'Recreational' skates....

[4711]

you know, the ones that look like they screwed sneakers to the blades.

Question: Aside from not getting those if you are halfway determined to climb up ranks and test/compete, etc...

What would be the things you can do with them easily and what would push their limits?
I am guessing you'd be alright doing your steps, spirals, some spins, but limited jumping?

It is a hypothetical question, literary inspired, might yet be stricken, but the plot bunnies let me down the trail, making my fictional skaters buy a pair on impulse....

[Skittl1321]

I went through Basic 6 with rec skates. Not the ones you mentioned, but ones with no sort of toe pick and terrible cheap, bolted on blades.   I could do spirals and a two foot spin.  I didn't do any real jumps on them but did side toe hops and bunny hops.

However, I was a very light young adult.  At the weight I'm at now, I don't think I would even do those little jumps. These skates had no support and the blades were not made for much.

[AgnesNitt]

I've seen an elderly (my age or older) former olympian at my rink who coaches in what I think are jackson softechs. Essentially, sneakers on blades. Of course he's just using them to push himself across the ice.

I think Skittl's right, they'll last you for a while, but if you're heavy, that 'while' may only be a few months.

I started out in Jackson rec figure skates. Mystique blades. I could never get anywhere past stroking forward. It wasn't until I switched to MK Pros that I started making progress. I shouldn't blame the blades though. I had a lot of issues everywhere.

[4711]

so really not much more than doing laps.

Thanks.

[AgnesNitt]

so really not much more than doing laps.

Thanks.

Laps , crossovers, 3 turns, edges. I really ' needed' a 7 foot rocket.

[jjane45]

I used rec skates up to isi delta, or whatever level that had bunny hop. it's doable, but looking back I think the progress could have been faster if the boots provided any ankle support.

[rachelplotkin]

I think it depends very much on the skater.  My coach can do pretty much anything in his recreational skates he can do in his high powered skates.  He's worn both for private lessons and group classes.  Unless I look I really could not tell you which he is wearing .   But maybe that is the difference between someone learning to skate and a skating professional.

[4711]

Just for clarification:
http://www.purehockey.com/jackson-softec-classic-st2000-womens-recreational-skates-10-18704

something like those...
(dang, 15 bucks?!)

But those were the first to pop up. I believe I have seen more sneaker looking ones.

[sarahspins]

Most of those are best suited for pond skating or occasional recreation use by someone who doesn't skate well or often.  Primarily because the blade is cheap and isn't going to hold much of an edge for long, and the boots themselves will not hold up for long either.  I see kids in LTS all the time in similar skates and they really do seem to break down VERY fast compared to low-end figure skates (which don't cost much more) - some of the rec skates are basically unusuable by the end of a single 8 week session.

That said, a good skater can manage to skate well in just about anything - kids at my rink used to wear rentals and hockey skates just to play around and they'd even do doubles in them (yes, in hockey skates).  There was one lady at our rink last year who skated to a fairly high level as a child in another country come and skate in rentals and some of the footwork, jumps AND spins she was doing was astonishing, especially since she said she hadn't skated in several years.  I think the rentals she happened to get not only fit her well but were in fairly decent shape compared to most and recently sharpened, which helped.

[blue111moon]

I personally went through the first year of group lessons in a pair of Sears vinyl rec skates with aluminum blades that my father had bought in a box of about a dozen assorted pairs at an auction a decade earlier.  I was a then-thin adult skating only about an hour and a half a week and I learned up through a one-foot spin and a waltz jump in those floppy skates.  Evidently my ankles were much stronger then!

It wasn't until I wanted to start private lessons and join the local club that my coach suggested I upgrade to decent skates.  My first pair were Oberhammers but I don't remember the model or the blade. 

[AgnesNitt]

It wasn't until I wanted to start private lessons and join the local club that my coach suggested I upgrade to decent skates.  My first pair were Oberhammers but I don't remember the model or the blade.

Dating yourself dear.    Although you can still find people selling vintage Oberhammer roller boots. 

[sarahspins]

Oberhammers were good quality boots though

[icedancer]

Oberhammers were good quality boots though

I had Oberhammers - nice boots!