Need some skate/boot info for a fairly new skater

[KristenK]

Hi All. I'm looking on some help with on information on beginner/Recreation skates. I just decide to get back to skating at least once or twice a month for some exercise by going to my local rink for plubic skate on the weekends. I do have a old pair or reidell's that I had since late 90's (1997 maybe) that are a size 9. I know back then when wore them the sides of arches hurt when I skated in them after 15 minutes. So, I'm looking on getting a new pair skates. I did try calling some of my local rinks to see if they do fittings but, none of them do them anymore other than me putting my foot on the measure stick and the pro shop guy telling that I don't trusts those things.

I do have low to no arches on my feet with wide feet (around the ball my foot measures about 9 1/2). I do have the roman foot shape (toes slanting down from the toe next to the big toe.
I do measure a 7 in a reidell skate but, can't fit my foot in the boot. So, I was thinking on getting the Reidell Horizon in a size 9. I do have yellow superfeet to put in and are the Horizon's heat molding??

Just need a little more help/info!!!!!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Hi All. I'm looking on some help with on information on beginner/Recreation skates. I just decide to get back to skating at least once or twice a month for some exercise by going to my local rink for plubic skate on the weekends. I do have a old pair or reidell's that I had since late 90's (1997 maybe) that are a size 9. I know back then when wore them the sides of arches hurt when I skated in them after 15 minutes. So, I'm looking on getting a new pair skates. I did try calling some of my local rinks to see if they do fittings but, none of them do them anymore other than me putting my foot on the measure stick and the pro shop guy telling that I don't trusts those things.

I do have low to no arches on my feet with wide feet (around the ball my foot measures about 9 1/2). I do have the roman foot shape (toes slanting down from the toe next to the big toe.
I do measure a 7 in a reidell skate but, can't fit my foot in the boot. So, I was thinking on getting the Reidell Horizon in a size 9. I do have yellow superfeet to put in and are the Horizon's heat molding??

Just need a little more help/info!!!!!

hi and welcome! With your foot description, you need a Jackson boot.

What is your height/weight so we can suggest a proper stiffness boot for you.

 

[KristenK]

I’m 43 and my height is about 5’7 and my weight is around 255lbs. I was also looking into getting Jacksons since i read that jacksons has wider toe boxes

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I’m 43 and my height is about 5’7 and my weight is around 255lbs. I was also looking into getting Jacksons since i read that jacksons has wider toe boxes

No stock set is going to work for your stats, they will simply not be stiff enough.

 

[KristenK]

No stock set is going to work for your stats, they will simply not be stiff enough.

I figure that. All im just want is something to just skate around during public skate at local rink. Not looking to do anything fancy like spins or take a class.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

It doesn't matter what you plan on doing in them. The rec skate sets are not going to be stiff enough for you based on height/weight.
The highest stiffness of Jackson set is the freestyle at 40/45 stiffness. You'd break them down too quickly even skating around in circles, and I'd hate to see you injure yourself. But feel free to do as you wish.

 

[silverlily1]

Okay, so since you haven't really been given an answer, I'll try to give something. For just skating around, try Jackson Debut boots.

For blades, you won't need a lot. A Jackson Ultima Mirage or Aspire XP will be fine. Maybe even a Mark IV. But if you decide to take lessons you may have to upgrade your boots and blades sooner than you might otherwise want to. Those aren't great blades for spins or turns. (I do know a lightweight 12-year-old doing axels and beginner doubles on Mark IVs, but she has no idea what she's missing - she will as soon as she gets new boots, very soon, and I expect there will be a massive jump in skill level with that change.) These boots will also break down faster than higher level/stiffness boots once you get to the stage of starting to jump or bend.

Your boots should be tight. Snug. Not cutting off circulation, not squishing your toes, but snug. Your boot can always be punched out by your fitter to accommodate tight points from side to side (not in length, but everywhere else). Punching out is preferable to getting a larger boot. So I'm not sure why you would want to jump up two whole sizes just because the size you measure to is too tight. Half a size up is more appropriate. Jacksons come in multiple widths as well, so aim to get the proper width rather than adding length to make the overall skate bigger (and the boot now getting too long).

You will want to go to a proper figure skate fitter. Don't trust an arena skate shop to mount and sharpen your blade. Proper blade alignment is important for safe skating, and a hockey sharpener shouldn't be trusted to sharpen figure skate blades.

You will be so much better off than wearing those worn-out, dull rentals. Good luck!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Okay, so since you haven't really been given an answer, I'll try to give something. For just skating around, try Jackson Debut boots.

For blades, you won't need a lot. A Jackson Ultima Mirage or Aspire XP will be fine. Maybe even a Mark IV. But if you decide to take lessons you may have to upgrade your boots and blades sooner than you might otherwise want to. Those aren't great blades for spins or turns. (I do know a lightweight 12-year-old doing axels and beginner doubles on Mark IVs, but she has no idea what she's missing - she will as soon as she gets new boots, very soon, and I expect there will be a massive jump in skill level with that change.) These boots will also break down faster than higher level/stiffness boots once you get to the stage of starting to jump or bend.

Your boots should be tight. Snug. Not cutting off circulation, not squishing your toes, but snug. Your boot can always be punched out by your fitter to accommodate tight points from side to side (not in length, but everywhere else). Punching out is preferable to getting a larger boot. So I'm not sure why you would want to jump up two whole sizes just because the size you measure to is too tight. Half a size up is more appropriate. Jacksons come in multiple widths as well, so aim to get the proper width rather than adding length to make the overall skate bigger (and the boot now getting too long).

You will want to go to a proper figure skate fitter. Don't trust an arena skate shop to mount and sharpen your blade. Proper blade alignment is important for safe skating, and a hockey sharpener shouldn't be trusted to sharpen figure skate blades.

You will be so much better off than wearing those worn-out, dull rentals. Good luck!

The OP has stated they are 255 lbs. There is no way a Debut will be stiff enough.

 

[Diana Delafield]

I’m 43 and my height is about 5’7 and my weight is around 255lbs. I was also looking into getting Jacksons since i read that jacksons has wider toe boxes

You can get Jackson boots in a range of widths as well as lengths, but their boot-and-blade sets for recreational skating are not going to be stiff enough for you. If we seem to be pushing you to spend more than you want for stiffer boots, it's because we're concerned about you getting injured in weak boots intended for children. I was rinkside one day idly watching a public session while waiting for someone, and saw a man lacing his wife's new skates up right out of the box. When she stood up, I saw she was much taller than I (I'm about 5'3"). She wobbled to the gate, holding her husband's hand, and he helped her onto the ice. I don't think she took more than two strokes before her ankles buckled underneath her and down she went. When last seen, she was being taken off the ice on a stretcher to an ambulance. The rink manager told me the next day he'd heard she had broken an ankle and torn ligaments in her knee. Please look into boots in as high a stiffness level as you can get, for your safety's sake!

 

[KristenK]

Right now i’ve only skated in my old riedell’s that are at least 25 years old (i don’t even remember the model of them) once 2 weeks ago after not skating for about 11 years and i did a lot of skating when i was in high school back in the late 90’s when i got my reidells just going once a week for public skating in the winters. Anyway I normally like to going skating in fall/winter.

 

[RineX]

I don't really know much about this, but if you're just planning to go forward around the rink, what about hockey skates? I'm guessing they probably have beginner sets geared towards larger heavier adult men (plus all that protective gear can't be that light) etc so maybe there may be an option there? You'd have to do your research about that and maybe ask in some more hockey focused forums though. Good luck!

 

[Query]

I hope you don't run into any impolite people who say bad things about your weight. Lots of somewhat heavy people skate.

Pairs skaters (whose combined weight is sometimes over 255 pounds, effectively more during throws) use figure skates to support their combined weight. (Of course, I doubt many - if any - pairs skaters use rec level skates...) You could call Jackson customer support and ask whether any of their higher level boots can take your weight and provide adequate support for recreational skating. I bet they do, since jumping increases forces by much more than a factor of two. I assume Ic3Rabbit was just saying recreational skates aren't supportive enough (and maybe not sturdy enough), not that there are no boots and blades that will work.

And I'm sure that reasonably good quality blades, which have to be designed to take adult weight jumps, could take your weight if you don't jump. If you keep tripping over the toepicks, and can't learn not to, you or a skate tech can trim the toepicks a little bit - though "real" figure skaters hate that, and it isn't reversible.

Of course many boot makers are willing to pre-mount blades, assuming a center mount. So you aren't limited to recreational level boot/blade pairs.

But much better to visit a competent pro shop. They could hopefully do a better job of adjusting blade mount to you, maybe replace the insoles with something that fixes the arch pain. And they might do a better job of sharpening your blades.

In what area do you live? Someone could hopefully suggest a good pro shop. Sometimes you have to travel a bit out of the area for that. If no one here knows of a good pro shop within a few hours drive of you, Jackson customer support might make a suggestion for that too.

Perhaps the arch pain existed because the prior boot's footbeds were designed for people with moderate height arches. E.g., perhaps you only had passive contact under one side of the feet, so you were creating contact by constant muscle overuse. Or perhaps you were overstretching muscles or connective tissue. So perhaps replacing the insoles with something that compensated for the insole misfit (e.g., cut your own from closed cell foam, such as from a camping pad, and make them thinner around the arches) would fix the problem. Or visit a podiatrist or orthotist to have them create using an custom spec "orthotics". (Not cheap.) A really good pro shop person might be able to do much the same thing. SuperFeet are well made sturdy products, but they aren't customized to fit the individual skater and boots.

(Of course there are other possibilities. E.g., maybe the shape of the feet and boots didn't match where it hurt. To some extent that might be fixed too.)

Whether or not the c. 1997 pair of boots would still be usable, and provide adequate support, is a separate question. Especially if they were rec skates. But if they were very good quality boots, are still in good shape, and mostly fit, maybe all that is needed is proper insoles or orthotics. For now. A good pro shop can help you figure that out.

Perhaps switching to hockey skates is a bigger change than is needed. You need a fair amount of practice to balance them.

Regardless, I hope you know how to fall safely. If not, take a few private lessons to learn, and practice safe falls enough to make them instinctive. And there is nothing wrong with wearing safety equipment.

 

[tstop4me]

I assume Ic3Rabbit was just saying recreational skates aren't supportive enough (and maybe not sturdy enough), not that there are no boots and blades that will work.

<<Emphasis added.>>

You don't need to assume what she was saying. She said it explicitly, succinctly, and clearly; X2. No room for ambiguity that could be interpreted as "there are no boots and blades that will work".

No stock set is going to work for your stats, they will simply not be stiff enough.

It doesn't matter what you plan on doing in them. The rec skate sets are not going to be stiff enough for you based on height/weight.
The highest stiffness of Jackson set is the freestyle at 40/45 stiffness. You'd break them down too quickly even skating around in circles, and I'd hate to see you injure yourself. But feel free to do as you wish.

 

[tstop4me]

I do have a old pair or reidell's that I had since late 90's (1997 maybe) that are a size 9.

Right now i’ve only skated in my old riedell’s that are at least 25 years old (i don’t even remember the model of them) once 2 weeks ago after not skating for about 11 years and i did a lot of skating when i was in high school back in the late 90’s when i got my reidells just going once a week for public skating in the winters. Anyway I normally like to going skating in fall/winter.

I'm old enough to remember the classic Riedells of yore: from my first pair of 220s in the late 1960's to my last pair of Royals in the late 1990's. They didn't change much over those decades. Old-school leather, built like a tank. Bloody calves were routine initiation rites for break-in.

Anyway, they started to thoroughly revamp and expand their line ~early 2000's. You will find that the boots in current rec skate kits (regardless of brand) are nothing like your old boots.

 

[Query]

I don't know about Royals, but over the years, Riedell has changed boot styles and fit a lot. In the early 2000s or so they had a huge number of models with many different shapes and stiffnesses, some of which fit me reasonably well, without substantial or painful modification or break in, despite my wide toes. I still have a pair that I with quad wheels mounted, that gave me no such fit problems. Then for some reason they drastically cut back on the number of models and shapes, e.g., specializing in narrow toes. I'm not sure why. I first bought a slightly used 1990s pair of single layer leather Riedell skates that worked quite well for me after a stretch fit (much like some modern dance and climbing shoes) - but kept stretching and broke down quickly.

And long before then there were boots designed to quickly mold to your feet in a hot tub. And some with internal clay - you molded them to your feet, then baked them in a kiln. I was told that worked quite well, though it sounds implausible.

 

[Query]

tstop4me, the places you cite ic3Rabbit, she only says that no "stock set", or "rec skate sets" would work at the o.p.'s weight. Ic3Rabbit did not indicate in this thread that there did exist figure skating boots and blades that could take the o.p.'s weight and provide the ankle support to prevent the types of injury (such as ankle sprains and strains) that are rather common in skating, or allow a skater to avoid constantly falling.

The existence of figure skating boots and blades that are adequate to those needs is what I was mainly explicitly adding. Presumably ic3Rabbit thought that was implicit, but a relatively inexperienced skater might conceivably have assumed otherwise. Especially After RineX suggested the o.p. consider hockey skates.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

tstop4me, the places you cite ic3Rabbit, she only says that no "stock set", or "rec skate sets" would work at the o.p.'s weight. Ic3Rabbit did not indicate in this thread that there did exist figure skating boots and blades that could take the o.p.'s weight and provide the ankle support to prevent the types of injury (such as ankle sprains and strains) that are rather common in skating, or allow a skater to avoid constantly falling.

The existence of figure skating boots and blades that are adequate to those needs is what I was mainly explicitly adding. Presumably ic3Rabbit thought that was implicit, but a relatively inexperienced skater might conceivably have assumed otherwise. Especially After RineX suggested the o.p. consider hockey skates.

I think you are completely misreading what @tstop4me is saying. They are basically agreeing with me and emphasizing why.

 

[Query]

I think you are completely misreading what @tstop4me is saying. They are basically agreeing with me and emphasizing why.

He somewhat misread what I was saying. His post appeared to assume I hadn't read what you had said. I had. And I didn't disagree with what you said. So he didn't need to repeat it.

But what tstop4me thought I had read or not read doesn't matter. What mattered to me was the concerns of KristenK (the original poster). The comments that had been posted, taken together, might have been interpreted by a relatively inexperienced skater to mean that no skates were available that would meet KristenK's requirements. (After all, a lot of sports equipment is only available for a very limited range of body sizes and shapes.)

But in this case, we have no reason to believe there are no skates that will work. The skater can probably find boots and blades that will work well, with the help of a good fitter. Unless there is another issue.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

He somewhat misread what I was saying. His post appeared to assume I hadn't read what you had said. I had. And I didn't disagree with what you said. So he didn't need to repeat it.

But what tstop4me thought I had read or not read doesn't matter. What mattered to me was the concerns of KristenK (the original poster). The comments that had been posted, taken together, might have been interpreted by a relatively inexperienced skater to mean that no skates were available that would meet KristenK's requirements. (After all, a lot of sports equipment is only available for a very limited range of body sizes and shapes.)

But in this case, we have no reason to believe there are no skates that will work. The skater can probably find boots and blades that will work well, with the help of a good fitter. Unless there is another issue.

Yeah Supremes or Primes or Custom skates.