I have recently been fitted for new custom Klingbiel boots in NY. I was wondering if you had your blades mounted by Don or did you go to your regular boot fitter? If Don did the work, were you happy?

I went to a fitter in my area who I purchased my previous pair of skates from and who did my sharpenings (before he moved his shop to a less-convenient location). I ordered the blades through him (I needed to go down 1/4-inch, which I've heard is common when you go from stock boots to customs) and then took the boots in for mounting.

The odd thing is with Klingbeils, though, is that fitters (other than them) aren't allowed to mount the blades off-center, or else the warranty on the boots is voided. On my previous pair, my blades were mounted to the inside, as I tend to really lean that way, but this fitter told me he couldn't do that and showed me an official-looking letter signed by Klingbeil requiring blades to be mounted straight down the center. The fitter said it's b/c Klingbeil believes that they correct pronation problems in the design of the boot, since it is a custom.

After the mounting, I skated at the rink where the shop was, and the fitter watched me do edges and turns and such, and he said things looked fine and if the mounting became a problem later on, he'd move the blades - so far, everything is OK. I've wondered if I have a mounting problem b/c of the difficulty I have getting and holding the outside edge on the 8-step mohawk, but a skating friend who has passed through Juv MIF told me that everybody thinks their blades are mismounted when they start working on the 8-step. LOL! I guess I'm not the only person who is FO mohawk-challenged!

I have heard and read (on this board ) that if Klingbeil does the mounting, they'll mount them non-center if need be, and they will also make adjustments to the mountings if you need it later on.

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As long as we're on that topic: Klingbeil custom vs stock? on still growing skaters? Any opinions - ? Just asking 'cause we're heading into boot replacement season, and we're putting another one of our kids into them. I've heard great thing about the stock boot, you see.

Debbie S you are not the only one FOmohawk challenged. I too had tremendous problems with them!! I did have Klingbeil mount my blades. At first my sharpening guy did it and it did not feel right. So I went back to Don and it was MUCH better.

Don has mounted blades on three of my family members, including twice for me. I would have Don do it. There are two rinks within half an hour of Klingbeils, so you should be able to try them out right away, if your appointment time allows.

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Good to know about Don.
I just picked up my new Klingbeils last Friday and got new Gold Seal blades (an upgrade, if you will, from Pattern 99). Unfortunately, Don was ill and had to rush to the doctor, so I had to take my skates to CT to get mounted (and then I got to skate at the Dorothy Hamill rink in Greenwich).

I have to go back to Klingbeil to get the lining of my old skates restitched (to use the skates as a backup or for teaching), so I will make sure that Don looks at my blades and readjusts them if need be!

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Thank you so much for the information. You all answered many of my questions. I can't wait to have Don mount my blades. Going to the klingbiel factory was great, you just felt all the history. Don pointed out every problem I have been having without even telling him. It was nice to visit a family owned business that was so inviting. I felt like royalty, sitting in "the thrown". I can't wait for my new boots!

I have custom Klingbeils. I HATE them. I was fitted by a local coach here, who has fitted many other skaters but I'm not sure she did such a good job. It's probably not Klingbeil's fault, although the off center toe seam is. They are too wide at the heel, too narrow at the ball. The list goes on and on. I'm working on lutzes and axels, but when I got them I just had a toe loop.. so I also think the strength is too low as well. My ankle has been really messed up after wearing these, I used to skate 8 straight hours a day and now it is painful to do 1 hour. I think I also just went with the wrong kind of skate. I've tried on dozens of Harlicks, loved them, so I'm switching. I have pretty narrow feet in general, and Harlick is mostly narrow while Klingbeil is wide.. generally speaking of course. Once my custom Harlicks come in I'll send my Klingbeils back, since I paid enough money that they better fix them so I at least have a good pair of backup skates.

I wouldn't get those skates if I were you. My friend has had many problems with hers.
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I don't think 8 hours would be good for anyone's ankles.

I have custom Klingbeils and I love, love, love them.

I have custom Klingbeils as well, I hate them. But they are beautiful and well made. They're too heavy/stiff, but mostly it's the heaviness of the boot that I'm unhappy with. I bought these in 2002, I believe they are slightly lighter these days.

I went to Klingbeil and got fitted in person. I had issues with previous skates (why I went to custom) and I was told by several people (including some SF'ers ) that it was best to be fitted by Klingbeil in person rather than a local fitter who may or may not be good at it. At the time I was getting them, my coach also mentioned that she'd had custom Klingbeils once, fit by a local fitter, and they didn't fit well.

The fit of my skates was fine when they sent them (2 weeks later), except they were a little big in the ankle area, so I called and they said to just send them back with a note. That was the end of Dec '05, and I was going to Nats in St. Louis in early Jan of '06 (as a spectator, of course, lol) and I ended up just going by their booth at the arena with the boots and Don had me try them on, took a few measurements (they had already been taken, obviously, but I guess he was double-checking something), and then took the boots and said they'd fix them. I got them back (shipping free) about a week after the end of Nats and they were fine. I've heard from others that they've had similar issues, so it's possible Klingbeil makes them a bit big, so they can be adjusted incrementally if need be - it's easier to make skates smaller than bigger if their measurements are slightly off.

I don't think any boots will 'save' your ankles after 8 hours of skating per day. Yikes, even elite skaters don't skate that much.

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Don told me they are making all of the boots ultra light these days.

I didn't mean serious practice 8 hours a day, I used to do 8 hours Sat & Sun but really practice 2-3 then goof around the rest. My point was, I can't do that any longer... in fact, after about an hour or two, working or not, I can't even stand in them pain free.
I do think the fact that I didn't get fitted by Don himself had a major impact. But, living in the midwest and being 16, my parents did not want to just fly out to New York to get me fitted for skates; even if they did agree, between my schedule and theirs there is no way we'd get there.

This is so interesting! It explains something about my interaction with a Klingbeil dealer in my area - I was getting a mounting of some new dance blades on my SP Teri's - the way she mounted the blade was weird - she mounted the blade straight down the center (or whatever0 and then propped the skate up to see if it would balance on it's own - and she figured if it balanced on it's own then it was mounted correctly. I told her I didn't think it was done that way and she got really offended. Of course when I skated in them they felt wrong and took them back to her - she did the same thing with a minor adjustment and they still were wrong. My coach and the skate guy at my main rink thought that was the weirdest way on the planet to mount a blade and said in all of their years (more than 40 years experience at least) they had never heard of checking the mounting of a blade by balancing it like that.

I took them to my regular blade-guy and he mounted them and now they are fine.

But it makes me think that she was mounting the blade in some "Klingbeil-style way" even though they weren't Klingbeils! She also made some weird comment about my boots about how the heels weren't cut right and then I found out later that she used to work for SP Teri and left there because of some weirdness...

So thanks for the insight. Oh, and I still have trouble with the RO edge, too, but my coach says it's because I drop my left hip and also have it behind me when I do that edge. The 8-step is weird because, well, because it is HARD!

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