Need Advice: Possible Blade Misalignment?

[Mergen Tatara]

Dear fellow forum members,

Recently, I bought a pair of Marquis with Mirage blade.  After skating for a few occasions, I found that I'm unable to hold my edges for as long as I used to, using rental skates.  There's also some "snow" accumulated at the sides of my blade after I stop.

I took a look at the soles of my skates and noticed the blade alignment.  I have attached a photo of how they look like.

On my left skate, I noticed the heel plate to be slanted to the left. So the blade is not aligned in a straight vertical line from top to bottom.  It actually slants diagonally towards the left.

On my right skate, there is a slighter slant (not as much as the left skate) of the blade towards the right side.  Again, its not aligned straight vertically from top to bottom.  Moreover, the blade is nowhere positioned at the center of the sole.

When I stand on ice stationary, I noticed the skates are leaning more toward the inside edges.  I wrote to Jackson Ultima to ask if the blades were mounted correctly from the factory but they couldn't answer whether this was a manufacturing defect.

Would appreciate your assessment.  Thanks.

[hopskipjump]

I don't know how you can tell just by looking at the blades.  Do you have a coach?  They can watch you skate and be able to tell if it's off.  Most importantly - have you had them sharpened?

We knew right away that one of dd's skates was off - she couldn't do a spiral - you could see her physically work to hold an edge.  And when she skated on one blade, lots of snow pushed up one side.  But holding an edge was a struggle.  Looking at them just on the skate- they were fine.

One blade was move a small fraction and it made all the difference.

You really should have your skate tech at the place you bought them from take a look.

[Mergen Tatara]

Do you have a coach?  Most importantly - have you had them sharpened?

You really should have your skate tech at the place you bought them from take a look.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Yes, the blades were sharpened when I bought the skates.  At that time, I was too inexperienced to ask the pro shop whether the blades were aligned properly after sharpening.  I don't think the pro shop adjusted anything, so the blades are factory default mounted.

No, I don't have a coach.  Neither do I take any lessons.  I'm basically a self-taught skater via Youtube videos and books. 

I bought the skates while on holiday so I can't return to the pro shop.  But I'll bring them to a local pro shop and get some expert opinion.  I don't think the coaches in my local rink would advise me since I don't take up their lessons.

[sk8great]

I have the same skate as you, so far I have no problems with them at all. I let my pro shop take care of all the moving/aligning the blades. I dont wanna mess up anything 

[sarahspins]

I'm confused at what you're trying to show - are you suggesting the blade is bent to the side in relation to the sole plates?  How are you judging the alignment of the blades on the sole? 

The mounting doesn't seem that "off" to me compared to some factory mounts I have seen - muscle imbalances can often cause "alignment" issues but that's not really a reason to move the blades... not that doing so would be easily accomplished, because of the PVC soles - most shops won't even entertain the idea.