Wilson Revolution Gold Seal blades

Sk8tmum · June 08, 2011, 05:54:53 AM

A few skaters at our club are wearing these and they look interesting. I am hunting for two answers on the Gold Seal version:

a) do they have the same solid base plate as the regular Gold Seals?
b) how big do they come?

It looks like they top out at 11", as opposed to the regular Gold Seal 12" blades, which would be a problem; and, the solid sole plate is a plus for us with the regular Gold Seals. I can't see on the image if they still have this feature ... and if not, is it no longer necessary due to the change in the blade design?

But, the silver ones do look great ... and reduced weight is always a good thing, although, of course, it's not as big a deal when you're getting up to skaters who are big enough to need an 11" blade.

Isk8NYC · June 08, 2011, 07:54:36 AM

The sole plates are solid, but they're made of carbon fiber, so they're lighter.
The materials I've seen says 11" is the maximum length for the Wilson Gold Seal Revolution blades.

They're only available by special order, so you could inquire about longer lengths.

The design might be an issue - from what wearers have said, it is a little "springy" so maybe that's why the longest listed length is 11".

One of the skaters said it's not solid-surface color so when it gets scratched, the undercolor is silver, so if that would bug you, get silver. I do think the black looks sharp - I'd just color it in with a permanent marker to hide any scratches.

davincisop · August 29, 2012, 05:01:46 PM

I'm going to ressurect this topic, because my coach looked at my year and a half old Jackson Legacy blades last night and said they're almost dead. I also had them sharpened not long ago and skated twice before they started sliding like they were dull. She suggested going up to Wilson Gold Seal or Pattern 99. I'm leaning more towards Gold Seal because it's an 8' rocker and cross cut picks, so exactly what I have now, but $500 more expensive. But I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the revolution Gold Seal. Part of me feels that if I'm going to spend this much on blades already I should get one that I like the look of, too. (one of my biggest regrets getting my current skates last year was that the blade I wanted to get, the ultima lite, I got talked out of because they didn't know if there needed to be a special sharpening jig)

So anyone have thoughts?

sarahspins · August 29, 2012, 06:17:18 PM

The radius of a blade doesn't make as much of a difference as the spin rocker does... the gold seal has a smaller radius than the pattern 99 does... I've heard things both ways as far as which is better though, and ultimately I think it comes down to personal preference.

Gold Seal's are $395 from Kinzie's closet and $468 for the revolution version, if that helps make the decision easier

My understanding though is that the revolutions are still carbon steel, so you don't get any extra life from the blade for the extra cost, it's just the carbon fiber chassis that adds to the expense. 440 stainless steel Paramounts are also in the same price range at just $450 from KC (and there is a gold seal profile available in those, and the name/profile is actually licensed from Wilson, not simply copied), as well as the Matrix Supreme (their copy of the Gold Seal) at $385.

You could also consider the matrix legacy if you were otherwise happy with your current blades.. cheapest I've seen them is $199 from Sharper Edge Skates.

I don't know why anyone would have needed a special sharpening jig for the Ultima Lite? It's basically a traditional blade with cut outs. You can still get those form some retailers, if that's the blade you still want.

Doubletoe · August 30, 2012, 08:22:16 PM

The only negative thing I've heard about these blades is that the shape of the stanchions can make it difficult to grab the blade at the heel or toe for a catch foot position. If that's something you care about, you might want to take a look at them in person and grab where you grab the blade, just to see how it feels.

davincisop · August 30, 2012, 10:36:53 PM

Quote from: Doubletoe on August 30, 2012, 08:22:16 PM
The only negative thing I've heard about these blades is that the shape of the stanchions can make it difficult to grab the blade at the heel or toe for a catch foot position. If that's something you care about, you might want to take a look at them in person and grab where you grab the blade, just to see how it feels.

Oh you flatter me.

I can barely do a camel so a catch foot is way far in my future. haha!

Thanks for the info guys, I appreciate it. I'm going to look into one more sharpening on these because it feels like my ROH is super shallow which makes coach think the sharpener only did a light run over the blade before the test (which if that's the case I feel a little jipped bc I pay $25 to get it done and if they weren't really sharpened then..... yeah). I was slipping and sliding all over my lesson today though. Thankfully coach agreed that jumps may not be the best idea with them slipping, so we focused on footwork and jump entries, and then I almost wiped out on a jump entry because I had no edge...

However, my mom said she's pay for the blades should I decide to get them as long as they're a Christmas or birthday present (she knows I work hard to pay for my apartment and work at the rink to pay for skating and offered to pay if I ABSOLUTELY need them, but I need to make sure it's just not a sharpening error). There isn't much life in the front of the blade though, it's super thin so I really don't know what to do at this point. If I can remember to bring them upstairs I will take a pic of it and post and see what you guys think.

jjane45 · August 30, 2012, 11:14:49 PM

No catch foot spirals?

(although I much prefer the classic spiral position, it's hard to make catch foot not look forced...)

Sk8tmum · August 30, 2012, 11:37:11 PM

Love the look of the Lites; they are pretty. They are lighter. They do NOT hold a sharpening any longer than a Gold Seal does - actually, thinking about it, they got sharpened more than the Seals do, skating less. And, they are noisy ... the move from Lites to Gold Seals immediately removed the scratchy sound on edges. Unless the edge-fairy paid a visit on the same day we bought the Seals ... it must have been the blades

They don't need any type of special sharpening tool. The issue around catch foot was never a problem, as our coaches teach to grab the heel of the boot not the blade.

Judges didn't care for them; they had the same complaint as with the colored blades: distracting and attracting the eye to the blade, which made it easier to notice edge and turn flaws.

However, LTS classes love them ... they're pretty ...

Doubletoe · August 31, 2012, 01:19:27 PM

Sounds like it would definitely be worthwhile to take your blades back for a better sharpening. At $25, they should re-do it for you for free.

sarahspins · August 31, 2012, 04:55:09 PM

Quote from: Doubletoe on August 31, 2012, 01:19:27 PM
Sounds like it would definitely be worthwhile to take your blades back for a better sharpening. At $25, they should re-do it for you for free.

Agreed.. my sharpener would redo them at no charge if I came back in an unusually short time saying I was unhappy with the edges. It's not exactly like you're trying to get a free sharpening, you're simply expecting what you paid for the first time

davincisop · September 16, 2012, 12:00:05 PM

Quote from: Sk8tmum on August 30, 2012, 11:37:11 PM
Judges didn't care for them; they had the same complaint as with the colored blades: distracting and attracting the eye to the blade, which made it easier to notice edge and turn flaws.

That's my worry with getting them. I don't need them looking at my feet more because of it, BUT I really like how they look and since I am an adult skater I'm not too worried about competitions and such. I plan on focusing on testing in the next year and honestly if it comes down to it it'll make me more aware of making sure my edges and turns are good.

News:

Wilson Revolution Gold Seal blades