Blade Science Brand Blades

[SmallAminal]

Has anyone used Blade Science blades or seen them in real life?
I had never heard of these but they showed up on my FYP on TikTok. They almost look like Revolution style blades with a donut "cushsion" (or two).

Out of curiosity, I went to their website. They claim to be "the world's first cushion blade" and tout the supposed benefits of lower impact and higher jumps.

It appears to be made of several components: a frame, blade runner, and the cushions/shock-absorbers. Not sure what the blade profile is like, but they only have two options: Dual cushioning and single cushioning. They also say that you save money b/c you can reuse the frame and replace the runners and the shock-absorbers.

I've attached a picture - definitely *never* seen these out in the wild. If you have these or know someone who does, please share your experience!

 

[tstop4me]

Never heard of them before. My initial reaction to your photo: A pair of in-line roller skates were left in a driveway and got run over by a truck; then parts were salvaged and got mounted by Dr. Frankenstein onto an Ice Fly boot.

 

[3rdGen]

Has anyone used Blade Science blades or seen them in real life?
I had never heard of these but they showed up on my FYP on TikTok. They almost look like Revolution style blades with a donut "cushsion" (or two).

Out of curiosity, I went to their website. They claim to be "the world's first cushion blade" and tout the supposed benefits of lower impact and higher jumps.

It appears to be made of several components: a frame, blade runner, and the cushions/shock-absorbers. Not sure what the blade profile is like, but they only have two options: Dual cushioning and single cushioning. They also say that you save money b/c you can reuse the frame and replace the runners and the shock-absorbers.

I've attached a picture - definitely *never* seen these out in the wild. If you have these or know someone who does, please share your experience!

View attachment 7640

Never heard of these. What strange picks! They don't look safe to me, and if they claim to be good for jumping, why do they have a short dance tail? Somebody has been tinkering in his basement workshop with a box of spare parts. Just having a website doesn't make this a legitimate company.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Has anyone used Blade Science blades or seen them in real life?
I had never heard of these but they showed up on my FYP on TikTok. They almost look like Revolution style blades with a donut "cushsion" (or two).

Out of curiosity, I went to their website. They claim to be "the world's first cushion blade" and tout the supposed benefits of lower impact and higher jumps.

It appears to be made of several components: a frame, blade runner, and the cushions/shock-absorbers. Not sure what the blade profile is like, but they only have two options: Dual cushioning and single cushioning. They also say that you save money b/c you can reuse the frame and replace the runners and the shock-absorbers.

I've attached a picture - definitely *never* seen these out in the wild. If you have these or know someone who does, please share your experience!

View attachment 7640

First I've ever heard of this "company". These look like something a hobbyist would come up with to use skating on your own frozen-hosewater backyard rink. They look like dance blades, with the cut-off tail and the funny little picks, so I certainly wouldn't try to jump in them . Do the rubber doughnuts, or whatever they are, go ka-sproing if you were to jump, and catapult you up? Thanks, but if I'm going to do an assisted jump, I'd rather it was my pairs partner giving me the extra lift! I'll take a pass on these.

 

[tstop4me]

Not basement tinkerers. Appears to be a group of researchers from several Swedish universities. Here's a publication referenced on their website:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/14763141.2022.2063757?needAccess=true

 

[Diana Delafield]

Not basement tinkerers. Appears to be a group of researchers from several Swedish universities. Here's a publication referenced on their website:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/14763141.2022.2063757?needAccess=true

But do they actually skate themselves, one wonders? (My husband was a research scientist at several Canadian universities as we moved around the country, and some of the inventions his colleagues came up with in all sorts of fields weren't based on the needs of the real world. To their surprise if this was pointed out to them ) Are there videos anywhere of a skater actually using the blades?

[Edit]: Now that I've had time to read the article, I see they did use some [young male] skaters in some part of their research, so it's worth reading about. If competitive skaters start to use blades like this, I'm sure there will be controversy, similar to when the use of blades by runners in parasports began. Maybe this is the wave of the future. They still need to refine it more to get away from the pond skater look, and I don't plan to try them myself. I'll ask my niece in private. She's still in competition for another country and lurks here on GS without ever speaking up. She lives in Europe and coaches a bit to pay for her skating, maybe she's heard of them there.

 

[outside edge enjoyer]

I've seen these, but really only online. There's someone at my rink who had them mounted to a pair of his boots at some point and posted about them on Instagram a while back, but I've only ever seen him actually skate on traditional JW blades (not sure which model) for months and as recently as a few days ago. I may ask him what he thought of them, just out of personal curiosity...

 

[SmallAminal]

I've seen these, but really only online. There's someone at my rink who had them mounted to a pair of his boots at some point and posted about them on Instagram a while back, but I've only ever seen him actually skate on traditional JW blades (not sure which model) for months and as recently as a few days ago. I may ask him what he thought of them, just out of personal curiosity...

I am so curious what they think! Particularly what the cushiony-donut-thing does and whether those picks actually did anything to allow a toe-assisted jump.

They look like it would be impossible to do any kind of catch foot spin with these.

 

[tstop4me]

They look like it would be impossible to do any kind of catch foot spin with these.

Actually they made it easier to do a catch foot spin: You just insert a finger into the hole of the heel donut. They just haven't figured out how you release the spin afterwards.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Actually they made it easier to do a catch foot spin: You just insert a finger into the hole of the heel donut. They just haven't figured out how you release the spin afterwards.

I can envision someone getting her finger stuck in the doughnut, and the first aid attendants having to come out on the ice to help because she couldn't get to the boards using just one foot. A video clip of that would live forever on youtube .

 

[kolyadafan2002]

I am so curious what they think! Particularly what the cushiony-donut-thing does and whether those picks actually did anything to allow a toe-assisted jump.

They look like it would be impossible to do any kind of catch foot spin with these.

I remember on instagram (I think Graham Newbury) trying them out at one point. I also remember seeing on Instagram Jonathan Egyptian using them.

Agree with others - the toepick is very confusing to me. I also aesthetically don't see them taking off, even if they had identical specs to traditional blades. It's not like ice skates, you can't hide the blade - and they stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[Elija]

I just had a look at their Instagram, and they have videos of quite a few skaters doing triples in them, so clearly they do work. Pretty weird looking, although it does seem you can remove the donut things. A lot of people in their pictures just had one donut in the back. Don’t think I’ll be trying them though haha.

 

[SmallAminal]

Agree with others - the toepick is very confusing to me. I also aesthetically don't see them taking off, even if they had identical specs to traditional blades. It's not like ice skates, you can't hide the blade - and they stick out like a sore thumb.

I just checked their Insta and saw a close up of the toe pick - I have NEVER seen anything quite like that. The pic below is from the website but you can still see its really weird.

 

[SmallAminal]

Actually they made it easier to do a catch foot spin: You just insert a finger into the hole of the heel donut. They just haven't figured out how you release the spin afterwards.

The actual literal definition of a "catch foot" spin

 

[kolyadafan2002]

I just checked their Insta and saw a close up of the toe pick - I have NEVER seen anything quite like that. The pic below is from the website but you can still see its really weird.

View attachment 7649

I just don't understand what they are going for, or what they think this achieves...

 

[WednesdayMarch]

I saw somebody on Instagram wearing them and raving about them. But then I see people wearing and raving about wildly inappropriate equipment all the time, even when it clearly has a less than helpful effect on their skating, so...

 

[asimov]

My daughter began using these a month ago and initially, for the first few days, she experienced some difficulty with tripping over the toe pick during jumps involving the toe. However, after a period of 1-2 weeks, she adjusted to them, ensuring her technique surpassed a 90-degree angle. The blades are crafted from stainless steel, with a design that’s both parallel and flat, simplifying the sharpening process, which I handle myself. The customer service has been outstanding, offering prompt and helpful responses. I’ve observed that the cushioned blade has some vertical movement, which seems to contribute positively to reducing the impact upon landing. As my child grows, the only requirement will be to replace the blade runner, not the entire blade($999), which is cost-effective at $350.

 

[emilinkaa]

I've seen a girl with them at my rink, but I don't know her and I personally find them so ugly that I'm not going to even ask about them.

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

I think the Revolution blades look VERY nice and cool, but this .... is just too strange/bizarre for my taste, especially these round things in the middle of them. To me it is as if this is an inline staking thing that changed its mind in the middle of being made and decided to become a figure skating blade. I wouldn't use them. And the toe pick looks like something my husband has in his tool box, not something I want around my figure skates. But to each its own, maybe it's great, cool and useful to others.

 

[Timskate]

Came across this thread and had a good laugh! As I've been using these blades for almost a year now, I thought I'd share my opinion. These blades have been a game-changer for me in all aspects.

In terms of skating, I never felt ice so smooth under my feet! You can clearly feel the effect of the cushions, I'm guessing the shock absorbers take away all the imperfections of the ice. I also feel like I can maintain speed and spins for longer without doing extra pushes, due to the lower vibrations generated during glide.

What I love most about these blades are the soft landings! Definitely an upgrade compared to regular blades. with these, it's like landing on clouds! I was always injured with my knees due to too much training over the years, but landing on these blades has taken the pain away completely, it's incredible!

I am a national-level skater and perform all triple jumps daily, and I had ZERO problems adapting to the toe pick. As I chose the profile of my old blades, it really felt natural, and I almost didn't have the feeling that I was on other blades, besides the incredible comfort that these blades offer. The length of the blade is standard freestyle length. I think the heel just looks shorter due to the different construction of the blade.

In my opinion, these blades look super cool, futuristic, and very revolutionary compared to the stuff out there at the moment. Hopefully, they will change the skating landscape, same as Aura with their boots.