Blade question

[miraclegro]

I currently am in an MK Pro and will either be ordering new ones very soon, or will upgrade a bit. I am currently working on and axel, have all my singles down, and now that we have a NEW rink will be working on more difficult stuff. Have passed Adult Silver MIF. What is the next blade up from MK Pro or is staying in the same blade o.k.?

Thanks for any tips, Patty - M-gro

[jazzpants]

My usual advice is to "ask your coach!!!" and "ask your skate pro" for recommendation.

Given that, my understanding from my ice pros (both coach and skate techie guy) is that you can easily stay with MK Pro well into your doubles. The next "model" up is the MK Gold Star, but I love my MK Pros!!! :mrgreen:

[miraclegro]

Jazzpants,

I know at least on person that is doing doubles and working on triples and is still in MK Pros.

Can you tell me about your type or level of skating? My pocketbook is telling me i might need to go with MK Pro again, but i wanted to get the facts.

I can ask my coach, but i seriously doubt she would recommend any definite one at this point.

[Debbie S]

I'm in MK Pros and plan to stay with them when I get new blades - whenever my new skates are fixed to my satisfaction. I'm Pre-Bronze, working on my singles and Bronze MIF (hopefully will be working on Silver MIF soon). I believe the next level blade in the MK line is the MK Vision. The difference as you go up in blades is primarily the toe pick, so you have to make sure you're ready for a larger toe pick and won't be tripping over it. I do enough tripping over my current toe picks so I'd be scared to upgrade - lol.

I second jazzpants' recommendation of asking your coach and pro shop person (just make sure you go to a pro shop that fits a lot of figure skaters - as opposed to all hockey).

[jazzpants]

Can you tell me about your type or level of skating? My pocketbook is telling me i might need to go with MK Pro again, but i wanted to get the facts.I'm a Pre-Bronze FS working on being a Bronze FS skater for, oh... years!!! :frus: I'm currently on mid-single jumps (working on consistency for loops and flips; learning the lutz.) I have enough in terms of spins (hopefully...) to pass the Bronze FS test but the Bronze Moves test has been "close but no cigar" :frus: as of last October. So a bit behind 'ya, skating skills wise.

[techskater]

Discuss it with your coach whether you should upgrade or not, merits, drawbacks, etc. The next step is the Vision blade and those are generally considered "perfect" for that level. FWIW, I am in Phantoms and working on mid-doubles.

[doubletoe]

Discuss it with your coach whether you should upgrade or not, merits, drawbacks, etc. The next step is the Vision blade and those are generally considered "perfect" for that level. FWIW, I am in Phantoms and working on mid-doubles.

Not all coaches keep up with equipment info., so your coach may or may not know the pros and cons of upgrading. Although Professionals should be absolutely fine for working on your axel and doubles, the next model up is the Vision and I can't see any drawbacks to upgrading to the Vision if you want to. The one above the Vision is the Phantom, which has the monster toepick--something you may or may not want. Above that is MK's top-of-the-line blade, the Gold Star. No matter which MK blade you choose from the Professional or above, they are all made with top quality steel and they all have the same 7' rocker so you probably can't go wrong.

FYI, I upgraded from Professionals directly to Gold Stars just so that I wouldn't be tempted to upgrade again and spend more money when I got bored and wanted something new, LOL!

[doubletoe]

P.S. I forgot to mention, I can think of one drawback to upgrading to the Gold Star, Phantom or Phantom Special (slightly different from the Phantom). The Gold Star and Phantom are side honed and tapered and that makes them a little more difficult to sharpen. The Phantom Special has a dovetail (thinner at the back) so may also be a little difficult to sharpen. So if you don't have total confidence that your blade sharpener can handle it, you might want to stick with Professionals or Visions, which are not as complicated to sharpen.

[miraclegro]

Is the MK Phantom Toepick the same as the MK Gold one?

and is there a pix on the web somewhere so i can see what it looks like?

m-gro

[doubletoe]

http://www.mkblades.com/blades/

Click on "Advanced Freestyle" to see the Phantom and the Gold Star.

The master pick on the Phantom is much bigger, but the toepicks are straight cut. The picks on the Gold Star are cross-cut. I've never heard any definitive proof that one is better than the other, but I thought--in theory--that cross-cut might provide a better "grab" on a pick jump. Professionals also have a cross-cut pick.

[SkatingOnClouds]

http://www.mkblades.com/blades/

Click on "Advanced Freestyle" to see the Phantom and the Gold Star.

The master pick on the Phantom is much bigger, but the toepicks are straight cut. The picks on the Gold Star are cross-cut.

Phantom picks are cross-cut.

Karen

[doubletoe]

Phantom picks are cross-cut.

Karen

Oops, you're right! They are!

[flippet]

Strictly a personal note--I liked my MK Pros, but I LOVE my Visions. :) I was skating around FS3 (just starting loops and flips) when I switched to them. They greatly improved my spins.

[jazzpants]

Strictly a personal note--I liked my MK Pros, but I LOVE my Visions. :) I was skating around FS3 (just starting loops and flips) when I switched to them. They greatly improved my spins. flippet, how did it improve your spins? I was curious about the Vision but thought "if I'm happy with what I got, why change?"

[doubletoe]

BTW, my forward and back scratch spins both got 2 more revolutions as soon as I changed from Professionals to Gold Stars. However, the Professional, Vision, Phantom and Gold Star all have the same steel and the same rocker, so I think you would see improved spins even if you switch from an old pair of Professionals to a brand new pair of Professionals. The rocker on a brand new blade is almost always rounder than the rocker on a blade that has been sharpened numerous times, and that is probably what is responsible for the better "sweet spot" on the new blade.

[jazzpants]

Yeah, I had that too. My spins improved once I got new boots AND new MK Pro blades!!! Also, I went down a size from my old MK Pro blade to match w/the new boot and that made a world of difference on not just spins but quicker 3-turns for my moves. Sooooooo nice!!! :D

[flippet]

However, the Professional, Vision, Phantom and Gold Star all have the same steel and the same rocker,

Are you sure? Not saying you're not, but I thought, way back when I was researching blades, that for some reason, the Visions had a smaller rocker than the Professionals. (At the very least, I know they had a smaller rocker than some of the other choices I was looking at.) Going off of poor memory, here, aren't the Visions a 7' rocker? I thought the Pros were a 7.5', maybe? I really don't remember. It just seems that I chose the Visions specifically because they were 'smaller' than what I'd had, and I was hoping they'd help improve my spins, which they did. (Not that I'm suddenly a spinning queen...I'm still a jumper, but they did make a noticeable difference.) But, my memory could just suck. ;)

At any rate, the Visions just felt 'shorter' to me, for some reason, and I could get the sweet spot a little better. It may be that it's just that they were new. But they really did seem so much faster than my old blades...I shocked myself with the first slow-n-easy two-foot spin I tried on them (rock-hard boots too, wasn't going to do much)--I nearly landed on my butt, I zipped around so fast.

One other thing that may have something to do with it--although I didn't think my Pros were ever sharpened too badly, with my Visions, I have only used my hand-held sharpener--they've never seen an electric stone, not even for the initial sharpening. Maybe my Pros had lost more rocker than I'd thought.

[doubletoe]

Yeah, everything from the Professional on up has a 7' rocker. Did you decide to upgrade after all, or are you getting Pro's again?