Hi,
I am working exclusively on my Senior MIF test, and need a new pair of blades. I have been using pattern 99s for as long as I can remember, and I absolutely love them, but they are pretty expensive. I am looking to switch to a comparable pair of blades that might save a bit of money. (FYI: The pattern 99s have a 8' rocker. I definitely want to keep that the same.) Does anyone have any input on other blades I should try? Thanks!

Try the Ultima Freestyle blade. My skaters who switched from Pattern's seem to like it and their parents like the price point.

Ultimas are great. I have a pair of their top freestyle ones. They took me a bit to get used to them and they are a bit noiser then patterns. Overall, a great blade at a much reasonable price

Lots of skaters at my rink with high tests seem to like the paramount blades. (I skate on the low level ones, obviously, you would want the high level ones.) I an 99.9% sure they have an 8' rocker.

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-Jessi
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Yep, Paramounts have 8' rocker. The same goes to Ultima blades. All Ultima blades are with 8' rocker. I highly recommend Ultima blades. You can go for Elite or similar. I don't know if it's just the picture but there doesn't seem to have many teeth in Freestyle's toepick.

Their blades: http://discountskatewear.com/m-14-ul...tionFilterID=3

I skated in Legacy and switched to Gold Star, which has a 7' rocker. My spins and turns deserted me for a while. It's good that you prefer to stay in the same rocker!

On a similar but related note (sorry for the thread hijack, mea culpa - ) - are there any cost-effective equivalents to Gold Seals?

I think there's an equivalent in the UK. Georgie from YT got Queens or something. It's not really established, but it works as well. Gold Seals have a 8' rocker right? Try your luck with Ultima blades.

http://discountskatewear.com/p-132-u...eme-blade.aspx they say that it's comparable. I think more for Gold Seals since Gold Stars have a 7' rocker. http://www.tidewaterice.com/blades.htm says Supreme is Gold Seal's clone...

http://www.harlick.com/boots/blades.php
scroll down, they actually say what it's comparable to.

There's always Paramounts!

I heard that Paramounts weren't going to be made anymore. Perhaps I'm mistaken and it's another blade....

I haven't heard that about paramounts (though it may be true)- I know the ultima matrix was recently changed, and the blade most skaters who use those have isn't going to be made and the new style isn't compatible with the old style, or something like that. (Those are also popular among high test skaters in our area.)

__________________
-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

If you want cost effective, Ultimas are probably the way to go.

I adore my Paramounts, but people have said they can be loud, which may not really be a good thing for a moves test. Personally, the only loudness I get from mine are a louder rip of the blade, which I see as a pretty good thing for moves, but I've heard other people say they can be scratchy sounding. My coaches have commented that they don't mind me in Paramounts and that I'm fairly quiet in them, so I'm not really sure what people are specifically referring to when they say they're loud.

I know there's a website that sells blades for quite a bit less than normal retail. MDS blades, I want to say. You email them, and you immediately receive and automated response with the link to their blade list with prices.

EDIT: The website is tidewaterice.com. Send an email to blades@tidewaterice.com for the link.

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