I think that they look wider when you see them but once you tighten them around your ankle i think it does shrink. I feel like it hugs the ankle well and yes i do agree that they dont really look ugly and if you have a boot cover on them it is even harder to tell that they are differemt.

I was just discussing these the other day with a couple fellow skaters. Supposedly there are a number of competitors at Nationals wearing them, but I don't follow skating very much so I can't confirm or deny that claim (though I tend to believe it because my friend follows these things much more closely and has been interested in the hinged boots since she started skating).

I personally don't like the idea, and don't see myself ever trying them. I don't mind a little break-in time, and I think the resistance offered by the leather is sufficient for me. I also have a preference for the appearance of non-hinged boots and I tend to prefer old-fashioned well-proven concepts over those new-fangled things like K-picks, parabolic blades, the bizarre Jackson Matrix blade system, and hinged boots... I'm not really an old miser like I sound like there, but I am a skeptic of most new things.

That being said, I think it's great that these help some people, especially if it makes it easier to land onto a toe. Reading the linked article, I couldn't help but think continually to myself, "but I surely don't land flat-footed!" - for me, landing on the toe is just instinctive and has never been a problem. And aside from some occasional knee pain (especially when I was skating in the warm summer months it seems) and lumps forming on the sides of my ankles (which I think is a fault of the design of the top of the boot which hinges wouldn't affect, and bunga sleeves cure pretty darn well), I've never had any foot/leg injuries from skating, even when I skate a lot...so I don't think their supposed injury-reduction would be of any use to me.

But one lesson I've learned well from skating - different things work well for different people - it's too easy to make blanket statements like "Graf sucks!" (*cough cough whistle innocently*), when in fact something that sucks for me is in fact a perfect match for others' needs, and vice versa.

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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

The boots were developed for people doing the multiple rev./triple/quad jumps which tend to result in the hip injuries we're seeing everywhere now. While they seem to offer other benefits to lower level skaters as well, the injury-reduction reality probably wouldn't show up in someone doing singles, because those aren't likely to cause injuries anyway.

What is so bizarre about the ultima matrix blade system. I am also using that and i find that i like them very much and it saves you when you need to replace the blade becuase the runner is about a third of its traditional counterpart and if you are someone who does dance and freestyle you can have a dance runner and a freestyle runner and just change out the blade when you do the other instead of needing two different sets of boots or using a freestyle blade for dance or vice versa. Also they solve the problem of getting on a plane you just take the blade off but you dont have to unmount the chassis so you dont have to worry about wearing out the screw holes in the boot and i you are like me i will NEVER check my skates if they cant go on with me i wont be going on. Also as far as the injury i had jackson 3100's before my hinged skates and was only doing begining singles and half jumps and they were so painful to land a jump in and it started injuring my shins to the point that it was painful to walk and was off ice several times for a week or two. Since i got the hinged boots there is still some residual pain from my old boots but landing the same jumps in the hinged boots doesnt hurt at all. So i have to disagree with the doesnt help with injurys in lower levels i was going to wait a little while longer before buying them but i was in so much pain i knew i needed to try them now or keep being forced off ice and they have helped me alot i will never go back.

Personally, I think it looks bizarre, and I'm betting due to it's design that it's heavier. I've been skating rather a lot overall on fairly high-end boots and blades for the last year and couple months, and have never once needed to take the blade off or replace them. As it stands, the blades have quite a lot of life left in them, and will almost certainly outlive the boots (I think this is true for most skaters in general). So none of the above things are an advantage to me.

Well, I don't fly, but if I did, I'd just follow the advice of others who refuse to check their traditional skates.

I'm not familiar with Jackson models, but maybe you had too high-level of a boot for your level?

In any case, I'm glad what you has works for you, but I personally don't see myself ever using either hinged boots or interchangeable blades.

__________________
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

The blade is actually supposed to be 15 percent lighter than traditional blades becuase the chassis is made of aircraft aluminum and the blade is made of stainless steel so it isnt supposed to rust and is supposed to be harder than the traditional carbon steel blades and it isnt chromed so the chroming wont chip off. Yes your blades may outlast your boots but if you are an adult like me you can just put the old chassis on your new boots even if you need new blades and you only need to buy the runner which for the ultima freestyle model is only 110 verses the 330 for the tradiitional ultima freestyle blade and they are the same blade.

Interesting; I have never had a pair of blades outlive boots. Always the opposite.

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

I dont think i will have my blades outlive my boots either i like my blades sharp all the time and sharpen them quite frequently.