- Joined
- Jun 6, 2019
I can throw on any brand of skates and jump a triple within an hour of wearing them.
That doesn't make it an ideal boot for me.
Yuzuru hanyu probably goes through a pair of boots every month. He can afford to, and is sponsored by edea. The average skater cannot.
My biggest gripe with edea is the strength just doesn't last within the skate. The reason they sell so well is that when you try them on in the shop, they are extremely comfortable. They are easy to sell. In the shops near me shop workers shove all skaters into edea, and they feel comfortable wearing them, so it's a quick sell and quick $$$, as opposed to other brands that might take longer to feel comfortable in, but fit the skater better and offer better support to the skater.
I know people who go in edea and swear by them for years, learn all triples in them (and break them down notoriously quickly). Then they try jackson/resort, moan for a couple weeks about how awful it is, then start finding everything easier once the boot is broken in, and don't have to change boots as often.
If you are given free boots, then a good skater is able to make that equipment work. And edea, as a company, sponsor a ridiculous amount of skaters (from novice level). Those skaters adapt to the boots, and after years in them when they become seniors, it's too much hassle to change them.
Edea for me have their place, for people suited to Edea. But I hate that they've become the default for what is a much more nuanced market.
If I were in edea, I'd probably go for concerto. The material in ice flies degrades ridicously quickly and breaks ridiculously easy (hardly lasts a couple months for me). In general, the quality of the materials seems to be not of the standard I'd expect.
Here's why people switching from other brands may specifically like them at LTS level:
Even if edea don't fit your foot type properly, they usually don't cause much pain. If jackson or risport or graf etc don't fit, they can cause awful pain and difficult to use. If they were badly fitted in another brand, then moved to edea maybe they'd notice an improvement. But, maybe if properly fitted in another brand, it'd be even better for them and their performance.
Secondly, the looser ankle is something that newer skaters might find less painful/easier to bend in. Other brands are difficult sometimes to break in relative to Edea, and people who particularly struggle with breaking in the more supported kneebend skates find it less of a struggle to bend in edea (instead of pushing to break in a skate properly, or strengthening ankle/kneebend to do so).
On the topic of kneebend:
If I put on a pair of ice flies, they are easy to bend in. Great. But more supported/resisted kneebend makes takeoff easier, reduces injury potential in landings, allows for gripper edging etc. At least in my experience.
Anyways those are my two cents, or maybe four cents. Correct me if I've made mistakes.
