Skate falling apart. . .any advice?

[WhisperSung]

This is ridiculous, and I should've noticed this sooner, but it's never happened before and caught me offguard this time around: the top rungs on my skates are starting to come loose. I just noticed today. My coach said they need to be fixed immediately but couldn't really tell me the best place to go to get them fixed (short of sending them back to the maker in CA, sigh).

Problem is, I'm planning on going to Adult Nationals in a few weeks, so I don't have time to ship my beaten up, 2 year old pair of skates back to CA. No point really. I'll be buying new ones within a month or so.

So, my question is does anyone know where to take skates that have problems like this? I had the tongue rip out of one of my skates once and I took it to a shoe maker, but that was when my mother was doing all that stuff, so I have no idea if that's the right place to take it or not (can't anymore since I live over an hour away from where we took it before).

Guh. Any advice is appreciated.

[samba]

So, my question is does anyone know where to take skates that have problems like this? I had the tongue rip out of one of my skates once and I took it to a shoe maker, but that was when my mother was doing all that stuff, so I have no idea if that's the right place to take it or not (can't anymore since I live over an hour away from where we took it before).

I think the answer's in the question, find a good shoe maker or cobbler as we call them over here, a one hour journey isnt a lot when you think of what's a stake, given them a ring first.

[VegasGirl]

I agree, take them to a good shoe maker... I'd imagine it'll be a toughy to fix though... new skates now might be a better option.

[EastonSkater]

option 1 - 1 hour journey to the place you took it to last time.

option 2 - find a good shoe repair place

option 3 - buy new skates immediately

option 4 - skip adult nationals

[TashaKat]

What do you mean by 'rungs'? If you mean the hooks then get someone to take them out, make a hole and put the laces through those for the time being. You'll have to watch that the laces don't start biting into the leather too much, though and it is only a temporary measure.

I've done that with skates before without a problem. Not ideal but maybe a solution for now.

[Clarice]

Yeah, I've done that, too. I had a couple of the top hooks rip out, so I had a shoemaker take out the others as well and put in holes in place of all the top hooks so it would feel the same. It was a bit of a pain lacing up, but it worked just fine until I was able to buy a new pair of boots.

[WhisperSung]

Thanks for the comments, guys. My coach did mention it's fixable. She had a student bring back her Reidells to the company (we live nearby) and they fixed them. Unfortunately, I have SP Teri's, so that's not going to happen in time.

I have an appointment with my skate retailer tomorrow to check them out. Hopefully he'll be able to give me some suggestions.

What's frustrating is that, while my skates are getting a little worn down, they're by no means broken down. Still lots of support, so I hate to chuck out $1000 for new boots and blades when this pair isn't broken down yet.

Thanks again, though :)

[WhisperSung]

Just wanted to give an update on the boots:

I went to my local skate shop where I ordered the boots and the skate manager was able to punch down 3 of the 4 top rungs deeper into the leather (temporary solution, he said, but it should last for a few more months). The 4th one was punched down a little too much so my lace couldn't fit in between the rung, so he ripped that one out and put a new rung in altogether (bolted to both sides). So now I have one very shiny rung and a bunch of beaten up ones.

Tonight is my first time attempting to skate in them. Wish me luck, and thanks again for the advice! :)