Hi guys,
quite a silly question to start my membership with, but it's been bugging me for a couple of weeks. I've recently bought a new pair of blade guards - the split type, with a spring in the middle, and every time I walk in them I hear this quite loud annoying noise from the front section of the guards actually sliding forward and backward as the spring streches when my foot pushes off the floor. I can live with the embarrassment of people turning their heads expecting see a robot walking, but my real concern is, is all this scraping inside the plastic guard damaging the blades? Would it dull the edges?
Also, If I tighten the spring it would be impossible to get the guard on. It's pretty hard as it is.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

hey, welcome to the board!

have you had the guards cut by a pro-shop person/your coach etc? if not, take them to either a skate shop or your coach, and ask them to cut the guards to fit your blades. they may still be the wrong size.

you don't tighten the spring, you cut off parts of the guard. it must be a very tight fit of the guard to the blade.

I have recently bought 2-piece guards, had them cut at a shop where I bought my new skates and there've been no problems. so go and ask a pro for advice.

hope this helps,

peanutskates

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Mine do that, and the problem with mine is they were assembled by an idiot - me.

One half of the sprung-together guard is for the front of the blade, and another slightly different one for the back. I have two fronts together on one guard, and two backs on another. Clickety click!

I have yet to disassemble them to put them together properly. Too lazy I guess.

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Bill Schneider

Thanks for the advice peanutskates, it sounds sensible however... I bought my blade guards on Ebay and had no one to ask really how they should fit. I didn't have to cut them at all since there's already a half-inch gap between the front half and the back half when you put them on. Which now makes me think.. are they too small perhaps? (the ad did say would fit my size of blade)
I don't have any experience in blade guards, having been skating regularly for only 12 weeks (passed Skate UK grade 8 today though hurray!) so I guess I'll go and ask at my ice rink shop. If it turns out to be a hopeless case, I'm never buying anything off ebay again!

Should I then go for guards with a more 'rubbery' feel? (is hard plastic harmful to the blades?)

Maybe you can apply some silicone spray lubricant to the springs, so that they might not make the sounds anymore. Anyway, with these spring type blade guards, it's necessary to have them at the right size....springs stretched out too much is no good, and springs not stretched out enough is no good either.

If the guards you have right now do not fall off and they seem to fit, then take the springs out, then put some silicone spray on the springs and give them a bit of a work out. Maybe the squeaks will just disappear completely.

Hard plastic won't be harmful to your blades. Your blades are much harder than plastic, so no problems there. Just use guards that you feel have adequate traction on the floor and you'll be fine.

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UPDATE : I just stretched my blade guard and the springs squeaked. I kept the guards pulled apart, and I sprayed silicone lubricant everywhere on the spring that I could see stretched out....like sprayed between the coils of the slightly outstretched springs. Now, when I stretch the two halves of the guard, there are no noises anymore from the spring. A silicone spray lubricant should do the trick. Just don't use any kind of other lubricant that eats the plastic or rubber on the guard and you'll be ok.

Why exactly do they make the fronts and backs different? I couldn't see any benefit to having one end higher than the other. I chop the top part of the higher end off, so that they are the same back and front. That way I don't have to check out which way around they go.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

I think that for some skate blades, or maybe most skate blades, the profile of the front of the blade is different from the rear. The rear is short and stubby and somewhat vertical, and the front seems to be more rounded and tall.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...e-skates-1.jpg

So, the front of the guard may need to be taller in order wrap itself around the top-most part....in order to keep a hold on the blade. At the rear of the blade, the guard doesn't need to be too high to hook the short vertical bit. If the blade guard can't get a good grip on the relevant portions of the blade, then it could end off coming off (fall off) when not expected to come off.

I found that the high bit wouldn't fit over my blades (Phantoms), they hit the boot and that made them move up and down more. So I figured the high bit had to go at the back. Having chopped the high bit off on mine and my daughters, I have to say that doesn't cause them to move around.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

just to clear things up:

high end goes at the back of the blade (heel of the boot)
short end goes at the front of the blade - toepick

it doesn't matter if there is a gap between the 2 pieces.

these guards were brand new, right? if they weren't, the spring might be stretched out too much already?

the silicone spray sounds good, but really, the springs shouldn't be moving when you walk. the reason I got 2-piece guards is that they're meant to stay on firmly. with no movement.

so, make sure you assemble your guards correctly (see bold bit) and if you need to try the spray, I suggest you ask a pro for that, or some skater friends? unless the spray is cheap, I don't see a reason to buy a whole bottle of it.

maybe you should post a photo of your guards? that could help us.

update us soon!

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seeing as you should only 'wear' the guards when walking to and from the ice, I don't think your blades would be affected. I hope you know to take them off when you're not wearing the skates.

my 2 piece guards are made by "Guardog" and feel rubbery/plasticy. I wear them for about 30 mins a week (15 mins x each session when I stretch and practise stuff in my skates) and I think that if the guard is like really fixed to the blade and there's no movement, that there would be very very little effect on the blade quality.

p.s. and congratulations on passing to level 8 already! 12 weeks, lol, by their standards you should only be on grade 2! how long have you been skating before you started skateuk?

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Yep, the guards are brand new and I'm not sure the spring is to blame. I have a feeling they might just be poor quality. I've tried putting them on back to front as suggested (with the higher end at the back) and although there's less slipping, it is still noticeable and annoying. The front half STILL moves!! I'll post the picture as soon as I've figured out how to do it.

Hey, coming from someone who breezed through her Skate UK, it's not that surprising
I've been skating recreationally for the past 8 years, on and off, just teaching myself bit by bit really. Oh, and I've been watching all the Europeans and Worlds since 1998! I want to see how far I can get, maybe even try and compete somewhere someday

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'll see if I can ask somebody at the pro shop in the next few days, but I have a feeling I should start saving for a new pair of proper blade guards (AND buy them at the pro shop!)

Here are the pics:

The guard pictured looks fine to me. I don't have a gap in my guards when they are on, but I just put a guard on, pulled the back of it back to make a gap, and pressed the toe onto the floor as in your pic. There is no way my guard could move like yours does. I noticed in your pix that your skates are a recreational model, and as such do not have freestyle blades. Am I right in guessing that the toepick area is rounded on your blades? I think the front of your guards slips because there is no large freestyle toepick to hold it in place.

Please don't give up on ebay just because of this one problem. I think there is nothing wrong with the guards you bought and there are plenty of bargains to be had on ebay if you know what you are buying and check out the seller's TOS (Terms Of Service) and feedback.

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Another option, for those that want to spend a little bit more, is to buy two sets of blade guards (eg two sets of guardog blade guards, or anything similar), and then just keep the short ends, and throw away the long ends. Then just use the short ends to make up each guard. That's for the 'genuine' or 'clean' look. But, if not want to spend the extra money, chopping is just fine.

I agree, the guard looks fine. You might want to tighten it a notch - change the position where the springs attach to the guard so it doesn't slip to easily.

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I agree with the above completely. The blade springs really shouldn't be moving about when walking. I saw the picture with the moving guard, and very stretched out spring. That doesn't look normal at all.

It's possible that the profile of that ebay guard is too flat? If it's flat and rigid, then maybe the guard is trying to follow the curved rocker around. That's one thing I notice about some skate guards. They're not heat-molded to conform with the shape or profile of the rockered blade. So putting a flat guard on a curved blade could be a hassle sometimes...maybe.

Maybe could try dunking the guards in quite hot water for 5 mins and then putting the guards on the rockered blade and keep pressing on the guard against the rockered edge until the guard cools down again. When the plastic is hot, it might be more pliable. When cooled, the plastic should stiffen up again and keep a rockered shape. This is just an idea hehe

My blades are MK Club 2000, beginner freestlyle, and do have a toepick, albeit not an aggressive one like the more advanced models. But you may have made a good point there - not enough grip at the front of the guard perhaps.

I really appreciate all the advice guys! WIll fiddle with the spring etc. and see if it improves the grip.

Thanks again for all the ideas!

are the guards maybe too wide? when I put my ones on, i really have to push the blade in, because the plastic narrows in the middle. but yeah, it does look weird#

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That's hilarious. My grandma used to say I had two left hands and two left feet, but I've never seen a person with two left guards to add to it haha!


My guards are slipping too. I'm not noticing any bad effects for the blades at all, don't worry. But I should get them tighter or something somehow. Problem is, they're already pushed together. I think I'll try to cut a piece off of them, so there's a small gap in the middle or something, cuz it's growing increasingly difficult to walk in them as the springs are being pulled out a little.

I know that blade, and it does have enough of a toepick to do the job, so I guess that's not it.

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