Well my second pair of skates came from Rainbo Sports today. I think they are the ones, but I'm not entirely sure about how skates stretch.

It appears my ideal skate would have a wide toe box, and a normal/narrow heel. I can't afford customs right now, so I'm just trying to get the best I can.

The skate I got is the Jackson Competitor size 3 width B. The skate is perfect lengthwise. My heel touches the back, my toes almost touch the front, and can wiggle just a little bit. The skate is snug around my feet.

Now the reason I am not sure about them, is that they really pinch my big toe. I think this can be fixed by being "punched out" but there is no pro shop around here. They also squeeze the front of my foot a bit- but not so much that it hurts. For a long skating session though it might get painful. I only had them on for 15 minutes. How much can I expect them to stretch?

Second, when I lace them, the bottom sides of the skates are really far apart from each other, and the laces barely tie at the top. Is this bad for any reason other than looking weird?

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
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The are going to seem sort of stiff at first; once you skate around in them for a bit they will soften up as the heat from your foot helps to mold them. Since you have no pro-shop I am thinking you aren't able to get them heat-molded? Some of the people on this board have had success with the "roaster bag" technique. There are tips on the Rainbo website for heat-molding at home...you could try those. And, you can also put them on at home (with the guards on) and just stand and knee-bend with them on (not walk).

I would say that with my competitors, it took about 10 hours before they felt really great.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Then these are probably the right ones. I knew they should be stiff, I just wasn't sure if it was weird that there was so much space over the tongue.

I can heat mold them at home- I have a heat gun (not a blow dryer) problem is, it's packed and the movers don't get here for another week. I don't think I can wait that long!! I'm sure they will loosen up more than.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I recently went for a boot fitting (and learned a LOT). The boot should fit very snug but not tight. The fitter said there should not be much wiggle room at all, as the skate will feel bigger as the padding conforms to the foot (make sense?) so it is better to err on the side of a bit snug (but not tight) than feeling comfortable (it should NOT fit like a sneaker).

I hope this helps!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I'm not sure what you mean by 'bottom sides of the skates', but it's normal for the laces to barely tie at first--it's because the leather is so stiff, and it hasn't conformed to your feet yet. As the skates break in (and the laces stretch!), you'll be able to tie more and more lace, and the sides of the skate will get closer over the tongue.

15 minutes is about right at first--when breaking them in, this may be all you can manage at a time. Lots of folks skate for 10-15 minutes, then take a break and re-lace.

Re: your toe...did you 'kick' your heel WELL down into the boot when you first put them on? You've really got to seat your heel firmly into the back of the boot, just as hard as you can without hurting yourself! This may give you the room you need up front.

Also...you may not want to lace the skates ALL the way up to the top right at first (it's an individual thing). Many folks leave the top one or two sets of hooks undone until the skates break in a bit. Leaving them undone allows for deeper/proper knee bend, which is difficult to get right away with stiff, new boots. Keeps you from tripping on the pick. Also, some people's skates 'bite' into their ankles at the top (less common with the rolled edges more boot makers are doing, I think), and leaving them loose helps avoid that as well.

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I left my top hook undone for a long time. It was just too tight. I never had to "kick" my heel in (my boots were a bit big for me); but lacing was hard at first and I had to keep re-tying them as the laces stretched out and the leather stretched.

Also, be cautious about jumping and spinning if your blades have temporary mounts. You might want to make sure the blades are set correctly before putting all the screws in if they aren't all in. I did a series of one-foot glides with my free foot directly behind my skating foot and tried hard to keep my shoulders and hips squared to see if I could glide straight. Once I was gliding straight, I put the remaining screws in. If you need to adjust the blades, get your coach to help you with that, as it can be dicey.

Sorry I didn't think of these earlier....I'm tired tonight and my brain is foggy.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Did you ask if Jackson makes a mixed width boot? My feet are wide in the front and normal/narrow in the heel and I went through two pairs of B width boots before learning that for just $25 more I could get boots that were B in the front and A in the heel (mine are SP Teri, which are nice and wide in the toe box). My previous pair of boots were standard B-B width and in the beginning, the padding in the heel kept my heel locked in, but as the padding flattened out with wear, my heel start slipping when I did sitspins so that my heel lifted but the heel of the blade stayed on the ice and caught.
Next time I may just buckle down and order C-A boots, since the little bit of pressure I felt on the outside of my foot and pinkie toe never completely went away. They will probably have to charge me for customs if I request more than one width difference between ball and heel, but I've realized I only have one pair of feet, and when I spread the cost over the 2-1/2 years I use a pair of boots, it's less money than I regularly waste on non-essentials, and a lot less than I'd spend on foot surgery in 5-10 years.

Jackson does make a mixed size boot (I found this out recently). I ordered an AA heel with a C width. But it is considered semi-custom and takes several weeks extra (you would think these things would be laying around the factory floor-I guess not.)

For the Elite model, it costs an extra $100. BUT...I won't have to worry about my heels slipping (seems to be a very common problem!)

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I was charged $50 extra for 1 size difference in ball/heel for my 3100s in March...

ETA: maybe you were charged $100 because the difference in width is so much bigger?

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--renatele

I think that is what he said. I don't really care because I was able to try one pair on (for another lady in the same size) and I was AMAZED at how they SHOULD fit!!! I never knew how boots were really supposed to fit...the people at my rink fit you and tell you it's like wearing a sneaker (not really). AND I never had to do the heel-banging thing either, but the fitter said you HAVE to for them to fit right!

This is an expensive sport and my mistakes are really costing me $$$$!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Hmm. . . maybe it was $25 per boot. . .

$100 extra for a perfect fit is definitely worth it! That's the price of, what, 3-4 lessons?

I figure I've bought 3 pairs of skates over 3 years....If I'd gotten a great-fitting pair from the get-go it would have saved me tons of $$, but i was not at the level I am now, so I would have had to upgrade my boot eventually. Now I will have a boot that will take me a few years out. So, the money I spend now on boots will go further.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Thanks all for the great advice. I think these are keepers, but are definetly going to need some wear time before they are comfy.

I believe I will eventually be in either a split width or a custom, but I'm just a beginner right now. Really these are my first pair of "real" skates- I have my own skates now, and they are working fine, but I'd be scared to jump in them- they are from Lands' End or something like that from when I was a kid- I never wore them, so they never broke down.

Now if only the movers would get here with the heat gun. I want to skate on these babies, but don't want to sharpen the blade until I've heat molded to make sure they actually are the "perfect" fit.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

You are near cincinnati arent you. Sports Plus can punch out your skates they did a pair of mine and did a good job with it i wouldnt buy skates there or sharpen them there but they seem to be ok with punching.

Nope, unfortunately I'm in Iowa now.

(Although I actually ended up getting the boots I would have bought at sports plus- but they didn't have any blades that fit them)

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

You will be ok just stroking around the rink...that will help "fit" them better to your feet until you can have them heat molded, and you might even find that you won't need to have them molded! I would just go out and take it easy and stroke around. You didn't say what blades you have but if they have a factory sharp, they are good enough for just plain stuff, nothing fancy (in fact the factory sharpening is actually sharper than how some people like their blades!). When I got my boots last year, my coach also suggested tons of back crossovers, to get that good bend in the knee with will help break them in at the ankle. That way, you will know if you need to get them punched out later (I would not get them punched out right away unless they are causing excruciating pain).

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Oh- you can skate on a factory sharpening? I didn't know that- I thought you had to get them sharpened first. (The blade is an Ultima Mirage. They don't feel sharp to the touch in the slice a finger nail test)

I actually went to a sporting good store that sells cheap skates, and they have a skate oven from Jackson. While I wouldn't buy my skates there, they said I can bring some in to have them heated- so I will probably do that. It will probably be more effective than my heat gun.

Thanks for the advice

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

yeah, i skated on mine for a few hours and then had them sharpened. they won't be terribly sharp, so you won't want to do any jumps (which you shouldn't on temporary mounts anyway) but after you know you are settled in your blades and they feel "right" then pop the remaining screws in and get those babies sharpened! I have known some skaters that let theirs go over 60 hours before getting them sharpened....and that's even duller than a factory edge!!! Yikes!!!

I am glad you found a solution for the heat molding. Do you need instructions for the heat molding using their oven (just to be sure they person their knows what they are doing)?

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

You really don't need to take your boots to a specialist place - you can do them at home, especially if you have a fan oven. I think it's 120 C, you leave them in for 3 minutes, let them cool until they won't burn your feet, and then put them on. But you may find they don't need it.

And you can skate on a factory grind, but get them sharpened as soon as you can.

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