Beginner blades advice Edea Rotation vs MK Flight

[Lucie]

Hi everyone! This is my first time posting but I’ve learned a lot from this forum already. I’m an adult starting LTS, I’ve skated recreationally in the past and come from a ballet and dance background, but I’m now inspired to learn properly and I’d like to eventually do Skate UK Star in both free and dance, but for now I just want to get the fundamentals solid.

Thanks to this forum I went and got properly fitted at a place that has good reviews. They fitted me in Edea Overture with the Edea Rotation blades (the Risport Electra Light were also a good fit but slightly less comfortable and the fitter advised as a beginner to go for the more comfortable boot). Before this I was wearing badly fitted Riedell 121s with Sapphire blades (bought years ago as a set) which were difficult to control and barely moved on the ice, my fitter said this was because they had been fitted too long to make up for them being too narrow for me, she said the Sapphire was a beginner blade but made no other comment than that. She didn’t talk to me about blades before mounting them and as a beginner I just trusted that the ones she picked were appropriate, after mounting them she mentioned that the Edea Rotation ‘came with’ the Edea Overture boot and so were included in the price, she also said that it has 1/2” ROH and she thought that would be appropriate for me.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of info out there about the Edea Rotation blade, but the few mentions of it on this forum have all said that it’s not a good blade. I know I need a beginner blade to help with balance so I don’t mind that it has a flat profile and no real spin rocker, but I am concerned that it may impede my progress if there’s something about it that makes it not as good a blade as equivalent level blades such as the MK Flight or the Ultima MK IV.

Could someone tell me if there is much difference between all these entry level blades other than that the MK Flight has a 7/16” ROH? Would I be better off asking my skate tech to fit an MK Flight instead, or an Ultima MK IV as it an 1/2” ROH like the Edea Rotation?

 

[tstop4me]

I'm not qualified to comment on Edea Rotation vs. MK Flight. With respect to your concerns on ROH:

* As a beginner, you should be fine with either 1/2" or 7/16". You probably won't appreciate the difference at this stage.

* The ROH can be changed by the skate tech. In most (not all) commercial sharpening machines, the sharpening wheel can be dressed to a ROH specified by the skater. So if you have a preference for a particular ROH, just let your skate tech know what you want. If you want to try out a different ROH later, you can do that too. Just try not to flip-flop too often.

* The factory edges on new blades (even advanced ones) often are mediocre. It's common for a skate tech to sharpen new blades. So regardless of what the factory default ROH is, just let the skate tech know what you want.

 

[Lucie]

I'm not qualified to comment on Edea Rotation vs. MK Flight. With respect to your concerns on ROH:

* As a beginner, you should be fine with either 1/2" or 7/16". You probably won't appreciate the difference at this stage.

* The ROH can be changed by the skate tech. In most (not all) commercial sharpening machines, the sharpening wheel can be dressed to a ROH specified by the skater. So if you have a preference for a particular ROH, just let your skate tech know what you want. If you want to try out a different ROH later, you can do that too. Just try not to flip-flop too often.

* The factory edges on new blades (even advanced ones) often are mediocre. It's common for a skate tech to sharpen new blades. So regardless of what the factory default ROH is, just let the skate tech know what you want.

Hi, thanks for your reply, that’s all useful to know

 

[Elija]

Hi, as mentioned above , ROH is not unique to a specific blade, it’s how the sharpener chooses to sharpen it. You can ask for whatever suits you best, although you won’t know this at the start, so I wouldn’t worry about it. The blade you mentioned should be fine for learning basic skills. I teach adults learn to skate and have several in my group with the same setup - they are learning one foot spins, toe loop and salchow without issue. I do think once you start jumping thought it’s probably worth upgrading to an intermediate blade. For many people this can take a year or more, so no point worrying about it just yet. You may be able to keep the same boots and just switch the blades later on, depending how many screws are currently in the boot etc.

 

[Lucie]

The blade you mentioned should be fine for learning basic skills. I teach adults learn to skate and have several in my group with the same setup - they are learning one foot spins, toe loop and salchow without issue. I do think once you start jumping thought it’s probably worth upgrading to an intermediate blade. For many people this can take a year or more, so no point worrying about it just yet.

That’s good to know thanks, I was concerned that all the comments about the Edea Rotation blade being ‘bad’ might mean it would make learning things more difficult for me than it might be

 

[WednesdayMarch]

I'm one of the people who loathes the Edea Rotation blades. But it should be remembered that I was a pro skater and when I tried a pair of Overtures with Rotation blades, I found them nigh on impossible to skate on. The skater to whom they belonged, however, had done perfectly well on them in her early LTS stages and, in all probability, would have been scared senseless had she been on something with the type of blades I use! Don't worry about them for the initial stages, just swap them up for a nice pair of Coronation Ace or MK Professionals when you get to spinning on one foot and you'll be progressing properly. Enjoy the journey!

 

[Lucie]

I'm one of the people who loathes the Edea Rotation blades. But it should be remembered that I was a pro skater and when I tried a pair of Overtures with Rotation blades, I found them nigh on impossible to skate on. The skater to whom they belonged, however, had done perfectly well on them in her early LTS stages and, in all probability, would have been scared senseless had she been on something with the type of blades I use! Don't worry about them for the initial stages, just swap them up for a nice pair of Coronation Ace or MK Professionals when you get to spinning on one foot and you'll be progressing properly. Enjoy the journey!

Hi and thanks for replying! That makes sense that any beginner blade would feel bad to an experienced skater who is used to much more manoeuvrable blades. I’ve noticed that they don’t seem to glide very well, although that could just be my lack of skill, but they do seem to have good stability which I’m liking at this stage. Thanks for the advice, it’s good to know the point when I need to get an intermediate blade and it sounds like the Coronation Ace or the MK Pro are what everyone recommends so I’ll definitely be going with one of them when the time comes!

 

[Lucie]

An update for anyone who might be interested! I’ve since had the opportunity to skate on the Edea Balance and the MK Flight as well as the Edea Rotation as I was changing boots anyway, my new boots came with a balance blade which I have to say I hated.
I traced the profiles of all 3 next to each other on paper, the balance and flight have profiles which appear identical to my eyes, the rotation is very slightly curvier. To skate on the balance and the flight feel feel miles apart despite apparently having the same profile. The balance is even worse than the rotation, the rotation I could get by in but the balance were just awful, I could barely get them to move and when they did they sometimes changed edge or direction under me especially going backwards, which I don’t think was solely due to my technique as it didn’t happen on the rotation blades, they also acquired a couple of dings after 2 uses despite me always wearing guards etc, I can only assume that the metal is rather soft and Edea do not say what their blades are made of only that they are chrome plated.
I have had the balance blades switched out for MK Flights and oh my goodness the difference! Heaven to skate on by comparison and I’m making progress much faster. All I can think is that there must be visibly imperceptible differences in them due to the metal quality and manufacturing process that cause such a difference in feel on the ice. Their only downside is that my 2 foot turns are not as easy as they were in the rotation blades as they are flatter, but they are coming back as I adapt to them and that was the only thing that was good in the rotations.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Thank you so much for the update! All very interesting information! I'm not surprised the MK Flights are better. Personally, I'd stick with either MK or John Wilson blades from now on. There's a reason they are the most popular brands and have been for so long.

Happy skating!