Yay, my new job means that I'm getting new skates...SOON! I'm heading to Portland in a week or two to be fitted for the custom Klingbeils that have been the subject of my dreams for a very very long time now.

I have the option to get black soles, or keep them natural colored. My current ones are black, and I'm not sure how natural-colored soles would look against black skates...but at the same time I suspect it might look nice if properly finished. Does anybody have pictures of their skates they can share with me please?

Speaking of finish...I removed the blades on my skates for the first time in a year to get at a couple of the screws whose heads have broken off in the course of my skating with a pair of pliers, and discovered that the leather under the blades was not a pretty site - blackened and sunken in, especially on my left foot (this mystifies me because my right foot is the landing one). My skates were sno-sealed when new and a couple times since, and in addition a silicon sealant was applied between the blade and the sole when they were new too (but only a bit was left)... This was completely unnoticeable with the blades mounted, and I want to ensure it doesn't happen to my new skates. Aside from Sno-Sealing more often, is there anything else I can do?

I was also curious about alternative sole sealing methods - I've heard about a process that takes a few days but results in a thick and durable clearcoat over the sole that really brings out the color. Has anybody done that? Again, pictures VERY welcome, and your skates don't even need to be black for these.

Lastly, I recently noticed on the Klingbeil order form that if you have them mount the blades, you can decide between a blade that is mounted so as to maximize the whole sole length (as mine are now), or to leave a 1/4" gap at the heel which is apparently what most people prefer. I've seen that mentioned here in the past, but has anybody skated on both ways and does it make a difference? I'm most tempted to go for the full-length option but am not sure that's the best idea.

Oh, and one more thing. Does anybody use gold-colored blades on black boots?

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

http://www.nikolaihedrizkov.com/home.html

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

My skate boot soles are also sno-sealed and I've noticed a darkening under the blades (I've fiddled with the position of one of my blades). I was already worried about it and now, after reading your post, I am even more worried. Maybe reapplying the silicon sealant is the answer. I'm not sure I would go with sno-sealing again. The other way of finishing soles, that I'm aware of, is lacquer. That might be the finishing method you are describing in your post.

I had two pairs sno sealed, but my last two have been varnished and I am SO glad to have them varnished. I have never had a loose screw on either pair.

Hmm, I have TOTALLY got to set myself up a show-off site like that. Those boots are absolutely awesome. And pairman2, thanks for the picture you E-mailed - ABSOLUTELY STUNNING PIC!!!

This has pretty much decided it for me - I'm getting brown soles like Nikolai has, with gold-colored blades. Oh yes...So lovely. If I'm spending this much on new skates anyways, I might as well get something pretty.

And the varnish/laquer sounds most promising - I'll ask the fitter more about it when I go, or maybe bug Don with yet another E-mail. It sounds like the winner to me.

I also think...I just might be convinced to NOT go with a suede finish on the new skates...still having a tough time deciding that one.

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

NOoooo! Do not go with the suede finish. The very first fall, lunge, whatever, will ruin them! you'll have spots that look matted and very unKEWL. Plus you won't have as much support.

... now I have that stupid song going on in my head!

Hey, I have suede now, and they look pretty nice, actually. But I'm starting to warm up to the idea of smooth leather

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Please don't try to model yourself after the guy on that site. He's a fraud & a joke.

Anyhoo, I've learned that I have to have my soles re-waterproofed every year or so, in order to make sure they don't start rotting out under the blades. My pro shop waxes them. At the same time they check the screws & plug/remount anywhere they're loose. Also very important to tighten the screws every month or so yourself so they don't start getting a little loose & letting moisture in.

My 2 cents.....gold blades look pretentious unless you're Kurt Browning.

On guys, I like black leather skates with brown heels/soles.

For what it's worth: I agree with Phoenix - gold blades look pretentious.

It'll void your blade warranty, but I think it would be cool to have your blades etched with Figures patterns, Olympic Rings or something like that. Not that I know how you could that done without the threat of rust, I just imagine it would look cool. Like Silverware!

I've used enough smilies now. I'm going to go pack for my Boston ISI conference.

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Re: Gold Blades

If Gold Blades are pretentious, it is only relative to the overwhelming mass of skaters who are unwilling to try anything other then chrome/silver.

Why would anyone try to project such a sterotype on those who break out of the mold? I chose gold blades a) to be different and b) as it went with an overall outfit theme that lovepairs and I were developing and c) they are gorgeous. Period. I was aware of the sterotype and chose to ignore it.

So now with new technology, you can get blades permenently etched in every color of the rainbow. Hopefully, we won't start pegging skaters based on their new colors of choice....so and so chose purple hued blades...they must surely be _______(fill in the blank with whatever)

It would be great to hear from a few others that buck the norm!

p.s. I'm very happy with the suede finish. Black smooth leather DOES show every blemish. Suede does not.

Gold blades are beautiful, and so are silver, so what's the problem???

We love our gold blades...I love them everytime I wipe them off.

I have no problem with gold blades, do you? I don't have a problem with much of anything except when people actually are cruel to one another. Also, road kill highly upsets me. Other than that--"live and let live" is what I live by.

What ever makes you happy is what you should do, and the gold blades make us happy.

Lovepairs

Oh, don't worry, I know. Jazzpants brought to light some of the older threads on this board about him....which link to others...which link to others...which link to STILL OTHERS...amazing what a horrible reputation the guy managed to build for himself.

But that doesn't stop his skates in his pictures from being absolutely beautiful.

Every year?!? I must be kicking up more snow onto my soles, or something... I got mine redone every few months...

Well, (and I don't mean this as argument, just pondering), I kind of thought they were "above me" for a while too, but then I figured, "why not?" It's just a color, which I find to be really lovely, and only an extra $100 or something like that, which is what, an hour and a half of lessons? In the grand scheme of skating I find skates to be overall a pretty inexpensive part of it (not to say they're cheap), and I've spent enough time poor that I'm quite willing to spend a little extra for skates I REALLY love! With any luck, they'll last longer than my last ones and be a better fit (they darn well better be, since they're customs), so I'll have them for years to come.

Yeah, some folks might look at me funny for having them, but I don't really care about that. If I weren't going for the gold ones, I'd probably go for black blades on black soles. My previous fitter had his blades painted by the same guys that do auto parts, and what they do is tape off the bottom bit of the edge without chrome, sandblast off the chrome from the rest, and paint that. For the record, that works really well, but who knows, it's probably more expensive than the gold-plating!

If I liked other colors, I'd go for some different-color boots like Jazzpants or TashaKat too. It may be different but I think everybody should just get whatever they like. I've seen a girl here who skates in hot pink boots, and I've seen a few guys (at least online) who strongly desire white skates, and girls who desire black. People with individual expressions of color don't look out of place to me, rather they strike a lasting place in my memory. I just happen to really like black - I skate in all black 90% of the time. A nice shiny chrome is nice too, so don't let me give the impression that I think traditional colors are bad...I don't! I just think that people should do what they like. It's even more true in the adult skating world, where we don't have to be quite as conformant to fit in...

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Sorry, didn't mean to ruffle anyone's feathers. As I said, it was my two cents, and it's worth exactly that. Maybe less.

Yes, you should wear whatever makes you happy. Actually I think the black blades look really cool, I've seen that too. And personally, yes, I'd choose the extra 1 1/2 hours of lesson time over the lovely colored blades (but I also voluntarily stay deeply in debt so that I can pay for coaching.......*sigh*...someday all this will pay off!!)

I've got black blades with tan boots. I've worn tan boots for 20 years. Got the black blades because that's what happened to be in stock in my size when I got the Ultima Ascend dance blades a couple years ago. They look neat. I don't even think about having the different blade color, any more.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

FWIW... the cost of the purple color leather is about ONE LESSON with my primary coach. However, the cost of having a little girl point to my boots and saying "Mommy! Mommy! I want those PURPLE BOOTS!!!" -- priceless!!! (Yes, the majority of the cost went to the boot itself, in terms of waterproofing, custom boots, orthotics, etc...all the stuff I need for my ankles, knees, lower back, ...)

ETA: However, I have regular ol' silver MK Pro blades. Worked for me well over the years, so why change? (Plus I've heard stories about the gold colored plate flaking off quite easily, which is not worth spending an extra $150-$200 for. )

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I've had my boots since for 7+ years, skating 4 or 5 days a week for a good part of that time, and I've never had them rewaterproofed, except for whatever Cooke's does when they remount blades. I do see some blackened leather in the screw holes that are no longer being used, but my skates are fine - no screws fall out, blades don't shift, whatever. I'm not really sure how much waterproofing is actually necessary.

Yes, Gold blades are just another color, but I also think they look pretentious. Before anyone gets horribly offended, think. Because gold blades are different you tend to focus on them, and really look. I just believe that if you want to draw that extra attention on your blades and feet, they should be something deserving of the attention and focus.
I'm not a fan of them, I think they detract from the skater as a whole and emphasize any lack of edges.

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Oh, don't worry, you didn't. I just wanted to explain my opinion thoroughly, so people don't have the wrong impression. Now if I start skating with a big gold chain with a huge gold "$" on the end of it...that's another story!

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

I don't know; I don't know many people who have them - but I'm not actually sure I'd notice! I know one of the coaches at our rink, a former world champion ice dancer, has them, but I honestly couldn't tell you if anybody else does! I do know that the current British solo dance champion and men's singles champion both use Freedom blades, but that's because I've seen what they do with them (I die for them, but seriously don't need them!), not for any other reason....

But then, I actually wondered whether anybody would notice that I wasn't wearing matching earrings to That Party (one had one skate, the other had two), and they did....

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

... in regards to suede, ...alot of the coaches at my rink have suede SpTeri's: Hot pink, Light pink, tan, checkered blue and green.., If I were to brush my finger across the toe, it seems the pile of the suede is long. (not quite like shag carpetof course, but...oh anyway, I don't know if I am making sense.) Perhaps other skate manufacturers are different. To me it seems a suede boot would be something more decorative. I agree, they are pretty and eye catching. My coaches do wear them for their lesson times when they are teaching, but change if they are practicing for the nitty gritty stuff like dance, jumps, spins... etc...

Pairman 2, I am sure that there are precautions as to how suede handles moisture? To me, they would seem higher maintenance. I live by the philosophy to "Keep it Simple Sweetie"

as far as showing scuff marks?... I consider them to be tiny trophys of the efforts we put in our practice time to reach whatever skating goals we desire. I envy those warn skates of the person who is landing axels while I am stuck in "Learning Loop Land"

...Oh, and one of our coaches has Purple suede skates and the blades are gold. (her college colors). They are beautiful. and I don't consider it pretentious at all.

Suede hides cuts very well. I'll take a picture of mine soon (I've currently got the same boots as pairsman2...)

According to Don Klingbeil, at least on the Grafs, the suede finish is synthetic, which would help with moisture resistance. At least, moisture has never been a problem for mine.

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

omg, so i was curious what you were talking about and I looked at some of the older discussions about this guy and I couldnt believe my eyes. How can someone get away with being such a fraud. And i do agree that the skates look like they've never been on the ice. But I guess since he is rich enough to have private ice every day and be coached by john nicks- he must have enough change to get an extra set of boots for pictures.

speaking of pictures...none of them seem to be on the ice lol.

His website is so ridiculous its funny.


sorry to bring it up...I'm sure youre tired of the topic but I saw it for the first time and had a real laugh.

Mrs R. That's because your ears are fab.

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

If you keep digging, you'll find at least 2 other websites of his (one has on-ice pictures though who knows if it's really him in them as you can't see his face), and a myspace account too. Poor guy - I feel kinda sorry for him - hard to understand what would drive somebody would do all that. Oh well...

He's inspired me to take some pictures of my skates before they ever touch the ice, though!

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

What are these threads of this guy that you guys are talking about.