Yazmeen
09-30-2002, 10:44 AM
Well, on Saturday morning, I was handed a neat little box, and in it were...
...the most beautiful but TINY little pair of adult skating boots you've ever seen!!! Everyone kept "awwwing" and saying how cute and little they were, and believe me they were at least two inches shorter than my old boots. Well, a few minutes later we laced them on, and while snug, they were a good fit. Soon the blades were put on temporarily, and as soon as I stood up, I could feel the difference between their position and those of my old blades. Blades were then reinforced and checked by Bill Klingbeil, I got to "sign the chair" (I signed the cushion and Bill showed me Sarah Hughes and Sasha Cohen's signatures--what fun!!!). With a hug and a kiss from Bill, I had new skates!!! -- along with instructions from his son Don, to now go and "beat the living he**" out of them!!!! :D
I had brought my old boots with me, and Don asked to see them as I had felt such a difference in the blade position. He pointed out that they looked just like the SP Teri's they photographed to show as an example of an "inside mount" (Blades mounted to the inside of the boot via the center seam instead of being centered properly). Sure enough, my old blades were somewhat bent from the poor positioning and three years of use--in fact, one had a flaw in the way the blade and the front plate came together, and he suggested I might try to return them, even this late in the game. The boots were totally warped to the lateral sides (outside edges). I'd STILL love to give "famous local pro shop" a piece of my mind over these, but they are having serious financial woes right now and I certainly won't kick a place when its down.
Then yesterday, I tried them out...
Icesk8r31: I TOTALLY understand how you felt with your new Klingbeil's. I felt completely unstable for the first few minutes. I almost thought mine were too big, too, until I'd skated for a bit and realized my heels were stable and not slipping, and the toe box was just wider than I was used to, not too big. In fact, the skates look kind of "pudgy" compared to my old ones because they don't have the narrow sided toe box most stock boots have. It took a few tries just to swizzle, and my initial stroking was beginner quality. Crossovers were laughable at first, but the forward ones came with work, with the backward ones shakier--it was harder to get the C push with this new, curvier blade.
Overall, I tried more than I should have:
Stroking: Actually better than before--no more toepick scrape!! :D
Crossovers: Weak, but I could do all four.
Edges: Overall, anything inside was stronger than before. Never thought I'd see the day my back inside would be better than the outside! :lol: Back outside edges stink, stank, stunk, but they got better with each try.
Mohawk: Right one was fine after a couple of tries, didn't get to left.
Three turns: RFO3, my usually strongest one is at this point non-existant--I keep scraping the back of the blade after turning. LFO3 came back (beginner style) after a few tries--probably because I used this one for jumps, it felt a bit more natural now. My husband wanted me to show him what an inside 3 was, so I tried a couple of right ones. Much to my surprise, they were a little shaky and forced, but they turned--better in fact than the outside. I avoided the LFI3 completely--why ruin a promising beginning skate? :P
No jumps, no spins--geez, I'm 44, I'm not an idiot--let's not try and break something besides breaking in the skates!!!!
My analysis in the end: I told my husband that I thinked I sort of re-passed Beta!!!! ;) :lol: It was humbling but a relief, too. I skated like a beginner, but things began to come back even with a little practice, and overall it was a very good session. Outside edges in general are a little tough with the new blade position, but that will come with time. I had been so nervous about this--I didn't sleep well the night before and I was shaking when I went out on the ice, but with each movement my confidence grew. As my husband said, I went out there facing a triple whammy:
1. New, stiff, completely different boots, cut about 3/4 inch lower in my ankle.
2. New and different, shorter blades with more curvature (went from Coronation Comets to Aces and down half a size).
3. Completely different blade position than I was used to.
The boots hurt quite a bit around the ankle and are very stiff, but that's about it. The biggest problem right now is that I can't bend very well, which explains the lousy three turns and other moves. I think I will be doing a lot of basic skating for the next few weeks. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go to public skate and just stroke and swizzle hard to push down on the boot tongue and break 'em in. I will be wearing them around the house too, to help.
Overall, I'm thrilled, relieved that I can still skate, and facing a little bit of an uphill battle to get them broken in and get everything back and moving on with all this "newness", but I'm looking forward to it!!!
Any suggestions from the more experienced?
A happy but tired Dr. Beth
...the most beautiful but TINY little pair of adult skating boots you've ever seen!!! Everyone kept "awwwing" and saying how cute and little they were, and believe me they were at least two inches shorter than my old boots. Well, a few minutes later we laced them on, and while snug, they were a good fit. Soon the blades were put on temporarily, and as soon as I stood up, I could feel the difference between their position and those of my old blades. Blades were then reinforced and checked by Bill Klingbeil, I got to "sign the chair" (I signed the cushion and Bill showed me Sarah Hughes and Sasha Cohen's signatures--what fun!!!). With a hug and a kiss from Bill, I had new skates!!! -- along with instructions from his son Don, to now go and "beat the living he**" out of them!!!! :D
I had brought my old boots with me, and Don asked to see them as I had felt such a difference in the blade position. He pointed out that they looked just like the SP Teri's they photographed to show as an example of an "inside mount" (Blades mounted to the inside of the boot via the center seam instead of being centered properly). Sure enough, my old blades were somewhat bent from the poor positioning and three years of use--in fact, one had a flaw in the way the blade and the front plate came together, and he suggested I might try to return them, even this late in the game. The boots were totally warped to the lateral sides (outside edges). I'd STILL love to give "famous local pro shop" a piece of my mind over these, but they are having serious financial woes right now and I certainly won't kick a place when its down.
Then yesterday, I tried them out...
Icesk8r31: I TOTALLY understand how you felt with your new Klingbeil's. I felt completely unstable for the first few minutes. I almost thought mine were too big, too, until I'd skated for a bit and realized my heels were stable and not slipping, and the toe box was just wider than I was used to, not too big. In fact, the skates look kind of "pudgy" compared to my old ones because they don't have the narrow sided toe box most stock boots have. It took a few tries just to swizzle, and my initial stroking was beginner quality. Crossovers were laughable at first, but the forward ones came with work, with the backward ones shakier--it was harder to get the C push with this new, curvier blade.
Overall, I tried more than I should have:
Stroking: Actually better than before--no more toepick scrape!! :D
Crossovers: Weak, but I could do all four.
Edges: Overall, anything inside was stronger than before. Never thought I'd see the day my back inside would be better than the outside! :lol: Back outside edges stink, stank, stunk, but they got better with each try.
Mohawk: Right one was fine after a couple of tries, didn't get to left.
Three turns: RFO3, my usually strongest one is at this point non-existant--I keep scraping the back of the blade after turning. LFO3 came back (beginner style) after a few tries--probably because I used this one for jumps, it felt a bit more natural now. My husband wanted me to show him what an inside 3 was, so I tried a couple of right ones. Much to my surprise, they were a little shaky and forced, but they turned--better in fact than the outside. I avoided the LFI3 completely--why ruin a promising beginning skate? :P
No jumps, no spins--geez, I'm 44, I'm not an idiot--let's not try and break something besides breaking in the skates!!!!
My analysis in the end: I told my husband that I thinked I sort of re-passed Beta!!!! ;) :lol: It was humbling but a relief, too. I skated like a beginner, but things began to come back even with a little practice, and overall it was a very good session. Outside edges in general are a little tough with the new blade position, but that will come with time. I had been so nervous about this--I didn't sleep well the night before and I was shaking when I went out on the ice, but with each movement my confidence grew. As my husband said, I went out there facing a triple whammy:
1. New, stiff, completely different boots, cut about 3/4 inch lower in my ankle.
2. New and different, shorter blades with more curvature (went from Coronation Comets to Aces and down half a size).
3. Completely different blade position than I was used to.
The boots hurt quite a bit around the ankle and are very stiff, but that's about it. The biggest problem right now is that I can't bend very well, which explains the lousy three turns and other moves. I think I will be doing a lot of basic skating for the next few weeks. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go to public skate and just stroke and swizzle hard to push down on the boot tongue and break 'em in. I will be wearing them around the house too, to help.
Overall, I'm thrilled, relieved that I can still skate, and facing a little bit of an uphill battle to get them broken in and get everything back and moving on with all this "newness", but I'm looking forward to it!!!
Any suggestions from the more experienced?
A happy but tired Dr. Beth