New GRAF Boots - Upkeep tips

[scootie12]

Hi All....I purchased new GRAF boots this week, and am excited to skate in them. I wanted to hear some opinions about the boots as well.  I am copying part of my text over from my MKF thread regarding the reason for the new boot purchase.

I have skated my entire life in SP Teri boots, but after returning in 2009, I had purchased two pairs of boots (I formerly skated in SP Teri Advantage Boots). The first pair were the KT-2's that I had from 2010 until 2011. Then in 2011, I purchased the KT-3's, which are the stiffest boots they make. In both instances, I killed the boots in a matter of weeks/2 months. Both pairs broke down so fast that I had to have them rebuilt, which is such a pain since it puts you out of commission for a week or so. I have a strong feeling when skate manufacturers created heat-moldable boots, they sacrificed the quality of the leather and build of the boots. In the "old" days, it would take a few weeks to break in a pair of skates, and they were always made with stiff leather.....many memories of painful boots here

While I LOVE heat molded boots that can allow me to have nearly no break-in period, I'm not sure if the quality of the leather is as good.

Anyway, I decided to move to GRAF boots, and everyone swears by them. The one major positive for me is the boot feels much lighter than SP Teri, which is great, although I venture to guess my jumps will feel off for a bit while I acclimate. I am really hoping these boots meet the hype everyone has been feeding me. Nearly every guy skater I know has GRAF, so I'm optimistic :-)
 

For those of you that skate in GRAF, do you like them?  Also, I have asked around about how to preserve the suede finish on the boots to no avail.  Do any of you have suede boots?  I realize they will get scuffy, but I'm moreso interested in whether or not there's a "polish" product I can use that will help keep the boot looking nicer.  Just wondering about options to keep the black looking somewhat vibrant.


Here are the pretty skates....they'll be destroyed in a few months

[hopskipjump]

Those are beautiful skates!  I'd look up how to care for a suede jacket and use that advice on skates - I have a suede brush that keeps my 10+ year old jacket looking nice.  My jacket also uses a water repellant spray.  Is there a way to contact Graf to get instructions?

[sarahspins]

Very nice!

I also skated in SP Teri's before, and my Jacksons (with Paramount blades) are each 12oz lighter than my old SP Teri's... I've never tried the newer SP Teri's but I'm so happy with my Jacksons (and I just got a new pair I don't have blades for yet) that I would be very hard pressed to switch to something else at this point

[fsk8r]

Love my Grafs. Although they're a little on the narrow side across the toe box so I have to be careful when lacing them. First pair of boots where I've had to lace straight away up to the top hook as I didn't need them looser to be able to bend.

I have also heard it said a lot that SP Teris are heavy, but if you could jump in those before, it'll only be easier in the lighter boots (once you've adjusted).

[scootie12]

Thanks all for the feebback, and yes the skates are nice and pretty for now.  I'll see how scuffy they look in a month

The boot definitely seems to be flexing properly at the V-notch, so I'm confident that I will not have issues breaking these down too soon!  I would have stuck with SP-Teri, but after two incidents with their boots breaking down way too fast on me, I wanted to avoid anything similar on my next pair.  That said, I still loved all of my previous SP-Teri boots in the pre-heat moldable days.  I also won two adult nationals in my most current pairs, so I shouldn't complain

I haven't really jumped in them yet, except for about three single loop jumps, so maybe by Saturday I will see how the jumps go.  I am nursing my groin injury, so I'm taking it REALLY slow and trying to avoid jumping even though I want to get back into the swing of things.  Maybe I'll limit myself to a few of each double jump Saturday and stop there   These injuries are so slow to heal!!

[bambucci]

They look sharp.  I'm contemplating whether or not to get a pair of suede boots to coach in, but like you I haven't been able to find anything online about the upkeep of a boot.

I'm worried specifically about demonstrating lunges and t-stops, where the boot can be in direct contact with snow/water.  I'm sure I've been annoying my Klingbeil rep with all my questions. :-)

[Query]

What level jumps do you do? Techs often say that some people doing triples and up break down boots as fast as 2-3 months, some doing doubles break them down in 6-12 months, and below that, boots should last a lot longer, unless you are very heavy. But two people, one a boot maker, told me that ultralight boots break down faster.

All the boot companies say that if boots break down more quickly than normal, something is wrong with the fit. Were they customs? Were they fit by an expert? Perhaps they were experimenting with a new composition that didn't pan out. Why not call SP Teri and ask why it might have happened? They'd want to please such a long term repeat customer. Maybe they would offer you a partial discount on something more normal. Either way, they need feedback to get better.

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I was told that any leather conditioning oil destroys the suede nap, and turns it very dark too. Lots of shoe stores sell suede cleaning chemicals.

I'm sure you already know that boot covers during practice sessions will keep the boots clean and pretty. Ordinarily storing boots in a bag or box is a bad thing, because if they can't dry out, they rot or mildew (you don't do that do you?), but if yours break down so fast, and you must store or transport them in a dirty place, maybe you could use a breathable cotton bag?

Of course keeping boots clean can't stop boots from breaking down.