I recently bought some Jackson Competitors (7.5D) with the stock Ultima blade. I'm still breaking them in, but fwiw, here are my notes and observations:
. They're fairly stiff and the heel cup is like a keyhole - getting your heel all the way against the backstrap is difficult.
. Definitely had to have them heat-molded, although I used the power of the Sun to heat them up.
(Small wonder I have artificial flowers in all my front porch flowerboxes/baskets. Direct afternoon sun - yowch!)
. Even with that, I had to press the spine forward to open it up enough for me to seat my heel.
. The nylon laces are ridiculously long and slippery, which makes lacing up difficult.
. Factory Sharpening: the ROH is very shallow for a freestyle skater and the blade felt uneven/"sticky" in spots.
. The boots have four hooks and come up way past my ankle, which inhibits knee bend and foot pointing.
. I don't even bother with the top hook - I only use the bottom three and have plenty of support.
. The stock foam insole wasn't molded well for my foot (I wear Orthotics and have high arches) and it made my feet sweat. No wonder my kids' Jacksons stink.
. I feel like the boot part is "too deep" - lacing up meant pulling super-tight to gather the leather. That started to cause a wrinkle near the toe box. Yet, the width is correct for my foot. I switched to a thicker molded insole and that resolved most of the problem.
. Turns are easier on the Ultima blades. I can do all four forward 3 turns with ease, back three turns feel different because that heel rocker is in a different spot.
. Almost wiped out on a backspin entrance because the forward rocker is pretty prominent. That will take practice.
. I'm surprised at how far forward on the blade I am on spins and stroking.
. Jump entrance edges felt pretty balanced - that could be because my old skates have alignment issues.
So far, they're okay skates, but I miss my Klingbeils. Breaking in skates isn't my favorite activity and I really haven't had to do that in many years, so this is a bit painful.