Hi everyone! I have a question regarding which boots to get next, and was hoping someone here could help. Here's the situation...
I used to skate competitively (mid-level ice dance, lower-level freestyle) when I was younger, and also coached basic toddler & adult classes for a brief time while in graduate school. During my competing years I always wore custom Harlicks, mostly due to my VERY narrow feet w/ pronation, which couldn't fit comfortably in a stock boot. When I was coaching (about 10 years ago) I bought a brand new pair of custom Harlicks, but about 2-3 months later suffered a non-skating-related fracture in my left foot. I wasn't able to skate at all for a while, then slowly started again very recreationally - mostly just tooling around with my nieces & nephews etc. Due to the injury, plus getting older, fatter, and having a worsening case of arthritis, the Harlicks hurt REALLY badly! Seriously, I couldn't go more than 5-10 minutes without having to stop and loosen them to rest my throbbing feet.
Finally at the recommendation of my sister, I decided to sell them and get something more comfortable. Now that I'm not jumping, spinning, etc, I don't need all of that support - and it was probably the cause of my foot pain, especially in the arches and balls of my feet. At the same time, however, I could never feel quite right in a cheap or rental boot. I was thinking maybe a higher-level stock Riedell, dance boot with soft back, or something along those lines. Or what about a stock Harlick? Would that provide more flexibility and comfort, without being TOO soft? I live in the Bay Area, btw, so have both Harlick and SP Teri factories within driving distance. Any suggestions would be appreciated, and I'd like to not spend a ton of money (will try eBay once I have a few model numbers to go on).