Advice on new ice skates?

Ice Skates Advice Please?

• I am looking to buy a pair of skates. I was think either Reidell or Jacksons. Which are better? and what level should I get? (there are like Yellow Ribbons, Red, Blue White Ribbon--so ...show more

• Answer:

  Riedell, Jacksons, Risport, Edea, Graf, SP-Teri, Harlick and GAM are all pretty much equally good skates. The question is more what your feet are like, which skates fit your feet best. The ribbons and indications of the exact model of riedell skates - in jacksons, they're called classique, mystique, freestyle etc, in risport they're called RF4-RF1, in Graf they're called richmond, edmonton etc, it kind of depends on the brand what the different models are called. You can google around and find, on many web shop's websites or even on the website of the skate maker themselves, what level of skating they advise certain skates for. A good pro shop will also get you the right quality of skates for your level, fit you with the correct length- and width size, and provide service in denting out and such, should you need it. You CAN NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE use the "really good" skates for what you plan to do with them. A few years ago in my home country, a store had a big clearance sale of Risport RF1super. Now these are the hardest of the hardest (and also most expensive) skates Risport makes. They are indeed made for triple axels and quadruple jumps. The problem is, they are so hard, that you need to be jumping double axels just to break them in (meaning, to make the leather assume the form it needs to assume for you to be able to bend your knees). And beginners can't do jumps that will break them in. Unfortunately, the skating store wasn't very scrupulous and neglected to mention it to the beginners who got hitched on the whole "such good skates for such a low price" thing. So the skates were never broken in, the beginners never managed to bend their knees in them, can't skate in them at all, and all of these skates were for sale up on ebay mere months after... Most high-end-of-the-line skates aren't nearly as bad as risport rf1super (let's just say there's a reason the store stopped carrying them - even the elite athletes weren't buying them), and can be broken in by single jumps - but you need to learn those single jumps in something lower-end first. I know Graf Edmontons can be broken in by high single jumps, as can the Risport RF2. But, because you're not jumping the single jumps yet, these skates will be FAR too hard for you. You need something softer. The harder the skate you take, the longer it will last you, but the harder it will be to break in. If you can afford it, get softer skates first, switch to harder ones once you're jumping sal and toe. This will mean you need to buy two pair of skates, and the re-sale value for old skates is very low. If finances are more strained, go straight away for something that will take you up to about your lutz jump, but keep in mind breaking them in will be difficult. An exercise that can help is putting on the blade guards on your skates, and wearing the skates, put the heel on the floor and the toe on a low step or a bulkhead on the floor (about two-three inches off the floor) and then lean onto them. Do lots of shoot-the-ducks in them. Don't tie the upper 2 or even 4 hooks at first while breaking them in. Walk with blade guards around the house in them, especially stairs, etc. Still though, you can only break in skates up to a certain hardness point without actually jumping.