that, never mind the triples the Ice Fly is designed for - then I'd highly recommend you get fitted for something that suits your feet, ankles and skating much better. Personally, I hated Edea for the bagginess around the ankle.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

All laces should be replaced every few months. It's not a unique Edea thing.

Yup.
Although I have to say that they wear down very quickly compared to others. I can hardly get them to last a month.

Graf for me can last much longer. (Sorry this reply is a bit unrelated to the topic)

 

[gliese]

I went pro in 1997. I replace my laces when I feel they need replacing. I usually replace the whole boot before needing new laces! Brilliant marketing strategy, though. Much like "you can't overboot in Edea"...

OP, please consider that you may well be in the wrong boot. They don't appear to be supporting you ankle to the degree that you need to feel comfortable, and if you're not doing much jumping - and singles at that, never mind the triples the Ice Fly is designed for - then I'd highly recommend you get fitted for something that suits your feet, ankles and skating much better. Personally, I hated Edea for the bagginess around the ankle.

You're lucky. Mine break after three months. Using Ultima laces (last a while imo) and Risport boots. I replace every two months bc I'm paranoid.

 

[macy]

Ah, the classic agentless passive voice dodge. Always recommended by whom? By Edea reps? By skaters or coaches who have never tried any other laces? Or by skaters who have performed direct A-B comparisons with other laces?

For that matter, I can confidently state that Ultima blades are always recommended [by Jackson reps, that is ] .

But since the OP is content with his or her current approach, I shall not pursue this matter any further.

Hey tstop, I messaged you but not sure if you saw- what are the laces you mentioned earlier?