Stay with 8' rocker for intermediate blades or try 7' rocker

[Anya00]

I currently have Mirage blades that I started skating with but was thinking to swap out the blades for some intermediate ones as I now have most of my singles and since my blades need to be moved anyway. I see Ic3Rabbit mainly recommends the MK Pros or Coronation Aces over Matrix Legacies but my one concern is the 8' to 7' switch. I really like the stability of my current blades and am worried after reading accounts of people who made a similar transition thinking the new blades felt super rocky and unstable (esp the MK Pros it seems?) as well as being slow. There was this one time a skate tech slightly messed up the sharpening by making the back of one blade a tiny bit more curved than usual and I hated it so am assuming a 7' rocker might feel similar.

The Matrix legacy seems to be the only 8' intermediate option (I'm assuming gold seals/pattern 99s are too advanced and will hurt more than help me at this point but I'd be happy to be wrong) but I've read that both the Matrix and the Mirage are quite flat. I don't remember ever having issues with tripping over the toepick so I'm not too concerned about that but the one thing that's really making me consider trying out the Pros or Aces instead of the legacy is that I really struggle with spins. I'm hoping this is because of the blade misalignment/pronation issue I posted another thread about but maybe a less flat blade could help there too.

Considering this, should I still try the Coronation Ace or MK Pro instead of the Legacy? If so, how to choose between the two? I know the Aces have a sweet spot slightly further back while the Pros have it closer to the toe and a longer tail but based on what I've mentioned is there one that might sound like a better fit for me than the other?

 

[IceM]

From the Mirage the Legacy 8 is a more natural transition. Jackson profiles tend to be viewed as more flat, and some of it is due to the blades coming either at or slightly flatter than advertised (so you might get a rocker closer to 8.5' in reality) while JW/MK blades tend to come at or slightly rounder (you could get closer to 7.5'). But the main reason is the different stanchion heights, so the blades are different not in profile alone but the mechanics of how they are balanced in terms of the spin rocker. But you're already used to the balance of Jackson blades in those Mirages.

Between MK Pro and CA I would base the choice between if you want a long tail or not. They aren't otherwise drastically different, and there's some variance to the profiles anyway.

There's also non-Matrix versions available for Legacy and the more advanced blades too. Also depending on your budget, I wouldn't necessarily count out the more advanced 8' blades either, whether Jackson or MK/JW. But I subscribe to a philosophy of "find a blade that works for you and stick with it" rather than "change blades according to your level".