What ever happened to K-picks?

[Casey]

Just an idle curiosity, but I just realized when browsing around that neither John Wilson nor MK's websites advertises K-pick options anymore, though various retailers still carry them.  Are they no longer made?

[AgnesNitt]

I don't know about k-picks, but I noticed MK Pros have that new fancy schmancy revolution blade structure. I guess I'll be laying a couple of the old ones in stock.

[Casey]

I don't like the look or idea of revolution blades either, though I guess they're all the rage these days.

[Query]

IceSkateology has been saying for a few years that they are about to release, possibly in conjunction with MK, the GoldQuest blade, whose (detachable) toe pick looks a little like a K-pick (though I'm not sure of the effect - the blade itself is thinner than most figure blades).

However, the release of this blade is already many years late, so don't count on it.

I've been reading a PSA article on "The Evolution of the figure skate" - see this thread. They mention the GoldQuest on page 25 of this installment.

[Casey]

IceSkateology has been saying for a few years that they are about to release, possibly in conjunction with MK, the GoldQuest blade, whose (detachable) toe pick looks a little like a K-pick (though I'm not sure of the effect - the blade itself is thinner than most figure blades).

However, the release of this blade is already many years late, so don't count on it.

I've been reading a PSA article on "The Evolution of the figure skate" - see this thread. They mention the GoldQuest on page 25 of this installment.

Ahh, I assumed the GoldQuest had already been released and was just unpopular.  It will be interesting to see how it is received if it is released, though personally I wouldn't rush out and buy one...

I don't know why they decided to make it a lot taller in the middle and short on the ends, and split the rear stanchion, other than just to be different.  They also do the split rear stanchion on all their coplanar blades.  I wish all the companies trying to come up with new blade technology would stick with a basic tried-and-true aesthetically-pleasing design (they claim theirs is a "pleasant streamline shape" but I beg to differ).  The advertisement claims they put extra strength where it "ought to be", with no explanation beyond that.  It seems to me that more strength would be desirable in the front where you land jumps, though if you are going to start optimizing for jumps then it reminds me of some other blades where they have a different toe pick design on the jumping foot's blade.

"and of course Coplanar. But we might have to relent on this latter feature just to get its advantages to the skater, converting to a aluminium bodied model in keeping with current lightweight trend."

Does anybody use coplanar these days?  The only real advantage to that seemed to be to the person screwing the blades to the boots, and perhaps it would be easier for equipment makers engineering machinery to produce their products.  I don't see that ever going anywhere because a skater has to fully buy in to the coplanar idea meaning they have limited both their boot and blade possibilities.  Not that it's an inherently bad idea but what's the incentive for the skater?  I really don't think the bottom of my foot being ever-so slightly differently-aligned is going to help anything.  Whether it's better for the manufacturer or not, I think it's going to be a tough job for somebody to try to change the standard used by all boot/blade makers convincing the skaters that there's a clear advantage in it for them.  Kind of like Betamax vs. VHS.

I am also not at all excited about the "lightweight trend" or another aluminum-bodied blade option.  I think that this will be more successful though because many skaters perceive an advantage in having lighter-weight equipment.  Personally, I am more convinced by John Wilson's advertising that the natural (if slight) flex of carbon steel is desirable for skates, and I don't feel the weight of my skates is any impediment to my skating - if I lack the strength to lift my leg with a traditional boot/blade, I think I will lack the strength to do so gracefully in lighter equipment as well.  Really the issue usually seems to be more a matter of having graceful/elegant control of your body's position, being flexible, and being comfortable on the ice, rather than somebody doing a spiral thinking "oh god my leg feels so heavy I just can't keep holding it!"

I can see a wider pick design being beneficial for reducing ice pitting, but again I am not convinced that gives the skater a clear advantage (I don't recall this ever being advertised or talked about as an advantage of K-picks, rather they were said to compensate for multi-rotational toe pick jumps where the skater hit the ice at enough of an angle to slip on regular toe picks).  Of course if anybody here has used K-picks, I'd like to hear direct feedback!

Lastly, do you know what metal is used to make the GoldQuest?  Other than looking bronze in appearance, and it being advertised as having a particular hardness rating, I don't know anything about this metal or it's properties.  Does it have the same stiffness/flexibility of carbon steel or is it more rigid?  Is it more resistant to rust?  What gives it the gold color?  The advertisement says it has a "special nickel plating" - nickel isn't gold, but is it just whatever is mixed in with the plating that gives it that color on the surface?  Since it doesn't exist yet, I guess it's all speculation at this point.  Will be interested to see what, if anything, they actually produce though.

[Query]

Casey:

I don't know all the details about the GoldQuest project.

Sid Broadbent, IceSkateology's head has very strong opinions about the right way to do things, and how skates work, some of which make sense. He sells his engineering studies through his website. You can talk or email to him if you are curious.

But it sounds like you already know what you want, so there would be little point.

[Casey]

I don't know all the details about the GoldQuest project.

Sid Broadbent, IceSkateology's head has very strong opinions about the right way to do things, and how skates work, some of which make sense. He sells his engineering studies through his website. You can talk or email to him if you are curious.

Nah, I'm curious, I'm just skeptical and finicky about how things look more than I should be.

[AgnesNitt]

I don't want to offend any one, but to me the goldquest blades are the butt-ugliest blades I've ever seen (in a picture). Sort of the mullet of blades (business in the front, hockey in the back). I'm note making an opinon about their skateability, but that picture makes them look like they're stamped out of sheet metal.

[Casey]

I don't want to offend any one, but to me the goldquest blades are the butt-ugliest blades I've ever seen (in a picture). Sort of the mullet of blades (business in the front, hockey in the back). I'm note making an opinon about their skateability, but that picture makes them look like they're stamped out of sheet metal.

Hahaha.    At least I'm not the only one who thinks they don't look great.  I like traditional-looking blades myself.  But I can't really call myself old-fashioned, or I'd have to find myself a pair of these:



Or maybe the first toe pick models:



Interesting that the original curved toe picks still exist on modern dance blades:



Though the Lussi style is the norm for freestyle:



I sometimes wonder, if I were around back when earlier shifts in blade design came along, would I have also thought of them as crazy and newfangled, and wanted to stick with the good old blades of yore?  Maybe I would be attached to these:

[Casey]

On the subject of toe picks, what's the practical difference between straight-cut and cross-cut picks?

I had gold stars with straight-cut teeth at the bottom and crossed at the top, gold seals with cross-cut picks, and now Pattern 99-style Paramounts with straight-cut teeth.  I am not sure I notice any difference at all, although perhaps the straight-cut sometimes gouges the ice worse on toe jumps (not sure if this is due to other factors like the ice (colder ice seems more brittle) though).

When I first started skating, I had a roommate who used to be a skater, who thought that straight-cut picks were way better, and recommended (and owned) Four Aces blades over Coronation Aces for that reason.  I can't say I have any strong opinion either way, and if I were in the position of considering buying Goldquest blades, I'd have no idea which toe pick option to choose.

[amy1984]

On the subject of toe picks, what's the practical difference between straight-cut and cross-cut picks?

I had gold stars with straight-cut teeth at the bottom and crossed at the top, gold seals with cross-cut picks, and now Pattern 99-style Paramounts with straight-cut teeth.  I am not sure I notice any difference at all, although perhaps the straight-cut sometimes gouges the ice worse on toe jumps (not sure if this is due to other factors like the ice (colder ice seems more brittle) though).

When I first started skating, I had a roommate who used to be a skater, who thought that straight-cut picks were way better, and recommended (and owned) Four Aces blades over Coronation Aces for that reason.  I can't say I have any strong opinion either way, and if I were in the position of considering buying Goldquest blades, I'd have no idea which toe pick option to choose.

I have owned both and have never noticed a difference.  However, all my toe jumps are still just singles.  Possibly, I would notice on doubles.  I've heard it's supposed to give you a better 'grip' on toe jumps.

[AgnesNitt]

Chris Howart invented blades with toepicks that were different for the dominant skating foot. It never went anywhere.