I've been trying to learn how to skate on and off for the last few years but have not had any luck due to the fact that the skates kill me. I have been through 2 pairs of skates neither fit me well and rentals are a mess.

Now I graduate from nursing school in June and would like to treat myself to a pair that don't make me miserable.

Now up until this point I've followed the wisdom of not to get too much boot but at this point if they don't fit my brick shaped feet whats the point.

Your suggestions? I'm not cheap and am willing to pay for whatever I need but I don't want anyone to think I'm an idiot for spending too much.

Klingbeil. They'll make them in whatever stiffness you need, and you might fit one of their stock boots, it doesn't have to be total custom.

Have you tried Jacksons?

You could check out Edea to see if that's your taste. They're not so much for wide feet per se, as they are for feet that are wide in very particular (fairly common) places.
Also depending on your level - you mentioned rentals? - some members here have been excited about soft boots like softec? I think DBNY talked about them in an other thread, you may want to search.

I use rentals when I get desperate but they are no better and I'm trying to get past the rentals level.

I'll try jacksons. Not sure why I wasn't fitted into them in the first place as the pair I was sold was around the same price as jacksons.

Is edea widely available in the US.

My feet as well as my daughters are super wide, and B width Jacksons fit our feet really well.

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Jessica

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The company is based out of Italy and according to Edea's website, there's only one distrubtor listed in the U.S.: SKATES US, Inc. at 415 West Eaton Pike in Richmond, IN.

That being said, I'd also recommend you consider Jacksons.

If you are interested in trying the Edea's I'll tell you that I'veordered from Skates US and they are a reputable company and very helpful. They had come to a local competition and I tried on the Edeas's and they are light and have a very different feel from a regular skate- very comfy. I wasn't in need of a new boot however, so I didn't buy them.

They may be able to do a preliminary fitting based on a mailed foot tracing, since it's unlikely that you live near them.

I have a wide front of my foot and a narrower heel and went for Jackson's because I'm told they run wide. I didn't find that to be the case, and even with a wider width get a lot of squeezing in the front of my foot.

If you are weilling to pay whatever- go for customs, and get them customized to your level of stiffness in addition to your feet. Custom doesn't need to mean "built like a brick"

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-Jessi
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My feet are very wide. Would not fit into woman’s wide, c or d. I just was able to get a mans riedell, and that fit. Infact, it is the professional boot fitter that I went to that put me into that boot. He said it is alot less then custom. I ended up getting the black because I did not want to pay extra for the white, and I did not want it to take longer to get my boots. As it was the 4 week est. he said turned into more like 7 weeks. But I have my boots and they are way great. I never know a boot could be go good.

My feet are shaped like bricks I should clarify not my boots are stiff as ( though they are)

Both pairs have been Reidells which I hear are not great for wide feet but the place I went sold all brands so I don't know why I got put into them.

Both my daughter and I have feet the size of Manhattan which makes it difficult to find any shoe/sneaker/sandal/skate that fit! She started out with Jackson's mens skates which fit great and then graduated to Reidells in a custom width - a bit more money but worth it. I lucked out because and got my mom's custom Klingbeils after she had all her bunions removed and the boots were too wide for her new feet! If you're just starting out, try mens sizes - they might have just enough extra room.

In the Netherlands Edea and Risport are the two leading brands (and I've been told Edea was created by one of the makers of Risport...) and the people who do have Edea, are very excited about it and want nothing else. They describe the feeling as having the support of skates, but the feeling of sneakers on their feet. The problem with Edea is that it only fits a part of the population, not everybody, plus that apparently their top-of-the-line skates aren't really as top as the top-of-the-line of some other brands, but I don't imagine that will be a problem for most adult skaters. Most of us aren't anywhere near triples.

B width super wide? My daughter & I beat you there!

Which is interesting actually. A little off topic, sorry, but I was saying just the other day that people in the Northern Hemisphere must have much narrower feet than down here in Australia. Perhaps because we tend to go around barefoot all summer. Although my daughter has no trouble buying shoes to fit her width, skates are just not wide enough. A few kids at our rink have had to get modified width skates.

Jackson's are supposed to be one of the wider fitting brands, but my daughter had to get Jackson Competitors cos they are the lowest model you can get modified width, and she needed wider than their widest stock. fitting. Me, with my bunions, had to get double modifications.

Anyway, Jacksons do width modification if required for a small extra fee, which beats paying for custom boots for lower-mid range skaters IMHO.

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

I too think Jacksons might do the trick. I don't recommend the Jackson SoftSkate for you because it is an entry level recreational skate and does not come in half sizes and varied widths. If the price for a modified stock boot starts to get around $400, then seriously consider custom Klingbeils, which are $600, for absolutely every bell and whistle you might needm and fabuluous and unlimited customer support. I was at Klingbeil when a woman with bunions the size of neptune came in to get her new boots. You could see that the uppers and soles were cut to accomodate her bunions, and when she put them on, she said it was the first time skates had not hurt her feet.

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I have Jackson's and mine are split-sized (C-width ball, narrow heel). I believe they ran about $300 or $400 (can't remember exactly it was about 2 years ago) without the blade. Well worth the money as you will be in them for years before you have to buy a new pair.

You can get a cheaper blade at first, then upgrade later.

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

I wore Jacksons for years and punched out a C width and then a special order D (no extra charge, it's stock, just had to wait) in Competitors. When I was looking around for something even wider, they would modify the Elite series, but with surcharges, and by that point, i was in Klingbeil price bracket so went with them. I didn't want the stiffness of an Elite boot, I really like wearing something like Jackson Freestyle where I can bend my ankles, so felt like I was getting over-booted.

Interesting point about big australian feet. I grew up in NZ. Only my heels are normal width. Everything else is spread.

Anyone recommend an honest fitter in Los Angeles. The one I went to in anehiem failed miserably.

Another vote for the Competitors: they do split width, and according to skaters at our rink, it still costs only about $50 extra! Amazingly, it appears that they haven't changed the price of split widths in 5 years - I paid an extra $50 for split width for my boots 5 years ago!

Mine are white, split "D+" (=E ) ball, D heel. The ball is wonderful, but the heel is too wide. At the time, they would only split one width (eg: D to D+, A to B); but I've been told by others at the rink who have recently purchased skates that they'll now split to what is needed. Good news for me - when my current ones expire, I'm sticking with Jacksons for new ones, as long as they don't change their last...

My observation is that Jacksons have a round (as opposed to pointed) toe box which is quite high as well. So if your foot looks like a duck's with your toenails at just about the widest part, then they may be a good basic fit. Not sure what that's saying about the shape of my feet, mind!

I'd steer clear of Risports as it seems they are made for narrow long feet - even their "wide" is way too narrow. Anyway, best of luck with whatever you get.

They are, sort of. They're for feet that are equally wide everywhere - at the heel and at the toes, not for "duck feet" at all. Well, what the dutch call duck feet anyway. It's feet running narrow at the heel, and wide at the toes - like a duck's. It's apparently a genetic trait that is very rare in southern europe, such as italy, and very common in northern europe, such as northern germany and even further up north. I imagine any place people from those areas emigrated to in the world would also have those feet.

Thank you all your inputs have been insightful. I used to distribute ballroom dance shoes so I am a stickler for fit. I go into that because I couldn't find a shoe that fit my feet so I imported them and sold them.

May I ask - which brand?

i would recommend graf

My skates are custom Jackson's to an E width and I really like them

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Oh I would not. I had an M in Risports and took an L in Graf and still found the Grafs ran narrower in my toes than the risports! Which was a good thing really, but nonetheless.

Unless you are a rather energetic skater, doing at least singles, and weighing over 125 pounds, you may find the Competitors are too much boot for you - like blocks of cement on your feet. Even the Freestyles may be too much, but are softer than the Competitors.

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