Riedell Aria

[Peach]

Hi I'm a juvenile skater heading into intermediate next season. I have all of my doubles and skate about 10 hours per week. Ive skated in Riedell's for 4 years and upgraded to the Aria 6 months ago. They are rated for quads.  I noticed they began to crease near the flex notch. Is this normal? I don't think I skate enough to break down such a strong boot so quickly. I'm only 112 lbs.

[amy1984]

You can take them to your pro shop to see if they can give you an answer.  My immediate thought was no, they shouldn't be doing that, but I also don't know how aggressive of a skater you are (so how rough you are on boots) and I haven't seen the boot. 

The universal complaint about Riedell seems to be that they can break down quickly.  Most people I know in that brand go through skates like crazy.  All brands have positives and negatives - I wear Jackson and believe me, I could write a pretty long list of things I'd like changed - and quick break down seems to be one of Riedell's negatives.  So this could just be par for the course for you in this boot.

[Peach]

Everyone I know skates in Edeas. Do they last longer? Afraid to move brands but cannot buy $7-800 boots every 6 months. I am a high jumper.

[sampaguita]

Could it be that they're the wrong size? Though I thought they were perfect for my feet, my old Jackson Freestyles had the same problem -- creasing in the flex notch. Turns out I actually needed a half-size smaller and one step narrower.

I no longer have that problem with my new Freestyles.

[Query]

I'm not at your level, but Riedell's website

  https://ice.riedellskates.com/products/boots/3030-aria#.Wa2ferKGNEY
  https://ice.riedellskates.com/products/boot-range

says it is a lightweight boot (they call it "the world's lightest skate"), for skaters looking for a competitive edge. The obvious way to interpret that is that it is for skaters willing to trade off durability to reduce weight in order to enhance performance. You have to decide whether that trade-off is worth it.

Fit IS extremely important to boot lifetime, so choosing a very good fitter helps a lot, but, I assume that as you advance, boot lifetime will decrease.

Up to now, have you been happy with with the skates? Do Riedells fit you well? Are they much lighter than what you had before? Do you love lightweight skates, and have they helped your jumps?

The second link implies they offer heavier high end boots, like Gold Star, which might be more durable. Maybe you could try jumping with ankle weights, and see if weight matters... (Cautiously. Too much extra weight could cause injury.)

[Ethereal Ice]

I just bought my second pair of Riedells. With my first pair, I did not have them professionally fit, but they felt really good. I did have some issues with signs of premature breakdown which I improved using a few techniques. I did some more research prior to getting this new pair and discovered that Riedell fit is supposed to be very close and snug, with very little room at the end of the boot. My old boots had, probably, too much room....when I look at my foot print on the liner there is a good 1/2"-1" between the end of my big toe and the end of the liner. My boots were pretty narrow and I think they kept my foot so stable, plus I enjoyed having a little wiggle room for my toes, so I felt the boots fit great, but according to Riedell, this kind of room in the boot can contribute to breakdown.

With the new boots, I got a 1/2 size shorter and just a shade wider (9 A/B as opposed to 9.5A with the first pair). I also had them professionally fitted, the tech found three areas to punch out on the right boot and they were heat molded. The break in process is going well. I found that the Edea method of lacing slowed the breakdown in my old boots so I am using that with these. I am also using a method Harlick advises during my break in period for the first 10-15 hours, don't lace to the very top hole, also, skate about 15 minutes and then re-lace the top. Hopefully all this plus having better fitting boots will help avoid early breakdown.

[Query]

I enjoyed having a little wiggle room for my toes, so I felt the boots fit great, but according to Riedell, this kind of room in the boot can contribute to breakdown.

Riedell's advice on Figure Skate Boot Fitting says, in part

Do make sure your toes can wiggle slightly up & down in the boots.

The end of your toes should lightly brush the end of the boot.

I'm surprised about the last part. There are a lot of somewhat authoritative places advocating that shoes should not touch the tips of your toes (and that there should be very little sideways pressure on the toes as well, so the toes can lie flat). E.g.,
  http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/finding-the-right-footwear-for-your-foot-problem
  http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/tc/bunions-topic-overview#1

So, that would tend to make me avoid Riedell skates... Maybe they aren't well designed to take the stresses of a fit that keeps your feet healthy.

Do you folks know of any figure skating boot manufacturer that advocates not having any space in front of the toes?

[tstop4me]

Riedell's advice on Figure Skate Boot Fitting says, in part

I'm surprised about the last part. There are a lot of somewhat authoritative places advocating that shoes should not touch the tips of your toes (and that there should be very little sideways pressure on the toes as well, so the toes can lie flat). E.g.,
  http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/finding-the-right-footwear-for-your-foot-problem
  http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/tc/bunions-topic-overview#1

So, that would tend to make me avoid Riedell skates... Maybe they aren't well designed to take the stresses of a fit that keeps your feet healthy.

Do you folks know of any figure skating boot manufacturer that advocates not having any space in front of the toes?

I can't find the specific webpage anymore on the Jackson website, but when I bought my Jackson Elite Suede, there were similar fitting instructions.  But my boots are lined with memory foam.  When new, my toes did brush lightly against the boot and I was a bit concerned that they might be a bit too short; but once broken in, they no longer did.  My guess is these instructions allow for a snug fit with adequate clearance after break in.  Also, the guidelines for proper fit of shoes in which you walk do not necessarily apply for proper fit of boots in which you skate.  The biomechanics are different.

[Query]

You are right about Jackson.

http://www.jacksonskates.com/html/care.html says

the toes should not be cramped and should have room to raise slightly [In a standing position the skater's big toe should just lightly touch the toe cap].

SP Teri isn't specific about space in front of the toes.

https://spteri.com/pages/faqs says

The ball of the foot should lay flat and the toes pushed slightly together. A little wiggle room for the toes is acceptable. The width should not be so wide that you can curl your toes under or have to put two pairs of growth innersoles to take up the space.

I didn't find any other figure skate manufacturers that talked about toe fit.

[dlbritton]

You are right about Jackson.

http://www.jacksonskates.com/html/care.html says

    the toes should not be cramped and should have room to raise slightly [In a standing position the skater's big toe should just lightly touch the toe cap].
SP Teri isn't specific about space in front of the toes.

https://spteri.com/pages/faqs says

    The ball of the foot should lay flat and the toes pushed slightly together. A little wiggle room for the toes is acceptable. The width should not be so wide that you can curl your toes under or have to put two pairs of growth innersoles to take up the space.

On the above, I'm not sure why the width affects curling the toes under as much as height in the toe box.

For ski boots the recommendation is to have the toes just touch the end of the boot, but make sure the toes do not touch the end when you flex forward at the ankle and knee. I guess flexing forward must pull the heel/foot back a little bit. I do experience that with my ski boots. I don't know if the same logic applies to skates.

[Query]

I don't understand the width/toe curl thing either... Maybe it is a typo - they were thinking about a boot that is too thin??

It doesn't make any sense to me that the toe ends should be required to just barely touch. That means they aren't exerting any significant force, so what is the point?

OTOH, Mike C told me that one of the most important things to keeping your feet happy is that the place where the foot is forced to bend by the upwards bend of the footbed, should be very close to the ball of your foot - because that is where the foot is designed to bend. You can actually injure a foot by making it bend in the wrong spot. And of course the position of your ball is fairly fixed by the requirement that the heel be very snug in the boot's heel counter. Matching the ball of the foot is something neither of these boot makers mention. (A sophisticated fitter could adjust the insole shape to move where the foot bed bends upwards after the fact - but I've never seen a professional skate tech do that. It would also be hard to do in a boot that was already snug.)

So, given that people's toes differ a length relative to the length of the foot, it seems that trying to simultaneously get the ball position right and the toe end to just barely touch would be nearly impossible in a stock boot, so the toe end thing is the wrong thing to look for. Though you certainly don't want the boot were too short. For a stock boot, the safe thing would be to have a little extra length, so you don't get hammertoes, or corns, etc. Of course, if the upper part of the boot doesn't fit right, I guess a foot could actually slide forwards in a too-long boot, but hopefully that is pretty rare, if you tie the boot tight.