Clothing, skates, music and equipment Rant

[ChristyRN]

I skate in dresses for the same reason I wear scrubs at work: it makes me feel like I'm in the role I'm filling.  I originally skated in jeans--one day when I went home, I found a huge slash in my lower leg.  I started looking for slimmer pants then and went into dresses when I'd been skating about a year.  I cannot skate in pants now--it just feels wrong, and I spend the entire session pulling the d***ed things up. 

[Skittl1321]

I skate in dresses for the same reason I wear scrubs at work

Interestingly, this is why I skate in pants.  Nothing makes me feel more like a figure skater practicing to get out there wearing tight fitting leggings and a sleeveless workout shirt.  Except dancers, this seems to be what the majority of elite ladies wear during their official competition practices, and I assume at their home rinks.

But I agree with the general notion. I felt so much like a skater the first day I stopped wearing track pants.  I wore skirts for awhile, my coach requires his girls wear skirts, and I was fitting in, but changed to leggings because a) they are more comfortable, b)I don't have to wear tights, and c) they better fit my image of what a skater should wear in practice.

I've never gotten my blades caught while doing spins.

I actually had to make myself to fall down from the backspin when I caught my blade because I pulled my pants halfway off before I realized I wasn't going to be able to recover the blade!  I also caught my toe pick on jazz pants once in a synchro competition- just the ending pose thank goodness, but I couldn't stand up.  Thankfully another team member realized what was going on, so she held her pose a little longer too to help me get the fabric lose from the blade, before the whole team skated off without me.   

[iomoon]

I am in SUCH a bad mood right now.

SP Teri confirmed what I suspected: the sharpener ruined my Jackson Freestyle skates by using a hockey sharpener. They kept re-profiling the blades each time, to the point where there's hardly any rocker. The front and back of the blades have no more life in them. 

It's the reason why I had a hard time with finding the sweet spot, with edging, with metatarsal pain, and with jumping off the toe-pick.

So yeah... they told me to either go to them or a Fremont sharpener when I get a new pair. That's going to be a long drive every 3 months. =__=

Rave: When I first came in, there was only one person in the shop and he was vacuuming outside and couldn't hear me. LOL Despite that, he was attentive to my needs and told me why I was having troubles. Apparently, my forefeet are C width and my heels are A width. o___O;; I look forward to getting my new ProTeris/Coronation Aces! (My wallet doesn't) Let's just hope I don't outskate them with an Axel anytime soon...

[nicklaszlo]

Maybe you need sharpening by mail?

[iomoon]

Maybe you need sharpening by mail?

I have no patience with mailing. I'm spoiled.

However, that's a possibility if I can't find time to drive there. Thanks for the tip.

[amy1984]

I had this happen to me   It sucked.  The funny thing was at first I really liked the sharpenings but then I started to notice problems as I kept going back to the same place.  Eventually I had a lump at the front of my blade bec. he wasn't grinding the front by the pick and it was building up as he sharpened the rest of the blade.  Which made me finally take to to a slightly out of the way guy who took one look at them, made a face, and proceeded to grind down my whole blade to fix it.  Which meant I had no life left on my blades because he had to take so much off.  The blades had also been profiled like hockey skates like you mentioned happened to you - which really killed them.

This only needs to happen to someone once before they get picky with who they hand their skates over to.  I'm sorry it happened to you, but I think it does to most of us if it makes you feel any better!

I am in SUCH a bad mood right now.

SP Teri confirmed what I suspected: the sharpener ruined my Jackson Freestyle skates by using a hockey sharpener. They kept re-profiling the blades each time, to the point where there's hardly any rocker. The front and back of the blades have no more life in them. 

It's the reason why I had a hard time with finding the sweet spot, with edging, with metatarsal pain, and with jumping off the toe-pick.

So yeah... they told me to either go to them or a Fremont sharpener when I get a new pair. That's going to be a long drive every 3 months. =__=

Rave: When I first came in, there was only one person in the shop and he was vacuuming outside and couldn't hear me. LOL Despite that, he was attentive to my needs and told me why I was having troubles. Apparently, my forefeet are C width and my heels are A width. o___O;; I look forward to getting my new ProTeris/Coronation Aces! (My wallet doesn't) Let's just hope I don't outskate them with an Axel anytime soon...

[AgnesNitt]

I went to a highly recommended sharpener (recommended by a coach I respected) when my regular sharpener was out of town.

The new sharpener sharpened my blades with tiny thousandth of an inch error (I don't know in what, my sharpener just grunted "thousandth of an inch error there". It made my blades chatter like a machine gun. I had my guy resharpen them, they're as silent as the grave.

I swear I'm going to learn to sharpen my own blades when my regular guy retires.

[iomoon]

I had this happen to me   It sucked.  The funny thing was at first I really liked the sharpenings but then I started to notice problems as I kept going back to the same place.  Eventually I had a lump at the front of my blade bec. he wasn't grinding the front by the pick and it was building up as he sharpened the rest of the blade.  Which made me finally take to to a slightly out of the way guy who took one look at them, made a face, and proceeded to grind down my whole blade to fix it.  Which meant I had no life left on my blades because he had to take so much off.  The blades had also been profiled like hockey skates like you mentioned happened to you - which really killed them.

This only needs to happen to someone once before they get picky with who they hand their skates over to.  I'm sorry it happened to you, but I think it does to most of us if it makes you feel any better!

Amy1984: Thanks! I hope you were able to adjust quickly.

AgnesNitt: LOL (btw your blog is a delight to read)

[JSM]

Blade issues are the worst!  I drive 5 hours to get my blades done every few months.  I tried the local guy once, and not only did I hate the sharpening itself, but my skates came back smelling like cat pee.    Never again!

Hockey sharpeners really don't understand how to do figure skates.  It's a fine art, and one in which a lot of the technicians are aging and retiring.  I don't know what I'll do when my guy doesn't sharpen any more!

[nicklaszlo]

Equipment Rant:  Toe pick hole.  In my street shoes.

[blue111moon]

A year or so ago, someone "borrowed" my warm-up pants (I'm not going to say "stole" because it could have been an accident and I didn't even notice they were missing for almost a month) and I've been trying to find another pair without success.  Therse were navy, heavy ripstop nylon outter shell with a flannel-like lining and - most importantly - full-length snaps down both sides so they could be put on and taken off without removing skates.  They came from a sporting goods store or ski shop supply (I bought them through the skating club and no one remembers exactly where they were ordered from) and matched my club jacket, which I still have.

Has anyone seen anything like these pants anywhere?  I've checked all the skating sites.  I don't want the fleece ones with zippers (I have those) and the custom ones the coaches have are way too expensive. 

[FigureSpins]

Rant: startled by municipal pickup truck (who turned suddenly and came very close) while walking through parking lot.  Didn't realize a skate fell out of the bag onto the pavement.  Fortunately, it was just scuffed from the fall, it wasn't run over by the dope's truck.

[Skittl1321]

Rant:  Since I've completely forgotten how to skate, my boots are now too stiff for me and my achilles tendon is so sore from it that I can barely walk today.  I just cannot bend my ankles.

I'm not amused.  A coach at the rink tells me give it three weeks to get my skills back, so hopefully the boots are better then!

[fsk8r]

Not sure if this is a rant or a rave.
My sharpener moved further away from me. He moved into his local rink rather than having a separate shop. That means it's an extra 30min each way for me. I decided that and his awkward opening hours that I would try someone else. Everyone at my synchro rink raved about this coach who sharpened blades. He did mine, they were sharp, but within a day of skating on them I felt I was sliding everywhere. I know enough about blades to know a good sharpening and they passed all my tests. I finally sucked it up and drove the 3hour round trip to get the blades done by my old sharpener. Turns out the coach had put a figure grind on them (3/4inch) and I normally skate on 7/16ths. I hadn't realised it was that big a difference. I can now skate again without worrying about my blades sliding out from under me.

People might complain that the automatic grinding machine doesn't do a great job, but it's highly reliable at doing the same each time. Now to save time, I just need to buy my own one and find a garage to store it in.

[jjane45]

Equipment Rant:  Toe pick hole.  In my street shoes.

who did it? :p

[Christy]

Rant - just received my dress from Tina's Skating, having specified that I wanted exactly what was on the website (thanks to reading other people's comments on here), stating that I wanted velvet and having received an email from Tina telling me that model was shown in velvet, and what I've received is not velvet   I'm sooooo disappointed and totally hate the dress because the design just doesn't work in limp lycra.
Seriously hope that they're as good about correcting their mistakes as other people have said because I absolutely refuse to wear the horror they've sent - well won't be able to as it's already back in the packet and will be mailed tomorrow morning at the latest.

Updated to say just heard back from them and it will take 4-5 weeks to make a new dress - so I won't actually get to wear it for any competitions this year 

Oh and tried to add a review to their website (saying how prompt they were, how well packaged the product was, and how totally revolting the dress was ) but turns out they are moderated by the company - hmmmm, not exactly unbiased eh?

[Sk8tmum]

Rant:  tight sizing.  If you're tall and long-legged, you have to buy the L/XL size, which are then too loose on the top and creep down. If you get ones that fit your hips and butt, then, the crotch is somewhere around your knees (passed along by my daughter, the 5'10inch skater with the 35 inch inseam who wears size 2 jeans ...) With my other kid, who has a similar narrow hip and disproportionately long leg problem but is only 5'3, to get them long enough in the leg, the waist band ends up somewhere around the middle of her chest, where it again proceeds to creep slowly south through practice.  Why can't them make tights in "tall" to accommodate tall people?

Yes, we're tried to buy the smaller sizes and stretch them up ... doesn't work for longer than a single dance test ...

[Vicki7]

Rave - I just ordered my first ever practice/basic competition dress It's the same colour as the one I had when I was learning as a child (I was never very good as a child but wanted to look pretty...)

Can't wait til it arrives

[sarahspins]

Rant:  tight sizing.  If you're tall and long-legged, you have to buy the L/XL size, which are then too loose on the top and creep down.

Even if you are larger they work their way down - I think it simply has to do with the excessive amount of rise before the waistband.. by the time the waistband has settled at your waist (because it will, even if you pull them up higher), there's an extra 6" of tights trying to sag below the crotch.  I find that "hip hugger" style dance tights tend to creep down less simply because there's less material between the crotch and waistband.  I've even gone so far as to pin the waistband of regular tights to my bra to keep it from falling down.

This is yet another reason I like body tights... it's kind of hard for those to fall down since they have shoulder straps

[PhysicsOnIce]

I've even gone so far as to pin the waistband of regular tights to my bra to keep it from falling down.

I've been known to do that. My mom at one point joked about sewing my tights into my dresses when I was little.

[Loops]

I know, what is it with tights?  I always thought it was just me 'cause I'm tall...but I'm guessing now not?

Loving this concept of body tights.   Someone posted a link on another thread that I bookmarked for when I'm once again in need.

PhysicsOnIce- if you ever happen across  them on this side of the pond, please let me know where!

[accordion]

Have you considered braces to hold up the tights?

Rant: the waistband of my skate pants is starting to stretch. I keep pulling it up as I skate. Not so elegant. Will have to attempt a repair job soon.

[FigureSpins]

Someone (Skate@Delaware, maybe?) had once posted that they removed the stock waistband from tights and replaced it with something else that worked much better.  I'll see if I can find the thread later.

Found it!  It was Aussieskater and she used lycra fabric instead:

http://skatingforums.com/index.php?topic=1077.msg9426#msg9426

[accordion]

Someone (Skate@Delaware, maybe?) had once posted that they removed the stock waistband from tights and replaced it with something else that worked much better.  I'll see if I can find the thread later.

Found it!  It was Aussieskater and she used lycra fabric instead:

http://skatingforums.com/index.php?topic=1077.msg9426#msg9426

Thanks FigureSpins! A fascinating read & web links too!

It's the waistband of my pants not tights that is going. I only wear tights (or pantyhose or stockings) under extreme pressure as I hate them intensely. The existing elastic is not very strong and narrow clear elastic. I should replace it with a stronger and wider width. Sigh.

[ChristyRN]

I just want tights that stay up over my round belly. I have to wear tight panties under my dresses to keep them up and haven't found a pair of pants that I don't have to continuously pull up the entire time I'm on the ice.