6 year old questioning her skates

[Alicia]

My daughter asked me why her skates were different than all the other skaters. The bottom outers on her skates are colored light brown and everyone elses bottom outers are black.

I told her that was because she had champion skates and everyone else had normal skates!

She asked me the name of her skates- Riedell blue ribbon. I'm not sure, but it seems like she tries harder now!!

[Isk8NYC]

I thought it was because her skates are leather-soled, but that's not true. The Blue Ribbons have vinyl bottoms. The black-bottomed ones are probably vinyl,too. It's just that Reidell likes the look of brown soles - it looks more like leather than the black soles.
Most mens leather skates are dyed black (boot and sole), although I have a friend who has black boots with brown soles -- it looks great! He's so stylish.

[dbny]

I told her that was because she had champion skates and everyone else had normal skates!

It's a cute trick, but it could backfire. If any of her friends ask her the same question, your answer could cause her some trouble with them.

[Alicia]

I thought about that and just kind of chuckled to myself. I figure some of the other skaters must have been enquiring about her different skates.

Also, Riedell is no 'fly by night' brand. Why not use the brand for encouragement?

[Figuresk8_katie]

Generally, skates that are from reputable dealers (i.e. Reidell, Risport, SP Teri, Graf, Gam, WIFA, Jackson etc.) they're all true FIGURE skates, not the flimsy leather ones that don't support anything. The brown soles mean the maufacturer used quality materials when making the boot. Mind you, there are some boots out there that have the plastic bottoms (i.e. Jackson's beginner boots and Risports beginner boots). Even though the bottoms of these skates aren't leather, they still offer more support than the one's you'd find at a Canadian Tire or other department stores.

Go for the brand name skates (FIGURE SKATES, i mean - none of the CCMs for figure skaters). The sturdier the boot, the more confidence the skater has when learning new elements, and the faster the excel. Good quality skates always help beginners because they support the ankles and are clearly better constructed (including better blades) than the department store brands.

I'm glad to hear your daughter is proud of her skates - hopefully she'll keep them dry and shiny!

[slusher]

Most figure skates skates have the leather coloured sole left natural. Eventually it will turn darker brown. They will turn black if you leave them to rot .

I dyed my soles black. I'm an old school girl where boots were white, and soles were black shoe polished shiny. The kids think I'm weird, I think the brown soles, especially new ones look funny.

Or, short version: It's the fashion of the moment. Look at old pictures, it's all black soles.

[icedancer2]

I'm a black sole girl myself from way back... -- white boots, black soles. Period.

I'm with slusher. ;)

[Alicia]

The Riedell 21 blue ribbon model does not have leather soles- they are vinyl!

Unlike almost all children skates, the vinyl soles are light brown instead of black.

They don't rot and they can't be colored. I have no idea why Riedell has made this change and I have no idea why other skates have black vinyl soles.
One thing I am certain is that the color of the vinyl makes no difference in the skate's performance!

I just told her that the brown vinyl soles are better as a confidence boost. The skates also have a good reputation in case she gets asked by other skaters!!

[dbny]

The Riedell 21 blue ribbon model does not have leather soles- they are vinyl!

Unlike almost all children skates, the vinyl soles are light brown instead of black.

They don't rot and they can't be colored. I have no idea why Riedell has made this change and I have no idea why other skates have black vinyl soles.
One thing I am certain is that the color of the vinyl makes no difference in the skate's performance!

I just told her that the brown vinyl soles are better as a confidence boost. The skates also have a good reputation in case she gets asked by other skaters!!

Low end Jacksons also have a brown vinyl sole. Riedell and Jackson are two of the figure brands that do make low end skates. With a vinyl sole, the blade cannot be moved. As your skater progresses, she will need skates with a leather sole, so the blades can be custom mounted or at least adjusted for her. Higher end skates are all sold boots and blades separately, as there are many variations, and boot/blade preference is a very personal thing. For example, Riedell is known to run narrow, and Jackson to run wider. Eventually, a lot of skaters go with custom boots, which all the manufacturers make. Riedell's reputation is no better than that of Harlick, SP Teri, Graff, and Klingbeil, but you won't see beginners in those boots because they do not make entry level boots.

Glad your daughter is enjoying herself.

[twokidsskatemom]

The Riedell 21 blue ribbon model does not have leather soles- they are vinyl!

Unlike almost all children skates, the vinyl soles are light brown instead of black.

They don't rot and they can't be colored. I have no idea why Riedell has made this change and I have no idea why other skates have black vinyl soles.
One thing I am certain is that the color of the vinyl makes no difference in the skate's performance!

I just told her that the brown vinyl soles are better as a confidence boost. The skates also have a good reputation in case she gets asked by other skaters!!
Not to say anything bad but I really doubt she will be asked what kind of skates she has.Most kids her age could care less, unless they really skate alot and hang out with the teens that notice skate brades.
The teens that skate with my daughter know what kind she has, the ones her age and even up to the 10 year olds dont know and dont care.
That, along with jacksons are what you will see most LTS kids wearing. Its a good value for your money at that level.
wait till you have 500 boots and 500 blades......

[CanAmSk8ter]

I thought about that and just kind of chuckled to myself. I figure some of the other skaters must have been enquiring about her different skates.

Also, Riedell is no 'fly by night' brand. Why not use the brand for encouragement?

Well, because strictly speaking it's not true- having the brown soles doesn't necessarily mean her skates are "better" than anyone else's. Some of the quality skates DO have black soles- I'm not sure which brands, but I've had learn-to-skaters in decent skates with black soles.

When I was about 13 I went skating at a park one day with a friend from the rink, her six-year-old sister, and one of her sister's school friends, and her sister's friend wanted to know why the bottoms of my skates were made of wood! I had on my skates from the previous year, since we were at a pond, and she had apparently never seen real figure skates before.

[Isk8NYC]

I suppose that, if you really wanted to, you could use a permanent marker to make the brown bottoms black!

If you cruise ebay and check out the skates, it's very hard to tell from the pictures alone whether the soles are plastic or leather. You really have to ask that question if you're looking for a higher-level skate. Reidell and Jackson probably chose the brown color so it would be the same as their leather-bottomed models.

One of the girls in my mid-range group has vinyl-bottom Reidells where the blades were screwed on. She was skating rather bandy-legged (love that term) and couldn't get an outside edge. I sent her to the pro shop for an adjustment and the fitter said he can't move the blades on the vinyl skates. Instead, he loosened the screws and put in a lift! It's helped, but I told the Mom to get leather-bottoms next time so the adjustments can be more aggressive.

[Schmeck]

The cheapest brand of Riedell skate (the ones with the blade bolted to the base) are actually pretty crappy skates. The blades aren't always on there correctly. I saw a pair that had the blade off by 3mm.

[dbny]

The cheapest brand of Riedell skate (the ones with the blade bolted to the base) are actually pretty crappy skates. The blades aren't always on there correctly. I saw a pair that had the blade off by 3mm.

I agree! I much prefer the Jackson Softec for the little ones, and now they have come out with the Soft Skate, which looks like a white figure skate, but is a Softec inside. I'm recommending it to my students who are past the little pink Softecs. Both of these skates are more comfortable than the Riedells and I've seen students really take off when the switch was made.

[Isk8NYC]

The cheapest brand of Riedell skate (the ones with the blade bolted to the base) are actually pretty crappy skates. The blades aren't always on there correctly. I saw a pair that had the blade off by 3mm.

I agree with you about the low-end bad mountings, and honestly, it can happen with any boot-and-blade set. Since you can't really adjust the blades on the plastic soles, that would explain why the manufacturers made the soles brown. That way, they LOOK like better skates that can handle adjustments.