BJØRN & FJØRD Blades for Figure Skating

[tstop4me]

My point was, How many coaches do know how to do this?  And, of those who do, how many are willing to service skaters that they don't personally coach (that is, skaters of coaches who don't know how)? 

If the answer to the first question is very few, and the answer to the second question is practically none, then we don't have a viable solution. 

[supersharp]

In my experience, very few coaches understand how to select a blade based on the characteristics of the rocker or even understand about making sure the skater's tech can sharpen the recommended blade. Most of it seems to be based on price, marketing hype, or just wearing what your coach wears because you hope to skate like that coach. 

I hear skaters say things like "I have Pattern 99s and I love them".  But can they tell me what they love about them? Nope.

My dream is for there to be a functional way to mount blades on boots non-destructively with a fine-adjustment system built in (like snowboard bindings) so you can try different blades or experiment with blade placement. Then we could rent demo blades, just like renting demo skis at a resort, and see if we really love those Pattern 99s after all...but that would require a revolution in sole-making that I don't think the boot manufacturers are likely to want to participate in.

[tstop4me]

In my experience, very few coaches understand how to select a blade based on the characteristics of the rocker or even understand about making sure the skater's tech can sharpen the recommended blade. Most of it seems to be based on price, marketing hype, or just wearing what your coach wears because you hope to skate like that coach. 

I hear skaters say things like "I have Pattern 99s and I love them".  But can they tell me what they love about them? Nope.

The above is reality.

My dream is for there to be a functional way to mount blades on boots non-destructively with a fine-adjustment system built in (like snowboard bindings) so you can try different blades or experiment with blade placement. Then we could rent demo blades, just like renting demo skis at a resort, and see if we really love those Pattern 99s after all...but that would require a revolution in sole-making that I don't think the boot manufacturers are likely to want to participate in.

The above is wishful thinking.


I'm glad to see you carefully distinguish the two.   

[AlbaNY]

It would be amazing if skaters could test many blades.

I tried several, and I don't have the skill to really have tested them, but I did have some preferences.  (I like Pattern 99, Coronation Ace were the best, Phantoms were not my cup of tea, rentals of various types are useless...

[Query]

My dream is for there to be a functional way to mount blades on boots non-destructively with a fine-adjustment system built in (like snowboard bindings) so you can try different blades or experiment with blade placement. Then we could rent demo blades, just like renting demo skis at a resort, and see if we really love those Pattern 99s after all...but that would require a revolution in sole-making that I don't think the boot manufacturers are likely to want to participate in.

If you design and make your own blades and mounting systems, they can have all the parameters you want! Maybe some of the people on this forum and others would buy them from you, if the price was right.