(Continued)
I replaced the flat plastic stock insole with a heat-molded "Sole Thin" insole because I needed support for my high arches. That's something to keep in mind: in hindsight, I could have gone up a half-size since the replacement insole is easily twice as thick as the stock insole. I could used the room from sole to top of my foot, but hindsight is 20/20. (Our fitter didn't think the insole would be an issue, but I don't think she realized that SP-Teri doesn't use sport insoles. I did make it clear that I wear orthotics all the time.)
I might try switching back to the SP-Teri insole and adding just an arch support pad. (Dr. Scholls has stick-on gel arch supports.) That would give me a little more room in the skate while still having arch support.
The fit itself is good, although I don't have a lot of overlap of the tongue inside the boot. That's not a bad thing for me, because I have a nerve channel along my inside ankles that smarts if anything presses against it. It's definitely due to the replacement insole, which lifts my foot up inside the skate more than the stock insole. It's a mixed bag that requires time for experiments.
The skates are a little tight in the toe box, but I expected that to be the case since I ordered them to fit snugly. I have Morton's Toe, so my second toe is longer than my first. The toe box is very pointy on the SP-Teri's, as compared to the Klingbeil rounded toe box. It's not a bad thing, since the point aligns with my second toe, but I do need to have the toes punched a little more for comfort.
I heat-molded the skates and stretched the toe boxes myself, which has helped make them more comfortable and prevent my toes from getting crunched. I'm going to experiment with the insoles before I do any other adjustments. If needed, I can have the pro shop punch out the toes, which will be far more effective than what I can do at home.
The thick foam padding on the tongue is something I used to have on my Klingbeils years ago. It does compress, but for the first few sessions, you have to really pull the laces tight to get the tongue in the right place. There were a few times early on where I felt like I was wearing hockey skates and had to re-tie!
The more-narrow heel cup fits fine and my heel's been fitting into it better and better as I break in the skates.
I like the flex notch - I left the top hooks undone for the first few skates, mainly because I didn't have enough lace left over. In the last week, I've found that I can lace all the way up and still have good knee bend, likely because of the heat molding and padding compression.
The guy who mounted the blades was really good. PM me if you want his contact info - he's a coach in Virginia. He started by tracing my feet to identify my balance and alignment! He said right away that I tend to balance on the insides of my feet, which is true. I now have skates where the blades feel centered.
These skates are smaller than my Klingbeils and the Jacksons, so I had to go down a 1/4" on blades. I haven't felt anything but better balance - I can change edge at will without muscling anything, turns are fairly easy, although the backward-to-forward turns are klunky and awkward. (I haven't been practicing, though, so that's a more-likely cause.)
All in all, I've been pretty happy with these skates. I was switching back and forth over the past few weeks, depending on what I was coaching, but now I can use them almost all the time. (It was hard to coach Freestyle on brand-new skates, but Figures classes were okay.) I really need to do a few skating sessions and get these fully broken in for the new season, but I'm happy with them so far.