Wide feet suggestions

Nimyue · Aug 29, 2018

A friend of mine convinced me to get customs with this:

If you spend $1200 on boots and blades, full customs, they can last up to 5 years. That's $240/yr or $20/month.

With full customs, if they aren't working or hurting, if your local fitter can't fix it for you, Harlick will. You can send them back, and they will tweak them. They also keep records over the years, so when you order again, they will apply and mods that you needed the previous time.

That's my 2 cents on customs. When I went to the shop, my fitter kept trying to save me money by finding a stock that would work. I told him I'd rather spend $1200 now and be happy than $600 and have them maybe not end up working.

bunnybarista · Aug 30, 2018

Nimyue said:
A friend of mine convinced me to get customs with this:

If you spend $1200 on boots and blades, full customs, they can last up to 5 years. That's $240/yr or $20/month.

With full customs, if they aren't working or hurting, if your local fitter can't fix it for you, Harlick will. You can send them back, and they will tweak them. They also keep records over the years, so when you order again, they will apply and mods that you needed the previous time.

That's my 2 cents on customs. When I went to the shop, my fitter kept trying to save me money by finding a stock that would work. I told him I'd rather spend $1200 now and be happy than $600 and have them maybe not end up working.

That's a great way to think about it - $20/month makes anything seem doable! My coach has custom Harlicks that are still going strong after 7 years, so at that rate, it's even cheaper. So I'm not opposed to getting full customs, but I want to be 100% sure about my EXACT size and width before going all-in. That probably will mean some trial and error in the $300 range before figuring out the "perfect" fit (if that even exists :drama:

)

treesprite · Aug 31, 2018

Nimyue said:
A friend of mine convinced me to get customs with this:

If you spend $1200 on boots and blades, full customs, they can last up to 5 years. That's $240/yr or $20/month.

That's cheap! Rental skates here are $3 per session, and if a person skates 3 to 4 times a week, it comes to more than half the price of a pair of custom skates. The other half of the cost is worth the facts that the skatea will always be sharpened and fitting correctly with no chance of contamination from the dirty socks of strangers.

Nimyue · Aug 31, 2018

bunnybarista said:
That's a great way to think about it - $20/month makes anything seem doable! My coach has custom Harlicks that are still going strong after 7 years, so at that rate, it's even cheaper. So I'm not opposed to getting full customs, but I want to be 100% sure about my EXACT size and width before going all-in. That probably will mean some trial and error in the $300 range before figuring out the "perfect" fit (if that even exists )

With full customs... you don't need exact size. They trace your feet and take many many photos of your feet. They do many measurements. They might even have you do a foot impression. Then Harlick builds your last. This means they basically make a model of your foot to build a boot around. So my customs are like size 6 on left and size 5.75 on right. Plus they aren't even exact width sizing either as the foot bed is made to exactly match your arch, the ball of your foot, and your heel. You don't need ANY trial and error in cheaper skates. The custom boot is built for your foot exactly.

SmallAminal · Sep 1, 2018

Nimyue said:
With full customs... you don't need exact size. They trace your feet and take many many photos of your feet. They do many measurements. They might even have you do a foot impression. Then Harlick builds your last. This means they basically make a model of your foot to build a boot around. So my customs are like size 6 on left and size 5.75 on right. Plus they aren't even exact width sizing either as the foot bed is made to exactly match your arch, the ball of your foot, and your heel. You don't need ANY trial and error in cheaper skates. The custom boot is built for your foot exactly.

To see what Nimyue is referring to, you can watch this IG post from Harlick about building a custom last to match a client's feet. In this way, they can mirror every bump, bunion, or other anomaly of your foot. This is key because "having a wide foot" doesn't necessarily mean that its just a wider version of a "normal" foot - the width can vary over different sections, as appears to be the case for the OP.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bea4PP-A8KN/?taken-by=harlickskatingboots

hanyuufan5 · Sep 1, 2018

treesprite said:
That's cheap! Rental skates here are $3 per session, and if a person skates 3 to 4 times a week, it comes to more than half the price of a pair of custom skates. The other half of the cost is worth the facts that the skatea will always be sharpened and fitting correctly with no chance of contamination from the dirty socks of strangers.

Plus you'll probably make up for the rest with the faster progress from not being in rental skates or ill-fitting skates, if you think in terms of how many extra lessons and how much extra practice per skill you won't need because you're not doing edge pulls in rental skates that barely have edges like certain people hopefully won't be much longer. (sob)

zjamic · Sep 1, 2018

Have you thought about Edea boots? I will be making the switch once the boots arrive within the week. I have Jacksons and they cause my feet a lot of pain due to the width. However, under recommendation from my coach I went to a skate tech and got lucky. Lucky meaning said skate tech had a pair of Edea boots in a size E in the store for another skater and allowed me to try them on. They. Felt. Wonderful! No pain, granted I have yet to skate in them and the skate tech said to put inserts if there was any arch pain, which is apparently common in Edea.

When I tried on the Edea boots I had room to wiggle my toes and they didnt feel bunched. If you can or want to, I'd say try Edea.

bunnybarista · Sep 5, 2018

Nimyue said:
With full customs... you don't need exact size. They trace your feet and take many many photos of your feet. They do many measurements. They might even have you do a foot impression. Then Harlick builds your last. This means they basically make a model of your foot to build a boot around. So my customs are like size 6 on left and size 5.75 on right. Plus they aren't even exact width sizing either as the foot bed is made to exactly match your arch, the ball of your foot, and your heel. You don't need ANY trial and error in cheaper skates. The custom boot is built for your foot exactly.

SmallAminal said:
To see what Nimyue is referring to, you can watch this IG post from Harlick about building a custom last to match a client's feet. In this way, they can mirror every bump, bunion, or other anomaly of your foot. This is key because "having a wide foot" doesn't necessarily mean that its just a wider version of a "normal" foot - the width can vary over different sections, as appears to be the case for the OP.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bea4PP-A8KN/?taken-by=harlickskatingboots

Thank you both! That is very helpful. I always wondered how they did it. (Boot magicians!) I don't think I will be pursuing fully custom skates just yet, but when I do, Harlick seems like a great option.

zjamic said:
Have you thought about Edea boots? I will be making the switch once the boots arrive within the week. I have Jacksons and they cause my feet a lot of pain due to the width. However, under recommendation from my coach I went to a skate tech and got lucky. Lucky meaning said skate tech had a pair of Edea boots in a size E in the store for another skater and allowed me to try them on. They. Felt. Wonderful! No pain, granted I have yet to skate in them and the skate tech said to put inserts if there was any arch pain, which is apparently common in Edea.

When I tried on the Edea boots I had room to wiggle my toes and they didnt feel bunched. If you can or want to, I'd say try Edea.

Thanks for the input on Edea - I'm surprised to hear that they worked well for your wide feet. Is the E a custom size? I've only heard that Edea is very narrow. Plus, I have to say, I hate the way Edeas look and how they seem to be such a trendy boot. Of course that doesn't mean they wouldn't be comfortable, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

bunnybarista · Sep 5, 2018

A small update: I saw my fitter this week and we stretched out the toebox on my current skates to give me some time to figure things out. I haven't been able to skate since the stretching, but I'm excited to see if my toes will feel happier. If yes, then I'll "only" have to worry about my heel slipping around.

In addition to various Jackson models, we tried a Risport and a Riedell. Riedell was totally wrong for my foot, and the Risport was also kind of weird. The Jacksons felt much better. I tried a split-width C/D 5.5 and here comes the frustrating part: the 5.5 is too short, and the 6 (that I'm in right now) is too long! It's just a minute difference between the boots but somehow they seem like they're totally different sizes. We discussed getting a 5.5 and stretching it, both lengthwise and width-wise. Unfortunately I wouldn't know for sure how it would feel on the ice, or after being stretched, until purchasing them and mounting a blade, at which point I'm basically locked in for good...

I'm happy that I got to try two other brands - at least now I've tried 50% of the big brands! (Still missing Harlick, Sp-Teri, and Edea.) That experience has made me feel much better about staying with Jackson (at least for the moment) and just playing around with stretching and semi-customs for now.

zjamic · Sep 5, 2018

bunnybarista said:
Thanks for the input on Edea - I'm surprised to hear that they worked well for your wide feet. Is the E a custom size? I've only heard that Edea is very narrow. Plus, I have to say, I hate the way Edeas look and how they seem to be such a trendy boot. Of course that doesn't mean they wouldn't be comfortable, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

From where I got mine (had to travel down near my college to get the Edea boots because the skate tech down there knew more about them and my coach could go with me her being closer) the skate tech told me that an Edea C width was like a Jackson B width, which I can attest it the 245 C Edea boot felt a bit more roomier than my Jackson C width. The E isnt custom made, but if the skate shop or closest Edea distributor does not have E width boots then said E width boots have to be ordered in from Italy.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Edea because it meant adjustment and such and such, and I had to get a shorter blade

, but my coach strongly suggested it. So, I told myself if I made the money within a certain time frame, then I'd get Edea boots. Needless to say, I am very happy with the boots. After only a session on the ice, since getting new blades put on (bless the skate tech for having the blades I wanted in stock at the shop), I feel good on the ice. Jumps feel nice, though timing of edge jumps and spins are a little off (that's mostly due to new blades and maybe the footbed being lower than Jacksons)

I wish you luck on finding new boots!

Nimyue · Sep 6, 2018

If OP has heel slipping issues in Jackson, she's going to have worse heel slipping in Edea.

The more advanced your skills get the more frustrating heel slippage is going to get. It's absolutely infuriating actually lol. I can't backspin at all because my heel comes up so much in my boot that by the time I can get the back of the blade off the ice, I'm on my toe pick. Plus you waste so much energy trying to jump up but having your heel go up. Not to mention the instability can cause injury.

Ugh I can't wait for my customs to get here already. I thought my skates would be fine for a while... Then once I got to getting all my single jumps but axel and trying to work on getting them higher and faster... it's just so difficult having my heel move.

DanseMacabre · Sep 6, 2018

Nimyue said:
If OP has heel slipping issues in Jackson, she's going to have worse heel slipping in Edea.

They might but they also might not. I had heel slippage problems in Jackson but none in my current Edeas. I think it had less to do with the width of those particular boots than the overall shape. The interior construction of my Concertos hugs the contours of my foot and ankle better than the (properly fitted) Jacksons both before and after heat molding both pairs of boots.

treblemakerem · Sep 6, 2018

Ive always had problems with heel slippage, so I got these cheap silicone heel sleeves which really helped me. Before I needed up tying my skates too tight in order to get the heels tight enough. The only problem is it's a little tough to get my skates on without them bunching up. They do take up a little space, which is a good thing in my case because my toes had a little bit too much wiggle room before, but might squish your toes if they were already tight there. Anyway they only cost around $5 so might be worth a try.

bunnybarista · Sep 6, 2018

treblemakerem said:
Ive always had problems with heel slippage, so I got these cheap silicone heel sleeves which really helped me. Before I needed up tying my skates too tight in order to get the heels tight enough. The only problem is it's a little tough to get my skates on without them bunching up. They do take up a little space, which is a good thing in my case because my toes had a little bit too much wiggle room before, but might squish your toes if they were already tight there. Anyway they only cost around $5 so might be worth a try.

Are you talking about gel ankle sleeves, like bunga/silipos? I use those religiously to prevent pain and lacebite, and I actually feel like they make my heel slippage WORSE because I can't get fully into the heel cup (or that's how it feels). My fitter seemed a bit surprised by this. I wish we could x-ray my feet in the boots to see what exactly is going on in there...

treblemakerem · Sep 6, 2018

The ones I have aren't ankle sleeves. They only go over the heel. I tried some different Bunga-pad like things and none of them worked for me (I didn't want to spend the money on actual Bunga pads because I wasn't sure they would work). These are the ones I have:
https://m.romwe.com/us/Silica-Gel-A..._rJjBX-wxoCVVgQAvD_BwE&ref=us&rep=dir&ret=mus

I got mine on ebay not from here and they came with this one and a slightly thicker one, but I liked the thinner one better which I believe is this one.

bunnybarista · Sep 6, 2018

treblemakerem said:
The ones I have aren't ankle sleeves. They only go over the heel. I tried some different Bunga-pad like things and none of them worked for me (I didn't want to spend the money on actual Bunga pads because I wasn't sure they would work). These are the ones I have:
https://m.romwe.com/us/Silica-Gel-A..._rJjBX-wxoCVVgQAvD_BwE&ref=us&rep=dir&ret=mus

I haven't seen that kind of heel sleeve before - thanks for the link! I will look into it. I can definitely imagine that it's hard to get your foot into the skate without them bunching up.

Nimyue · Sep 7, 2018

This has to really depend on how much smaller your heel is. This is why I recommend a fitter first. My fitter assumed I had a B or C heel and tried to get me in a variety of stock boots... nothing doing. I have AAA heel and E ball. I've had my Jacksons' heels pinched and that helped a little, but not enough. If OP gets measured and her heel is a B or C, she can probably find some sort of stock boot that will work or even semi-customs. But if it's more than 2 size differences between ball and heel, you're in customs.

Wide feet suggestions

Nimyue

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

treesprite

Nimyue

SmallAminal

hanyuufan5

✨＊:。

zjamic

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

zjamic

Nimyue

DanseMacabre

treblemakerem

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

treblemakerem

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

Nimyue

Similar threads

Connect with us

Wide feet suggestions

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

✨*＊:。*

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~

Similar threads

✨＊:。