Casey
11-29-2006, 01:01 AM
So when I bought my new skates, with the 8' rocker blades as opposed to my old 7' ones, I was a bit surprised to find many of the things I'd been told about 8' blades to actually be opposite of what I experienced. I didn't dwell on it to much, though, and just let it go at "oh it must be the parabolic feature" which really can't make that huge of a difference, but I digress...
So anyways today was my second day skating at my old rink where I first started skating. In the past year, every time I've gone back and visited that rink, I've found the ice to be too hard and brittle and cold, would lose deep edges and jump landings and fall numerous times which doesn't usually happen, and so on. I was happy to have moved on to other rinks - my usual rink these days has what's probably the softest ice I've skated on but it's suited my tastes for the last year or so. But these last couple times back were different - the ice felt GOOD, smooth, fast, not brittle...I didn't lose edges and fall. I thought at first the rink had changed, but I asked a couple oldtimers and a rink employee and they have noticed no difference. The rink didn't feel any warmer, and given that there's a layer of ice on the entire length of the roads between my work and the rink, one can't blame the weather for warming it up either. But it wasn't just a fluke - I did edges/hydroblades/etc. as deep as ever, perfectly secure. Jumps were clean and big and no uncertainty there either. I thought "gee maybe I'm just not used to freestyle", so I went back today for public session, and it was the same.
This got me pondering...what was different if not the rink? Had my skating really changed so much that it now suited harder ice better? It certainly hasn't felt like it...oh hmm, I do have new skates now... I'll leave the rest of my boring thought process off, but here are some conclusions I came to:
With a shallower rocker, the blade is curved more, so the general assumption is that less of the blade touches the ice. Thus an 8' rocker would make spins and turns harder because there's more friction to control. That's widely recognized and I don't debate it.
However, the heavier the weight/force on the blades (be it from sheer weight or power of skating), the more pressure is put on the point that is touching the ice. With a smaller rocker, that point is smaller - the effect is a much less exagurated version of the same weight in pointed heels versus wider heels - but on ice, the more concentrated weight means more stress on the ice beneath the blade, thus making it feel brittle. This is how I explain why the harder ice feels so much better with 8' rockers.
So what about spins? Well, I reason that, whether the ice is on the harder side and feels brittle, or is softer and does it more quietly, the smaller pressure point of a smaller rocker WILL push into the ice more, which brings more of the blade surface in contact and spreads out the weight better. However, that means the smaller rocker is digging into the ice a lot more, which is more friction. One cannot argue surface area compared on a solid surface (not ice) alone - the more weight that's on the blade, the more it will sink into the ice, which is especially important in a spin.
Thus, your "average" teenage figure skater, perhaps 100lbs or less, will indeed find 8' rockers harder, because the smaller contact point of the 7' rocker is enough for her weight to not dig in much, whereas the 8' rocker just puts more surface area of the blade in contact with the ice unnecessarily. This is particularly true if they are not an especially fast or powerful skater, as they won't be pushing that point as much in things besides spins (i.e. slower edges aren't going to push into the ice as much as faster ones).
However, for heavier skaters in spins, and/or more powerful skaters in edges, the effect is reverse, because the end result of the larger contact area is that the ice does not have to give as much and the amount of blade in contact with the ice is less and more consistant overall.
I think these conclusions are why 8' rockers are generally termed as more of an "advanced skater" blade - for the younger, lighter skaters, if you're not a fast powerful skater, they will indeed be harder, and even for the strong skaters, if they're lightweight enough, spins will be harder regardless.
But, what isn't really ever related is skater weight to rocker - and I believe that, especially on harder ice, bigger rockers are actually easier and more advantageous for heavier skaters (not even "heavy" heavy - I'm only 155lbs - but not a 14 year old weight), both in edges and spins.
One thing I found interesting was that I skated quite comfortably in a 5/16" ROH on my 7' rocker blades. But after finding it harder to stop and so on, though I did get used to it to a good degree, I decided to have the sharpener put them all the way back down to 7/16", which was for me unpleasant and slippery on the 7' rockers. On the 8' rockers though, I don't really notice any difference at all except that stops are a bit easier (and only slightly). Next time I think I may go down to 1/2". I couldn't really explain why that could be before, but this explains that as well.
So anyways my conclusion is that, at least for folks 150lbs-ish and up, 8' rockers are actually easier, particularly if you skate on harder ice that feels somewhat brittle. I'm curious as to where exactly weight starts making them easier, so I thought I might ask for some opinions here. For those of you who have skated on both 7' and 8' (or 6.5' or 8.5') rocker blades, what is your weight and which did you find easier and how hard is the ice at your rink compared to others insofar as you're aware and have heard?
So anyways today was my second day skating at my old rink where I first started skating. In the past year, every time I've gone back and visited that rink, I've found the ice to be too hard and brittle and cold, would lose deep edges and jump landings and fall numerous times which doesn't usually happen, and so on. I was happy to have moved on to other rinks - my usual rink these days has what's probably the softest ice I've skated on but it's suited my tastes for the last year or so. But these last couple times back were different - the ice felt GOOD, smooth, fast, not brittle...I didn't lose edges and fall. I thought at first the rink had changed, but I asked a couple oldtimers and a rink employee and they have noticed no difference. The rink didn't feel any warmer, and given that there's a layer of ice on the entire length of the roads between my work and the rink, one can't blame the weather for warming it up either. But it wasn't just a fluke - I did edges/hydroblades/etc. as deep as ever, perfectly secure. Jumps were clean and big and no uncertainty there either. I thought "gee maybe I'm just not used to freestyle", so I went back today for public session, and it was the same.
This got me pondering...what was different if not the rink? Had my skating really changed so much that it now suited harder ice better? It certainly hasn't felt like it...oh hmm, I do have new skates now... I'll leave the rest of my boring thought process off, but here are some conclusions I came to:
With a shallower rocker, the blade is curved more, so the general assumption is that less of the blade touches the ice. Thus an 8' rocker would make spins and turns harder because there's more friction to control. That's widely recognized and I don't debate it.
However, the heavier the weight/force on the blades (be it from sheer weight or power of skating), the more pressure is put on the point that is touching the ice. With a smaller rocker, that point is smaller - the effect is a much less exagurated version of the same weight in pointed heels versus wider heels - but on ice, the more concentrated weight means more stress on the ice beneath the blade, thus making it feel brittle. This is how I explain why the harder ice feels so much better with 8' rockers.
So what about spins? Well, I reason that, whether the ice is on the harder side and feels brittle, or is softer and does it more quietly, the smaller pressure point of a smaller rocker WILL push into the ice more, which brings more of the blade surface in contact and spreads out the weight better. However, that means the smaller rocker is digging into the ice a lot more, which is more friction. One cannot argue surface area compared on a solid surface (not ice) alone - the more weight that's on the blade, the more it will sink into the ice, which is especially important in a spin.
Thus, your "average" teenage figure skater, perhaps 100lbs or less, will indeed find 8' rockers harder, because the smaller contact point of the 7' rocker is enough for her weight to not dig in much, whereas the 8' rocker just puts more surface area of the blade in contact with the ice unnecessarily. This is particularly true if they are not an especially fast or powerful skater, as they won't be pushing that point as much in things besides spins (i.e. slower edges aren't going to push into the ice as much as faster ones).
However, for heavier skaters in spins, and/or more powerful skaters in edges, the effect is reverse, because the end result of the larger contact area is that the ice does not have to give as much and the amount of blade in contact with the ice is less and more consistant overall.
I think these conclusions are why 8' rockers are generally termed as more of an "advanced skater" blade - for the younger, lighter skaters, if you're not a fast powerful skater, they will indeed be harder, and even for the strong skaters, if they're lightweight enough, spins will be harder regardless.
But, what isn't really ever related is skater weight to rocker - and I believe that, especially on harder ice, bigger rockers are actually easier and more advantageous for heavier skaters (not even "heavy" heavy - I'm only 155lbs - but not a 14 year old weight), both in edges and spins.
One thing I found interesting was that I skated quite comfortably in a 5/16" ROH on my 7' rocker blades. But after finding it harder to stop and so on, though I did get used to it to a good degree, I decided to have the sharpener put them all the way back down to 7/16", which was for me unpleasant and slippery on the 7' rockers. On the 8' rockers though, I don't really notice any difference at all except that stops are a bit easier (and only slightly). Next time I think I may go down to 1/2". I couldn't really explain why that could be before, but this explains that as well.
So anyways my conclusion is that, at least for folks 150lbs-ish and up, 8' rockers are actually easier, particularly if you skate on harder ice that feels somewhat brittle. I'm curious as to where exactly weight starts making them easier, so I thought I might ask for some opinions here. For those of you who have skated on both 7' and 8' (or 6.5' or 8.5') rocker blades, what is your weight and which did you find easier and how hard is the ice at your rink compared to others insofar as you're aware and have heard?