[Survey] What boots have you used and for how long?

[jjane45]

Just a quick poll on "boots history", feel free to include the blades and skating levels.

[jjane45]

I'll start

Recreational skates with absolutely no ankle support (wish I knew better!): ~10 months, LTS
Used Jackson Classique with stock Mark IV blades: 1.5 year, delta & FS1-3
Used Jackson Competitor with Coronation Ace blades: about 2 years to present, FS3-5

[CaraSkates]

Riedell Blue Ribbons w/ rec blade, less then 1yr, first part of LTS?
Riedell Silver Stars (older model) w/ MK Professional blade, 1 yr, rest of LTS, passed Pre-Pre MIF
Riedell Silver Stars (new model), new MK Pro blade in shorter length, 2.5 yrs, passed Pre-Pre & Prelim FS, Prelim-Juv MIF, Prelim Dance tests
Riedell Silver Stars, same blades, 1yr, Pre-Juv FS, Intermediate MIF, Pre-Bronze Dance
Riedell 2010LS, same blades, 2.5 years, Novice MIF, two Bronze dances
Riedell 2010LS, Gold Seals, 4 months so far :-) working on Junior MIF, Juv FS, Pre-Silver/Silver dances. 

I'm obviously a hard core Riedell fan.

[icedancer]

Reidell Gold Star with Coronation Ace blades - 1st real pair of skates when I came back as an adult (had skated in Oberhammers with Cornation Ace as a kid then had a pair of men's skates with MK Professional Blades when I first came back - not sure the make... probably Riedell) - I had these two years.  They were too big and for some reason I didn't want to keep them anymore

SP Teri Super Teri - Wilson Dance Blade - wore the boots 15 years.  Blade was shot after about 7 years and then I switched to MK Dance because the Wilson Dance blade was no longer being produced.  Boots got pretty floppy and the tongue foam started falling apart.

SP Teri Dance Boot - last 7 years. Hate them.  Have tried two different pairs of MK Dance and Super Dance 99 blades.

Ready to chuck them and try something else. Hate heat-molding - the uppers really bother me as they never really break in or feel right.

[ChristyRN]

Jackson Mystique--a bit over a year.  From first time ever on ice to Adult 3.
Jackson Competitor--first pair from 2003-2011 with two sets of Mark IV and one set of MK Vision blades.  There was a gap of a couple of years where I didn't skate.  From Adult 3 to FS 3ish.
Jackson Competitor--second pair 2011-now with the stock blade.  I'm checking into putting the MK Visions on if there is enough life left in them.  Stuck at FS 3ish.

I want to get a new pair of Jacksons with a B heel and C ball.  I know they don't make the Competitor anymore, so I'll have to move up to the Premier.  I'm going to try to talk to the Jackson vendor at South Atlantics next month (if I'm not on call)

[VAsk8r]

Recreational soft-tec skates: Lasted 18 months, working on about gamma and delta-level stuff
Jackson Classiques with Mark IV blades: Wore them for almost two years, as I continued LTS, began privates, and got up to about ISI FS 1/pre-bronze FS. I began working on sit spins and my coach said, "You know what? I think you need new skates." I said, "What??? I'm an adult! My feet don't grow!"
Jackson Freestyles, pair one, with Ultima Mirage (I think) blades: Had them for eight months, FS3/4 and pre-bronze.
Jackson Freestyles, pair two, with Mirage blades again: Another eight months. Working on FS3/4/5 and pre-bronze and bronze elements.
Jackson  Premieres, with Ultima Legacy blades: Current pair, and hopefully they'll last awhile. I'm working on FS4/5 level stuff and still trying to pass my darn bronze tests.

[SynchKat]

I grew up wearing Wifa boots.  I have been through many pairs.  I would have had MK dance blades growing up.

As an adult I had a pair of grey suede Wifa Diamond boots, I got them at the factory on a trip to Austria.  I broke them down too much when wearing them while pregnant and my feet grew so I needed new ones.

I had Jackson Competitor with Wils dance blades. They were comfy, lasted about 3 years.

I just got a pair of Wifa dance boots and transferre my Wilson dance blades over to them. 

I am a Wifa girl, although I think I was under booted in the Jacksons.  But loving my Wifas.

[taka]

No idea which boots and blades I had when I was wee... Several pairs are still in my parent's loft but I'm too scared of ladders to go up and find out. A couple of scary 80s competition dresses should be up there too!

As an adult...
Blue death wellies (hire skates) with no ankle support at all and very, very blunt Mark IV blades - several weeks when I first got back on the ice.
Riedell 910LS with Coronation Aces - ~13 months (a couple of months too long - v broken down!), SkateUK 5? - Silver passport free (minus the teapot ) |& Gold Passport dance.
Riedell 2010LS with the same Coronation Aces - 11 months and counting, now breaking down too! About to sit Level 1 dance... hopefully!

Currently pondering which boots to get to replace the 2010s. If I need to get new blades I'll probably move to dance ones!

[Bunny Hop]

Altamura boots (Australian brand - no longer exists). No idea what blades: Two years of Learn to Skate, followed by a large number of years of rare recrational skating, and then another few months when I came back to skating as an adult. I still have them, as I can't bear to throw them out!

Gam boots with MK Pro blades: Don't now remember which Gams, just that I was over-booted and they were incredibly painful. I could barely skate 10 or 15 minutes without having to sit down. Set my skating back months, if not years. I suffered them for just over a year before giving up and flogging them on ebay.

Riedell Gold Medallion boots and MK Pro blades: Have had these for five years, although most of of that was skating once a week, and I took 18 months off in the middle of that period as well. They show no signs of breaking down as yet.

[Kim to the Max]

Pair #1) Used Harlick custom skates that fit my feet perfectly with a Professional blade. My dad saved those things many times with epoxy 

Pair #2) SP-Teri SuperTeri (probably with either Professional blades or Coronation Comets). They were okay. Not my favorite.

Pairs #3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Harlick Finalists with (#3, 4) Coronation Comets, (#5, 6) Pattern 99, (#7) Paramount Pattern 99 profile blades. My Finalists last me about 24 months. I got my current boots in May along with the blades. I might end up buying another whole pair (boots and blades next time) and going back to a "normal" silver blade. I will probably keep the Paramounts, but I have hot pink right now and while I love them, I don't know how much the judges are going to love them (I am probably going to try to tape them silver for my tests/competition). Plus, while I knew this, I am chewing up the back of the blades pretty badly and the silver color will mask that.

[alejeather]

I'm on my second pair of Jackson Freestyles with stock Ultima Mirage blades. I bought my first pair in week 3-ish of LTS, and it only took one or two sessions on the ice to realize they were way too big. I probably skated in those for 4 or 5 months while I went through the saga of trying to order a new pair one and a half sizes smaller. I think I've got about 6 months of skating on my current skates.

[tazsk8s]

1. Cheap rec skates - Basic 1-4, probably had them 6 months before they died.
2. Risport Laser with pre-attached Club 2000 blade - Basic 4 - FS2-ish. Wore them for about 8 months. They didn't fit my fat feet properly, but they were the only other thing besides Riedell that my then-proshop carried that was appropriate for an adult at that level, and Riedells were worse.
3. Stock SP-Teri Super Teri's, Coronation Ace blade. Got these around FS2 and started private lessons shortly thereafter. Landed my first loop and flip in them. Maybe lutz, too. Can't remember exactly. Went about 2 years on these, and they really weren't broken down. I didn't get the split width on these so my skinny heels started slipping and causing excruciating pain.
4. Custom SP-Teri's, Super Teri Deluxe stiffness.  Boots fit perfectly but in retrospect were way too stiff. It was like wearing concrete blocks. I got probably 5 years out of these before the insides started breaking down...the outsides were banged up from jump attempts, but barely creased. Moved my Coronation Ace's over from pair #3 and when those eventually got sharpened down to nothing, upgraded to a used pair of Pattern 99's.
5. Custom SP-Teri's, Super Teri stiffness.  Ahhhh....much better. Boots fit great, started getting too broken down to jump in after about 5 years. Started with Pattern 99's and later switched to the Paramount Pattern 99 version. Still have these boots, I still wear them for teaching Basic Skills and the occasional outdoor skating.
6 (current) Custom SP-Teris, new pair just like #5, Paramount Pattern 99 blades. I figure I've done well with these...why mess with what works? These are 3 years old, but I'm not skating as much as I used to on my previous pairs of skates, so I'm hoping to get a good 6+ years out of these.

[jjane45]

Very interesting thread to read through, thanks for sharing, everyone!

[MimiG]

My first "real" skates were GAMs (Josee Chouinard model, whatever those are now) with Club 2000 blades. Got them when I started taking lessons.

After those, I switched to Risport Super Cristallo and Coronation Aces around when I started working on axel. Switched to Coronation Comets with some future pair of Super Cristallos.

Moved up to Risport Super Diamante when I was working on the higher doubles and my Sr. Silver dances, but kept the Comets from my old skates. I was definitely overbooted, but I broke them in reasonably painlessly (pre-heat-molding, even, and I do tend to be pretty hard on my skates, but they were like wearing cement blocks at first) and broke them down in about 2 years...

Got another pair of Super Diamantes and a new set of Comets a little over a month before testing my last two Gold dances and Class 1 Skating Skills (why mess with what was working with little time to adjust before the tests?) and then promptly cut waaaaay back on my skating after passing the tests. I've been in that same pair for just over 10 years now, mostly coaching with occasional skating for myself. They're getting pretty soft and starting to fall apart though, so I'll start looking into new skates soon.

[sarahspins]

Trying to remember... I'm not including anything I only skated in for a few weeks.

1) (1994) Random used pair of skates that didn't really fit from Play it Again Sports... I wore these for maybe a month
2) (1994) CCM rec skates, don't remember what model, but I do remember they were cheap, and I wore these for about 3 months.
3) (1994-1995)Risport Super Cristallo with double star blades... I was probably about FS1 level at that point, I wore those for 7 months, through FS4.  I broke them down, my feet didn't grow
4) (1995-1997)SP Teri Super Teri Deluxe with Professional blades, these damaged my ankle bones on my right foot (fit related, required surgery) and I ultimately broke these down in about 8 months due to that poor fit, but I kept wearing them for close to 2 years (I did spend 9 months off the ice with an injury, so that 2 years isn't quite as bad as it sounds.  I landed my axel and first doubles in those boots though
5) (1997) Used Klingbeils with Gold Star blades, I wore these for a few months when it was clear my current boots just weren't cutting it, I was wearing these when I got fitted for custom boots.
6) (1997) Used Harlicks (High Tester I think) with Phantom blades, I wore these for maybe 6-8 weeks while I waited on my custom boots to get finished.
7) (1997-2000) Custom SP Teri's with Phantom Special blades, I wore those for about 3 years - when I stopped wearing them I had stopped skating.  They're still usable except that they don't fit me any more (too short and too narrow)
8 ) (2010-2012)Jackson Elite Plus with Phantom Specials (same blades from above boots) and later changed to Paramount 440's in Phantom profile, wore those for 2 1/2 years, and they were starting to show some signs of weakened lateral support mostly in the right boot.
9) (2012) Jackson Elite Supreme with Paramount 440's in Phantom profile, I've been wearing these only about a month now, and love them

[irenar5]

---Riedell 255 TS with Coronation Aces- through pre-bronze and bronze MITF and freestyle (about 1.5 yrs)- skating about 6 hrs/week. Definitely were creased by the end and not supportive for jumps.

---Riedell 875 with Ultima Matrix Legacy - used for about 5 months, through Silver MITF, just did not like the fit- they felt too long, stiffness was fine

---Now, for about 4months,  custom lightweight Harlicks with Competitor plus stiffness with Ultima Matrix Supreme blades- have been using for a few months.  There is no movement in the heel, they fit like a glove, which I really like.   There is still some rubbing in certain areas and they do not feel as cushy as Riedells, but at least the length is great.

I might try Edeas next when I am ready to change, although I am concerned about how thin the sole is- I did not like this feature in Riedell 255 with only  one layer of leather on the sole. 

[chowskates]

Riedell Blue Ribbons w/ rec blade, less then 1yr, first part of LTS?
Riedell Silver Stars (older model) w/ MK Professional blade, 1 yr, rest of LTS, passed Pre-Pre MIF
Riedell Silver Stars (new model), new MK Pro blade in shorter length, 2.5 yrs, passed Pre-Pre & Prelim FS, Prelim-Juv MIF, Prelim Dance tests
Riedell Silver Stars, same blades, 1yr, Pre-Juv FS, Intermediate MIF, Pre-Bronze Dance
Riedell 2010LS, same blades, 2.5 years, Novice MIF, two Bronze dances
Riedell 2010LS, Gold Seals, 4 months so far :-) working on Junior MIF, Juv FS, Pre-Silver/Silver dances. 

I'm obviously a hard core Riedell fan.

So am I!! :-)

[AgnesNitt]

Jackson mystique
Jackson competitors
Harlicks custom
Jackson competitors
Jackson dance
Jackson competitors

It's the same pair of competitors all the way through. But I need a split width on the right foot, so I'll have to go premiere(?) to get that when the competitors finally die.

[RosiePosie.iskates]

Well, since I've only been skating around 2 years, I don't have a really long list, sorry.

1) Some cheap $2 pair I found at the thrift store, recreational blade, wore them for 2 months when the sole started coming of, and the blade bent.
2) Riedell White Ribbons with GR4 blades. My first pair of "Real" skates! From Basic 4-Freeskate 1=2ish. Just over 9 months spent in those.
3) Riedell 13ts with Quest Onyx Blades. From Freeskate 2-Freeskate 6. Wore these for maybe almost 10 months, when they broke down because of attempting so many axels on them.
4) Riedell 43ts boot with Eclipse Mist Blade Axel-Current Preliminary. Have had these since June and I'm lovin' them! Surprisingly they still look almost like new, I'm pretty hard on skates. 

[Janie]

I hope the "FS" levels referred here by everyone are USFSA (unless specifically labeled ISI), at least that's what mine here are referring to.

1. Recreational skates: By Reebok! I guess it's like those soft-tec skates. 2 months in adult intermediate class and decide I want real skates.
2. GAM Horizon with stock Mark IV blades: Lasted 8-9 months. Probably up to FS3/4 in everything else but up to FS5/6 in jumps.
3. GAM Select with Ultima Legacy blades: Brand new right now! Hopefully will last over a year at least.

I'm like the GAM representative here! Even the very few people who have had GAMs seem to only have it once.

Love this thread, thanks for starting it jjane!

[sarahspins]

Oh, well mine were ISI but honestly the distinction isn't too critical.. they are similar, USFSA just introduces some elements in a different order.

[Janie]

Oh, well mine were ISI but honestly the distinction isn't too critical.. they are similar, USFSA just introduces some elements in a different order.

Oh okay. I was rather confused. The group classes I take we don't get individually told what sort of level we're at, it's just "adult beginner", "adult novice/intermediate" and "adult advanced", so I didn't know what label I should use!

[icedancer]

What totally KILLS me about this thread is how these skates do not last at all!!!  I don't know what these different types of skates are, especially the Jacksons and Gams, etc., but having skates lasting less than a year?  Yikes!!!

It makes me wonder what the problem is?  Why did they only last a year or less than a year?  Did they fall apart? Did someone convince you that they were broken down?  What is the problem???

I've been in my current boots for 7 years and although I don't do freestyle I am not a small person and don't skate "light" - my previous boots which lasted 15 years I did do FS, Dance, Synchro, Moves and Figures in... they were great boots!

[sarahspins]

It makes me wonder what the problem is?  Why did they only last a year or less than a year?  Did they fall apart? Did someone convince you that they were broken down?  What is the problem???

Most of it is likely fit related.  I know that a large part of why I was able to break down my Risports and then the next pair of SP Teri's was that they were really not the right width for my foot (too narrow).  The linings on my first pair of SP Teri's also completely fell apart (what was left was held in with duct tape) which is mostly why I skated in some other used boots while I waited on my next pair - they just weren't usable at all.  I was skating every day back then for several hours a day, and my skates just never got the chance to fully dry out - I know that the lining basically rotted.  By the time I had my next pair (the custom SP Teri's) I wasn't skating as much and they didn't have the same problem because they had enough time to dry out in between skating.  If those skates still fit me I'd probably still be wearing them now

[jjane45]

Thanks. I love this thread too and hope we keep it going.

I think my Jackson classique broke downs little early because 1) it was one full size too big and 2) I used to dry it with a fan overnight. Yeah should have known better. But the fitter said "up to FS3" and I started flips when retiring them, so all is fair.