I am so excited! Today my fitter called me and said that he had received my blades and would have them mounted by later that day. Perfect timing too, since he left for the Nationals in Portland this evening (he and his sister won 1st in novice ice dance in 1999 and 8th in ice dance last year).

Today worked out to be a great day all around. I left work early to go interview for a new job, which went really really well, both because it's a perfect fit of a job for me and because skating has boosted my confidence - I could really tell a difference in myself from a few months ago. Then I rushed from there and picked up my skates, then rushed back to my home rink.

I was late and missed the public lesson, but I went skating anyways. The coach from the public lessons was still there and came up to me on the rink to inquire why I'd missed class - I explained about the new skates, pointing at my feet. She said that she had seen me practicing during the last week and thought that I was in too low-level of a class. So she's going to come in early next week and rate what level I ought to be in properly.

Okay so enough babble, on to the skates! The new blades are actually mounted properly, and are the correct length for the boot. On my old skates, the metal plate is mounted about 1/8 inch from the front of the boot sole, and about 3/8 inch from the back. It's an 11" blade. On my new boots the blade is 11.75", and is mounted such that both ends are flush with the sole edges.

Oh what a difference it makes! I have more stability and can lean back farther without falling, and NEVER hit the toepick anymore! The proper part of the blade is under the actual ball of my foot, so I can balance on it properly and pull off a 1-foot spin with a couple revolutions now - on the old skate I had to try centering the weight a bit behind the ball of my foot, which made it impossible to do.

The blades are also just sharpened, which makes a difference, but I've found that when I execute a 3-turn properly, it just flows ever so perfect and smooth...I attribute this to having better control of which part of the blade is on the ice.

About 5 regulars noticed my slower, more uncertain skating and the new skates, and commented on them (a lot of people liked the suede finish), which was nice.

The boots were especially hard on the soles of my feet (they have arch support, which the Klingbeils were sadly lacking), and after a while and especially after skating backwards a bit my outside ankle bones got sore as well, so after an hour of skating I finally decided my feet had had enough, and took them off and changed back into the old Klingbeils. Like an old friend, my feet felt happier in them, and I found that I could skate a lot faster than with the new ones which will take some getting used to. However it became painfully obvious how much they *move*, in an uncontrolled and sloppy fashion, as I skate.

I may have felt less certain on the new skates, but I had actually had a lot better control in them - they were less "slippery" on the ice. I tried some of the same things again, like 3-turns, which just didn't feel nearly as good, and 1-foot spins for even just one revolution finding the proper spot on the blade, which failed miserably. It will take some time to relearn everything on the new skates, but it's a change for the better.

I'm really happy that they turned out to work so well, because I was feeling pretty uncertain for a while. The boots fit tight and well, the blades performed like a dream and I think spins are within my reach now, and the skates are prettier to boot!

So happy...

just remember, when you break in new skates, you don;t really want to do much besides skate. and make sure you leave the top one or 2 hooks open at first. also, you should take them off every now and then to let your feet relax and then relace them, since as the boot comforms to your foot, you may need to lace them tighter. but i'm glad you like your new skates. happy skating.

And make sure you wear thin socks, and use baby powder to help your feet settle in. The old pros used to recommend wringing out a pair of your skating socks in hot water, and wearing the boots (with blade guards, of course) around the house until the socks were dry as the fastest way to break in your boots. Husband, last time he got new boots, stood around doing the ironing in them, which worked for him.....

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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!

Ah..... the joys of new skates.

Cool!!!

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Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

Roaster Bags! Go ahead and laugh you heads off! If you try this one, you won't get blisters. Get roaster bags (the kind you roast turkey or roast beef in so that the meat stays moist) and put them on your feet before you put your skates on. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT ORDINARY PLASTIC BAGS! You may feel foolish and have to endure some kidding from your friends, but it really works!

Wow, I had forgotten all about that! I remember using oven bags with my Riedells years ago. I went to Risport and then Jackson and didn't need to use bags with them but they were a lifesaver with those Riedells. It really does work- the plastic makes your feet sweat more, and the heat helps the leather start to mold.

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Shae-Lynn and Victor: We knew you were champions, and on 3/28/03 the whole WORLD found out! Thank you for twelve wonderful years!

I'll go against the grain and say you really shouldn't do any of the wet sock over bag whatever stuff. The only way your boots are SURE to break in properly is to wear them (on the ice only) about an hour a day, of ONLY stroking. The upside is that it'll do wonders for your stroking (you can do some MITF too, but no spins and ESPECIALLY no jumps, doing so can cause them to start creasing in the wrong spots to give way to the pressue which can't be distribited evenly yet because your boots don't have any bend to them). But there's a lot of people (at least that I've spoken to) that feel the wet sock bit will only make your boot break in wrong, because you're not skating while you are wearing them, and the wear and tear from boots while you are sitting down or walking around is different than when you are on the ice.

Most of us take the pain and break our boots in the regular way: lots of stroking, and lots of time. I suggest you do the same considering how much money you've just spent on equipment. If nothing else, trying to break them down faster will only make them less durable. If you soak your boots, sure it'll break them in faster, but then the leather will be weaker all around and it'll have less of a lifespan. Just my thoughts on this.

Meanwhile, it could very well be both having boots/blades that fit you better AND the reason I'm going to give you, but I think your greater ease in spins and smoother edges on 3-turns and the like come from the superior quality of the Gold Seals rather than 1/9 of an inch of difference in blade sizes. 'The greater ease is the main reason I felt you shouldn't get Gold Seals in the first place- they make everything easier so you don't work as hard and your skills wouldn't hold up as well in other blades. You'll probably never switch blades but your skills shouldn't be dependent on the level of blades you're wearing at beginning stages (meaning, sure you can do a bracket with top of the line blades, but if you were secure in the step if you could do it in low level blades as well, and now you'll never know)- nonetheless, I do think a lot of the positive changes you have experienced in your skating are because Gold Seals are top of the line blades and will make everything just a little bit smoother and easier. Good luck to you during this break in period! I swear it'll get less painful as time passes.

except when you have to compete the very next day...it's happened to me twice..

I actually totally agree with you on this one. I don't mind a painful break-in period. To be honest they're not very painful at all compared to breaking in the used Klingbeils. They're uncomfortable after a while, but nothing like the searing pain to the ankle bones I had before after only minutes on the ice.

Hmm, I will have to stop effing around with 3-turns and so on...and as for jumps, I have been resisting the temptation to try, because the fitter told me the same thing. But today I went skating (only for a half hour after ballet ), and found that I could was much more confident on the skates today, and could do everything I could do before, with notable exception of backwards 3-turns and shoot-the-duck.

Gold Stars... 1/9"? It's 3/4"... I think a lot of the difference is that the old boots should have had a 11.5" blade (I measured), and instead had a 11" mounted too far forward. Another interesting thing is that the balance is perfect on the new blades, it was not on the old...I think a lot of this is because on the old boots the heels had collapsed a good quarter inch or so where the blade was mounted, which probably made the blade angle off...I think that's why I can't find the same balance on shoot-the-duck now - I have to rediscover it. So I agree that part of it may be the superior quality of the blades, but I'd wager at lot of the improvement can be attributed to a properly matched boot and blade with a proper mounting.

Here I have to disagree. While if I execute a move properly, it flows smoothly and beautifully, the skates enforce me to do things correctly. I can't get by with a sloppy haphazard move as I could on the old ones (which I think is why my backwards 3-turns went away, they were never terribly good and my balance was generally off - I've only managed to do one of them on the new skates).

Thanks! And no worries about the pain - it's really not a lot of bother, and I am happy to accept it, because once the Klingbeils shaped to my feet, they became nice and comfortable too (except for the darned tongue bite, which a strip of rubber padding mostly remedied).

Okay cshobe... THIS is how Harlicks recommend you break in new boots!

http://www.harlick.com/order/faq.php#break

I'm breaking in my customs this way and so far it's looking great! Okay, I was bad and tried to do some spins ...but I did NOT jump!!! I simply concentrated on doing my Bronze Moves instead, which is what I've been doing for the past $@#*^ 2 years anyway!!! (I know. It's good for me...but it sure is boring after 2 years...)

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

You guys he has Graf Edmonton Specials, so his break in time will be less and less painful than Harlicks etc. So Cshobe did you get the boots heat molded? I got mine heated and they weren't hurting as much.

Yeah, I know he has Graf Edmonton Specials. He asked for advice on how to break in new boots. I would give the same advice whether he has Harlicks, Riddells, SP Teri, Graf, Klingbeils... you know the drill...

BTW: My break-in with my new custom Harlicks is painless so far!!! They fit like a dream for me!!! The blade alignment is not perfect, but it's pretty good considering... just have to get the blade permanently mounted.

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

They were heat molded when I first tried them out a few weeks back. He was going to heat mold them once more when I picked them up, but we were in a hurry when I picked them up because I had to get to my lesson and he was on his way to the Nationals, so that didn't get done.

All in all they're pretty comfortable, my feet just get sore on the soles and ankle bones after a while (I have very pronounced ankle bones) but it's not intolerable. The Klingbeils on the other hand were a sheer horror for the first week or so, but I persisted.

Jazzpants, question for you - my blades are also temporarily mounted for the time being - they seem properly mounted, but how can I be sure the alignment is as perfect as possible? Oh, and I bought some jazz pants today, for ballet class. I've never wore any before, so they feel strange, being tight on the hips and loose on the calves. Anyways they're off to the tailor to be hemmed to my size now. Just had to mention that.

Your fitter should have checked how you were standing up in the skates and looked at the alignment on the blades with your weight on the skates to make sure they were perfectly mounted for you and that you are not either pronating or sickling your feet in them due to bad alignment of the blades. You should be able to stand straight on the blades, without tipping over (even slightly) to the insides or outsides of your edges. It's not really rocket science most of the time, and if you are not feeling any balance problems I would say they're mounted correctly.

Permanently mounted blades can have two different meanings. Some "temporary mountings" mean they only have a couple of screws in. YOU DO NOT want to skate in blades that only have two screws in there- they are for testing purposes only and once you're sure they are where you want them, more screws get added. However, I've seen some fitters "permanently mount" blades by putting ALL the screws in every single hole. You don't want that either, cause if and when you get new blades, the holes will have widened, and since they will all have been used, there will be none left for the new blades to get put into. You want 3/4 of the screws in there, but not all of them.

We did not have time to check them on the ice due to circumstances described, but I'll be going back for that next week. He told me to try them out and see if I noticed any problems in the meanwhile.

They are somewhere between temporarily and permanently mounted by your definitions - the temporary screws in the slot-sized holes are there, but also a couple permanent bevelled screws in place already to keep it from slipping before I go back.

Strangely, the screws have a square hole, instead of flathead like my old ones, so I'll have to find a screwdriver for them eventually...

You want a #1 square drive. Go to http://www.mcfeelys.com/product.asp?ProductID=hd-0174

Or try a local hardware store.

The screws in the slots will be termed "round head", or "pan head" (the underside of the head is flat). The screws in the beveled holes will be called "flat head" (they have a beveled underside). The head type is unrelated to the drive type.

Be careful not to overdrive with the square drive. Go easy.

On the ice, do a slow one-foot glide, tucking your free foot behind the skating calf (or tight right alongside the skating foot). If you keep going very straight, and don't feel that you're struggling to keep from falling to the inside or outside edge, then you're probably just fine. Since you're on a 'flat', you should see two distinct parallel lines in the tracing.

Glad they seem to be working for you! You did get the soles 'sealed', right? (I recommend sno-seal, but some Graf dealers like to use the harder stuff...I don't think it's 'real' shellac, but whatever it is.)

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Nope, but it's high on my agenda of things to do next week when the fitter gets back. I think sno-seal is the way to go. My roommate told me I don't need to worry about putting anything on the soles - I told him he was crazy.

This would be the roomate you got the Klingbeils from? And, IIRC, these would be the skates that the blade plate 'sank' into? Hmm....

My skates also seem to have some sort of clear-ish 'caulk' around the blade plate...I don't know what kind of caulk it is (regular, or something special), but it seems to do a fantastic job of keeping water out from under the plate (or getting through the screw holes), and I don't see any 'problems' from having it there.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Nope, I got the skates on eBay, and they arrived in that condition...

But his advice seems to be of varying usefulness...he can skate fairly well after not doing it for years, and does offer useful insights and advice sometimes, but other times (like this one) his recommendations seem quite contrary to popular opinion.

Yeah, you really need to get something onto the boots, pronto. Sno seal is best.

As far as checking blade alignment- I meant in his shop, I've never met a fitter who'd go on the ice to check, he couldn't check blade alignment on the ice if you're gliding anyways, you'd have to stand still and you can do that just as well on the floor. You just stand there and he looks at if your foot is going in or out, or if it's straight. That's all there is to it. You can do that in a mirror I guess, but fitters usually know better than skaters, which is why they do it. No need to drag your fitter out onto the ice, though.

I don't think I got my boots waterproofed with the sno seal as I normally do. However, I haven't had much trouble with the soles coming apart either, beware of that with the Grafs. I have had a few of the screws break off in the boot , and it leaves no room for new screws, a big pain to try to get them out of the sole.

We were informed that leaving the top notches undone is actually not good to do. Has to do with breaking them in wrong, the toung moves???? My daughters first coach recommended that and the tong always gave us problems. Now that her new skates are in and we laced them up 100%, we have never had a problem. (Knock on wood) This is a common misconception with coaches, students should do that, according to our skate fitter who is also a skater.

My daughter has had several skates. She just now moved into the Klingbeils and has loved them from the first day. The Riedell and SP Teri's both killed her foot. She has a very high instep and so far, these new Klingbeils have been great! BTW, she was been in them over a month now, so they are broke in. Her coaches also told us not to let her put her old skates back on her feet, when we went to the Riedell to SP Teri. She only has the SP Teri’s for about 3 months, and then we went back to Riedell’s. They worked but she now needs a stiffer boot. As long as she is happy, I am.

Glad you like your skates. Everyone’s feet are different so I guess that is why there are so many different options of skates. Like someone said before HAPPY SKATING.......

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Laugh often it is good for your soul.

i don't know, but that's what my skate fitter told me to do. he said for the first few hours, to leave the top notches undone so that there's not excess pressure and the boots don't break incorrectly. once they're broken in, of course lace them to the top. but when i got my skates, that's what my fitter told me to do, and that's what i did, and i don't have any problems now.

Leaving the top hooks undone is not necessarily for 'proper break-in' per se, but more so that you can still get proper deep knee bend with stiff, new boots, and skate with proper posture, and avoid tripping over your picks onto your nose. Getting proper knee bend (the same bend that you want once the boots are broken in and you're lacing all the way up) will, of course, help to put any creases in the right places, so in that way, it helps with proper break-in. I've never had the tongue move on me due to this. Some boots simply have a tongue problem, and that sucker's going to shift around no matter what you do or don't do. In fact, I'm still not lacing all the way to the top with my SPTeri's, and the tongue sits just fine. Also, if you lace all the way up right from the start...you're kind of asking for blisters from unyielding stiff leather right around the top edge. That 'sock-line blister' is really unpretty, and kind of painful. (Although, IIRC, Graf has that spiffy rolled edge so it's all puffy padding at the top, no 'edge' to speak of.)

__________________
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!