Defect in new skates!

[LaterSkater]

I still can't believe this.  I have been breaking in new boots - I've had them a month or so, I guess?  I was skating on a freestyle session today and started warming up jumps, easy waltz jumps, nothing huge, and as I landed, suddenly my right (landing) boot was completely loose and I looked down and my laces were completely undone . . . I just assumed that somehow the laces had come untied but when I got off the ice I realized that one of the middle hooks was completely GONE.  I relaced as best I could and headed back out to look for it because I knew that it would be a hazard, but once I found it and took a look at it, I saw right away exactly WHY it had come loose . . . it wasn't set correctly - on the back side of the hook, it has a sort of eyelet/rivet backing that sets the hook into the leather of the boot - well, the back side of this hook was all smashed to one side, completely deformed out of shape, and of course the side that didn't have much contact with the leather at all, gave way and allowed the whole thing to come loose from the boot.

So I'm just thinking, OK, I will need to have them reset this hook - then I realized that it was not only on my landing foot boot, but on the outside of the boot - probably the area under the most stress . . . so the question is, was I just unlucky enough to have ONE poorly set hook . . . or was that just the one to go first, because it was under the most stress?      (no way to tell if the other hooks are set correctly or not, because there is the inside padding of the boot that covers all of that up).  I am sick to think that I am going to have to go through the whole break in process AGAIN, just as these boots are starting to feel good.  But I just don't know if I can trust this particular pair of boots after what happened today.  Will be checking with our skating director 1st thing tomorrow to see how the warranty process goes, I guess.

And I can't help wondering - what if those boots had gone to someone working on doubles/really BIG jumps  - they could have really gotten hurt!!  How does something like that even make it to the consumer . . .  ugh!!

[phoenix]

It's unfortunate that happened to you!!

My thought would be that it's a fluke--skates are largely made by hand & people make mistakes. You should take them back to your shop & have them check both skates & all hooks to be sure the rest are strongly set & won't come out. They can also tell you if this brand/model have a reputation for this, or if it's the first they've seen.

Just to be safe you should also verify that the model you're in is correct for your skating level. For example, if you're doing axels & doubles, and the boot is rated only for singles, that could also play into this type of issue.

Good luck!

[Kim to the Max]

I had this happen once when I was a kid. We first tried to take them to a local shoe repair shop and they wouldn't touch them, so we sent them back to the company and they fixed it for free since the skates were so new. Phoenix is right, the skates are made by hand and sometimes human error happens.

I'm sorry it's happened to you!! But it can be fixed!!

[LaterSkater]

Just to be safe you should also verify that the model you're in is correct for your skating level. For example, if you're doing axels & doubles, and the boot is rated only for singles, that could also play into this type of issue.

Good luck!

No axels for me just yet, I'm just somewhere between Adult Prebronze and Bronze, but this boot is supposed to be good for up through Adult Silver.  Actually, I went with the higher level of the two boot models that I was considering . . . ironically!

[FigureSpins]

Having a hook come loose usually happens after the skates have been used for a long time.  I used to coach with someone who had a bizarre array of hooks and hook holes that she laced up with for months and months.  She called those skates her "frankenstein boots" and not because they were stiff, lol.

If you bought the skates through a pro shop, start there, if only to let them know what happened.  They might be able to replace the hook, but I know people who've had the shoe- and pro-shop replacements pop off as well.  Going back to the manufacturer for the repair/replacement sounds like a better route.  If you do get the manufacturer to replace the boots, let a local pro shop mount the blades.

Did anyone find the blown hook on the ice?

[Sk8tmum]

Most skates aren't really made by hand ... they are assembled by hand at the higher levels from premachined pieces, but, at the lower levels, it's even more a proportion of machinery that makes them and puts them together.  Which is why you get those problems with the blade and boot combos where the blade is set crooked  If they made them by hand, we would have to pay a lot more.  Jackson, for example, just gets the pieces in and someone runs them through a machine ... and it's an assembly line.  Same reason we get recalls on cars !

Whenever we get new skates at the boot and blade level, I get my skate guy (sharpener and the store) to check those things over inch by inch. We've had to reject more than one pair (crooked seaming, uncaught hooks, crooked blades) - to get a pair that's right. 

What brand are you using? Most skate companies are good on warranties ...

[LaterSkater]

Having a hook come loose usually happens after the skates have been used for a long time.  I used to coach with someone who had a bizarre array of hooks and hook holes that she laced up with for months and months.  She called those skates her "frankenstein boots" and not because they were stiff, lol.

If you bought the skates through a pro shop, start there, if only to let them know what happened.  They might be able to replace the hook, but I know people who've had the shoe- and pro-shop replacements pop off as well.  Going back to the manufacturer for the repair/replacement sounds like a better route.  If you do get the manufacturer to replace the boots, let a local pro shop mount the blades.

Did anyone find the blown hook on the ice?

Thankfully, I was able to recover it and have already taken some pictures of it for the rink's contact so we can contact the manufacturer.  I went looking for it just because I was worried about someone else tripping on it, once I found it and saw the shape it was in, I was glad I did . . . should make it much easier to resolve the situation.  These boots are fairly high level boots and I have only had them for 30 days, actually just reaching the point where they were getting broken in and doing some serious jumping/spinning, which is probably why it happened now.  Somebody at the factory just having a bad day, I guess.  ("oops!  eh, it looks OK from the outside, just let it go.").