I'm not all that good a skater. But I will give you here what advice I can.
Boots and blades can be viewed as separately replaceable - though if they were attached to each other by rivets (rather than screws), some low end skate techs might not know how to replace one without the other. But you don't want a low end skate tech - you want the best you can find, based on the advice of coaches or good figure skaters. Don't be surprised if you must drive a few hours to get to them.
Based on what you say, with the back tooth gone, the blades are more or less shot. In particular, the toe pick won't work right, which will limit significantly the extent to which you can learn jumps and spins. And you might as well find something a little higher end than MK 2000. MK 2000 were not supposed to go beyond entry level freestyle, which you are close to reaching.
Whether the boots are adequate depends on several factors. How well do they fit? Ideally, you should have virtually no movement inside skate boots, when tied tight. They should not be breaking down - e.g., how much, if any, crease exists where the boots flexe below the ankle bones. Does they feel like they supports you adequately? If no, dump them. Do your feet move around inside the boot? If no dump them. In either case, you could be seriously injured if you continue skating in ill fitting or inadequate skates. Also, are they comfortable?
If these are like the low level Risports I had, they will break down fairly quickly, once you start using deep edges, or anything much beyond a waltz jump - but maybe they haven't yet, and you can get some more life out of them.
It sounds like you are making fairly rapid progress. So if you can make do with your current boots, maybe you should - and buy something even better when you need to.
However there is one more factor you haven't specified, in part because we don't know your age. Are your feet still growing? If so, nothing you buy, in boots or blades, will last you long.
Whether you need private lessons depends a lot on what group lessons are available. IMHO, group LTS (Learn To Skate) lessons in the U.S. are of limited use. The way they are taught, covering many skills very quickly, a few minutes/skill, it is hard for the teacher to give you much individual attention, if there are more than about 3 people in the class. It's my perhaps incorrect impression that the U.S. and Canadian LTS programs are fairly similar. But some places there are available better group lessons, by very good teachers, that concentrate on the basics spending much more time / skill, in a way that gives each student adequate individual attention- but not in the LTS series. That's not to say that LTS isn't fun - but it can only take you so far, and it is easy to develop bad habbits. Private lessons are a much more effective use of your time, but they do cost a lot more.
Unfortunately, in the long run, figure skating beyond the basics can be very expensive - and the boots are a rather small part of that. Add in lessons, driving to and from the rink, lessons, and a good skate tech to sharpen your skates; clothing, injuries, athletic coaching, choreography and music arrangement, tests and competitions, and the cost of boots is minor.
Fortunately, you are probably already in good shape from your other sports. So you may not need additional athletic training.
Unlike swimming and running, in figure skating there are very arbitrary aesthetic standards of how things are to be done, that don't always reflect the most efficient way to move. Think of figure skating as more like Ballet or Ballroom Dancing than swimming or running. What is more, I don't know of any really good books on how to do it well. That makes coaches very necessary, and they cost a fair bit. Even at your level you will probably need an absolute minimum of about 30 minutes private lesson / week, and several hours/week of practice on the ice, to keep advancing at the rate you have been, and fix the techniques that can only be fixed with individual attention of the sort that is virtually impossible to get within a LTS class. You will also very likely need to shop around, and pay several coaches for a lesson to find one whose teaching style best matches your most efficient learning style. Don't be afraid to tell each potential coach what teaching style you want. E.g., whether you are a monkey-see-monkey-do type of person, whether you like detailed explanations and analysis, whether you want the coach to physically guide you through the motion, etc. The best coaches can adapt.
Topic: Help out a sort of New skater! (Read 2907 times)