Help with buying beginner first skates for wide feet | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Help with buying beginner first skates for wide feet

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Yes, of course. I'm just using my personal experience. I'm making my own suggestion and I'm not attacking you. There is no one-size-fits-all. The post I was replying to said that they did not know much about Riedell skates and I was simply trying to offer my experience with Riedell skates. And obviously, if the foot requires it, there is no way around a custom skate. I never said that anyone was suggesting to buy crazy expensive totally custom skates, I was just saying that it's not necessary to, for a beginner. (In most cases.)

Also, I don't mean to sound rude here but who are you? You have said that you know what you're doing and others in this thread have mentioned you. Do you run a skate shop or something? (I'm not doubting your credentials, I'm just wondering)
I know you weren't initially attacking me, but now I kind of feel like that's tipped a bit.

The way things were stated in the post I addressed made it sound like and would have mislead a new skater into thinking that everyone's suggestions which have been mostly on are wrong and to never consider a semi-custom b/c it's unnecessary.

Last but not least, I don't own a skate shop but have enough experience from many years in skating and elite international and now professional for years that I know my stuff, it's something that's earned along the way. I've probably tried or tested about every boot brand, most styles and blades in my career. That is all you need to know about me.
Not to sound rude but, who are you? Do you feel comfortable with being asked the invasive question you asked me? No probably not, so let it go. And no, I'm not being rude.
 

Ic3Rabbit

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You'd be surprised how many people require semi-custom skates. Sometimes this can be hacked around with a good skate tech who can add padding or stretch out certain brands of skates, however without this technology (it's hard to find a tech who can do it well), so many people require semi-custom: anyone with a foot that is much wider than their heel who can't wear a Jackson, anyone with significantly different sized feet, anyone with a small heel, etc.

Her user title says she's an elite and professional skater.
Thank you anika
 

Minz

It's not over till it's over
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I know you weren't initially attacking me, but now I kind of feel like that's tipped a bit.

The way things were stated in the post I addressed made it sound like and would have mislead a new skater into thinking that everyone's suggestions which have been mostly on are wrong and to never consider a semi-custom b/c it's unnecessary.

Last but not least, I don't own a skate shop but have enough experience from many years in skating and elite international and now professional for years that I know my stuff, it's something that's earned along the way. I've probably tried or tested about every boot brand, most styles and blades in my career. That is all you need to know about me.
Not to sound rude but, who are you? Do you feel comfortable with being asked the invasive question you asked me? No probably not, so let it go. And no, I'm not being rude.
Again, I did not mean to attack you. And I apologize if I made you feel like it. In my post, I said totally custom, not semi-custom. I am not saying that you should never consider semi-custom and I did not intend to make it sound like that. I understand what you were trying to tell me. But I have seen total beginners who have fully custom skates, ie. have a totally custom boot built for them. I was trying to convey that a semi-custom would usually work and a totally custom skate would most likely be unnecessary. (Not suggesting that the OP was going to do this or that anyone said to, just offering my own advice).

And, by who are you, I did not mean that in a personal way. I am sorry for that. I don't doubt your experience/credentials, but since I don't understand what I assume is French I do not know anything about you. I did not know that you were an elite/professional skater. You said that you know your stuff and I just wanted to know how. Again, it's not that I don't trust you, I was simply curious especially because others were mentioning you for advice in this thread. Asking who are you was a bad way of saying that, I just couldn't think of a better way to rephrase that at the time. I did not mean to sound invasive. That was not my intention, and if I upset you, I apologize.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Again, I did not mean to attack you. And I apologize if I made you feel like it. In my post, I said totally custom, not semi-custom. I am not saying that you should never consider semi-custom and I did not intend to make it sound like that. I understand what you were trying to tell me. But I have seen total beginners who have fully custom skates, ie. have a totally custom boot built for them. I was trying to convey that a semi-custom would usually work and a totally custom skate would most likely be unnecessary. (Not suggesting that the OP was going to do this or that anyone said to, just offering my own advice).

And, by who are you, I did not mean that in a personal way. I am sorry for that. I don't doubt your experience/credentials, but since I don't understand what I assume is French I do not know anything about you. I did not know that you were an elite/professional skater. You said that you know your stuff and I just wanted to know how. Again, it's not that I don't trust you, I was simply curious especially because others were mentioning you for advice in this thread. Asking who are you was a bad way of saying that, I just couldn't think of a better way to rephrase that at the time. I did not mean to sound invasive. That was not my intention, and if I upset you, I apologize.
Fine.

Truce.

I will tell you though, many times there are beginners that do need a totally custom boot because of foot issues or shape or a million other reasons. So, you can't always judge that.
 

Minz

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Fine.

Truce.

I will tell you though, many times there are beginners that do need a totally custom boot because of foot issues or shape or a million other reasons. So, you can't always judge that.
Truce.

Yeah, I guess you can't. Do many beginners actually buy the custom boot or do they try to stick it out with stock ones? I know that totally custom can be pretty expensive.....
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Truce.

Yeah, I guess you can't. Do many beginners actually buy the custom boot or do they try to stick it out with stock ones? I know that totally custom can be pretty expensive.....
If one can stay in a stock they do, but if you need a custom for whatever reason with your feet, then you do and have no choice lol.
 
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Minz

It's not over till it's over
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If one can stay in a stock they do, but if you need a custom for whatever reason with your feet, then you do and have no choice lol.
No, you don't have a choice. But if I didn't know anything and someone told me that I needed to pay upwards of $1000 for a fully custom boot just to learn how to do crossovers or 2 foot turns I'd probably look at them like they had 4 eyes.
 

gliese

Final Flight
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Oct 31, 2020
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No, you don't have a choice. But if I didn't know anything and someone told me that I needed to pay upwards of $1000 for a fully custom boot just to learn how to do crossovers or 2 foot turns I'd probably look at them like they had 4 eyes.
Fully custom boots at the stiffness level required for a beginner are nowhere near $1,000.
 

Sunshine247

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
@Minz i get what you’re saying. But we do have a skater who was basically just past crossovers but because of her foot shape etc., she had to go with custom Harlicks. Ouch! Her parents certainly are not rolling in the dough. But they knew their skater was passionate and decided it was worth it. That was a bit ago and now she is doing beautiful axels. So yes. It does happen that beginners end up in very expensive skates.

‘On the flip side, I just spoke with a mom at the rink today who spent huge amounts for their daughters skates in some kind of weird competition to spend the most $. Her daughter was way over booted and bladed! I politely disregarded everything she said after that. lol.

There are varying reasons why people do as they do, and you can’t always judge by what you see. But yes. Most people will pay what they think they need to for their kids. Especially if it’s health and safety at stake. Skate boots and blades are that!
 

Minz

It's not over till it's over
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Fully custom boots at the stiffness level required for a beginner are nowhere near $1,000.
Ok, sorry I didn’t know exactly. I just know that at least at an advanced level, custom skates can be upwards of $1000. I suppose it all depends on the skate that you buy
 

Minz

It's not over till it's over
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@Minz i get what you’re saying. But we do have a skater who was basically just past crossovers but because of her foot shape etc., she had to go with custom Harlicks. Ouch! Her parents certainly are not rolling in the dough. But they knew their skater was passionate and decided it was worth it. That was a bit ago and now she is doing beautiful axels. So yes. It does happen that beginners end up in very expensive skates.

‘On the flip side, I just spoke with a mom at the rink today who spent huge amounts for their daughters skates in some kind of weird competition to spend the most $. Her daughter was way over booted and bladed! I politely disregarded everything she said after that. lol.

There are varying reasons why people do as they do, and you can’t always judge by what you see. But yes. Most people will pay what they think they need to for their kids. Especially if it’s health and safety at stake. Skate boots and blades are that!
Thanks. Yeah I mean I’ve skated at multiple places around NYC, where I’m from and I’ve seen a lot of crazy things. I suppose that’s New York for you.. But yeah, if you need custom skates because of foot shape or something, you can‘t help it. But it can be an investment, and you of course want to make sure it’s the right choice. Of course, safety is top priority.
 

Sunshine247

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
@Minz Since I learned by my mistakes mostly and then came here to figure stuff out, I am not an expert by any means, but happy to relate an anecdote here and there. lol. I encourage you to stick around and read up. Search is spotty but if there’s any disicussion on here for the subject you need, you’ll find tons of help from some very knowledgeable people. I’ve been able to deep dive into blade profiles to my nerd hearts content. lol.
 

zjamic

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 1, 2018
Hey there!

I know I'm probably a little late to the game here, but I figure some personal advice wouldn't hurt for the future.

My feet width are 10"- something at the widest, it's been awhile since I got that measurement but my mom says I have Flintstone feet if that helps your mental image. I have done Riedell and Jackson skates, but my current pair are Edea at E width. The moment I put them on to try on it was like holy heaven for my feet because they didn't feel squished at the widest part for once. Are they perfect? No, but for me they work well after my previous skates and you adjust accordingly.

Definitely go to a skate tech/fitter for this because skates are an investment and you want them to last for you. If it wasn't for the one I went to then I would've have had to get fully custom Riedells. Go try them on and see how they feel.

Good luck ⛸
 

shumaislife

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 22, 2021
It looks like lots of us went to the fitter this week, and I have an update too! I finally made it to the fitter and I decided to go with the Jackson Freestyles in 7w. It was actually quite comfortable and the shape is right for my feet. Apparently I have really thin feet, so my feet don't take up as much volume for how wide they look visually. The heat molding hopefully got that all sorted out. Ic3rabbit recommended Debut boots for me if I were to go with Jackson (which the fitter also had in stock), and I do still agree! But the Freestyles fit my current budget and will last me at least until I do jumps. When it's time for jumps, it'll be time for an upgrade.

By the way, I tried on Edeas too, and they were all sorts of wrong for my foot shape. Wow. There was immediate pain, like Anika said there would be. My fitter was very experienced and she said she could shape it for my foot if I really wanted the Edeas... But it just wouldn't make sense to completely rework the boot shape vs getting Jacksons that fit right away. Not to mention, the Jackson Freestyles were much cheaper.

Anyhow, thank you everyone for all your help!! I'm so glad I asked you all before going to the fitter.
 
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