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91
The Pro Shop / Re: Does anyone still make warm skating tights?
« Last post by Kat on February 11, 2024, 04:45:21 PM »
I find the Mondor Bamboo to be quite toasty.

Those look akin to the thickness of dance tights or so?  They wouldn't be nearly warm enough, unfortunately; I'd probably need about six pairs.  If I wear a skirt in winter, I already wear two layers of fleece-lined or sweater-knit tights to make it somewhat tolerable and only because I don't think I could manage to get three on plus it would probably start to look a little funny.  In the winter, just on regular days under regular clothes I wear base layers.  I'm always cold.


There is always serious outdoor cold weather gear

The problem with this is that I'm not going to find anything in beige-- I have plenty of black and gray (and other colors) base layers of differing materials and thicknesses (and fleece-lined or sweater-knit tights in black, brown, gray, navy, black argyle, brown argyle...)-- nor anything footed (otherwise I could just use my footless sweater-knit skating tights).  Footless isn't a problem in boots where you can't tell, but it looks mighty funny in flats to have my bare ankle/foot sticking out (and cold...).
92
Bill, that photo disturbs me.   :-[

Lunar, we use 1”?  Oh my…
93
The Pro Shop / Re: How good an idea to create a slight back spin rocker?
« Last post by LunarSkater on February 11, 2024, 02:11:35 PM »
Query,

1)When you learned this forward lean/back lean, did those coaches ever mention how and where the weight is supposed to be transferred to the blade? This sounds to me more like a posture thing than a weight-on-the blade focus. Because, in general, weight is supposed middle-back of the blade when moving forward and middle-front when going backwards.

2) Something that might help with the check/counter-check in your turns. My dance coach has me think about it as coming from the rib cage, not the shoulders. Because we can rotate our shoulders but still not have the check transferred through the body. The shoulders assist, but that's not where it originates. (And that bend, rise, rebend the coaches are asking for is the correct technique. The bend keeps you on the correct part of the blade, the rise transfers it forward for the turn, and the rebend is supposed to bring the weight back to the correct part of the blade.)

3) Those coaches are probably asking for crossovers because progressives are not in the LTS curriculum. They need to see they skill they are supposed to be evaluating you on.
94
My tech dresses the wheel a minumum of two times per pair:
1) to get the initial hollow
2) immediately before the final pass on the blade
3) if it's necessary, to refresh the wheel


I also think that a lot of techs - and I use that loosely - aren't actually taught anything but the bare basics. Either that, or they haven't bothered learning anything new since they were trained eons ago. My rink has a few people who are trained to use the sharpener, but they honestly have no clue. Turn it on and go. Dress the wheel once to set the hollow and not between blades. The skating club's off-ice room is the second floor of the pro shop and we can hear the machines. The old one is completely unbalanced, it sounds horrible. The two new Sparx machines? Dunno how those are doing. And the guy who trains the employees? He and I talked once about the rental skates. They're sharpened to a 1" hollow... because that's what figure skaters use.
95
... Look at this factory "sharpening" on a pair of Riedell Sparkles given to me recently. I've never seen anything so rough. It took a lot of passes to get the stainless steel blades to be level, smooth, and sharp along the entire length. I needed to dress the grinding wheel 4 times to get the job done.

...

It looks like the factory worker was attempting a new world record on how many of these beginner skates they could "sharpen" without dressing.

<<Emphasis added.>>  Maybe it's deliberate.  It's a glitter pattern to make the blades sparkle.   ;D
96
I was told that a lot of sharpeners leave it at 1/2" whatever they're asked for. For rentals and beginners (recreational skaters) that's fine. Some coaches apparently tell the sharpeners what to set.   I use a custom ROH that nobody else uses and I'm happy with it. I am sensitive  to my sharpenings--I got lots of skating flaws, but my feet and ankles know what my blades are doing. Fortunately my sharpener is a Silver ice dancer (13/16" ROH) so he puts up with my kinky ROH.
97
Sometimes it takes even more dressings per pair when tackling problematic skate blades. Look at this factory "sharpening" on a pair of Riedell Sparkles given to me recently. I've never seen anything so rough. It took a lot of passes to get the stainless steel blades to be level, smooth, and sharp along the entire length. I needed to dress the grinding wheel 4 times to get the job done.



It looks like the factory worker was attempting a new world record on how many of these beginner skates they could "sharpen" without dressing.
98
I agree it is optimal to redress for each blade, but I was not taught to even by the really good techs who I trust a lot. 

At the rink we were not even told to do it fresh if the last used radius was the same as what was requested.  That was almost only for hockey though and recreational figure blades.  Those guys always seemed really happy with my sharpenings and had me fix badly done jobs pretty often.  It felt really nice when someone would come back and tell me how much better they felt on the ice after a fix. 

Anyway, I am apparently not very sensitive to how well or poorly done a sharpening is, it seems, but I think the best possible effort should be put into it by a tech.  It’s really not so hard to make sure every bit is done well, so I’m baffled by how frequently people get awfully botched or somewhat poorly done sharpenings.   :-\
99
The Pro Shop / Re: For Those Who Service Skates: Are Stinky Boots an Issue?
« Last post by AlbaNY on February 11, 2024, 07:12:48 AM »
I use car dehumidifiers https://www.amazon.com/Dehumidifier-Condensation-Windscreens-Leakproof-Dashboard/dp/B01N5QFPUH/ref=sr_1_7_sspa?crid=39SWFVV9Z3YL6&keywords=dehumidifier%2Bsmall%2Bbags&qid=1707651967&sprefix=dehumidifier%2Bsmall%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-7-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&th=1.
They're small and fit inside the boots and dry them out, thus keeping any sweaty smell from building up. With these little bags you don't have to worry about spraying the boots for a smell, the smell just never appears. All you have to do is pop the humidifiers in the microwave occasionally to dry them out.

Good timing for this advice.  I’m going to try these in my new pair.  My current boots stink to high heaven no matter what I do to them.   :( 
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