Are my Jackson Freestyles breaking down, or is it normal wear and tear?

[AdultBeginnerEng]

I (25M) started learning to skate in April this year, and got my own skates after a few weeks due to experiencing pain in rentals. For context, I'm approx. 5'8" and around 120kg/260lbs and ended up with Jackson Freestyles after a virtual fitting with Everglides. I'm not currently jumping or spinning, just learning 3 turns and crossovers. I've got Roman-like feet type with high arches.

Since getting them, I've had on and off issues. I have quite high arches, so initially had insoles in them for high arch support.

After a couple of months I was experiencing a lot of pain in the ball/arches of my feet while skating. Taking out the insoles seemed to remedy this, but with the downside of losing that arch support. Since then I've tried some Superfeet insoles, but they didn't help and still gave me pain.

Right now, I've settled to wearing the first insoles for high arches for my left foot (where I think I've got a higher arch - without it and in normal shoes I can feel a gap between my arch and the shoe/sole of the boot), but I have to tie my skates very loosely (really no tightening at all, but bringing the laces through to lay flat) until the last eyelet and the hooks at the ankle where I tie them much tighter for support, without cutting off circulation.

As this is my first pair of figure skates, I'm not sure if perhaps I've been sized completely wrong causing these issues, if the boots are just wrong for my foot and it's causing early breakdown (I skate 2-3 times a week, anywhere between 1.5-5hrs a week depending) or if these issues are just part of finding the right skate and learning to skate and the creases I've noticed in my skate aren't actually break down at all.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Hi and welcome! A few things are happening here IMHO.
First of all, with your height/weight, you should not be in Freestyles b/c they are designed for kids and guys under 100 or so lbs. You need a much higher stiffness and that would require a separate boot/blade. Also from looking at your insoles and feel like you need a wider boot, your feet look too crushed in them.
Hearing how your feet and arches are, I would have put you in a Risport, not a Jackson.

This why I am not a fan of virtual fittings. If you are in the UK, @WednesdayMarch can suggest who to have fit you in person at Everglides.

Good luck!

 

[AdultBeginnerEng]

Hi and welcome! A few things are happening here IMHO.
First of all, with your height/weight, you should not be in Freestyles b/c they are designed for kids and guys under 100 or so lbs. You need a much higher stiffness and that would require a separate boot/blade. Also from looking at your insoles and feel like you need a wider boot, your feet look too crushed in them.
Hearing how your feet and arches are, I would have put you in a Risport, not a Jackson.

This why I am not a fan of virtual fittings. If you are in the UK, @WednesdayMarch can suggest who to have fit you in person at Everglides.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for your reply.

Regarding a separate blade, what would you recommend? Does weight matter with blades as it does with boots?

I had a quick look at the Risport catalog but noticed that all their black skates only come in one width (e.g. the Royal Prime and
RF 1 Elite only come in C width) Is their standard width wider than the Jackson standard width?

I noticed Edea for example have a number of widths available, but they have to be special ordered. Although I'm assuming from your recommendation that Edea mightn't work for my feet?

In the virtual fitting I was told by the fitter that they considered the standard Jackson width to basically be "extra wide" in comparison to other brands which is why we went with the standard width.

I am in the UK, although in the Midlands so quite a bit away from Everglides which is why I did the virtual fitting at first (I don't have a car so would be relying on public transport to get there).

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Thank you very much for your reply.

Regarding a separate blade, what would you recommend? Does weight matter with blades as it does with boots?

I had a quick look at the Risport catalog but noticed that all their black skates only come in one width (e.g. the Royal Prime and
RF 1 Elite only come in C width) Is their standard width wider than the Jackson standard width?

I noticed Edea for example have a number of widths available, but they have to be special ordered. Although I'm assuming from your recommendation that Edea mightn't work for my feet?

In the virtual fitting I was told by the fitter that they considered the standard Jackson width to basically be "extra wide" in comparison to other brands which is why we went with the standard width.

I am in the UK, although in the Midlands so quite a bit away from Everglides which is why I did the virtual fitting at first (I don't have a car so would be relying on public transport to get there).

You don't need anything like a royal prime, that is top of the line and for elites and skaters doing at least triples.
The only brands that would work would be (in order) Risport then if desperate Jackson but not a stock boot/blade combo. Stay away from Edea and Riedell (they're too narrow and also Edea has a different type of ankle. You may be able to try Graf, but I doubt it would work for your feet.

As far as blades, an intermediate standard blade like John Wilson Coronation Ace or MK Pro.

 

[AdultBeginnerEng]

You don't need anything like a royal prime, that is top of the line and for elites and skaters doing at least triples.
The only brands that would work would be (in order) Risport then if desperate Jackson but not a stock boot/blade combo. Stay away from Edea and Riedell (they're too narrow and also Edea has a different type of ankle. You may be able to try Graf, but I doubt it would work for your feet.

As far as blades, an intermediate standard blade like John Wilson Coronation Ace or MK Pro.

Note that they were just examples from their catalog, but all of their black skates are advertised to only come in one width (C).

Thanks very much for your advice.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Note that they were just examples from their catalog, but all of their black skates are advertised to only come in one width (C).

Thanks very much for your advice.

Regular (so, width is A/B. Wide is C/D overall. Risport goes to C. Jackson goes to C/D in many boots.

Regular width (Sometimes referred to as Medium) is A/B, Wide is C/D overall. Risport goes to C, Jackson goes to C/D in many boots. What width did you get your current boots in?
You may be able to go with a wide width (D) Jackson Premiere Fusion 2802 (mens) which would be a better stiffness rating for you as well at 69 rating.

If you were put in a medium/regular width Jackson then the C width of the wide Risport would work. Look at RF3 Pro if that is the case. Risport is better for high arches (that's what I wear) but you are going to have to go with what fits your foot best with the width.

 

[AdultBeginnerEng]

What width did you get your current boots in?

The Freestyles are advertised to come in "Medium" (M) or "Wide" (W), and mine are "Medium".

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

The Freestyles are advertised to come in "Medium" (M) or "Wide" (W), and mine are "Medium".

You need a wide boot. And one that is stiffer than Freestyles hence my suggestions above.

 

[AdultBeginnerEng]

Update:

I had a fitting and tried on Jackson Premier and Risport RF3 Pro. The Risport felt more comfortable, especially the heel in comparison to the Jackson which I wouldn't have called uncomfortable before. Unfortunately they only had white in stock so I've had to order a black pair in. If it looks like Risport won't get them in the next few months I'll go back and just get the white instead.

Also went with Coronation Ace.

In the meantime we heat moulded the freestyles again and punched out the sides to add some more width to bide me some more time until I can get the RF3s.

 

[AdultBeginnerEng]

Last update:

Risport said they will be starting production on their new 2024 design of the RF3 Pro in April.

Since that is when they are starting production, and who knows how long it will take for then to actually be in stock in the shop I preordered them, I've made an appointment to go back and get the white pair.

Also, anecdotally, I messaged another popular skate shop (which has been mentioned on here a few times) about what waits they generally expect from Risport for orders such as this. They said that black Risport are not generally stocked in the UK and for them they are always special orders which they generally expect to take 6 months on average to be fulfilled.

 

[SK4T3]

Risport said they will be starting production on their new 2024 design of the RF3 Pro in April.

Interesting; It's one of my most favorite model. Do you have a source?

 

[AdultBeginnerEng]

Interesting; It's one of my most favorite model. Do you have a source?

Nothing in print. My source is my correspondence with Everglides regarding my preorder, they contacted Risport on my behalf to get a timeline and that was their response. Their exact wording was "It will be the 2024 RF3 design (newest design available)". Given that its the same model name though I'm not expecting much of a change...

 

[IceM]

Welcome to the pain of getting black skates in men's sizes

Disclaimer: Not a pro fitter. But, I'm going to go on a limb and guess you might not have enough width at the forefoot, while at the same time not having enough space around your high arch or navicular bone (typically these go hand in hand). It's a nasty situation, where your forefoot is getting crushed, raising your already high arch (nav bone), while the boot's tongue is pushing the arch (nav bone) down, which puts pressure both on the arch as well as the already crushed forefoot.

The former can be remedied by punching and stretching. The latter is harder to fix. Risports should be better in that regard, as they have more space for the high arch, as well as for a supportive insole.

A classic leather boot like RF3 Pro is going to give enough hardness to start with. Although a boot with a synthetic upper (like the Royal line) might give more options for reshaping the boot (although getting a boot that doesn't really fit and trying to reshape it is not ideal anyway).

Let us know how it goes, I hope the pain gets fixed. Good luck!