I'm an adult skater and I think I need boots but....

[orodriguez13]

I have some questions about stiffness and whether getting new possibly pricey boots will be worth it. I am about 5'7" and 125 lbs lady and currently wear Risport Antares (stiffness: 30, has straight cut MK flight blade w/ 8ft rocker) in a size 260 . I began skating about a year and a half ago and am currently working on learning my single jumps and improving my scratch spins which resemble curly fries . However, over time I realized I got too big of a size because the boot gradually spaced out and I've needed to tie my laces tighter and constantly retie them because either my arches hurt, heels slip up, or just feel too soft and unstable. I can bend my ankles very well in them and the boots crease and bulge.

Unfortunately I live in the middle of nowhere in CA and live 5 hours from Los Angeles and 2 hours from San Jose. Fortunately, I do visit SJ occasionally but am ignorant to any boot fitters in the area...other then Sharks Ice but I'm not sure how decent they are. The shop at my rink is mostly run by an older gent who I think knows more about hockey skates then figure skates. He sized me (I bought my first skates online and sized myself, :disapp: I know) and told me my size in Jacksons is 7.5 and offered to order Jackson freestyle fusion ($299, stiffness: 45, comes with aspire xp blade) or Jackson Premier Fusion ($399, stiffness: 65, no blade). The only pair available to try on were Jackson Elles (felt amazing and comfy around the balls of my feet! ) but I didn't order anything because I'm a college student and I really dont want to order the wrong skates and continue to suffer.....in a more costly way. My current Risports are too long and my shop guy thinks they are also too narrow as I have wide feet. I can definitely tell they are too tight in the toe area. I hope this is why my spins are so bad :sad21:

Now, with the first boots he suggested me, they are more affordable but I'm not sure if they are stiff enough and if I'll eventually run into similar problems in having to tighten them more and more over time. Also, I do like my current blades (I'm not sure how different they are from the aspire xp) but I don't know if I will be able to remove the aspire blade and replace it with my current MK blade. I think the size 10 blades I have on my current boots will be a match for 7.5 Jacksons but correct me if I'm wrong.
For the Jackson premieres, since the boots stiffness is 35 more then what I have now, will it be too big of a change? I don't think I have weak ankles and I know these stiffness ratings are aimed more at children but I dont want to overestimate myself. My shop guy told me the stiffer the boot, the longer they last but I'm not sure how true that is and whether I'll be setting myself up for an injury or never breaking them in. Also, since they do not come with blades, I would have to make do with what I have now until I save up for blades. The premier fusion in my size also needs size 10 blades but in the charts I found listing sizings, there is a additional sole length category for this boot that says 10 1/8 for a boot that is size 7 1/2. I'm not sure what that means. I got my sizing charts from skaterslanding. Can't post link since I've be banned for spam


So many choices and much $$$$. I feel like either I totally suck at skating or my boots are holding me back. Probably a mixture of both. I don't have a coach and sometimes take group lessons but I find the coaches for them a bit difficult to approach to ask for advice. There aren't any really experienced adult skaters at my rink; mostly kids and their coaches, so I feel like I don't have anyone to ask for advice.

Also, I've tried on the Reidells (unknown model) they had at my shop but I found them to be heavy and pinching around the ankle.

I appreciate any advice and apologize for any grammar/punctuation errors as I messed up my sleeping schedule and it was almost 4 am when I wrote this

tldr: either me or my boots suck and my wide frog feet seem to like jacksons. Is 65 too big of a jump in stiffness from 30? Skip to paragraph 2 for more details.

 

[Sibelius]

Jackson has two boot only models lower than the Premiere. One is brand new and called the Entre. It is marked at a stiffness of 40 for ladies boots. The other is the Debut, marked at 50 for ladies, and is very stiff (my 11 year old has warn them for over a year). As far as Bay Area fitters, the Figure Skating Pro Shop in at Ice Oasis in Redwood City is great at fitting, but is a bit of a challenging personality. If you go there make sure to set an appointment. It's a good place since they will fit you and take you out on the ice to make sure everything is ok. If you can go to South San Francisco, George Spiteri at Sp-Teri fits lower level Jackson boots, and is much easier to deal with. It might take a couple of trips to either place to get sized, ordered, fittted, punched, but it would be well worth the trip. You won't get much of a fitting at Sharks Ice, they don't carry much and they don't have a good reputation for fitting.

https://jacksonultima.com/collections/boots/products/entre-fusion

https://jacksonultima.com/collections/boots/products/debut-fusion-firm-2450

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I have some questions about stiffness and whether getting new possibly pricey boots will be worth it. I am about 5'7" and 125 lbs lady and currently wear Risport Antares (stiffness: 30, has straight cut MK flight blade w/ 8ft rocker) in a size 260 . I began skating about a year and a half ago and am currently working on learning my single jumps and improving my scratch spins which resemble curly fries . However, over time I realized I got too big of a size because the boot gradually spaced out and I've needed to tie my laces tighter and constantly retie them because either my arches hurt, heels slip up, or just feel too soft and unstable. I can bend my ankles very well in them and the boots crease and bulge.

Unfortunately I live in the middle of nowhere in CA and live 5 hours from Los Angeles and 2 hours from San Jose. Fortunately, I do visit SJ occasionally but am ignorant to any boot fitters in the area...other then Sharks Ice but I'm not sure how decent they are. The shop at my rink is mostly run by an older gent who I think knows more about hockey skates then figure skates. He sized me (I bought my first skates online and sized myself, :disapp: I know) and told me my size in Jacksons is 7.5 and offered to order Jackson freestyle fusion ($299, stiffness: 45, comes with aspire xp blade) or Jackson Premier Fusion ($399, stiffness: 65, no blade). The only pair available to try on were Jackson Elles (felt amazing and comfy around the balls of my feet! ) but I didn't order anything because I'm a college student and I really dont want to order the wrong skates and continue to suffer.....in a more costly way. My current Risports are too long and my shop guy thinks they are also too narrow as I have wide feet. I can definitely tell they are too tight in the toe area. I hope this is why my spins are so bad :sad21:

Now, with the first boots he suggested me, they are more affordable but I'm not sure if they are stiff enough and if I'll eventually run into similar problems in having to tighten them more and more over time. Also, I do like my current blades (I'm not sure how different they are from the aspire xp) but I don't know if I will be able to remove the aspire blade and replace it with my current MK blade. I think the size 10 blades I have on my current boots will be a match for 7.5 Jacksons but correct me if I'm wrong.
For the Jackson premieres, since the boots stiffness is 35 more then what I have now, will it be too big of a change? I don't think I have weak ankles and I know these stiffness ratings are aimed more at children but I dont want to overestimate myself. My shop guy told me the stiffer the boot, the longer they last but I'm not sure how true that is and whether I'll be setting myself up for an injury or never breaking them in. Also, since they do not come with blades, I would have to make do with what I have now until I save up for blades. The premier fusion in my size also needs size 10 blades but in the charts I found listing sizings, there is a additional sole length category for this boot that says 10 1/8 for a boot that is size 7 1/2. I'm not sure what that means. I got my sizing charts from skaterslanding. Can't post link since I've be banned for spam


So many choices and much $$$$. I feel like either I totally suck at skating or my boots are holding me back. Probably a mixture of both. I don't have a coach and sometimes take group lessons but I find the coaches for them a bit difficult to approach to ask for advice. There aren't any really experienced adult skaters at my rink; mostly kids and their coaches, so I feel like I don't have anyone to ask for advice.

Also, I've tried on the Reidells (unknown model) they had at my shop but I found them to be heavy and pinching around the ankle.

I appreciate any advice and apologize for any grammar/punctuation errors as I messed up my sleeping schedule and it was almost 4 am when I wrote this

tldr: either me or my boots suck and my wide frog feet seem to like jacksons. Is 65 too big of a jump in stiffness from 30? Skip to paragraph 2 for more details.

You definitely need new boots because yours sound beyond broken down, and with your weight/height I'm surprised they lasted this long because you should have been in at least a 45 stiffness to start.

I would stick with Jacksons for now (make sure with a good fitter that is what works for your foot, and I wouldn't see a 65 stiffness out of the picture for you, just be aware it will be a bit to get used to the stiffness after being in your overly broken down 30 rated boots. I would look into one of the Bay area fitters that Sibelius suggested.

Also, you may want to look into an intermediate level blade: MK Pro or JW Coronation Ace, 7 ft rocker and will help you with your spins, if you end up getting a boot/blade combo you can always switch the stock blade out for one of the ones I just suggested.

Good luck!

 

[orodriguez13]

Jackson has two boot only models lower than the Premiere. One is brand new and called the Entre. It is marked at a stiffness of 40 for ladies boots. The other is the Debut, marked at 50 for ladies, and is very stiff (my 11 year old has warn them for over a year). As far as Bay Area fitters, the Figure Skating Pro Shop in at Ice Oasis in Redwood City is great at fitting, but is a bit of a challenging personality. If you go there make sure to set an appointment. It's a good place since they will fit you and take you out on the ice to make sure everything is ok. If you can go to South San Francisco, George Spiteri at Sp-Teri fits lower level Jackson boots, and is much easier to deal with. It might take a couple of trips to either place to get sized, ordered, fittted, punched, but it would be well worth the trip. You won't get much of a fitting at Sharks Ice, they don't carry much and they don't have a good reputation for fitting.

https://jacksonultima.com/collections/boots/products/entre-fusion

https://jacksonultima.com/collections/boots/products/debut-fusion-firm-2450

Thanks for the advice! I will definitely check out those boots. The Debut's especially interest me but its hard to find someone who is my weight and at my level who has these to get their opinion.

Thanks for letting me know about George Spiteri! He's actually going to be in Dublin next week so I'll definitely give him a call. If I'm lucky my drive will be shorter. *fingers crossed*

 

[orodriguez13]

You definitely need new boots because yours sound beyond broken down, and with your weight/height I'm surprised they lasted this long because you should have been in at least a 45 stiffness to start.

I would stick with Jacksons for now (make sure with a good fitter that is what works for your foot, and I wouldn't see a 65 stiffness out of the picture for you, just be aware it will be a bit to get used to the stiffness after being in your overly broken down 30 rated boots. I would look into one of the Bay area fitters that Sibelius suggested.

Also, you may want to look into an intermediate level blade: MK Pro or JW Coronation Ace, 7 ft rocker and will help you with your spins, if you end up getting a boot/blade combo you can always switch the stock blade out for one of the ones I just suggested.

Good luck!

I've done a little research and both of those blades seem awesome. I'm drawn to the MK pro as they look a little less intimidating....I'm a bit worried over the transition period since my new boots will be shorter, stiffer, and the blade will have a shorter rocker. I guess that's my own fault :noshake:

 

[WednesdayMarch]

I've done a little research and both of those blades seem awesome. I'm drawn to the MK pro as they look a little less intimidating....I'm a bit worried over the transition period since my new boots will be shorter, stiffer, and the blade will have a shorter rocker. I guess that's my own fault :noshake:

Do not worry about it. I went from a boot that was 1.5 sizes too large and had a fairly low heel, to the (then) top Risport, which had a much higher heel and was narrower and smaller. Initially I felt like I was skating in high heels and it was very different, but that's all it was - different. Within a very short space of time - literally a few minutes - I could feel how much better my skating was going to be with the smaller boots. I also had a completely different style of blade but that was fine, too. Don't worry too much about it. Having the right equipment makes for a much better skating experience all round. Enjoy.