I did follow the advice here and saw the fitter at a pro shop in the city! Luckily, I was able to fit into stock boots and went home with a pair of Jackson’s, but I didn’t buy blades with the boots yet.
I also spoke with a coach and had some skating time with them (apparently, many are fine if you call them on their cell phone and just ask to meet lol) and they recommended a few options: Ultima Legacy, Coronation Ace are the big ones, and I was assured by the coach i was very much not overestimating my level- I’m probably a STAR 2-3 (if I jumped- but I’m not trusting that one to YouTube... waiting until I join a club when the season starts up again.)
Anyway, my question is- if these are entry level blades why the HECK are they so expensive? Pro Shop is asking $350 for the Ace, not even including mounting and sharpening. I know Skating is expensive(duh!) but is this normal for low level equipment? Has anyone found any websites where blades are cheaper, or found off-brand blades (like foreign brands maybe?) where the markup is less?
I honestly don’t think that I will be doing any jumping (I want to do dance mostly), or at least nothing beyond the single axel if I decide later on I’d like to jump, would I be fine in a blade rated for only single jumps? I think The coach gave those recommendations based on thinking I want to learn to jump...