Dear all,

Well I got my new Gam skates at last (took 6 weeks to arrive)! Anyway I notice that the blade has 6 holes at the front and two at the back but only two screws are used on each - is this normal?

Also I have only tried them once so far and I have noticed that when I am skating forward in a straight line the boots and blades tend to tilt inwards rather than standing straight, in line with my legs. This used to happen with the hire skates and I thought it was something to do with them being crap skates and I was hoping this wouldn't happen with my Gams. I guess this means that I am not skating on the middle of the blade but towards the inside edge. Does anyone know why this is happening?


thanx

Do your feet pronate when you are barefoot? If so, you may need to put some better arch support into your skating boot. The other fix for your problem could be to move the blades a little to the inside of where they are right now.

The blades are put on right now w/ a temporary mounting so you can figure out if they're aligned correctly & make adjustments before putting all those holes in the soles of your boots.

Speaking of which, it sounds like they need to be adjusted! Your feet shouldn't be pronating in brand new boots. Couple of things to try:

1. Make sure they're laced correctly, ie, tight enough

2. You might try an over the counter insole/orthotic to see if raising the arch helps (lots of people use these, including me!) They need to be the stiff hard kind, not the jelly, squishy kind.

3. Have a coach or skate pro watch you skate to determine if the blades need to be moved.

No there is nothing wrong with my feet.

This sounds like a tricky job, I mean I guess there are only a few chances to get it right before your soles are ruined Anyway are the holes made by putting the screws in or are the holes made first and then the screws put in?

I think I need new longer laces - perhaps cos I have wide feet, I run out of lace before I get to the top of the boot. So there is some looseness there above the ankle - I don't know if this is the cause of the pronating but I will fix this first before doing anything else.

Usually they drill a little bit and then drive the screw into the start point.

No, you don't move the screw, you move the blades very slightly! So all you do is loosen the screws very slightly, adjust the blade, then tighten the screws again. Don't try this yourself - get your coach to help you if they think your blades do need adjusting. But in all probability, it may just be that they are new, and perhaps you aren't doing them up quite tightly enough....

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