That was the first thing I thought of too, LOL. I've read that Alexei Yagudin (who's a hard jumper) flattens his boot heels occasionally, but I've never ever heard of him breaking blades. I don't think he wears Gold Stars either - but last I heard, he was wearing a Wilson blade. Jeff Buttle skates on Pattern 99's, and obviously does triple axels and such on them. (He's a little guy, I know, but still, big jumps!)

Anyway, I highly doubt that you'll bend any blade anytime soon, unless you turn out to be a very very VERY hard jumper. (That part can be fixed since you're supposed to land lightly, especially if you're only working on singles..) And if you're a very very VERY big guy, LOL. I saw a big guy working on his doubles once. Pretty impressive.

From what I know, you should be able to wiggle your toes a teeny little bit when you have the boots laced up. The heel (as well as the rest of your foot but especially the heel) should not move AT ALL when you have the boot on. I dunno about extra space or anything - maybe your feet are wide like mine and you got a larger size to accomodate that. Better choice would be to get a combination size, if Grafs come in that. My first skates were waaay too big but I had to get them since the smaller sizes at the store wouldn't accomodate the width at the balls. A decrease from your shoe size of only 0.5 doesn't seem adequate. I was wearing size 7 shoes when I was fitted with size 5.5 skates, and now I'm wearing size 6.5 shoes cause skating made my feet smaller, LOL.

A large radius may be a mostly psychological thing. I have a skating friend whose footwork and spins seriously kick ***, and she learned them all on a 8' radius blade. Makes me feel pathetic, cause I have a hard enough time turning on a 7' blade.

Anyway, if you're worried about having to relearn and adjust your skating, it's going to seem that way everytime any little thing changes for you, since you're just starting out. If I didn't skate at least once a week, I really felt it. If I sharpened my skates, I wouldn't be able to do anything for a session. Everything had to be juuuuuust right for me to do a 3-turn or a spin or a jump. When I was more experienced, I was able to adjust much more easily because my body knows what's supposed to happen. At least, theoretically. (That especially pertains to the part about practicing, LOL...I've gone months without skating and I'm still able to land jumps and do the spins I left off with)

I dunno if it's a trend, but I've noticed that it's a lot harder for us older beginning skaters to just stop analyzing and start skating. But really, that's what gives us the most progress.

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Maybe she just has a talent for it? But for most people, my guess it that with a smaller radius the rocker is more pronounced, so the sweet spot is easier to find. That's why when you switch to an 8' it takes a while to find the sweet spot again.

I noticed that my toes used to be further apart, but now they are sort of pressed together very compact in the shape of my boots.

Cshobe, I am a competitive skater and coach and I have the Graf Edmonton specials. My shoe size is 6 1/2 and my skates are 4's. So you can see Graf's are made big so you should go down a size or two when being measured. Please note these skates break down a lot faster than a Klingbeil or riedell but seeing as you are only doing beginning stuff it shouldn't bother you. The Gold star blades are a bit advanced I'd say. I started out with professionals then went to phantoms but hated the huge toepick. I got my first pair of gold seals when I was doing double jumps. I have never bent a blade, referring to the professionals which is the first blade I had. I did axels in them and some doubles. Trust me even the lowest, cheapest blade will not bend, they are designed not to bend. Go with either MK's or John Wilson blades, but reconsider the gold stars.

Nah, I'm not terribly big (but not as light as many, either). I'm 5'11", and 155lbs. The funny part is that for years I weighed 10 pounds less - skating put on the extra weight.

This is indeed the case. I cannot move my heel nor any of my foot when the boot is on and laced, it's only if I loosen the laces as far as I can and pull the tongue out as much as possible that I find I can push my feet forward enough to get a finger in...

This they are. This is one of the reason I liked the Teris (my roomates are size 10E).

The measurement for 11 was actually taken with a Graf measuring tool, from heel to big toe.

I just bought to figure skates in mid-December. I am probably at or about your skill level and very athletic (or so I delude myself to think). I have all my 3-turns (some of course better than others) mohawks & choctaws. I just started waltz jumps. Spins I haven't got the nack of yet. I had been on hockey skates, having started skating four years ago.

The pro shop I went to (Sharper Edge in Peabody MA. Jonathan English runs the shop out of his house.) really helped to get me headed on the right track.

I bought Jackson Elite boots (heat moldable, black suede, way cool). I was told that I could expect them to hold up fo 5 or 6 years before they might start breaking down too much. They're breaking in nicely with creases at the flex notches. They are available in three widths, and at the shop we "blew 'em out" at a couple of hot spots through the use of a boot press. The boots cost $310. We also customized the foot bed to account a pronation issue. Here's a link were you can see both skates & blades:

http://www.jacksonskates.com/html/fr...et-Ultima.html

For blades, I bought Jackson's entry level Mirage. I think they only cost $50. They'll get me a long way. Jonathan explained that as I progessed we could swap out to an intermediate blade. I'm thinking I'll get a year or two out of these before moving on.

Although advertised with a 1/2" radius hollow, he ground them with a 5/8" radius. I was coming off of hockey skates and he didn't want me to kill myself. The rocker is 8', which seemed large after coming off a hockey blade. Very stable in comparison, though.

All told I put out (with tax....what a killer! I live in New Hampshire where there is no sales tax, but I bought these in Tax-achuesettes) about $450.

Now I'm looking forward to getting good enough to warrant the next level blade. Lessons start next week!

So, that's what I did. I got a good boot that will allow me to progress, and a blade which I will leave behind as I get better. The boot was fit to me by an expert - that's key in my mind.

Well, whatever you end up doing, good luck & have fun.

The best advice you've gotten here is to trade in the super-high-end blades & spend the money on coaching. I'm curious why you haven't signed up for lessons or gotten a coach, when you're obviously serious about this & money doesn't seem to be a problem? What you think you are doing right, or well, may not be the case at all when you don't know what you're doing. You'll learn bad habits that are very, very hard to break later. Anyone can skate an outside edge--but to skate it with correct body position is something different.

Your local rink may have a list of coaches if you ask at the office. Or they could tell you what clubs are in your area, which can give you their list of coaches.

Well, you're skinnier than my hubby, and he's only got Riedell 320s, which haven't broken down yet (although he's not yet jumping, just in the basic levels).

For fitting, as others have said, you want to wear the thinnest socks possible. Some people even skate barefoot, though I don't particularly recommend it--has great potential to cause wicked blisters. Personally, I skate in nylon knee-hi stockings...I like them even thinner than skating tights. Guys seem to have a problem with that, for some reason though, so I usually see them skating in thin dress socks.

The boot fit: your toes should just barely touch the end of the boot, when standing (and after the heel has been well kicked-down). If they don't touch--too big. If they're bent and cramped--too small. Tip here...be sure your toenails are rather short! Your heel should not move at all when the boots are laced. Not one millimeter.

Ankles 'should' 'hurt' in new skates. Not raw, unbearable pain, of course, but if they feel like bedroom slippers, you're in a far too large size. Boots of ankles are often 'punched out' to stretch the precise spot where your ankle bones hit. Heat-molding can also do this trick for you...but again, it's unlikely that they'll feel 'soft-n-squishy' comfortable (although I have heard that Grafs tend to be more comfortable than most from the start, once heat-molded). There will still be some break-in discomfort to deal with.

You'll probably be okay in the Edmontons, though it's not what many of us would have recommended for you (obviously!) Just be sure you don't lace them all the way to the top at first, so that you can still get the proper knee-bend--this is crucial. But I'd really re-think the blade. And I totally second the suggestion that you spend the extra cash on lessons. Although you don't seem to be one of 'these'...I've known a few guys that really seemed to want to learn how to figure skate, but were hesitant about committing to lessons...it was as if they felt they were going to be taught all that fluffy, fairy-armed stuff (and likely from a female coach), and they didn't want that. Or, they thought that they'd be embarrassed, being probably the only adult, and usually the only male skater taking figure skating lessons. Or afraid their hockey or beer buddies might see them. Like I said, it doesn't particularly sound like you, but if you've got even a scrap of any of those attitudes....ditch them right now! You'll learn the basics just like anyone else would...having arms in a certain position isn't 'fluff' at the basic levels...it's simply where your body weight and balance need to be to execute a move properly. Skaters LOVE to see men in lessons...you'll be happily mobbed, I promise you. And if any of your bone-headed buddies do see you...whoop-de-doo. Who needs 'em?

Give yourself the gift of lessons. You won't regret it.

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So then...a bit flatter than normal? (All those fractions always screw me up.) I've got a 3/8" grind (I believe...either 3/8 or 7/16...I can never remember which, and it seems that some grinders actually can do either measurement.) Anyway, it's a bit 'sharper' than normal...but then, I really like my blades to 'bite'...makes me feel more secure. I also do my blades myself at this point, with a Pro-Filer (so I guess that definitely makes it a 3/8"). I'm one of those 'picky' types who really, really doesn't want some moronic hockey kid in the pro shop to stuff it up with my 'babies'.

Don't you find you slide around sideways a bit? Although...if you're a guy, you've probably got more weight to you, so you're likely to have a bit more 'bite' anyway, so I suppose it all evens out.

__________________
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
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www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Yes, a bit flatter. I opposed his reccomendation at first sighting that my hockey skates had a 1/2" grind. He flattly said that was not what I should be using at first. You have to realize that up until 2 weeks ago all I knew was hockey skates.

I was glad I listened. The first few times I was on the figures it felt like I was on rails.

I don't know what will happen at the first sharpening. I'll let my instructor decide what grind I should get. Right now things feel good.

I weigh 160 pounds (6' tall). I'm sure that helps 'em bite in.

This may belong in another forum, but I was wondering what boots/blades you all wear and what level you skate at.

I'll go first. I've been skating since I was 8 on and off. I stopped between the time that I was 12 and the time I was 17. I had all of my doubles .

Then I had to relearn everything when I started skating again.
I have all of my singles again ( including the axel), and my double sal, toe, flip and loop. Still trying to get my lutz. I wear SP Teri boots and MK Double Star Blades.

Next person.

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I skate Novice (testing up sometime this year, taking this year off competitions for various injuries but still training) and wear custom Riedells with Pattern 99 blades. I refuse to get Gold Seals until I test Seniors, I always believed it was a rite of passage, ironically, haha. I LOVE Pattern 99's though, so who knows if I'll even switch. I considered custom Harlicks for a while there, but I love love love Riedells (they get a bad rep for no reason...) so I'm sticking to what I've got.

I'm on my last silver dance & intermediate moves.

I have custom Klingbeils w/ Ultima Ascend dance blades. I'm hoping the boots will last another year (they're 2 years old now), and then I'm going to shop around to see if there's another boot I like. The Klingbeils have always fit great, but they twist over time & cause problems for me w/ getting a true outside edge on my left foot. I think this is an issue because I'm very flat footed.

My daughter is 9, landing all singles and double sal, double toe. She skates on Gam 95s with Vision blades.

Side note in regards to over doing it with blades: My daughter tried the vision blades last year (I was offered a basically brand new pair for $40.00) and she was a disaster. At that time, she had passed prelim dances, prelim skills, and was working on a lutz and the visions were terrible. She spent far more time on her butt than she did on her blades. This year they were perfect. She had about a week of getting used to the new pick pattern (she was in professionals last year), but other than that all has been well. The blade can make a HUGE difference, and I really hope you have reconsidered.

I found that with the Edmonton specials I had to lace them all the way up when I first got them. Grafs are a totally different type of break in experience compared to Harlick, Spteri and Riedell. I did have new blades too so I didn't jump or spin for about a week.

I'm just going to go against the grain here - my Gams were totally comfortable right from the first day I had them! Okay, I had to learn not to pull the laces tightly over the foot, but all the money I invested in blister-dressings, foot cream, etc, was wasted! I skated 2 hours the first day I had them, and never looked back. This was at least 7 or 8 years ago, and although I have skated a minimum of 6 hours a week ever since, they've been fine. Sadly, they are approaching the end of their life now, as are the Team Precision blades I had fitted to them (which took me a lot longer to adjust to than the boots did!). I'd been going to get Coronation Dance, but there was a shortage of blades at the time.

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I spoke with the fitter on the phone today, and asked both about the boots and the blades.

He was confident that the boots were certainly not too small, since they were secure when laced. I also checked my roomate's SP Teris, and both of our feet could slide forward in the boot the same amount when the laces were greatly loosened, so it really seems that they are sized appropriately. I said that I was really happy with the comfort level of the boot, just wanted to check that.

I did say that the biggest concern was over the blades - that I had spoken to several people, and there were concerns that they might be too much blade for my skill level, to the point of impeding my progress - so I was curious what he thought on that. He said that A> there would be no problem changing the blade order if that's what I wanted, especially since he thought the Coronation Ace blades would be fine, and B> that although the Gold Star blades were of an advanced level, and would make skating more "interesting" for the first few months of using them, that he believed I should be able to adjust without too much difficulty, and that they would probably not cause my progress to slow to any great degree.

I spoke to my roomate about the blades as well (I hadn't discussed the particular blades before - he'd formerly agreed with the fitter's initial recommendation of Coronation Aces - his blades are Four Aces). He said he thought I should be fine - that yes, they were more blade than I needed, but I should be able to do everything on them. He had not used Gold Stars before, but had Gold Seals at one point.

So, I decided...

*drumroll*

...that I'd just stick with the original order, and go ahead and give the Gold Stars a shot. Call me stubborn, but I guess if they're really awful for me, I'll just have to learn the hard way.

I took a closer look at the Klingbeils after skating today. The blades are 11" - too short to use on the new boots, and they are John Wilson Majestics. I looked online for the specifications and found that they have a 7' rocker, so either my previous statement that they may be 8' or even 9' was a misestimate by the fitter or a misunderstanding by me, or the rocker has been damaged overtime by poor sharpening.
http://www.skate-connection.com/figu...fb_jw_maje.htm

One thing I find interesting is that the specifications say the blades come with a 5/8" bore (this seems quite flat!). When I first got the blades, the bottoms were quite rusty, so I had them sharpened at my usual rink, which didn't give me an option for the bore depth - it measured as being 1/2". When I just got them sharpened last by the fitter, I had him make it closer to 7/8". It took an hour or so to get used to the change, but I've found that I like the 7/8" bore a lot more - funny part is that the things that got harder were things I think I was not doing as well - for instance the change was much more noticeable when it came to doing CW footwork as opposed to CCW.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions - though I decided to give the Gold Stars a try anyways, your input was much appreciated, and I'll let you all know how it goes as I start skating on the blades!

As for the lessons some of you have suggested, they are definitely in my plans! I do want to learn/refine my footwork some more before doing so. I've talked my roomate into starting skating again (he hasn't for 3 years - he's pushing 40 now), and he's going to help me refine my weak areas and learn to do backwards crossovers. I plan to hire a coach shortly though...probably after another month.

It's possible to bend a blade that is "temporary mounted" with fewer than usual screws. The pro shop where I bought my current pair attaches the blades with approximately 4 screws each until the skater is sure that the blade placement is correct. During that time, edgework only is allowed, no jumps or spins, as that could bend the blades ever so slightly. Once the skater likes the placement, additional screws are added.

Interestingly, when I picked up that pair from the shop, I brought them my old pair for a sharpening. We discovered that my old pair of skates had only ever had 4 screws each holding the blades in. They checked and discovered that my blades were bent. They had a special tool to help unbend them.

Oh, boy. You are using a blade way to advanced for you. You should not beusing a blade more advanced than a Coronation Comet. Bring back the blades you bought and save the difference for lessons from a coach. Coronation Comets are made by John Wilson and can be found at
http://www.johnwilsonskates.com

These will give you more balance for beginning elements. When you've almost got your lutz and do have your back spin, it's time to move up to a Pattern 99 if you're at least 120 lbs or more. Otherwise stay with Coronation Comets until you've got your axel consistant and a flying spin.

Brigitte

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I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

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So why won't you start lessons right now?? I don't get it. Getting a roommate to "help" you has the potential to screw things up. What is your objection to getting a coach now, before you learn a bunch of bad habits?

Well, you're clearly not trying to hear what the fitter is trying to tell you. At least he seems like an honest guy, and it seems pretty clear he agrees with all of us that Gold Stars are a mistake. Oh well, you probably won't learn for yourself though because you'll just make everything harder and never know the difference, it's your feet though.

What a certain blade comes with really means nothing, it can be adjusted right away. My guess is it came with a flat sharpening because Majestics are beginner blades. Also, this may be my mistake, but why do you keep calling it a "bore"? I've never heard it referred to as anything other than "radius of hollow". I've NEVER heard of a 7/8 R.o.H, 7/16 yes (that's what I skate on) but 7/8 sounds odd. You should be fine on a 7/16 though, if you were a girl I'd say 1/2 to begin with but 7/16 should be a good sharpening for someone of your weight/height/skill level.

Okay now, what do you mean by "footwork"? I've seen a lot of people who don't have coaches kind of try to hop around the rink or something and call it footwork, and it really isn't. Do you mean 3-turns? That's not footwork, that's a basic skill (MITF). Or counters, rockers, choctaws, mohawks, etc...? I thought you were a beginner, was I wrong all this time? I highly doubt you're working on these if you have never been coached, and I also don't understand the need to get "better" BEFORE you hire someone to help you progress- that makes no sense at all. You're only going to teach yourself more bad habits that will take even longer to fix the longer you go it alone. So, what do you call footwork, and why do you think it needs to be better before getting a coach? It's obviously your call, I just think that you could be making this experience a lot better for yourself if you listened to some of us on here about some of these things, ESPECIALLY, if nothing else, on the coaching issue.

PS: I wanna add, that I don't mean to sound condescending, I just didn't find a better way to formulate my questions, it has nothing to do with me "making fun" of you being a beginner or anything like that, I truly hope you don't take it that way because that's not at all my intention. I'm just perplexed as to why you're doing things this way, and trying to convince you otherwise because I'm stubborn too.

Im on Jacksons,

comfort fit strong boot , very light. I do most of the doubles in them and Im 165lb. Iv had mine for about 6 months and I skate fast and hard and there still looking good. Each to there own but I like Jacks.

" The greatest risk in life is not taking one "

I actually signed up and paid for lessons today which will be once a week for the next 6 weeks - woo hoo!

Based on the rink employee's personal opinion of my skating, he judged me as being at the Beta level, so I'll be taking Gamma level classes.

I found this page: http://www.cuttingedgeskating.com/levels.htm

Seems that the only thing I'm missing from Beta is backwards crossovers...I'm getting close on those though. My right outside three turn is the worst of the four, and my mohawks are miserable, so I think he judged pretty accurately.

I have custon Klingbeils (3rd pair) and Ultima Ascend dance blades.

Am working on my USFS Silver and Pre-Gold dances, and occasionally on Adult Bronze MIF.

Good, very good for you (although you'll have a better blade than probably every single one of your coaches...) but I think if you want to progress fast, you should consider hiring a private coach, and work with him at least a couple of times a week. It seems you are serious at progressing, and those classes you signed up for while mostly everyone (me included) go through them when they're little kids, if you are starting out as an adult, they might take too much time to make you learn things. I mean, they are designed so you move up levels about every year or so. You would learn a lot more with a coach one on one who can target your desires and needs, and then you can move into testing some time down the line, if you are interested in competing. Just a thought.