Blades

[DressageChica]

My mom wanted to know if there is/was a brand of blades called "New Gold Seal"? Do they still make these? Thanks!

[CanAmSk8ter]

I know of Gold Seals, but I've never heard of anything called New Gold Seals. They're top of the line advanced blades. There's a thread about them here somewhere, started by cshobe a couple of weeks ago if you want to learn more about them.

[DressageChica]

Ahhhhhh! Thanks! My mom actually wanted me to find out for her. They are the blades on her old skates. For some reason she thinks they are no longer made. Maybe the "new gold seal" is something different from the "gold seal" ? Lol. I don't know.

I did find the other thread..I was a bit shocked at the skater who is barely on FS1 wearing these blades! My mom has them on her custom skates from her heavy competition days. She skated at ISI nationals and stuff...her skates look like torture to skate in unless you know what you're doing! I can understand not wanting to use rentals..but eeeekkk! The torture! Anyway, thanks! You all are great at providing informative information! (I know that's an oxymoron..but I suppose some people can provide bad information!)

[TashaKat]

I wonder if she's meaning the Gold Seals with K Pick? or the Gold Seals Parabolic or K Pick Parabolic? They're basically variations on the theme of 'regular' Gold Seals :) The Parabolic blades taper in at the mid section of the blade. You can also have 'laser etching' on the blade!


http://www.johnwilsonskates.com/images/blades/gold-seal-kpick.gif . http://www.johnwilsonskates.com/features/kpick-blade-tall.gif . http://www.johnwilsonskates.com/features/etching-anim.gif


K Pick

[GoldSeals]

I did find the other thread..I was a bit shocked at the skater who is barely on FS1 wearing these blades! i

You would be surprised.The Russians have been using these blades for their skaters before they were able to walk :lol:
There is also a Russian copy of the Goldseal that is available in Russia.
Pairs skaters having been using the Goldseals for years too.
Be carefull..They are difficult to sharpen.And yes like TashaKat posted.These are probably the "K picks" :)
Hey Tasha :P
Regards,GoldSeals ;)

[Casey]

Once again, I don't have Gold Seals, I have Gold Stars.

MK brand instead of John Wilson. I've turned out to absolutely love them. I would certainly not say they were torture - if anything a stiff, hard to break in boot is the torture part (I've got stiff boots too, but I love the support).

My blades are not parabolic, but the regular ones including mine are tapered (narrower at the back). They are also not K-Pick, just the regular cross-cut toepick.

I got the Gold Stars because they have a 7' rocker, where Gold Seals have an 8' rocker. I think that's probably what I like most about them.

[fadedstardust]

Once again, I don't have Gold Seals, I have Gold Stars.

MK brand instead of John Wilson. I've turned out to absolutely love them. I would certainly not say they were torture - if anything a stiff, hard to break in boot is the torture part (I've got stiff boots too, but I love the support).

My blades are not parabolic, but the regular ones including mine are tapered (narrower at the back). They are also not K-Pick, just the regular cross-cut toepick.

I got the Gold Stars because they have a 7' rocker, where Gold Seals have an 8' rocker. I think that's probably what I like most about them.

For some reason I always thought you had Gold Seals. Did you mix them up at one point, or am I nuts? It could totally be me. Gold Stars are still too high level, but I wanna say that I think they are MUCHHHHHH better for you than Gold Seals. The rocker was my main concern when I thought you were getting those. A 7' rocker is good for your level, so yay. :)

[DressageChica]

Sorry!! Didn't mean to offend anyone! I really know nothing about these blades (or much about skating for that matter..since I've only started back after stopping for 5-6 years). I was just posting this for my mom. She actually would like to know how many sharpenings you can get out of a blade.

And also, I do know that the skates have massive protruding toe picks. She said that they're the devil to skate in if you don't know what you're doing. But thanks for the info!!

[love2sk8]

You can get a lot more sharpening from Gold Seals than some of the other's....to give you an idea, Gold Seals last me about a 1-1/2 years to 2 years, getting them sharpened every week.

[TashaKat]

Hey Tasha :P
Regards,GoldSeals ;)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/2002-team-waving-kitty.gif

Hiya, how are you? Long time no 'see'.


I have to say, though, that I can't see a problem with anyone having higher level blades if they're comfortable skating in them. Whilst I wouldn't recommend beginners/lower level skaters going out and buying them on the premise that a better blade makes you a better skater I personally went onto Gold Stars and then Gold Seals quite early in my 'career'. I felt a lot better skating in them than other blades I'd tried, they suited me and still have the Gold Seals on my boots at the moment. I'm much rather find a blade that suits me and stick to it for longer no matter which 'level' it's aimed at than switch blades every few months in a vain attempt to get something of 'my' level at that time to suit me.

[Casey]

For some reason I always thought you had Gold Seals. Did you mix them up at one point, or am I nuts?
A couple people (maybe you included?) called them Gold Seals in the other thread, and I think I corrected one person and then just stopped caring too much since the argument seemed to be "expensive blades are bad for you, mkay?", pretty much ;-).

But yes, I specifically wanted a 7' rocker when I went for blades, and that's why I have the Gold Stars now - I wanted the best blade with a 7' rocker. Glad to know you think they're better for me. :D

[Casey]

Sorry!! Didn't mean to offend anyone! I really know nothing about these blades.
Bah, no offense to anyone that I can see, certainly not me. :)

I was just posting this for my mom. She actually would like to know how many sharpenings you can get out of a blade.
How long a blade will last depends on several factors...how often you wear it down and need a resharpening, how well you take care of it between sharpenings, meaning keeping it dry and in guards when off the ice, not hitting the blades together and making nasty nicks, and most importantly the sharpener. Many skaters are very picky about who sharpens their skates - I know I am with my new blades. The place I have them sharpened costs a little more ($14 and a long drive instead of a $5 job at the home rink), but the sharpener is very knowledgeable, keeps a record of your depth so unless you want it changed it's going to be exactly the same as you like every time. He also uses the softest sharpening stone available, which means it takes longer to sharpen, but wears down the blade much less than a standard sharpening. It takes 30 minutes for him to carefully sharpen the blades instead of the usual 10 minute job, but I think it's worth it.

He tells me the blades should last me 2 years (I get them sharpened every 3-4 weeks). My roomate tells me he's full of it, but I think my roomate's full of it. Time will tell... ;)

And also, I do know that the skates have massive protruding toe picks. She said that they're the devil to skate in if you don't know what you're doing. But thanks for the info!!
Honestly, the toe picks on the Gold Stars are wonderful and don't get in the way nearly as much as the John Wilson Majestics (a much cheaper (about $125) recreational blade) that I had before, but a lot of that is probably because they had been sharpened down a good bit, and were improperly sized for the boots.

I think that toepicks on any blade are going to get in the way until you get used to them, but it doesn't take long to figure out where they are. ;)

Of course, I can't comment on Gold Seals...they may be dramatically different.

[Isk8NYC]

I've had Gold Seals since the 1980's, but I don't remember seeing "new" as part of the name. All of my GS's (I'm on my 4th pair) have had the huge toe picks which look like meat cleavers.

Tell your Mom (although she probably already knows) to check out how much hard steel is left on her blades. If you look at the beveled edge on the bottom, that's the hard steel. Can't find the beveled edge? Sorry, the blades have reached the end of their life. She can keep sharpening and using them, but it's going to get expensive since the blades won't hold the sharpenings. If she wants to reuse/recycle them, there's a thread for that on this website.

[DressageChica]

She actually left her skates at the rink for them to be sharpened. I do believe these blades were purchased prior to 1980...but I'm not sure. I will make a point to look on the blades! She said that the blades were supposedly taken off the market.

P.S. - sorry for the lack of information! My mom has been bugging me about this message and it's hard to get the info from her and then having to type it on here and relate the questions/answers back to her lol!