My daughter got new Harlick High Testers in October. She's 5'2 and 115 lb, Novice Moves, Intermediate freestyle - all doubles except double axel. Skates about 5-6 hours a week. Her skates are breaking down already. Coach is going to call Harlicks but does that sound reasonable to you? They only have one stock boot higher than High testers and it says for "Advanced Freestyle" Well what does that mean? And when they ask for her weight and skating level, shouldn't they recommend a stiffer boot if the High Tester isn't stiff enough?


She's always worn high testers and our present coach doesn't like Harlicks because she thinks they break down too soon - her last boots lasted a year, but I figure that's not so unusual I mean really, I expect a $500 boot to last longer than a month!

j

I loved my Harlicks when I had them (and I'll be going back to them once this whole skate fiasco that I'm going through with Klingbeil is over). One month is extremely short. Talk to Harlick, it may have just been a soft boot, which happens sometime. Usually they have no problem restiffening the boots, and they come out stronger than when you originally got them.

My Harlicks (which were custom, though it shouldn't make THAT much of a difference) lasted 2 years, skating between 10-15 hours a week, both dance and freestyle, doing doubles.

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If she has high troubles and going for double axels, she IS an "advanced freestyle" skating, I think.

But yeah, a MONTH after new??? Weird!!! Something is just not right there. Let her coach call Harlick and find out if the stock boots are too little for DD. I suspect it is... but you never know. Also, I know a young lady who is about where your DD is as far as jumps are concerned... and I'll tell 'ya, this young lady's boot heels were coming off her boot. She said that she only had them 6 months too! (Hers was a SP Teri.)

Of course, another young lady (Int. FS skater) has THE stiffest model of SP Teri and she ended up screw up her foot and had to have surgery to correct the problem. A year or so later, she's back skating again. (The young lady was a small fry when this happened. She's since grew a few inches during her "year off." )

I have custom Harlicks and am coming up on my 3rd year. Still feels fine to me. Then again, I'm not doing double jumps so...

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Wow! A month?!

I love my Harlicks and I've had no problem with them ever. I've worn custom Harlicks nearly my entire skating career; I actually just got new lightweight custom ones in May and they've been fabulous! The only reason I ordered them is because the tongue had started breaking down and the screw holes began to rot out...after eight years of wear! I'm 5'5', 105 lbs., working on my Intermediate freestyle as well, skating collegiate synchro, working on my Pre-Gold/Gold dances, and coaching in them, and my last pair lasted me forever, even through senior MIF, so I'm extremely surprised to hear about your daughter's skates.

Good luck. I'll be curious to hear what Harlick says...

She's not going for double axel. She's trying to get her double toe consistent enough to pass her novice. SHe'd have better luck if a double lutz was required. Anyway I guess I think of advance as junior - senior. But it's all relative. At her club she's very advanced compared to the other girls.

I'm having my coach call because I didn't have a real good experience on the phone with them the last time we got the skates. In fact if she wasn't so attached to Harlicks, I'd be looking elsewhere.

j

I have Harlicks and I absolutely love them! I wear the finalist model, which is the stiffest stock boot they make. I am not working on doubles (at this time...I was before I stopped skating), but I am not a small girl (currently 175lbs...down 15 from the 190 I was a few months ago ).

However, with my very first pair of Harlicks, after an experience that I did not enjoy with SP Teri, the hooks popped out the very first time I wore them. We had no problems sending them back to get them repaired...

Good luck!!

how did she go about breaking them in? i'm wondering if maybe she tried to break them in too quickly and ended up breaking them down instead

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Yeah....the best bet is to just call harlicks, and get them to take a look at them. It's hard to say how this problem came about since we don't know the history of this pair of skates.

She just skated in them. We kept her old blades so we didn't have the option to go back and forth between skates. I don't think skating 5 hours a week is breaking in boots too quickly. In fact she didnt even jump the first week. But it is good to hear how they might put this on us and make it our fault.

j

I had my Hi-Testers for seven years. I skated about four hours a week on them and had them rebuilt twice. I am currenlty wearing Harlick Competitor Plus, and I have had them for six years, skating about two or three hours a week on them. I have never rebuilt them, but they are pretty broken down now.

Uh oh, you have me worried. I recently ordered Klingbeil custom superlites, switching from Harlick because I wanted a custom boot but not a Harlick custom boot since I have always only worn stock boots. What was your fiasco?

Check your PMs

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Coach called and they said they should not be broken down and we didn't do anything wrong so they will reinforce them for no charge. We have to pay to send them back and they'll pay to send them to us unless I want them quicker and then I pay. If we get them off this week he can have it done by Thanksgiving.

We're going to take the blades off and put them back on her old skates...she has a gala solo to prepare for by Dec 16, plus a new short program and she's upgrading her intermediate FS to novice by January 20 competition. She can't be off the ice for two weeks.

j

That's terrible that you have to pay to send them back. They should be paying.

Yea, well I guess I have to take what I can get.

j

Whis is one significant reason I went back to Klingbeil. When I was there last time for another adjustment on my new boots (which has worked, BTW), I asked Don if he could plump up my old boots so I could wear them for my long coaching days. He did the work and shipped them back to me all free of charge.

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If they're just a month old, they should send you a brand new pair instead of just reinforcing them. You might consider making that request.

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I have no leverage, dd will only wear Harlicks. This is why they can get away with this stuff. Really I'm just grateful they didn't say "Tuff for you". If they were my boots, I'd be looking elsewhere, but I don't wear Harlicks.


j

Do you still have your receipt? Check to see what model/stiffness you ordered. You might want to stop in at a pro shop that sells harlicks (if there is one nearby) and check out the display models for "stiffness." It's possible they made the skates in the wrong stiffness or it was ordered wrong.

My current Klingbeil skates are for freestyle, but my last pair was designed for teaching. They had more insulation and were less stiff than the freestyle-level skates. I wore that pair out very quickly when I started skating again. Don more or less rebuilt them for me, no charge. They're sitting in a closet now because I really love my new ones and I'm not teaching currently.

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BWAAHAHAHAH, yea, I'll just drive two - three hours and stop in at my pro shop.

j

That doesn't work for everyone. I'm paying shipping both ways for repairs and the new skates I had to get after they wouldn't fix my skates unless I paid almost as much for the repairs as the new skates (sorry, still a bit bitter as they've held my skates hostage for over two months now).

Actually, many times the reinforced skates will be stronger than even buying new skates. It just depends on exactly how they do the repairs.

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Don't you love it when people get the crazy idea that there are pro-shops in this state!

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It's really too bad to have new boots not be perfect right out of the starting gate. It's frustrating, aggravating and confusing. Makes you wonder if it's the skater or the boots? (It's always the boots, btw.)

Tell your DD that SHE wears the skates, not the other way around and wish her good luck from me.
I know I'm fortunate enough to be able to actually GO TO Klingbeil's for skates, but other people order them through pro shops. That's why I said "if there is one nearby" - I thought it was a hike for you to reach a pro shop, but I assumed that's how you ordered them originally. I've often checked out different skates while waiting in pro shops for salespeople or sharpenings and seen the custom skate samples. Did you order them over the internet/via mail order?

In any case...sounds like a business opportunity...pro shop of excellence needed *walks out whistling*
(A mobile unit - ie. in a van/trailer/RV - sounds very flexible to me!)

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Um, I'll wish her good luck, but I think one of the reasons why I have such a good relationship with her is that I don't tell her stuff like "you wear the skates, not the other way around"

I ordered the skates directly through Harlicks. And I don't see how having a pro shop would make a difference, other than maybe (and just maybe) the pro shop would pay the shipping. Anyways, just hope I can get them off tomorrow so they can keep their promise of having them back by Thanksgiving!

j

That sounds just horrible! Would you mind PM'ing me with the gory details?

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I think that if the problem was really with their (the company's) skates only, and it was under warranty, and if they hassle you with payments for repairs, then sometimes a note to them with the words 'consumer affairs' or something similar can get things straight again.