My Old Skates
I have been skating in Jackson Freestyles, with Ultima Mark IV blades attached, since 2008. Keep in mind, I took 2 lengthy breaks in this time, and I didn't skate often for a few years because I was traveling all around the country with my job. Sometimes I took them with me and it was a lot of fun! These skates have been a trusty companion to me for a long time, and I have grown a great deal as a skater since that time. Still, I was long overdue for some new skates.
What I Was Looking For
I have advanced in my skating since that time, and I am now working on loop and flip jumps, and sit and camel spins. My old boots had a stiffness of 45, and I needed something around 65-70 to continue advancing my skating. If you look at most skate websites, they rate this firmness level as the level for axels and beginning double jumps. I kind of doubt I will ever see doubles in my lifetime, but it would be really cool if I could land an axel. Anyway, these firmness ratings are just a suggestion. You would need to consider age, weight, and personal preference into the decision, as well as the skating level. It is recommended that adult skaters get boots a firmness level up from those in the charts, and small children get boots a firmness level down. For blades, I planned to just go in with the Coronation Ace blade from John Wilson. Most of the skaters at my rink have it, and all the coaches recommend it. It's a good beginning skating blade, and can work with beginning to double jumps.
My Research Process
I researched boots for well over a year, going back and forth on which ones to buy. There are so many choices that it can be overwhelming. A lot of skaters are brand loyal and tend to stick with the same brand. Then you have me. I want to try out every brand that I can afford and then decide the best one. I don't know why I'm this way. As I've mentioned before, I majored in marketing in college. Maybe it's this curiosity. I looked at 5 potential brands for boots: Riedell (brand of my first pair of skates), Jackson (brand of my current pair of skates), Edea (new brand that a lot of other skaters were using, seemed really interesting), SP Teri (a lot of my friends swear by them), and Harlick (I mainly know them for custom skates). Here are the boots for each brand that correspond with what I was needing:
Riedell: 255 Motion or 910 Flair (I preferred the Motion boot)
Jackson: Premiere
Edea: Chorus
SP Teri: Super Teri
Harlick: would probably go with customs
Well, as I'm sure you can imagine, custom boots can often be really expensive. That's kind of what turned me away from the Harlicks. The SP Teris were also pretty pricey, although they are beautiful and well made skates. Maybe one day... This left my decision group to 3 boots: The Riedell Motion, the Jackson Premiere, and the Edea Chorus.
Decision Time!
It was a difficult decision, but I ultimately decided on the Edea Chorus. I have heard a lot of good things, but I was mainly interested in their quicker break in time. I have a couple competitions coming up, so I was hoping to break in the boots quickly.
Purchasing
I decided to break up my boot and blade purchases over the course of a month to make it more affordable. I ordered my boots from Skating Boutique, skatingboutique.com, based in Toronto. For some reason, their price on Edeas was over $100 less than anywhere in the US. Even with shipping costs, this added up to considerable savings. Not only that, but the boots got here quick! I ordered them on a Thursday, and they were here by the Tuesday of next week. I ordered my blades 2 weeks later from Kinzie's Closet, shop.kinziescloset.com. They have a store in Atlanta that I hope to check out sometime. They offer free shipping for orders over $100. I thought I would have gotten them quicker since Atlanta's only 4 hours away from Huntsville, but I forgot to take into account that the warehouses could be located somewhere else. Still, I got them in 5 days, so I can't really complain. I also bought a lace puller and some python print soakers from Amazon.
Trying on the Boots
When my boots came in, I tried them on. Edea's sizes are really different than other skates, so I was definitely concerned about whether or not I ordered the right size. The fit is very different from my Jacksons, which in retrospect, were probably too big. The boot has a lot more support, and it was an overall snug fit. I later started to lace the boots, after watching Edea's video on proper lacing and unlacing techniques. These boots seem high maintenance! The boots were really tight then, especially near the toe box. My cuticles started bleeding while I was lacing them. It was pretty rough.
Mounting the Blades
Remember how I said these boots seemed high maintenance? Well, there are special Edea screws you have to use to mount the blade. You can't use the screws that come with the blades because it won't adhere well to the material in the boots. Anyway...I took the boots and blades to the Pro Shop in Huntsville, and the blades had a temporary mount within a couple hours. He wanted me to see if I liked where the blade was placed, and then he would do the permanent mount. This is all part of the same service, so I was not charged again. I also got my blades sharpened while I was there.
The Finished Product!
Here they are! They are lovely!
Breaking in the Boots-Off Ice
I walked around in my skates for a while (with guards, of course) in hopes of helping to speed up the break in time. It has been a long time since I had new skates, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Everything seemed ok in my time walking around the house. I did notice that I need to wear thinner tights to skate in these.
Skating: The Moment of Truth
(🎜We were born to make history🎝, lol sorry!)
My first time skating in these skates was quite the experience. I had a new boot and blade that I was not used to at all, and my blades were really sharp, so it made things like stopping quite difficult. The ankle is a lot looser than I am used to, mainly because I tied the ankles with a death grip in my old skates. The boot support was excellent, and my heel was locked in place, as it was supposed to be. Anyone who has gotten new skates knows the struggle. The first time in them, you are not supposed to jump, especially not with a temporary blade mount. It seems to take years of learned skills away instantly. I mainly just skated laps in the first session, and worked on a little bit of my Moves in the Field elements. I was able to do forward crossovers pretty easily, but backward crossovers were more of a challenge. The heel is higher in Edeas than in most other skates, so that was really throwing me off. The blades also had a completely different feel to them. I think I will really like them once I get used to them. I did a forward scratch spin at the end of the session, and I noticed it is much easier to find the "sweet spot" for spinning in the Coronation Aces. Most of the boot fit very well and provided a lot of support. One thing that was definitely noticeable is that the toe box area hurt like hell. My big toe especially hurt a great deal. That is, until it went numb.
This continued on in my second session. It was hard to focus on anything with my toes hurting. I was really getting worried that I had completely screwed up and had ordered the wrong size. And it was too late to return anything, so I was going to have to find a way to make them work. My coach had mentioned that I could get the toe box punched out (or stretched) to get a little more room. I did a waltz jump and a toe loop in the skates, even though I shouldn't have since I did not have a permanent mount. I ran through my dramatic program, but it lacked the power it usually did, as I was really hesitant. My coach and I made the decision that I would compete in my old skates for the Scott Hamilton Invitational.
A Stroke of Luck (or Irony)
We got an email a few days before the Scott Hamilton Invitational saying that a rep from Edea would be at the competition. Well crap, if I'd have known that, I may have waited. I decided to bring my new skates so I could walk around in them in the hotel to help break them in some more. Once I got to the competition, my coach mentioned that the Edea rep had all the equipment there to stretch my skates. It was a good thing I brought them! I had several hours between events at the competition (where I also met Scott Hamilton! I'm still not over that!), so I decided to take my skates over to the Edea booth and see what they could do. The first thing he did was measure my feet. This confirmed that I ordered the right size. Thank the Lord! He then did a tracing of my foot so he knew how far to stretch it. What they do is expose that particular area to a lot of heat from blow dryers, then use a tool similar to a shoe horn to stretch it out. I will tell you this made all the difference in the world in how the skates felt. I did have to pay for that, but it was worth every penny. He had mentioned if I ordered from him next time, he does all the extra stuff for free. I will definitely consider doing that. I'm really excited to see how things go now that the boots are much more comfortable.
Follow-up: After the Boot Stretching and Permanent Blade Mount
I have skated two sessions since the boot stretching, and things are much more comfortable. The boots are definitely not broken in yet, but things are improving with each session. I'm still trying to figure out where my foot is supposed to be in the boot. Everything about these skates is different from the last ones. I'm hoping that one day soon these skates will just be an extension of my body and will feel natural, but I am not there yet. I'm still figuring out all the pressure points in the boot, and how tightly or loosely I need to lace the skate. I've attempted a few jumps, but I haven't been confident in them yet. The ankle is another area that is completely different.
They are broken in! Finally!
After my 7th session in the skates, I am now able to do everything I could do before, plus I'm able to work on more difficult elements because I have more support. I'm really starting to enjoy the lightness of the Edeas, and the blade is amazing. In all this time in the new skates, my technique has started to improve as well. I was really starting to dread the competition I have coming up Labor Day weekend, but now I'm looking forward to it. I'm interested to see what I can do now.
And that's a wrap. I hope this post was informative and could help someone out there!
-Icy Trails ⛸
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