My family and I have recently taken up ice skating and over the last few weeks have purchased five new pairs of skates, a mixture of Risport and Belati. When we were fitted for the skates it was explained to us that differentiated lacing allowed the wearer to vary the tightness of the lace along the boot but we are unable to achieve this result. Whatever we do, including changing the style of lacing, the laces seem to 'even' out almost immediately after being tied and the varying tightness disappears. What are we doing wrong?

Hi, and welcome - are you skating at the new rink in Norwich? What's it like? Or are you Riverside (Chelmsford) like Peanutskates?

Anyway, don't worry too much about the lacing - as long as it's relatively comfortable and giving you good support, that's what matters. Don't pull them very tight over your feet, especially while you're wearing them in, but tighten them at the ankles.

There's no one "right" way of lacing boots - you have to do what feels comfortable and gives you the most support!

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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!

All new laces stretch and loosen up while you skate. You have to re-tie them every hour or so. Perfectly normal for new skates, and the stretching eventually stops happening with use and age.

If the laces are nylon they tend to "slip" as you lace. You can try putting a thumb down on each lace criss-cross as you work your way up-that usually helps keep you from losing the tightness as you go.

I always swap the nylon laces for cotton or cotton/poly. They don't slip and are easier on my fingers/hands.

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We use the new rink in Norwich. It has been open for only a few months and is still being developed. There are still some teething problems in evidence e.g. the resurfacing machine does not yet produce as good a finish as it should. Rink size is approx 35m x 20m. Skating sessions are two hours duration and cost £5 including skate hire. There is no reduction for using your own skates. Attached to and part of the rink is a so called 'village' comprising a skate shop, bar, snack facilities, gift shop and amusement arcade with slot machines.

In addition to what others have said, you could try tying a single knot before lacing the hooks. That helps hold the bottom part firmly in place. When you do the tops, be sure to be able to fit a thumb tip in the back of the boot. If they are any tighter than that, you may have trouble bending your knees sufficiently. One way to manage that is to lace the bottom with tail of the blade on the floor and your toe pointed up. Then, after tying that single knot, put your foot flat on the floor and bend your knee while you lace the hooks and tie tightly at the top.

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Glad to hear that it's beginning to come together - friends of mine skated at the Grand Gala Opening before Christmas, and I think my sister has taken her kids to skate there.

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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!

Best way to lace is: up round the top of the hook, outside the hook, round the bottom of the hook, crossing over the lace on your way up to the opposite hook.

ie. not up round the bottom to top of hook - but the opposite way.

It also helps to tie a single knot (one twist) into the laces as they cross over just below the hooks.

I do what dooobedoo suggests except my bottom two hooks are laced the normal way. I switch directions for only the top two hooks.

This has reduced the tendency for the top two laces to "unhook" during skating. I usually skate 2 hours without relacing after tying my laces this way.

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Bill Schneider

If your laces are 100% nylon, they pretty much won't hold no matter what you try... :/

Cotton/nylonn-bled laces work better, and cotton laces hold the best (and stretch the least - I almost never feel a need to retie). In addition to tying half-knots along the way, looping the lace over the tops of the hooks then around the bottom will keep them where you want too.

Of course if you leave a section really loose it will probably average it's way out somewhat anyways - perhaps just try an overall tighter lacing, or don't lace the boots up all the way.

If the skates are new and a pretty good model with a lot of padding, they will feel like they're loosening up more during the break-in period as the padding compresses a bit to conform better to your feet.

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
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For the eyelet (instep) portion of the boot, you can try either "Canadian" style, or Straight Across ("European") style, to hold different tensions better. European tends to be a bit messier and harder to deal with for me, but it also uses up a bit more lacing if you find yourself with too much extra. ALso you can put a half-twist or even two half-twists at the top of any section that you want to hold different tension (like for looser toes for example).

I then tie a half knot just below the first hook, up-and-around the first three hooks with an additional half-knot after each one. I've had my boots since summer, and they are well broken in, but I still don't like tying the very top hook.

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