Graf Size

[adrianskater]

Hi,

I'm new on this forum and this is my first post.
I'm working on doubles up to lutz and I'm wearing risport rf3 which is size 285mm. My coach says that I must upgrade now and I should look The Graf Edmonton Specials.
I love the way they look but I can't find my size and I can't find also a pro skate shop near so I must order on line.
My feet measures 276mm length and 245mm around the ball of my foot.
I think I'm on 9 1/2 but I'm not sure because I'm not very wide so I think also that I might be a 9 with large width.

It's awfull this situation. If anyone could help me I'll be glad.

[fsk8r]

I'm guessing from your profile name that you're male.
I have the Edmontons in white (female shoes) and they run small, so I need a larger size than I would expect.
Do you have any proshop which have any Graf skates in? Because they run small, I would want to try them on even if it's a different model so as to get the sizing right.
However, I can't say how the male skates fit given that I'm in the female boots and I don't know if there's a difference between the male and female lasts.

[adrianskater]

I'm male.
I don't have any proshop to get fit for Graf skates. That's a shame.
If they run small then I'm really worried. I looked at the graf sizing chart and the closest one to 285mm (which are my risports) its 10 (283mm) and 10.5 (287mm). Also I'll buy it large width.
I'm freaking out.
I'm sorry for my coach but I'm seeing myself on risport rf2 super.

[fsk8r]

I'm male.
I don't have any proshop to get fit for Graf skates. That's a shame.
If they run small then I'm really worried. I looked at the graf sizing chart and the closest one to 285mm (which are my risports) its 10 (283mm) and 10.5 (287mm). Also I'll buy it large width.
I'm freaking out.
I'm sorry for my coach but I'm seeing myself on risport rf2 super.

The RF2s are good skates, so there's nothing to apologise for. But I think for the cost of Edmontons I would want to have some idea as to whether they're going to fit. Is there any chance you could do a day trip to a proshop somewhere to try them if you really want to try the Grafs?

[aussieskater]

Do your current Risports fit you well?  If so, why would you not order Risport RF2 or RF2 Super in your size?  The Risport website confirms both models do come in black.

If your Risports do not fit properly, then you really need to try on other brands.  Even if you can briefly try on skates worn by other skaters at your rink, it might help you to eliminate brands, at least as a starting point.  Agree with fsk8r that a day trip is in order, unless your pro shop is willing to order in different sizes in different brands on spec, and return those which don't fit.  However, that would be the slow way of doing it!

[adrianskater]

Sorry for the delay but yesterday was a very busy day.
The only problem I have with risport is that when I'm doing double flips. When I place my toe pick my feet moves inside the boot and it's painfull when I place that toe pick really hard.
I asked several proshop by e-mail. One says that she compared the risport rf3 with the graf edmonton special. She says that I need a  9 with large width if I want to have the same feel as risport rf3. Other proshop asked me to send 2 templates of my left and right foot. They are getting measured. When I have both replys I will make a decision, If they don't match I'll order risport rf2 súper.
BTW, have you tried mk phantoms? I'm on pattern 99 and I have 5 more sharpenings so after I have my boot I'll buy new blades.
I've been thinking about mk phantom or gold star. I also looked at matrix supreme and paramounts. I love the way matrix look.

[JSM]

Sorry for the delay but yesterday was a very busy day.
The only problem I have with risport is that when I'm doing double flips. When I place my toe pick my feet moves inside the boot and it's painfull when I place that toe pick really hard.
I asked several proshop by e-mail. One says that she compared the risport rf3 with the graf edmonton special. She says that I need a  9 with large width if I want to have the same feel as risport rf3. Other proshop asked me to send 2 templates of my left and right foot. They are getting measured. When I have both replys I will make a decision, If they don't match I'll order risport rf2 súper.
BTW, have you tried mk phantoms? I'm on pattern 99 and I have 5 more sharpenings so after I have my boot I'll buy new blades.
I've been thinking about mk phantom or gold star. I also looked at matrix supreme and paramounts. I love the way matrix look.

I've had the problem of my foot moving in the boot - especially on double flip attempts!  I have had to change the way I lace my skates in order to fix that problem, as well as getting a smaller width in the heel.  Do you find that your heel moves around a lot during other moves?

As for phantoms, I had them when I skated as a child.  I loved them for jumps, but I don't think they did my spins any favors.  However, you could ask 10 skaters about their blade preferences and get 10 different answers, so it's entirely up to you!  All of the blades you mentioned are good blades.

[fsk8r]

You might need different length blades for the new skates as the blade length is related to heel height and I don't know whether the Risport heel height matches the Grafs. I know that when I switched from Jackson to Grafs I needed longer blades as the heel is lower in the Grafs.

While I'm not up to double flips just yet, I had the same problem with heels moving on my old Jacksons. The padding on the inside had broken down and I was getting blisters from the movement. I was able to temporarily correct it by buying a gel tube designed for Achilles tendon problems as that created a little bit more padding to lock my heel in place.

[adrianskater]

I don't have issues about heels. I think i might change the way i lace my skates, that will help. Or i just don't think about my heel.
When i bought risport rf3 i tried one size smaller because i was on rf4 and i had issues as well on single toe loops. The problem was the width. It was too small and it will hurt more, so i stayed on my actual size.
I can land clean double flips but my feet will hurt and that's a shame because double flips are, from my point of view, beautiful jumps as well as lutz.
Thank you for telling me about the blade length i didn't see that coming.
Tomorrow i'll visit my proshop where they have risport and edea. I will try risport rf2 super, royal and edea concerto. I will ask my coach about the heel. I have another proshop who sells jackson boots. They look really comfy with a lot of padding. What was you problem?
I'll tell you more tomorrow.

[sarahspins]

The only problem I have with risport is that when I'm doing double flips. When I place my toe pick my feet moves inside the boot and it's painfull when I place that toe pick really hard.

This really suggests a sizing issue with your current boots - your foot should not be able to move front to back at all in your boot, it should feel solidly locked in place when your boots are laced up.  I would suspect that they are not only too long but also too wide through the heel/ankle area, possibly through the whole foot.  Boots are supposed to fit snug, and often they may have pressure points when they are new that can be quite painful even when the boots are the correct size - those can typically be punched out or addressed with heat molding.

The issue that a lot of people have with Jacksons is that the heel area opens up as the padding in the boot compresses with time... so you may think you have boots that fit when you initially try them on, then in just a few months, your heels are slipping because they were actually too wide, but the padding kind of masked that for a while.  A lot of us who wear Jacksons order them in a split width so the heels are a lot narrower than the ball - that eliminates any potential problem with the heel slipping.

[adrianskater]

Ok.
I went to my proshop and I tried rf2 super. They said that the boot can be punched so there is no trouble buying one size smaller.
I asked also if they know about graf boots. Oh my god! They sold graf years ago but now they don't because it's not as popular as edea or risport. They know my obsession about graf edmonton so they still remember how size it is. I trust my proshop so after talking for a long time, we agreed to buy graf edmonton special.
I'm so excited. I can't wait. They also say that if they don't fit I can return them and try another size, but they think the boots will fit me perfectly.
About the blades, I asked some skaters and also I asked my coach. He is very familiar with mk so he suggest to buy gold stars. One skater used this blade and change to gold seals. He said they work so well like they dif turns for him.
So, when I get the boots if they are too light i will buy gold seals, if they're not, gold star.