Comp in 4 weeks; enough time for new boots?

[trubble]

Adult skater, 6' 185lbs, singles through lutz. Skating adult pre-bronze FS in a month.

My 10 mo old Debuts have been breaking down for a little while, in recent weeks I've been losing support on landings. I can tough out some of the worst of them, but it's a lot on my quads to do what is basically a kickback squat every couple jumps lol. I went to the fitter last week, they recommended and ordered Supreme 5300s, they'll arrive this week.

The current plan is to re-use my CA blades, so using the debuts will no longer be an option if I do move forward. My lessons are Thursdays, so I'm hoping to schedule the swap for later Thurs/Fri to max out my break in time before the following lesson. I can get 5-6 hours/week max in before the comp, but it could be as low as 3-4/week. So I'll have 10-12 hours on them at the least and 15-20 at the most before competing. On the other hand, another month with my boots and I'm really unsure how much worse they'll have broken down, which is obviously it's own potentially dangerous situation. Hoping to get a little more insight than what googling for advice on this has gotten me so far. Is 3 weeks or so a realistic timeline? If it's really rushed, is the risk/reward better anyway than skating on boots that are breaking down?

 

[Diana Delafield]

Adult skater, 6' 185lbs, singles through lutz. Skating adult pre-bronze FS in a month.

My 10 mo old Debuts have been breaking down for a little while, in recent weeks I've been losing support on landings. I can tough out some of the worst of them, but it's a lot on my quads to do what is basically a kickback squat every couple jumps lol. I went to the fitter last week, they recommended and ordered Supreme 5300s, they'll arrive this week.

The current plan is to re-use my CA blades, so using the debuts will no longer be an option if I do move forward. My lessons are Thursdays, so I'm hoping to schedule the swap for later Thurs/Fri to max out my break in time before the following lesson. I can get 5-6 hours/week max in before the comp, but it could be as low as 3-4/week. So I'll have 10-12 hours on them at the least and 15-20 at the most before competing. On the other hand, another month with my boots and I'm really unsure how much worse they'll have broken down, which is obviously it's own potentially dangerous situation. Hoping to get a little more insight than what googling for advice on this has gotten me so far. Is 3 weeks or so a realistic timeline? If it's really rushed, is the risk/reward better anyway than skating on boots that are breaking down?

Is the fitter going to attach the blades where you already know you want them, and heat-mould the boots similar to your current boots? I've coped with new boots in that number of hours, but maybe that's just me. Is there another option where you try the new boots plus the old blades, and if they're not working for you, having the fitter re-attach the old blades to the old boots (which would have had their breakdown progression halted while you tried the new boots)?

 

[tstop4me]

My 10 mo old Debuts have been breaking down for a little while, in recent weeks I've been losing support on landings. I can tough out some of the worst of them, but it's a lot on my quads to do what is basically a kickback squat every couple jumps lol. I went to the fitter last week, they recommended and ordered Supreme 5300s, they'll arrive this week.

The bad news is that the Supreme 5300 will take a lot more break-in time than your Debuts, or other boots. That's mainly because of the 6K tongue, lined with compressed felt instead of sponge foam. Check out this previous thread for problems with the tongue popping out during initial break-in: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/boot-advice-for-narrow-ankles.94877/post-3094652. (Read the entire thread for background and context.)

I have the men's version (Supreme 5362). I solved the problem by switching to different laces, changing the lacing pattern, and breaking-in the boots off-ice as much as possible (get a pair of new hard blade guards to protect the blade edges and flex the boots as much as possible off-ice; simply wearing the boots while watching TV won't do much). The previous thread I cited has some guidance. My final guidance on laces and lacing pattern is given here: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/loose-laces-on-skating-boot.96925/post-3208773. (That thread is for Risport boots, but the instructions I gave are the same as the ones I finally used for my Jacksons.)

By the way, my tech told me that other (female) skaters have had similar tongue problems with the 5300. They tried to resolve it with multiple heat moldings. But that didn't work (probably for the reason I discussed in my first cited post).

Good Luck!

 

[trubble]

Is the fitter going to attach the blades where you already know you want them, and heat-mould the boots similar to your current boots? I've coped with new boots in that number of hours, but maybe that's just me. Is there another option where you try the new boots plus the old blades, and if they're not working for you, having the fitter re-attach the old blades to the old boots (which would have had their breakdown progression halted while you tried the new boots)?

Oh that's a great idea! I will have to ask. she said we had options for helping the new ones break in (I'm assuming some punch outs/spot molding) but it's a bit of a hike for me so I don't want to make the trek a ton if I can avoid it. I hadn't considered this route though, if it comes down to it, I don't see why we couldn't give that a shot.

And yes, the plan is to do a basic heat mold the day the blades are mounted, she mounted my current pair and they have been perfect. I'm assuming we'll still do temp mounts just to make sure and then if it feels right I can go see any of the techs at the shop's closer location to have more screws put in.

The bad news is that the Supreme 5300 will take a lot more break-in time than your Debuts, or other boots. That's mainly because of the 6K tongue, lined with compressed felt instead of sponge foam. Check out this previous thread for problems with the tongue popping out during initial break-in: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/boot-advice-for-narrow-ankles.94877/post-3094652. (Read the entire thread for background and context.)

I have the men's version (Supreme 5362). I solved the problem by switching to different laces, changing the lacing pattern, and breaking-in the boots off-ice as much as possible (get a pair of new hard blade guards and flex the boots as much as possible off-ice; simply wearing the boots while watching TV won't do much). The previous thread I cited has some guidance. My final guidance on laces and lacing pattern is given here: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/loose-laces-on-skating-boot.96925/post-3208773. (That thread is for Risport boots, but the instructions I gave are the same as the ones I finally used for my Jacksons.)

Ah, fun! I figured it might take a little longer because of the jump in boot stiffness but didn't even consider the tongue construction making it behave completely differently. In the long run at least, a much stiffer tongue is going to be a welcome change compared to the way I've been "melting" on landings the last month or so

I actually read your laces and lacing pattern post a few weeks ago when I was looking for ideas on how to get more stability in my current boots. I started running through laces faster than normal this summer which was my first sign the boots were going bad and I needed to do something different to keep stability in the mid foot. I had experimented with a couple methods, but your method, particularly the lock wrap at the top of the eyelets before the hooks is so good! I'll definitely refer back to your post again once I have the boots in hand (on feet?), thank you!

 

[trubble]

Thank you so much Diana and tstop for the confidence to go forward! I'm so glad I did!

I have two skates down on them now and they feel amazing. We went ahead and put the permanent screws in the same day as mounting since it was the same alignment as before, which was a standard center alignment anyway. I did a few laps and a few one foot glides for the tech and it felt and looked right so we went for it. I sat in them for nearly half an hour after baking to make sure they cooled completely, and they feel perfectly snug but not painful. no blisters so far, knock on wood. The tongue is quite stiff like you said, tstop, but I've had no problem with crossovers or stepping forward on back inside open C steps which I was kind of nervous about tbh. My only complaint is that the liner is a little bit "grabbier" than the liner in the debuts, so I end up having to futz around with how tight/loose my socks are before putting my foot in. I'm sure this will diminish with time. Just need to lace them the way I prefer and i'll really be set.

I've been able to do all my jumps, and we did move the blade mount front to back - now it's right up to the toe whereas it was ever so slightly set back on my old skates. scratch spins have come way easier having the rocker actually under the ball of my foot I'm so so glad I made the switch even with the competition looming, I've got no concerns about them hindering me now, especially with a few more weeks still to get used to them. Thanks again you two!!

 

[tstop4me]

Thank you so much Diana and tstop for the confidence to go forward! I'm so glad I did!

You're very welcome. Knock 'em dead at the competition.

 

[trubble]

forgot to add the final update..

I won my group! Had a solid skate. liner isn't so grabby, tongue sits nicely, I can safely say they are fully broken in.

now considering what blades i'll move to next. stick with CA or move to something more advanced.. don't really need to think too hard about that for a little while though, got some life in my blades yet