Riedell Elara

[ib_jigged]

I want to share our experience with a trip to visit Riedell and have our daughter fitted for new boots.

Earlier this year our coach suggested that after three seasons our daughter was probably ready to move from her Bronze Star's to a higher level boot.  She suggested the Gold Star.  We then started the process of researching and noticed that Riedell's did not offer the Gold Star any longer on their website.  I contacted them through their customer service email on their website and got a pretty quick reply that they were being replaced by a new boot, but no specifics yet but to check back in the spring.  The Gold Star's were available via special order if we would like.

Fast forward to mid July and we thought about a long weekend in the beginning of August to make a quick road trip to the Red Wing, MN area (we live in the northwest corner of Minnesota) about a 6 hour drive from home.  It is a beautiful area with many things to do in the summer, so we thought we would contact Riedell to see if it was possible to stop by and see the new Elara and maybe have a fitting done and a tour of the facility.  Within a few minutes of the sending another email Dan Riegelman (VP of Riedell) contacted me and said to just let them know what day would work.  We double checked our schedule and made an appointment for a fitting.  By this time we were looking at Gold Star, Aria, and Elara's.

After meeting with Dan and multiple questions (he looked at her current boots and blades as well) to our daughter he measured her feet and determined the left was 1 half size smaller than the right and that we would be better going with a special order pair if we wanted the best fit.  After talking about which boot, and trying on them all, he determined the Elara was a better fit, but our daughter thought they were a little stiff.  He then suggest since we were not far off the difference to a full custom, that they could leave a layer out of the ankle area to put them at a 90 firmness level, and then added some more padding in the tongue.  After this was complete, we placed an order and were given 6-8 weeks for delivery.  Our daughter was extremely excited to get these!  Dan then gave us a complete tour of the facility and it is very impressive!

Two weeks to the day after placing the order Dan called and the boots were finished!  He prefers to fit again and with them only 6 hours away, our daughter and I headed back down the following Monday to try them on and pick them up.  Our daughter tried them on and the one boot was a little tight, so he bumped out the toe area a little and all was good, we then inquired about new blades and he mounted a new set of Eclipse Aurora's on them and we were off!

This last week, she was able to try them for the first time since we just got ice back in at the local arena and she absolutely loves these new skates!!

Thanks to the whole crew at Riedell's!!  Great to have a company like this in Minnesota!!

[tstop4me]

I never met Dan, but I exchanged multiple rounds of email with him (he responded to the general info request box at Riedell/Eclipse).  Some of my questions were highly technical.  If he didn't know the answer, he would check with his engineers.  Communicating with him was a welcome change from the responses (or lack thereof) I got from other boot and blade companies.

[Bill_S]

Thanks for the report.

I had wondered about how well Elara boots would be received. I'm glad your daughter loves them, and I'm pleased to hear about Riedell's  customer service.

One little finger wag... I just wish that Riedell would update their website to fully include their new products like the Elara and Vega, and to reflect the slip-stream changes done to their existing lineup. For example, the Silver Star has different linings from what is described on the website.

[DressmakingMomma]

Same experience for us!

I know I have said it before on here, but we had dealt with all sorts of boot issues and going to Riedell to get fit for by Dan was the answer. He REALLY knows his stuff and is committed to making sure the skater has boot that work. And they are less expensive and quicker to deliver than other custom boot companies.