Matrix Legacy vs Gold Seal Revolution (a review)

[Arwen17]

I was in Ice Fly and changed to Piano boot. Piano is slightly stiffer than Ice Fly, but basically the same. Because my ankles are already strong from my previous Edea skates, I’m not having any problem with my ankles in the new Edea skates. So switching to Edea takes some time to adapt with the first pair, but after that you’re fine with each new replacement pair.

Switching from Matrix Legacy to Gold Seal Rev blades:

I visually examined the blades side by side. Toe picks looked basically identical to me. The only major difference was the Gold Seal was a bit more curved in profile than the Matrix blade. Both blades have a 8' rocker, the Gold Seal is just more curved overall.

On the ice:

Toe pick feels exactly the same! So my jumps were comfortable from the start!
Some of the landings were shaky on the first day when I rolled down from the toe pick because the GS blade is more curved in profile than the Matrix.

The spins were super shaky on the first day. I found the spin spot immediately so that’s good and I wasn’t overshooting it. It’s just the fact the blade is curvier that it’s freaking me out a little and causing misjudged timing on deep edges and especially on spins. However, even with how little speed I’m getting in the spins because of uncertainty, I’m spinning for a lot of rotations despite the lack of speed. So I have a feeling that once I adjust, my spins are going to start looking super-charged. Because the blade is curvier, it’s taking far less effort to get into the spin and hold the spin forever. Whereas I can spin on the flatter matrix blade just fine, but it takes more muscle effort.


There is no weight difference that I can feel. That isn’t surprising since when I weighed the skates, Piano/GSRev was only 1oz heavier than IceFly/MatrixLegacy. I believe it is the blades causing the 1oz difference, not the boots.
Strangely, the GSRev blades feel lighter to me, even though they’re heavier by 1oz. They have a more flimsy, hollow feeling and sound to them on the ice. The matrix blades felt more thick and solid and had a more solid sound when scrapping the ice during a hockey stop. It’s weird lol. The GSRev blades have a more "dainty", flimsy feeling than MatrixLegacy, especially when doing a hockey stop.
It probably just has to do with the fact that the lightweight frame of the matrix has more to it. The lightweight frame of the GSRev is smaller, so there's more blade and less frame.


3turns are turning very fast! But I’m wobbly at times because I keep rocking forward a tiny bit because I’m surprised by the curviness of the front of the GS blade. But I think once I adjust, all footwork turns are going to become much faster and easier then ever before. I've never struggled to do it in a flatter blade. It just feels like someone poured grease on the blade and make it 1.5x easier.
As in, during a spin, I’m getting about 2 extra revolutions out of it because it’s easier to spin. So yeah, pretty nice, even for someone like me who can spin on literally any blade, no matter how poor and cheap it is.
It’s still 90% the skater’s skills and only 10% equipment, but the equipment bonus bump is nice.

[Bill_S]

Thanks for the comparison. It's good to hear about first-hand experience from other skaters.