They are here!

treesprite · February 02, 2013, 02:48:08 AM

My new boots & blades (Jackson Elite Plus and Matrix Legacy) were here at home when I got home from work. I was SO psyched that the wait was over, but now it might be a second wait....

I discovered that there is a problem with the area of where the tongue is stitched in, in just the right boot (so comparing to the left to figure out what's wrong). There's like a tiny edge of leather that isn't laid flat, so it sticks in the tops of my toes like a hard bump and is horribly uncomfortable. I am wondering if a shop could just snip off that little edge of the leather, or if I should see if the dealer can coordinate getting it fixed. The skates are not returnable because they are split width, but I want to believe that the vendor would coordinate a fixing of them which does not involve a refund for the skates, just a correction to a construction issue. But sending them back for the fix would make me have to wait a few more weeks. Any thoughts?

The boots fit how I expected them to fit while not heat heat molded .... too small. The current ones are too small for the first 5 minutes of wear, then they get really comfortable with a perfect fit. So I am expecting these to be the same way once the molding is done (same boot type, same size). If it gets down to it, I will have the toe boxes stretched, but I am going to try to get away with not doing it. Hoping to do the heat molding at work Saturday, but I need to know what to do about that hard poky bump, so I won't end up not being able to wear the skates for a few more weeks

The Matrix blades feel so light! I got the pink color. I plan to take them to Kettler for mounting.

moment of inertia · February 02, 2013, 02:20:59 PM

That's so exciting! New skate day is always a good day

Quote from: treesprite on February 02, 2013, 02:48:08 AM
I discovered that there is a problem with the area of where the tongue is stitched in, in just the right boot (so comparing to the left to figure out what's wrong). There's like a tiny edge of leather that isn't laid flat, so it sticks in the tops of my toes like a hard bump and is horribly uncomfortable. I am wondering if a shop could just snip off that little edge of the leather, or if I should see if the dealer can coordinate getting it fixed. The skates are not returnable because they are split width, but I want to believe that the vendor would coordinate a fixing of them which does not involve a refund for the skates, just a correction to a construction issue. But sending them back for the fix would make me have to wait a few more weeks. Any thoughts?

I had a similar problem with my last boots--it felt like a pinching just behind toes. I remember thinking that heat molding would help push the leather up so it would lay flat, but it didn't seem to do much. It eventually broke in and was perfectly fine, but the first few weeks were incredibly painful. Maybe if you put in a pad there when you do the heat molding (like you would do if you had bunions or sore spots) to help push the leather further away from your foot and force it flat?

You could also try getting it fixed when you have your blades mounted. I've never gotten repairs done at Kettler before, but Dan seemed really knowledgeable and helpful when I dealt with him so it's worth asking if there's something he can do about it.

nicklaszlo · February 02, 2013, 06:12:03 PM

Consider punching where it hurts, or maybe a local shoe repair expert can fix it. But if you try those options maybe the manufacturer will not help you any more.

sarahspins · February 02, 2013, 07:15:06 PM

I would think Kettlers may be able to trim or sand that bit of leather when you have them heat molded - it's probably not worth the trouble of trying to have it handled as a warranty repair. A shoe repair place may also be able to handle it.

treesprite · February 03, 2013, 04:43:45 AM

I snipped a bit off (very carefully), enough of the edge so it doesn't poke me.

I did heat molding today, but it isn't sufficient in the toe box so I will have to have the toe boxes stretched.

treesprite · February 27, 2013, 09:02:05 PM

I wore them for the 1st time yesterday, for about 40 minutes.

Then I put the old ones on. Then I took them off after 10 minutes and put the new ones back on for the last 5 minutes of the session- the blades are too extremely different to go back and forth at all. I wonder how I ever managed to skate on those Coronation Ace blades (on the old skates). It's weird. The Matrix Legacy blades are not any longer than the Coronation Ace blades, but they feel far more solid under my feet. When I put the old skates back on my feet, in terms of support it felt almost like there were no blades between the boots and the ice.

I had the boots stretched, which helped, but I might have them stretched a second time... not sure yet because I need to do a second heat molding now that the stretching was done. There is a problem with the ankle pocket on the right boot not accommodating the extra bone overgrowth at the top of my ankle bone (used to have a metal plate resting on top of my ankle, and when it was removed, the bone over grew). The old boots I guess that ankle pocket was shaped a little differently. But I'm sure I can spot heat mold there and make it better.

I love these new blades!

sampaguita · February 28, 2013, 08:44:40 AM

Glad you liked them! Matrix Legacy blades are my dream blades (I heard they're really light!), but I'm not at that level yet to deserve it.

davincisop · February 28, 2013, 09:00:00 AM

You can get boots repunched without worrying.

I've had mine repunched about 3 times in the last two years at the ball of the foot area. My sharpener kept the boot on longer the last time which helped immensely and I haven't had trouble since.

Skittl1321 · February 28, 2013, 09:26:18 AM

Glad to hear you love the new blades, and hope the boots end up working out for you!

I love my Matrix Legacies. My favorite part- the gorgeous rip sound I get on my backcrossovers and power pulls. OMG! Divine. My old blades never gave me that sound.

treesprite · March 02, 2013, 03:15:12 AM

Thursday night:
I had those skates on my feet for TWO HOURS straight! The bottoms of the back of my heels were numb when I took them off - I have never experienced something like that. I did some apprehensive waltz jumps for the 1st them in them - OMG! I am in love with these blades! I tried to spin, but just doing the prep was hard, because when I do back x overs in these, the blade seems to pull further out and I need to learn to control that sharp curved edge right before stepping in to the 3. Well, I managed about 4 revolutions in a crazy position. I figured out that if I adjust the tongue a certain way, the ankle bone overgrowth spot does not hurt (these tongues have 2 hooks on the middle of each of them, so when laced a certain way, the tongues will stay exactly in the place I put them), so I will just keep doing the tongue at that angle.

Friday afternoon:
I skated in them for 1 hour (only had 1 hour to skate). I did a lot of waltz jumps, did a few toe loops... I need to get used to the toe picks. I started to do a salchow, but chickened out because I need to get comfortable with my 3-turns. I managed to get in a couple of spins with about 8 or 10 revs... I imagine it will take me a while to find "the spot" and hit it consistently with these blades.

I have decided that I will get the front part of the toe boxes stretched, just the area in front of the 2nd lace eyelet. I definitely need to get the bunion spot punched on the left one - there was so much pressure there that the bunion was all white for a while after I took off the skates (bunions are like skin stretched over bone with no soft tissue in between, and this bunion is really big like a large marble, ugly, and sometimes painful... thanks to the Reidell toe boxes of my youth).

If I can get the guy to punch these tomorrow afternoon, I may stay after work at the rink and skate in them a short time. Otherwise, I will wait until Tuesday to skate in them again. Either way, I will leave them for stretching, so they will be stretched when I go Tuesday.

I have been doing all this with a broken pinky toe on my right foot. It hurts worse in my shoe walking than it does in my skate skating. That's what I get for having a bunch of junk on the floor (mostly reef aquarium plumbing pieces, PVC, several other aquarium-related pieces of junk, and a couple of tools...) (it's interesting how both of my favorite - and most expensive - hobbies involve water).

treesprite · March 19, 2013, 09:58:54 PM

They have now had 2 rounds of stretching, and punched for the big bunion on the left foot. Well, they still felt too small. Then today I was ~~suffering~~ ...oops, I mean skating... when it occurred to me that in the old pair I wasn't using the original inserts since they were missing (boots bought used), I was just using thin flat inserts from my old Reidell's. So I took the inserts out of my new skates. WOW - magically the boots became about 1/5th of a size bigger, just enough to make them ok. So now I just need to do something about the rubbing of boot on the tops of my big toes (have never had that happen before!).

sarahspins · March 19, 2013, 11:01:02 PM

You can get the toe box punched

treesprite · March 20, 2013, 10:17:41 PM

I'll just let the tops of my big toes toughen up. I think once the skates are broken in, there will no longer be a problem with this.

It bothers me that the inserts have little heels on them. There are already heels on the boots, so why would there need to be heels on the inserts. I think putting them on the inserts pushes the foot slightly forward.

News:

They are here!