My husband has been having problems with his heels coming up and the ball of his left foot cramping in his Silver Stars, which he thought fit him perfectly. He couldn't get the laces tight enough to hold his heel in place without cutting off his circulation. These are the only skates he has ever had, and he started skating 2.5 years ago, so I figured the heel problem was something that showed up due to his increased skill level. Since we are leaving the city soon, I urged him to just go ahead and get Klingbeils now, so we went there today for his fitting.

This is what he found out:

• The Silver Stars are too long for him by 1"
• They are too narrow in the toes, which is why he thought they fit anyway
• His left foot is longer than his right, hence the cramping
• He has a very high arch, also affecting the heel issue.

On the way home, he began talking about some of the things that he has been having trouble with, and realizing that the new boots may well fix them. I can't wait.

We are now looking for a pair of Coronation Aces in size 10, as he will leave his old blades on his old boots and probably sell them together (anyone need a size 7.5 Silver Star+Coronation Ace?).

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Whoa, this is way too weird...will chalk it up to being Friday the 13th and all:] A friend of mine is looking for a pair of used 7.5 men's skates and has had no luck finding any used ones. Just yesterday a coach at my rink said he had some, Riedell Silver Stars or course, size 7 so we're going to the rink sometime this weekend to see if they fit. If they are too small perhaps he could buy your husbands. Are they in pretty good shape? Not too broken down?

Good Luck with the Klingbeils! I've heard only good things about them:]

I went from Reidell Gold Stars to Klingbeils last year - I love my Klingbeils!

Cool story!

They're next on my list, either after the Grafs break down, or if I just decide to give up on them. I'm convinced I can find more comfortable boots but my coaches think it's wishful thinking.

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Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
Maurice Setter

I don't know what your foot is like, but I have a narrower heal and normal toes. My stock Klingbeils fit like bedroom slippers from the start (no, I'm not kidding). Zero break in time - the only pain I had was above the ankle on the outside from the stiffness of the boot, and a visit to a good masseuse (did I spell that right?) fixed that right up .

Even weirder - we have two pair of black Silver Stars, both size 7.5. The ones my husband uses are not broken down at all, but do have a few wrinkles at the outsides of the ankles. They have Coronation Ace blades in very good shape. The other ones have been worn two or three times, and have a few scuffs and a little deterioration at the top inside of the tongue foam. That pair have MK single star blades. Both of these are a few years old and have the heat sensitive gel, not the very new heat moldable liners. The unused ones are available now, but the ones with the Aces have to wait for the Klingbeils to be ready. PM me if you are interested.

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Luuuurve my Klingbeils. They were great from the get-go, and I had my local skate-shop guy measure them.. The only problem is that I get lace bite on the outsides of the tongue at the top, but a red sponge pad solves that. Also my right blade was slightly misaligned (since fixed), but that wasn't a Klingbeil problem.

I am convinced they are geniuses!

Jocelyn

Here's giving more props to Klingbeils.
I've had my boots for almost 4 years now, and they have yet to break down. Occasionally, some people even ask if I have new boots.
The only problem is the tongue biting; I have lambswool tongues, and they are in desperate need of replacing. (I'm hoping to get mine done in the next week or two).
In the spirit of this thread, I also have Coronation Ace blades (though they're size 12 3/4!).

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Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

I'm also in Klingbeils and quite happy. I've had mine for 4 months now. It's true that I had to have a few adjustments made to them, but when I picked them up the first time, they came closer to actually fitting perfectly than any other skate I've owned. (It's not really their fault they weren't perfect the first time. I have some musculoskeletal problems that cause my right leg & foot to "change" balance & position slightly.) True to their reputation, Don K. made every adjustment I wanted and they fit great now. They did a great job of balancing my blades too. Ya gotta love Bill, Don, and all the folks at that hole-in-the-wall in Queens!

NoVa - Give Klingbeil a call and ask them to send you new lambswool skins. You can just glue in the new ones and it will save you or your skates a trip.
BTW, Lorraine is the secretary/receptionist and she is an old friend - A very helpful lady that put three daughters through skating

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Warm Regards,
Kathleen

"It is never too late to become what you might have been."
George Eliot

For those who have Klinbeil's - do any of you need orthodics? If so, did you have your boot built so you can put your orthodic into it or built such that the boot essentially has the orthodic built in?

My Doctor, a sports medicine doc who works with skaters likes Klingbeil. He suggested getting orthodics made from the orthodic lab and having Klingbeil build the boot so you can then put the orthodic into the new boot. The other option is that Klingbeil can do the fitting and build the boot so that the boot has the equivalent of the orthodic in it. My doctor's view was that this level of correction will not be as good as having the lab built orthodic, that it just won't provide the same level and strength of correction. In addition, he pointed out that if the boot breaks down you could take your lab built orthodic out; if you have the correction built in you lose the orthodic. He and his practice aren't associated with the lab - and I was getting one set of orthodics, so he wouldn't have other reasons for recommending this route.

I'm curious if other's who have orthodics (mine is correcting fairly significant pronation) which approach you used as I'm a couple of weeks away from my Klingbeil fitting.

Thanks,
utb

Uncle TimButton,
I wear orthotics in my street shoes to correct for moderate pronation. I used to swap them in & out of my old boots, which was a pain. When I got my Klingbeils, they built the support into the boot so I didn't need the orthotics. Bill Klingbeil started his business making corrective shoes, I believe, so he's very experienced with that sort of thing. If your correction is substantial, though, you might be more comfortable simply having the boot built to accomodate the orthotic. My advice is to call and talk to Bill about it before your fitting.

I also have Klingbeils and I just love them. They have been comfortable since day one and I had no problem breaking them in.
I have two close friend who skate and they both love Klingbeils.

Last year, my coach was given a free pair of skates by one of the skating manufacturers. She had them fitted, etc. and was never comfortable in them. She went back to her Klingbeils after a short period of time.

Maureen

We went to Klingbeil this morning to get hubby's new boots. Arrived and realized we had left his new blades at home We are both running around totally discombobulated as our camping trip is starting tomorrow AM instead of a week from tomorrow as we had thought until last night.

Lorraine said very sweetly "You can get them and be back in an hour, can't you?" Without thinking, I replied "yes" - we usually allow an hour one way. Then Don said he had wanted to close up shop early. I literally flew home and back and did make it in just an hour, thanks to all the NY'ers who left town for the weekend, I'm sure. Anyway, Don and Bill both waited for us, and took the time necessary to mount the blades properly. There is no one I would rather do business with than the Klingbeils, so I'm glad we love their boots too

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I've had my Klingbeils since Aug 2000 and they look like new.
Also Ace blades.
Don't use orthotics but I did have bunga pad in situ on my toe bone.
Lambswool tongues are intact and looking good!

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MEL
Absolute Skating

I HATED my Klingbeils...I had to switch to Grafs. I had blisters all over my ankles from them. But I love my Grafs!!!

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Keeper of Sasha's victory over Michelle Kwan at Campbell's
http://hometown.aol.com/gr8sk8chic/sashacohen.html
http://hometown.aol.com/gr8sk8chic/tanith-ben.html

There is no one boot that is right for everyone.

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But you also hate Michele - so there may be a credibility problem ;-)

Seriously, welcome to a great forum for us skaters!

Hugs,
Danielle

ps) I love my current sp-teris and love how George has treated me, but I would also like to try Klingbeils.